Janalyn Voigt's Blog, page 32

5 Ways to Show Rather Than Tell in Fiction

It's a bit blurry, but I'm pleased with my debut vlog (video blog). I hope you enjoy my first effort.

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." ~ Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright

The beauty of Chekhov's quote is that rather than drily admonishing the listener, he goes a step farther and shows with an illustration, rather than tells, his advice.

We as writers have vivid imaginations. Stories live in our heads long before we form them with words. Because of this, we can miss that we've merely jotted notes on what we see in our minds rather than birthing fully-fleshed scenes. We may discover such an omission when critique partners or editors point it out or after we allow a certain amount of time to elapse for purposes of objectivity.

At this point the story is often cold and we can no longer rely on memory in order to bring a scene alive. What to do? This is where the following five techniques for showing in fiction will save the day (and your sanity).

Use engaging dialogue. This gives you the opportunity to deepen your characters and their interaction. Because dialogue tends to increase pacing, it's a handy tool for showing rather than slowing the action.
 Introspection, or internal dialogue, deepens your reader's understanding of a character. Use it to show without naming emotions like fear, worry, and love.
Let your descriptions do double duty. Here's an example from my novel, DawnSinger, which releases this fall: Kai crossed to one of the tall windows overlooking the inner ward with its herb garden. New growth burgeoned in all the beds, ready to erupt with life. His hands clenched into fists. He wanted to rejoice in such things. He wanted to comfort his mother. He closed his eyes, shut in by his own dark thoughts. Within the context of the story, the reader gathers that Kai is grieving without my having to state it as a fact. Put simply, the new growth in the herb garden contrasts with his sorrow at learning of a loved one's death. You'll notice I also use introspection as Kai wants to rejoice and to comfort his mother but cannot.
Action helps your story come alive for the reader as he or she paints a mental picture based on what you describe. Building scenes with action is not (necessarily) about blowing something up. Action can be subtle. In my example, Kai overlooks the herb garden. This simple action provides the opportunity for the description, introspection and reaction that follow.
Let characters react. A common mistake writers make is to forget to allow characters to respond to actions, dialogue, and introspection. When we remember reaction as a key tool, we can create powerful scenes that grab the reader. In my example, Kai clenches his hands into fists in response to viewing the herb garden. Since his isn't a normal reaction to seeing new growth in a garden, it immediately raises a question readers will want answered, which keeps them engaged and interested. Kai's reaction gives away his state of mind without my having to state it as troubled.

I hope my tips for showing in fiction help you past some problem areas in your own writing. I like to think I've presented my advice in a way that would please Chekhov.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Focus Your Personal Branding for Writing Career Success

When deciding your personal brand, remember that it's possible to spread yourself thin with too broad a focus. Ever heard the term: Jack-of-All-Trades but master of none?

Any writer worth her salt knows that zeroing in on a narrow topic makes an audience easier to target. Research becomes easier, organizing less ponderous, and the whole experience richer. In this respect, branding is much the same as writing.

I once worked on the top floor of a skyscraper, spending my time and energy on another person's dream, chained to my desk with "golden handcuffs." If you're unfamiliar with that expression, it refers to a kind of prison walled in with status and a secure paycheck. But the owner of my company got into empire building. It wasn't enough to have offices in Oregon and Washington. We apparently needed to expand into Colorado, California, and Alaska, even with our finances on shaky ground. It was too much, too soon. The company declined into bankruptcy, and my prison walls tumbled down. Since my stint in big business detoured my career as a novelist, I weathered the crisis well. At times I'm still chained to my desk, but these days I live my own dream.

As writers, we also face the temptation to build empires. After all, we have big imaginations. And a certain brass comes with naivety. We want our piece of the pie, and we want it now. But, if we carve too big a slice, we'll never be able to manage it.  Each genre requires us to develop a separate audience, for instance. And writing four books a year takes skills most beginners don't possess.

What if the owner of my company had taken the time to stabilize before overextending its finances? With the company in better shape to endure the strain of expansion, we could have expanded into one new state at a time. I don't know why he acted as he did. Maybe he got greedy, or he may have had an eye on the competition. It's easy to get caught up in keeping up with others. That attitude has led to more than one business failure.

Pacing, when it comes to plotting, takes a good deal of thought. Pacing a career to insure its success takes the same kind of concentrated effort.  A narrowed focus often yields the best results.

© 2011 Janalyn Voigt, author of novel books

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Time-Saving Tip: Keep up with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook the Easy Way

How long does it take you to make social-networking rounds? For most, the answer is "too long."

I check Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook in two minutes flat most mornings. Does that sound like an exaggeration? Let me introduce you to some nifty friends of mine: Chromed Bird, LinkedIn for Chrome, and Facebook for Chrome. With this trio of applications, available for use with the Google Chrome Internet browser, I keep tabs on and post to Twitter and Facebook from dropdown boxes that display in the top bar of my browser. Let's discuss them one at a time.

Chromed Bird lets me update my Twitter feed, shorten links, retweet with or without editing, reply to updates or DM's, read and respond to DM's, follow lists or search terms (including hashtags and people's names), read other users' profile information and updates, and follow someone after going to Twitter with one click. I can set Chromed Bird to display tweets whenever someone mentions @MyTwitterName or when an update includes a specific search term or hashtag. Or I can suspend dropdown tweets.

Facebook Extension for Google Chrome lets me read, like and comment on my news feed and wall posts. I can also access my notifications, read Facebook email, and post an update, all from a dropdown box at the top of my browser window.  I can reach Facebook with a single click from the dropdown box.

With LinkedIn for Chrome, I can read and update my feed right from my browser.

If you are like me and want to be available without sacrificing any more time than necessary, consider making the acquaintance of my three favorite social networking buddies. They've made a big difference in my ability to cope with time demands.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Author Notes: Lesson in Social Networking From Lady Guinevere

On our dining room's threshold, Lady Guinevere inhales the aroma of roasted chicken. One of her favorites.  Too well-mannered to beg, she pauses expectantly. She'd not say no to an invitation to dine. In the middle of my own meal, I decide to make her wait. After all, we don't want her to become spoiled.

But when I ignore her subtle request, Guinevere turns her back to me and won't be mollified, even when I offer her the wishbone. As I turn away, rejected, my offering spurned, I realize that for my cat, it's not about food. It's about love. Guinevere wants to be treated like a family member, not a pet. She wants to be included, to belong. That, to her, is more valuable than food.

In this, I'm not so different from my cat. Although I trend toward introversion, I still yearn to connect with a group of like-minded people, to invest in something greater than myself. I want to be included, to belong, to matter. Because this is what we all want in varying degrees, tapping this deep-seated desire in others helps connect them to the menu of services and products I offer. But just like with my cat, if I meet my own needs first, they won't come to supper. They want to be treated like family.

Lady Guinevere has long since forgiven me. For my part, I try to be more sensitive to both her physical and emotional needs. (But, no, she doesn't sit at the table to eat with us.) As I bask in her goodwill, I won't forget her lesson in love.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Branding Strategy: 7 Reasons You Need a Brand

Like it or not, you as an author are your brand. As a private person I find that fact disconcerting. The trouble with branding, from a privacy perspective, is that it needs to be honest. I don't know about you, but I'd rather hide behind my books than bare my soul in public. Do you share my hesitancy? I suspect I'm in good company. How many of us would bother with branding if the realities of marketing and/or others in the publishing industry didn't demand it of us? Enough said.

And yet, if I approach branding from a reader's perspective, I become more willing to brand. A reader needs a quick way to identify what I write. Without it, I could lose a sale. From a negative perspective, it's that simple. But let's look at the positives.

Seven things branding will do for you:

1. Create dedicated readers through the nifty dynamic called "brand loyalty." Every writer needs an audience base, a group of people ready and willing to purchase the next book.

2. Keep you from getting lost in the crowd. With the ease of e-book- and self-publication, these days a plethora of writers markets online. Branding will make you stand out.

3. Control perceptions about you. Whether or not you do so consciously, you will establish some sort of brand others will judge. Manage these perceptions.

4. Establish familiarity. Readers need to recognize themselves in you. If you and your website seem foreign to them, they won't hang around long.

5. Let readers connect with you. Nowadays readers want authors to be available. Branding lets them feel like they know you personally.

6. Help you find your niche in the publishing world. Sad as it may seem, not everyone wants to read what you write. People have preferences. Branding draws your specific audience, thus focusing your marketing efforts.

7. Establish reader trust. Consumers buy from those they know, like and trust.

Developing a focused author brand will make life easier for you on many levels. Given that reality, it becomes much easier to embrace, and even welcome, branding.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Author Update: Schemes, Dreams and Gleams

This week I returned final edits for "Flower of Life," my contribution to The Book of Sylvari: An Elf Anthology, a Tolkien-esque venture by PYP.   "Flower of Life" tells the story of Adriana, who is faced with a choice between love and duty when she accidentally enters the strange and wonderful world of Elfhame.

I attended the NCWA Writers Renewal Conference in May where I got to meet several Twitter friends as well as spend time with "old" friends. I feel privileged to belong to such a great group of writers. My post about the conference will publish in the NCWA blog in July.

I've put together sample chapters for two historical romance works-in-progress and now look forward to settling down to write one of them in full while I continue to hone DawnSinger, book one in the epic fantasy trilogy, Tales of Faeraven toward publication in the fall.

I write both fantasy and historical romance but plan occasional departures into historical fantasy, fictionalized historical biography and possibly even historical suspense, depending on the market for such offerings. I have a gleam in my eye in the form of an amazing fantasy series I can't wait to unveil. Despite its deadlines, inequalities and stresses, I love my life as a novelist and wouldn't trade it.

I hope, whatever your passion, you feel the same about your life.

 

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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Author Diary for Novelist Janalyn Voigt: Schemes, Dreams and Gleams

This week I returned final edits for "Flower of Life," my contribution to The Book of Sylvari: An Elf Anthology, a Tolkien-esque venture by PYP.   "Flower of Life" tells the story of Adriana, who is faced with a choice between love and duty when she accidentally enters the strange and wonderful world of Elfhame.

I attended the NCWA Writers Renewal Conference in May where I got to meet several Twitter friends as well as spend time with "old" friends. I feel privileged to belong to such a great group of writers. My post about the conference will publish in the NCWA blog in July.

I've put together sample chapters for two historical romance works-in-progress and now look forward to settling down to write one of them in full while I continue to hone DawnSinger, book one in the epic fantasy trilogy, Tales of Faeraven toward publication in the fall.

I write both fantasy and historical romance but plan occasional departures into historical fantasy, fictionalized historical biography and possibly even historical suspense, depending on the market for such offerings. I have a gleam in my eye in the form of an amazing fantasy series I can't wait to unveil. Despite its deadlines, inequalities and stresses, I love my life as a novelist and wouldn't trade it.

I hope, whatever your passion, you feel the same about your life.

 

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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7 Tips to Rev Up Your Writing (and Yourself)

I plan to pick up a rock from somewhere special, perhaps a sandy beach or along a beautiful trail, and emblazon one word on it. You've probably seen such rocks in gardens and windowsills, engraved with PEACE, THINK, or BELIEVE. My stone will read Dream.  I'll build a garden around my rock in a place where it's easy to drink in the joy of nature. There's something about being in creation to help a person, well, create.

As we rush through life, willy nilly, it's easy to forget to dream. And yet, dreaming is a writer's lifeblood. Without it we won't bring that extra spark of energy to our writing. As great sportswriter, Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith observed with wry humor, writing is easy. "All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."

Humor aside, there's a great deal of truth to Red Smith's claim. Writing is draining (pun intended). If all I do is pour out my creative energy without ever restoring it, I'll run dry. That will benefit no one, least of all myself. But let me transfuse a bit of dreaming into my day, and my creative energy soars to overflowing.

Ways to incorporate dreaming into life:

Plant a reflective garden in a quiet corner and soak up its peace.
Sit outside, close your eyes, and listen to the grass grow, the wind blow or flower petals fall.
Watch cloud formations with the same abandon as you did as a child.
Gaze at pictures online, in magazines, or (better) in museums. What stories do they tell?
Prop yourself in bed or on the couch with a notebook and a writing implement.
Lie beneath a tree and stare up at its branches.
Take a walk or hike to a place you've never been before.

Feeling worn out and weary as a writer? Make time to dream.

You tell me: Do you have other suggestions for incorporating dreaming in each day?

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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7 Ways to Intensify Crisis Scenes

When I first started writing, whenever I would reach a point of climax in the story, I'd break and recap in a new scene. Needless to say, none of those stories ever saw the light of publication. (Don't try this at home.)

It wasn't until I learned to press into crisis points that I produced a story worth publishing. DawnSinger, book one of my epic fantasy trilogy, Tales of Faeraven releases this fall.

Interestingly enough, when I received edits for DawnSinger, most of the notes calling for revision centered around, you guessed it, crisis scenes.  The next lesson I had to learn was that it's not enough to write my way through points of crisis. I had to birth them in a process of labor as gripping and demanding as childbirth.

Here's how:

Intensify: Consider the possibilities. What could happen in this scene that would take it up a notch?
Visualize: Close your eyes and let yourself "see" the scene unfold. What does your character see, hear, smell, taste, feel and understand? How can you make this scene gripping?
Clarify: Is there anything you've missed providing for the reader because you take it for granted?
Clean up Dialogue: Can you give dialogue a better flow by cutting out actions like "he nodded," "she shrugged," etcetera, you used instead of an attribution to identify a speaker?   
Remove Purple Prose: There are places in a story for lyricism, but if it impedes your scene's flow, cut it.
Adjust the Scene's Length: Decide how much "territory" the scene needs based on its importance to the overall story. Is it too long? Too short? Or just right?
Read the Scene for Pacing: Does it move fast enough but not so quickly it whizzes by before the reader can bathe in the experience?

Facing up to crisis scenes is both terrifying and exhilarating, like tightrope walking without a net or riding a bucking bronco. It takes "true grit," because the person looking down the literary "gun barrel" at you is yourself.  But when you do it, your story will come alive like never before.

© 2010 Janalyn Voigt

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