Rob Bignell's Blog, page 358

How to create suspense in your fiction story

If you’re
story feels flat, you may want to look at the plot and ask yourself, “Do my readers have a sense of anticipation yet uncertainty about what will come next?” If the answer is “No,” then your story lacks suspense.



“Suspense” is difficult to define if only because there are so many different perceptions about exactly what it is. Further, suspense for one genre, such as a mystery story, may be more subdued than in others, such as a western or science fiction story.



At its core, though, suspense in any genre occurs when the outcome for a character is uncertain. The more a reader is invested in finding out the answer to that uncertainty, the more suspenseful the story. In large part, suspense is enhanced by the building of tension.



Writers can create suspense in a number of ways:

g Create characters with problems – If your main character has no central problem to solve and has no motive for solving it, you don’t have much of a story. Deepen the suspense by giving the main character good reason to be resistant to resolving the story’s central problem.

g Withhold the hidden story – As a writer, you know the full backstory of your characters and how the plot will unfold. Don’t spill that to readers. Divulge it in small portions, and only when necessary to further the plot.

g Hide character’s motives from other characters – While readers need to know why your main character behaves a certain way, other characters don’t need to know that. Your main character then doesn’t understand why other characters act as they do, and this inexplicable behavior can lead to conflict between them.

g Employ the Hitchcock Effect – Movie master Alfred Hitchcock allowed the audience, through a character’s dialogue and scenery shots, to infer a danger. Whether or not the character then might step into that dangerous situation creates suspense.

g Add some action – If your main character has nothing to do, then there are no problems to resolve, and the story quickly loses momentum (Of course, the classic “Waiting for Godot” has virtually no action, but the author utilizes other methods of creating suspense to make up for this.). All action should have a point to it, however; mainly, it needs to propel the main character toward resolving the story’s central problem.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Publish your short stories in an anthology

Have you
written lots of short stories but can’t seem to finish that novel? You may want to consider collecting the stories into one book, also known as an anthology.




In a day when people devote less time to reading (yet there are more readers than ever), short stories offer a preferable alternative for many readers.



Stories in your anthology might have a common thematic thread in their setting or characters or family, in the year(s) they were written, and if published or not. Still, none of that is necessary for publication, though it can make your book more marketable by appealing to a niche audience – an anthology of your space opera short stores, for example, often will have stronger appeal to a specific group of readers (those who like space opera), than a general collection of short stories will have to a broad group of people.



In traditional publishing, usually an anthology would not be released unless at least a couple of the stories had been published in magazines. That provided a selling point for your anthology and generally still applies to self-publishing if this is your first book.



Don’t let non-publication in a magazine prevent you from self-publishing your short stories, however. A growing number of ebooks these days are merely short stories or novellas. So rather than an anthology, consider self-publishing the short stories as standalone pieces or maybe in groups of twos or threes. Printed paper books, however, almost certainly need several short stories in them to be saleable.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Follow Heinlein’s Rules to land big book deal

Getting published
via traditional means requires a lot of hard work and self-discipline. A long road runs between having an idea for a story and actually seeing it on a bookstore shelf or within a magazine’s covers.



Science fiction great Robert Heinlein said writers only needed to follow five simple steps to ensure they were published authors. These steps since have been coined “Heinlein’s Rules”. Heinlein often joked that he had no qualms about sharing these “secret” steps as most people lacked the self-discipline to actually work through each one.



The rules are:

g Rule One - You Must Write

g Rule Two - Finish What Your Start

g Rule Three - You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order

g Rule Four - You Must Put Your Story on the Market

g Rule Five - You Must Keep it on the Market until it has Sold



Hugo winner Robert J. Sawyer once wrote that if you started with a hundred people who wanted to be published, fully half of them would give up on writing at each step. By the time you got through Rule Five, that would leave just three of the original hundred still writing!



The moral is if you want to become published, you must stick it through the entire process. Don’t give up – that, after all, is the quickest way to remain unpublished.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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How to arrange a public book reading/signing

Just because
you’ve published a book, don’t expect to get invitations to do book readings. You’ll have to arrange them yourself. The good news is you’ll find a lot of venues will be willing to have your speak.



The first step in arranging a public appearance is to find those venues. Start close to home, making a list of potential places to speak. Among them are libraries, bookstores and coffee shops, particularly non-corporate operations where the latter two is concerned. Scour local newspapers (especially metro Sunday sections or Thursday entertainment sections that promote weekend events) to see what venues host book readings. If writing nonfiction, also think of businesses that sell products related to your book’s topic – for example, if your book is about camping, a sporting goods store is a great potential venue. As compiling your list, get contact information for them, especially the manager’s name, phone number and email.



The next step is to actually pitch yourself to these venues. Begin by emailing a press kit with a pdf of your book to them with a cover letter introducing yourself and asking if they would be interested in hosting a book reading/signing for your writing. After a day or two, phone the manager with your proposal. Explain your proposal and have your book’s ISBN on hand to show that they can order the book from their store for customers. Describe why this signing would beneficial for the business, such as explaining how your book will:

g Resonate with the store’s target customers

g Bring additional customers as you will promote the event in local media giving free advertising to the business

g Increase the likelihood that those visiting for your reading/signing are likely to shop at the store both before and after the event

In addition, include a list of articles and positive reviews about the book, showing the book is of high interest.



As part of the pitch, give potential dates and time that you could do this presentation (make sure this matches the location’s hours of business). Give plenty of lead time so you can promote your book in the local media. The best time for an event is the evening, about 7-8:30 pm on weekdays and Saturday, or during the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday. Avoid readings on any night that there are big football games or sports playoffs, holidays (including Jewish holidays), and other local events that might reduce your attendance. A scheduling side note: Don’t double up times, trying to book yourself at two places in one time slot or schedule yourself in one day at locations that are too far apart to reach; typically, one event a day is plenty, and will be exhausting enough for you.



During your phone call, offer to meet with the manager to further discuss the book and make arrangements. When done with the call or after any personal meeting, follow up with an email to the manager thanking them for their time.



While most venues will be interested, do expect rejection. Don’t fret about it; some stores and libraries have policies against holding such events, and some managers simply have no experience organizing such events. In the case of the latter, call back in six months and see if there is renewed interest; usually there will be a new manager at the store, and that person may be more knowledgeable about the business and willing to do the signing.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Editing client releases action-adventure novel

A recent
editing
client of mine, George Ulysses Grayhouse, has published his first novel, “Demons of the Forest.” When Mia, a Turkish exchange student in the United States, and her boyfriend Matt, the stepson of the President of the United States, travel to her homeland to visit her dying great-grandfather, the visit becomes much more mysterious than they could have ever imagined. Guarded by Secret Service agents, joined by Matt's younger brother Tommy and college professors, Mia and Matt find themselves on the path to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever found - and the love they had always hoped for. “Demons of the Forest” is available for online.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Editing client releases his first humor novel

An editing
client of mine has published the first in his set of three humor books about growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. Steve Lytle’s “The First Rat in Space” tells of his Grandma Bernie’s strange obsession, playground experiments gone horribly wrong, and his torment of a 7-Eleven clerk with anger management problems. Lytle is a stand-up comic; “The First Rat in Space” is the first in his “The Scourge of Greenbriar” books. The book is available for purchase online.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Watch for consistency errors in your story

As a novelist
or short story writer, among your chief goals is to establish and maintain a fictional dream, which occurs when readers actually feel like they are experiencing what is being read. One way to achieve that is to establish consistency in your story.




Consistency involves providing details that maintain readers’ illusion of being in a different world. A number of different writers have used different terms to explain consistency; among them is Ursula K. LeGuin’s “from Elfland to Poughkeepsie.”



Consistency is more than saying on one page that the sun rises in the north and then three pages later saying it rises in the south. While that inconsistency certainly would need to be corrected, you’ll want to think even deeper about your story.



For example, story details also can contradict one another because facts established in one part wouldn’t allow for facts presented later in the story to be true. In science fiction stories, this might occur when a civilization that’s suffered a global nuclear war is still capable of spaceflight. The odds are against this occurring, because the infrastructure to support spaceflight (the manufacturing of space parts and ship fuel) and the launch facilities probably wouldn’t exist if the war destroyed cities.



When writing your story, watch for these common consistency errors:

g Inadequate background – Characters should have the experience to possess certain knowledge or to solve certain problems. For example, would someone who has never picked up a gun in his life know how to aim and fire it let alone hit the target?

g Excessive luck/coincidence – The main character should be able to resolve the story’s problem not because they got lucky but because of their skills, talents and grit.

g Insufficient background motivation – For a character to be in a situation or to make a decision, they must have experienced something in their past that allows them to be involved. A teenage boy shouldn’t know the correct strategy to win a war, for example – but he might if he were a history buff and his father had served as a military officer.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Some plots about search for a ‘macguffin’

Not all
stories are about restoring order in the universe or overcoming some personal conflict. Sometimes the plot revolves around the search for an item that will elevate the main character’s position in the world or will prevent an evil force from gaining the upper hand. This item is called a macguffin, a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock.



The macguffin could be a chalice that promises immortality (King Arthur’s holy grail stories), the One Ring (“Lord of the Rings”), a valuable piece of art (“The Maltese Falcon”), a magic jewel, a secret formula – anything that is so highly desired that it creates obstacles and challenges for the main character who tries to obtain it.



If using a macguffin in your story, two questions must be answered. First, why is the object valuable? If the importance (and usually the exoticness) of the object is explained, the reader will quickly lose interest as the story has little point. After all, every one of us spends time looking for mundane objects. A second question to answer is why are the characters motivated to obtain the macguffin? To say the object is valuable is not enough, for one man’s treasure often is another man’s junk. Usually a character needs some overwhelming reason to desire an object, such as the thirst for immortality or a desperate need for money.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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How to find a literary agent for your book

If you’ve
decided that finding a literary agent to obtain a publisher for your book is the best route for you, you’re faced with a new dilemma: Where to find one.



There are a number of routes you could go:

g Book listings – Before the Internet age, thick tomes published by Writers Digest and other organizations were the place to go. A number of such books still are being published and are available through a search as Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. You can read through them for free at a bookstore or a library (though the latter usually has old, outdated versions). The upside to these books is that the book publisher solicits responses from the literary agents, so you know in one quick place if the agent is seeking work, the types of work they’re looking for, their submission preferences, mailing addresses and more. The downside is that these responses often were solicited months before the book went to print, so they can quickly become outdated.

g Website – Any number of websites list literary agents, typically with similar information to what you’d find in the published tomes. Sometimes these websites are not regularly updated, however. In addition, some of these sites simply copy information from the above mentioned books or other websites, meaning errors creep into the entries. Two sites I recommend for finding good lists of literary agents include: Writers.Net and AgentQuery.

g Find your own – There are a couple of options here. First, type into a search engine “literary agent AND” and the genre in which your book fits. So, if the book is a mystery, type “literary agents AND mystery”. You’ll find a variety of lists maintained by magazines and writers of that genre, all of varying quality, but that are very specific to your needs. A second option is to look at the acknowledgements or introduction pages of books that are very similar to yours in genre and style. Identify the name of those writers’ literary agents, then locate online that agents’ address. You’ve just found a potential agent who specializes in the kind of book you’ve written.
I know of writers who’ve found agents using every one of these methods. Give the one that you think will work best for you a try!



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Mastering the fine art of dialogue punctuation

Many
novice writers use punctuation marks haphazardly in their dialogue. The problem is they haven't yet mastered the fine art of punctuating dialogue.




Which punctuation mark you use largely depends on two factors:

g What is the typical, standard mark that should go in that spot in a sentence to improve readability

g What kind of pause the writer wants in the dialogue



For example, the comma might be used to set apart listed items and also suggests a typical pause when speaking. For example: “Aunt Janie brought paper plates, napkins, and plasticware to the picnic.” Most speakers in real life would pause a tic more after the words “plates” and “napkins” than they would between the words “Janie brought.”



A semicolon is perfectly appropriate in dialogue if you’re showing two complete sentences that are connected via closely linked thoughts and if the pause in speaking is a tic shorter than sentences set off by a period and capital letters. For example: “You will become light itself; the holy stream will carry you to the endless kingdom” shows the speaker is saying the words with less of a pause than if it were written as “You will become light itself. The holy stream will carry you to the endless kingdom.”



A dash shows a tic longer of a pause than a semicolon. For example: “So, do you think you have kicked it – the pills?” That extra tic occurs in this case because the speaker doesn't quite want to say certain words (“the pills”) but needs to say them to clarify or to show that she possesses intimate knowledge.



Ellipses, however, show a few tics longer of a pause than a dash. For example: “The key to being powerful is the ability to manipulate yourself…by creating something good for your…situations…for your relationships.” In this case, the extra pauses suggest that the speaker is thinking carefully about how to choose her words in what is a single sentence.



Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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