Brian Yansky's Blog, page 29

physical gestures

Along the same lines as the last entry—thinking about being specific. Avoid generic physical gestures. We need physical description to make a scene real but having someone drink a glass of wine or light a smoke, say, during dialogue just to get some physical gestures into the manuscript won't do much to improve it. It might even work against the scene's momentum and undercut the reader's confidence in the writer.

Just as the description needs to communicate something more than generic, paint...

Description

I was working through a revision of my new manuscript and I realized that sometimes my language wasn't as precise as it could be because I wasn't showing or telling the reader what was going on in my character's mind. Also in description, I wasn't always putting the reader there by being there with my character. What did the way he saw his surroundings mean to how he was experiencing what was happening? This is at a language level; it's so important to making a connection with the reader.

Her...

Onward Through the Fog

You can quit.

You can always quit.

Writing is tough and you'll have some days when you want to give up either because of rejection or some other disappointment or maybe because the words won't come at all or maybe because only the wrong words or the almost right ones will come. A disappointment as thick as a London fog will set in around you.

You can always quit.

But what if Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn had said to hell with it in the African Queen (I'm a fan of old movies) and giv...

Getting Help

When I let others read my work-- my wife, my critique group, my agent, my editor-- I am always as open as I can be. I always listen to their thoughts and criticisms. I reread comments several times. People can help you make a better manuscript and I try not to let my ego get in the way of that. I want the best manuscript I can create and I'll take help wherever I can get it. Readers help. Good readers can really help.

That said, some people will try to make specific suggestions for changes. T...

IS YOUR STORY REAL &ARE YOU YOUR CHARACTERS?

(Double posting: also on my agent, Sara Crowe's, blog)

My answer

I have a book coming out in about two months, ALIEN INVASION & OTHER INCONVENIENCES. My first two novels were somewhat realistic and I got the usual questions about whether I was my character and if my story was real. I gave the usual answer. Some of the story and characters, in a very changed form, have elements of autobiography but most is made up. In this new novel, aliens invade the world and conquer it in ten seconds and e...

Manipulation

I think one thing to consider when you get to rewriting is that nearly everyone has big holes in their manuscript. No use getting depressed about this unfortunate aspect of writing. No matter how long you've been writing, no matter how much you think things out, there will be problems that you didn't see, couldn't see, until you've finished the whole manuscript and gone over it a couple of times. Usually, along with a lot of small problems, they'll be at least one big thing that feels wrong. ...

Doors&Windows

Another thing I work on in revision, maybe after the first couple passes, is adding physical details. I'm a writer who underwrites in the early stages of my work, so what I do at some point in the revision process is look for windows or doors, places where the manuscript needs or can benefit from more details, places I can enter to add these details. I want to slow things down and I want to make the reader more involved in the scenes.

Overwriters should go through the manuscript looking for p...

Another thing I work on in revision, maybe after the firs...

Another thing I work on in revision, maybe after the first couple passes, is adding physical details. I'm a writer who underwrites in the early stages of my work, so what I do at some point in the revision process is look for windows or doors, places where the manuscript needs or can benefit from more details, places I can enter to add these details. I want to slow things down and I want to make the reader more involved in the scenes.

Overwriters should go through the manuscript looking for p...

It's not enough to write well

I was reading this interview with several editors and they were talking about how they pick books for their list. We've all heard the "I just don't feel like I would be the best editor for this book" and "I just wasn't excited enough to take this one" etc. etc… But what the he#* does that mean? Basically it means that, for whatever reason, the editor can't see himself or herself married to this book for a year or more. The commitment is huge. They have to be able to read the book a dozen time...

What's a writer?

When people ask me why I write I have to say it's because I can't help myself. That's the way it is now. I love it. I'm addicted to it. I need to do it. But, of course, that wasn't always my answer. I started out writing because it was fun and I secretly hoped it would make me rich and famous and able to work in my pajamas all day. Unless I was traveling the world, of course, in which case I would gladly wear clothes.

I did love to read.

I did love stories.

But, like many people, I had crazy ...