The Biggest Weakness

Randy Ingermanson, in his blog post at Advanced Fiction Writing, said something profound yet beautifully simple: "The life of a novelist is about continuous improvement. You will NEVER arrive. You will never be perfect. The trick is to identify your biggest weakness and work on it until it's no longer your biggest weakness."

Wow. That's heavy. In the last month or so, I've been working on my dialogue tags, trying to remove unnecessary ones. I think I've about mastered that. So now, I ask myself, what's my new biggest weakness?

That's a no-brainer, since I've struggled with this for years: imagery.  

One of my writing friends, Melody, has the spirit of a poet. Her fantasy fiction sparkles with beautiful imagery. Her word choices are exquisite. Her scenery jumps off the page, making me feel like I'm there. And I've noticed, in speaking with her, that it all just flows naturally that way from her brain. She's lyrical. Imaginative. Poetic.

I've not been blessed with that type of gift. I'm a Vulcan. I see things in logical progression, with proper motivations, plot lines and subplot lines weaving in and out of each other. Scenery and imagery is incidental, especially in my first draft. Once I've got all the action, suspense, and character development thoroughly laid out, then I have to go back and add in the scenery, the sensations, the metaphors and similes that make the story hop off the page. I easily identify the patterns, mirrors, and moods I need to establish; then I struggle to add the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. 

I'm pleased that I can identify my greatest weakness. Now I'll follow Randy's advice and work on it until something else takes the title "biggest weakness."

-Sonja

"Holy dialogue tags, Batman!" Robin exclaimed

For the past two weeks, I've been struggling with dialogue tags. Silly me, I thought I'd mastered them... then a friend pointed out how many unnecessary tags I managed to work into my text. So, I went on a learning binge, and am now ready to impart the vast amount of knowledge I've collected. Which isn't a ton, but it's definitely improved my dialogue.

Lesson #1: The modifier "said" is invisible. Use it, because readers completely overlook it. 

"Take this," Matthias said. 

I've identified the speaker with that little invisible word. Other words, like exclaimed, postulated, articulated, and shouted, are not invisible. They stand out in the sentence, calling attention to themselves and away from the actual dialogue. And I don't want that. So I use "said" whenever I need to identify the speaker.

William Noble, in his book "Shut up!" He Explained: A Writer's Guide to the Uses and Misuses of Dialogue, says that the modifier "said" should be used at least three-quarters of the time any modifier is used, and a page of dialogue should not go by without a couple of "saids" appearing in the text. 

Lesson learned: when I want to identify the speaker, use the word "said."

Lesson #2:  When possible, avoid dialogue tags altogether.

"Take this," Matthias said.

"What is it?" I peered inside.

"Gold, mostly."

The reader knows Matthias said that last line because it was his turn to speak. (Of course, if there were three people in the conversation, then the speaker of line 3 becomes foggy. But when there's only two, this works well.) When possible, leave out the tag. It makes for a quicker read, and it's definitely invisible. But I need to be careful, because if it isn't clear who is speaking, then leaving the tag off can add to the confusion and annoyance factor.

Lesson #3: Use beats instead of a modifier. Beats are the little bits of action interspersed through a scene, such as someone walking to the window or rubbing their eyes. They can take the place of the word "said," like this: 

"Take this." Matthias handed me a bulging leather bag.

Instead of saying said, or gushed, or ordered, I substitute the dialogue tag with this big of action. Doing this adds a pause in the speech, eliminates the need for tag, and identifies the speaker all at once. A brilliant little tool, which I employ often. There are two important rules to remember when working with tags: don't interrupt the dialogue with too many beats (the poor reader will get dizzy, trying to follow all the action and conversation) and don't use cliched tags (puffing on a cigarette, drinking coffee, scratching, etc.). Otherwise, they work nicely in place of tags.

Lesson #4: Use a variety of these methods. Too many of any one technique stands out. Not using "said" enough, using no dialogue tags at all, or using only beats all lead to confusion for the reader. That Biblical truth is universal: moderation is the key.

For what it's worth!

-Sonja

Happily Ever After

I read an interesting blog posting by Rebecca Luella Miller today. She was talking about how Christian fiction is "growing up" and is no longer the "poor quality" stuff that used to come out. What caught my attention was this line:  "Some Christians are troubled by writing that includes immoral behavior, while others are disturbed by stories that have happy endings."

I'll admit, I laughed when I read that line. Obviously, the title "Christian reader" can't be limited by boundaries. Not all Christian readers appreciate romances.  Not all Christian readers buy speculative fiction. Some of use won't touch a story about the end times, while others thrive on end time thrillers. Obviously, diversity is alive and well among Christian readers.  As it should be!

I write fantasy. Bad things happen to my protagonist. He's tempted by those things that tempt all men: lust, greed, anger. Yet I've heard some well-meaning Christians say they don't want to read books that have the protagonist doing something evil. They don't want to see bad things happen. They don't want to read about giving in to temptation. They want a happy ending, where the hero and heroine get married and live happily ever after raising seven kids, three dogs, a cat, a rat, and a hamster. And I'm happy there are books out there to fit the bill. Personally, I'd rather stick my finger down my throat. Conflict gets my blood racing, and there's nothing I love more than a story full of tension and fantastic elements and the unknown. I don't mind a love story subplot or a sad ending, as long as it was a fantastic ride and the ending tied up all the loose ends. I know I'm a minority in the world of Christian fiction readers, but it pleases me immensely that I can find books I like in amongst the romances, thrillers, and cozy mysteries.

God has created a fantastic world, and none of us created beings are completely alike. And THAT'S where the conflict comes from. It's a blessing to know good writers fulfill all those literary desires, and that the Christian fiction industry is, indeed, growing up, publishing a wide variety of genres by authors who've perfected their word-smithing skills.

-Sonja

Keeping Track of Story Details

Randy Ingermanson's blog contained a list of questions he's going to tackle over the next week/month/year, how ever long it takes him to get through them. He asked for a vote: which question to conquer first? The list of questions inspired me to write a blog entry of my own, answering one of them: how do you keep track of story details?

I keep track of story details in an elaborate three-ring binder, divided into four sections: a character table, a map section, a calendar of events, and character profiles.

The character table is separated into columns, each containing a different set of information: character names, occupations, place of residence, special skills, family members, description, and special notes. It's handy to sort the table in different ways within my word processor, but I usually keep it alphabetically by character name. I find myself forgetting a minor character's description or spouse name (I have a massive cast for my book series), so it's nice to have all that at my fingertips without having to sift through my text.

My map section is relative small. I've got a hand-drawn map of the region my story takes place, and hand-drawn map of the wilderness setting where most of my story takes place. I've also got a small-scale city drawing so I can remember the basic layout: river, docks, shipping district, housing, downtown, residential areas, and outlying farming community.

The most valuable section is my calendar. Each page covers one month; I simply write in the highlights of each day on the proper date. I not only keep track of plot points, I also track my protagonist's birthday, the equinox and solstices, pregnancy due dates, foreign events -- basically anything that can be attached to a date and has significance within my story.

The fourth section contains my character profiles, usually one sheet per character, and an odds-and-ends section where I keep track of things like foreign words I've used in the story, city populations, the meanings of names, etc. 

That's how I do it, for what it's worth.

-Sonja

Books Worth Buying: A Question for Readers

Rebecca Miller posted a quote in her blog from an anonymous reader, who happened to be a clerk in a Christian bookstore. The woman stated that, if we wanted sci-fi and fantasy on the bookshelves, we and our friends need to buy that sort of book. Once sales go up, the stores will stock those books. Rebecca re-emphasized the main point: fantasy book sales mean more shelf space dedicated to fantasy books.

It makes sense. However, I can't afford to buy every new title that comes out. I usually check them out from my local library, and if I really love the book, I'll save my coins and purchase the work. The most frustrating thing, for me, is that many of the CBA titles I'd like to read aren't carried by my local library.

And I'm not just frugal, I'm downright cheap. There's nothing I hate more than shelling out cash for a book that doesn't beg to be read over and over again. Based on reader reviews, I've recently checked out thirteen titles from my local library, but in the final analysis, the books didn't grip me enough to purchase them for my library. In the past two months, I've only purchased two books from the CBA: Donita K. Paul's DragonFire, and John Olson's Adrenaline.

So, that brings me to my question: What books are worth buying? What books have you, readers, purchased that gripped you and kept your attention, even after you finished the book? What CBA sci-fi/fantasy books belong on my bookshelves? I value your input, as does my pocketbook!

-Sonja

I Stand Corrected

A while ago, I posted some amazing advice I learned from Colleen Coble, in the class she taught at the ACFW Conference: she told us to outline our books from the POV of the antagonist. I found this exciting and new and extremely helpful for finding my antagonist's motivations. Then Colleen wrote to me with this data nugget: the information originated with Donald Maass! I guess she said that during class, but I was so excited about the concept that I missed the origins. Thank you, Colleen, for clearing that up. I own the book you quoted from, so I should probably read it again.

-Sonja

To the pointy-eared among us

The ultimate highlight of the ACFW conference, in my opinion, was the two-parter Science Fiction and Fantasy course taught by John B. Olson. I can't give away all his secrets; we were sworn to secrecy. However, we didn't perform any ritual handshakes involving spit, so I think I can share the highlights without offending John. I found him extremely personable, humorous, and genuinely interested in all his students. When John spoke, I felt empowered to continue writing in my genre, as opposed to flushing it and migrating over to prairie romances. (Note: there's nothing WRONG with prairie romances, but I'm not the right gal to pen them.)

But enough of the ooey-gooeys. John gave us MEAT to chew on:

The world needs sci-fi and fantasy (SFF). Like no other genre, SFF fulfills the need to search for transcendence, to find something new, to escape the real world, to find all our wishes fulfilled. If we, as writers, keep these things in mind, we can write the stories that help fulfill these needs in our readers. Especially as Christians, we can help our readers find meaning in the universe. Life is not random. We are significant. We have hope.

In order to fulfill these needs within our reader, we must write BIG stories. Unfortunately, John didn't mean 150,000 word epics. Which is unfortunate for me, because my first drafts always come out around 155,000 words or so, and then I've got to cut 25,000 - 30,0000 just to catch the eye of an agent or editor! What John meant by BIG was HIGH CONCEPT. The basic hook of the story must be meaningful, unique, and bigger-than-life: too exciting to walk away from. And within SFF, this high concept will involve fantastic elements: engaging characters, world-shaking (or universe-shaking) goals, immense opposition, and exotic setting. Without the "fantastic," the story isn't SFF.

I probably shouldn't say any more than that. If you need to know it all, attend the next conference and sit under the teachings of Master Olson. But I want to sum up the most important thing I took away from the course: What makes my protagonist SO SPECIAL that it's his story and not someone else's? What makes him unique, fantastic? Why is he the "chosen"? What's the "hook" of my story, the basic concept that, when I say it aloud, every head in the vicinity whips around and asks me to say more? Once I can answer these questions, I'm ready to write.

-Sonja

(posted with permission from Master Olson)