Janice Hardy's Blog, page 9
July 25, 2023
Put Up Your Dukes: Crafting Dynamic Fight Scenes
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
A strong fight scene is more than just who throws the punches.
One of the first fight scenes I ever wrote was for a fantasy novel, so it involved swords and daggers and a lot of fancy footwork. I wanted to keep track of who did what and where they were, so I used little pewter figures from my D&D box. Step-by-step, I moved the figures around and had my "characters" act out the fight.
While this was a useful way to keep track of the movements, it made for a pretty boring scene, because I focused way too much on the mechanics and not enough on the story.
This is a common problem with fight scenes. Describing the fight isn't the same as showing the action.Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
July 17, 2023
How to Create a Strong Mentor Character
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardyMentors are a great tool for telling your protagonist what to do, without telling you protagonist what to do.
The Mentor is one of the more common character archetypes in storytelling, because protagonists need someone to talk to and guide them as they struggle through the plot. The Mentor offers insight, wisdom, and even tools to solve the protagonist’s problems in the novel and helps them grow as the story unfolds.
While often portrayed as the "wise old man" type, the Mentor can be any age, sex, or race (or even species).
Yoda mentors Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes BackPolgara mentors Garion in The Belariad seriesCharlotte mentors Wilbur in Charlotte's WebThe Mentor can even be the love interest, such as Like Wilson's character, Emmett, who both helps and eventually falls for Reese Witherspoon's Elle in Legally Blonde.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
July 11, 2023
Seems So: Are Your Characters Misleading Your Readers?
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardyThings might not always be what the seem.
One of the many strengths of point of view (POV) is that readers get to experience the story world through the eyes of your POV character. And characters can assume incorrectly, have an unfair opinion, or just flat out be wrong.
But sometimes ambiguity sneaks in there when you don't mean it to, and you're not actually saying what you intended to say.
Enter the word seemed.
Seemed isn't always what it seems. Sometimes it reads like an opinion the POV character is making, and others it reads like the author explaining what they know about the situation. And there's a wide gray area where those two overlap, due to narrative distance and point of view. Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
July 3, 2023
3 Writing Rules You Can Break
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
Some rules are absolutely made to be broken.
There are tons of rules in writing. Some we need to follow to be understood, others are more like guidelines, and some have gotten lost in translation, and no longer mean what we think they mean. Some are even stated as if they were absolutes, such as, "You should never use adverbs."
It's a lot to remember. However, once you know the rules, you can break the rules.
The trick is knowing which ones to ignore.
I know how to spell, but that doesn't give me the freedom to misspell everything in my manuscript because I think it'll look cool. If you read my work you wouldn't think, "Wow, she's being really creative with the spelling. She must know what she's doing." You'd think, "Wow, she didn't even bother to proof this." Or worse, "She has no clue what she's doing."Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 20, 2023
Form Fitting: Using Story Structure to Your Advantage
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardyIf you're ignoring story structure, you could be making a huge mistake.
Every novel has structure, whether you outline it or pants it. Stories have followed a basic "beginning-middle-ending" structure since people started telling them. It’s familiar and comfortable for readers, and helps them lose themselves in the tale.
Story structure is a valuable tool that helps us write, keeps our stories tight, and provides a framework for us to express ourselves. It's how people tell stories, and we see it everywhere—including jokes.
I've heard writers dismiss structure as being "too confining" or "a template that stifles creativity," but I disagree. It's not going to force your story into a predictable template unless you use a structure with very specific turning points that don't allow for variety, or be too literal in how you use the turning points of any given structure. A "dark moment" just means "the protagonist's lowest emotional point in the story," and that can be anything. Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 15, 2023
From Character to Short Story Plot
By Rayne Hall, @RayneHallPart of the Focus on Short Fiction Series
JH: Not every story starts with plot—some start with character. Rayne Hall shares tips and exercises to develop your short story idea by developing your character.
Today, I want you to pick out one of the short story ideas dancing around in your head. Most writers have a lot of half-formed ideas, all demanding to be written. Choose one of them, and I’ll show you how to refine your idea by focusing on the main character
1. In the scenario of your vague idea, who wants or needs something?
Choose her as the main character, and write the story from her perspective character. (I use the female pronoun; you can of course choose to write about a male.)
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 12, 2023
Picking the Perfect Thoughts to Italicize
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardyItalicized thoughts can be a powerful tool to draw attention to what a character is thinking, but it's easy to over do it.
Before I dive in, I'm guest posting over at Writers in the Storm today, with Writing from Within: Crafting Internal Narratives. Which ties in well with today's post on formatting internal thoughts. Come on over when you're done here and check it out.
Italicized thoughts are one of those things you either like or can't stand. Some writers love them (I'm in that camp), and others don't use them at all. Like so many things in writing, there is no hard and fast rule here, because personal taste plays a role.
A general guideline for italics in all forms is to use them sparingly. If you emphasize everything, then nothing stands out anymore. They're an accent, a spotlight.
I've found italics work best when you want to draw attention to a particular thought, but they're also useful when you want to show an internal thought directly "heard" from the character rather than a line in the narrative.
Let's take a look at some options. Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 5, 2023
Why No One Is Reading Past Your First Chapter
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy A lackluster first chapter can turn readers off and make them abandon the book before they've given it a fair chance.
I’m a brutal reader. If the first page of a novel doesn’t pique my interest, I rarely give it a try unless the premise is one I’m super interested in. Even when I do keep reading, the book has until the end of the first chapter to hook me or not. If it doesn’t, I don’t buy that book—even if I love the premise.
I can’t tell you how many book samples I’ve downloaded that never won my dollar vote. Some of them just “weren’t for me” books, but often, they aren’t doing enough to make me want to keep reading. I make it to the end of the sample in about half the books I read, and probably buy about half of those. That’s a lot of books that don’t make the cut.
You might think those poor rejected books were just badly written, but most of them were “good books.” The writing was strong, the characters were well-drawn, and the text flowed smoothly.
But each made a fatal mistake.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
May 30, 2023
How Point of View Can Solve Your Writing Troubles
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
Point of view is one of the strongest tools writers have for crafting stories readers just can’t put down.
Before I dive in today…my workshop for the Writing Success Series is coming up, and there’s still time to register.
JUNE 15: Make the Most of Your Point of View with Janice Hardy
7:15 PM ET - 9:45 PM ET on Zoom
Point of view is the single-best tool writers have in their toolkit. With it, you can create immersive scenes and deepen the emotional layers of your story. A strong point of view helps you determine what details and to share, understand how a character will react in any situation, and even helps you develop character voices. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to see your story from the eyes of your characters (no matter which point of view you use) and how that unique perspective can make your novel stronger. Cost: $39. Ten percent of webinar proceeds to benefit World Central Kitchen.Recordings will be sent to all participants within twenty-four hours of the webinar.Registrations will be accepted up to twenty-four hours in advance of each workshop.Now, on to the article and some reasons why you might want to take my workshop and how it can help you…Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
May 25, 2023
Choose the Setting for Your Short Story: Location, Weather, Atmosphere
By Rayne Hall, @RayneHallPart of the Focus on Short Fiction Series
JH: With a short story, you don't have a lot of time or space to develop your setting. Rayne Hall shares tips and exercises on how to get the most out of your short fiction setting.
Where does your story take place?
Consider giving your story an unusual, quirky setting. This will make the piece memorable and vivid. What���s the weirdest possible place where the events could plausibly happen?
If this is a romantic story about a first date, how about these two people don't go to a predictable meal in a restaurant, walk in a park or movie in a cinema, but a Ferris wheel ride at the funfair, rollerblading in a deserted car park, or picnicking on a mountain top?
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
