Gay Ingram's Blog, page 2
July 15, 2011
Concluding a Short Story
Each ending must be the strongest point of your story. Don't make your ending too easy, vague or too conclusive.
Remember, your protagonist should be changed by the plot's happenings, or have been faced with the opportunity to change. Choice or struggle are important elements of the story.
Don't end with the death of the character. The struggle is life, not death.
It's not what an ending means that's important, but how it means. The best endings never close, they open. Keep the reader thinking and imagining about your character long after the words end.
An unexpected twist in the plot or character's behavior makes for a good ending. But don't use it for shock value.
Surprise endings work best when they evoke irony, anguish, pity or wonder at human capacity.
Don't leave your reader hanging; their natural impulse is to applaud when the story has a satisfying ending
The perfect ending should flow naturally from the events that have preceded it.
Remember, your protagonist should be changed by the plot's happenings, or have been faced with the opportunity to change. Choice or struggle are important elements of the story.
Don't end with the death of the character. The struggle is life, not death.
It's not what an ending means that's important, but how it means. The best endings never close, they open. Keep the reader thinking and imagining about your character long after the words end.
An unexpected twist in the plot or character's behavior makes for a good ending. But don't use it for shock value.
Surprise endings work best when they evoke irony, anguish, pity or wonder at human capacity.
Don't leave your reader hanging; their natural impulse is to applaud when the story has a satisfying ending
The perfect ending should flow naturally from the events that have preceded it.
July 9, 2011
The Arc of a Short Story
A story is held together by the shape into which the elements of fascinating characters, witty dialog and lyrical scenes are combined.
You have a first draft completed. But is it a satisfying story? Here are some questions to consider.
What does your main character want? Why? The fulfillment of a hope raises the stakes.
Does the story have a beginning, a middle and an end? Do the events expose the hidden hope the character seeks?
Does the story have the makings of a central metaphor as it is explored and used in the story? Not necessarily required, a metaphor can be hidden from obvious view yet add richness and depth of texture.
A well-shaped story should look somewhat like a bell curve. The setup and complications occur at the beginning of the bell; the rising action takes up the dome; and the climax and denouement occur as the bell winds down at the other end.
Rising action is the meat of the story and requires the bulk of the weight.
The climax should be brief by comparison. Don't make the mistake of dragging out your ending.
You have a first draft completed. But is it a satisfying story? Here are some questions to consider.
What does your main character want? Why? The fulfillment of a hope raises the stakes.
Does the story have a beginning, a middle and an end? Do the events expose the hidden hope the character seeks?
Does the story have the makings of a central metaphor as it is explored and used in the story? Not necessarily required, a metaphor can be hidden from obvious view yet add richness and depth of texture.
A well-shaped story should look somewhat like a bell curve. The setup and complications occur at the beginning of the bell; the rising action takes up the dome; and the climax and denouement occur as the bell winds down at the other end.
Rising action is the meat of the story and requires the bulk of the weight.
The climax should be brief by comparison. Don't make the mistake of dragging out your ending.
July 1, 2011
Overcome Synopsis Fear
Synopsis: an element of a fiction book proposal that offers a complete summary of the book you'd like to sell.
There are five essential elements all synopses must include.
Give a clear layout of the story-line. Establish the setting, physical time and place, and other essential information needful to understanding the main plot line.
Indicate why this book needed writing. A thorough synopsis will demonstrate the book's theme, so don't go overboard in explaining.
Give a sense of the novel's structure. Help the editor get a feel for the way the plot, characterization, theme and subplots weave together.
Other helpful hints to keep in mind: keep your total package within guideline limits.
Send consecutive chapters to help the editor judge how well you shape chapters or handle transitions.
Your synopsis may be the most important document you write concerning your novel.
There are five essential elements all synopses must include.
Give a clear layout of the story-line. Establish the setting, physical time and place, and other essential information needful to understanding the main plot line.
Indicate why this book needed writing. A thorough synopsis will demonstrate the book's theme, so don't go overboard in explaining.
Give a sense of the novel's structure. Help the editor get a feel for the way the plot, characterization, theme and subplots weave together.
Other helpful hints to keep in mind: keep your total package within guideline limits.
Send consecutive chapters to help the editor judge how well you shape chapters or handle transitions.
Your synopsis may be the most important document you write concerning your novel.
June 24, 2011
The Ten Commandments
I Thou Shalt Write
II Thou Shalt Learn to Write Well
III Thou shalt Learn About the Publishing Business
IV Thou Shalt Follow Advise When Submitting
V Thou Shalt Revise Happily
VI Thou Shalt Seek Agents and Editor Knowledgeably
VII Thou Shalt Learn to Use Rejection
VIII Thou Shalt Not Irritate Agents Nor Editors
IX Thou Shalt Learn How to Wait
X Thou Shalt Refrain Yourself Until Published Work is at Hand
II Thou Shalt Learn to Write Well
III Thou shalt Learn About the Publishing Business
IV Thou Shalt Follow Advise When Submitting
V Thou Shalt Revise Happily
VI Thou Shalt Seek Agents and Editor Knowledgeably
VII Thou Shalt Learn to Use Rejection
VIII Thou Shalt Not Irritate Agents Nor Editors
IX Thou Shalt Learn How to Wait
X Thou Shalt Refrain Yourself Until Published Work is at Hand
June 18, 2011
Quick 5 Point Query Check List
Before you send out your next query, run it through this Five Point
Quick Quick Query Check List:
1.Do I address an actual person in my salutation?
2.Does my first paragraph instantly grab the reader's attention?
3.Does my next paragraph keep my reader interested?
4.Does my next paragraph properly introduce me as a writer and present my skills as a benefit to the reader?
5.Do I include a compelling call to action and make it effortless for the reader to contact me?
My thanks to Beth Erickson of Writing Etc. for use of the above.
writingetc@aweber.com
Quick Quick Query Check List:
1.Do I address an actual person in my salutation?
2.Does my first paragraph instantly grab the reader's attention?
3.Does my next paragraph keep my reader interested?
4.Does my next paragraph properly introduce me as a writer and present my skills as a benefit to the reader?
5.Do I include a compelling call to action and make it effortless for the reader to contact me?
My thanks to Beth Erickson of Writing Etc. for use of the above.
writingetc@aweber.com
June 12, 2011
Cover Letter Pointers
Write in a friendly, self-confident tone. Bypass the cutesy and over-familiar. Be Professional.
List any qualifications, relevant previous publication credits, writing credentials, especially if you've studied with a prominent person, or on-the-job experience that would lend credence to this particular manuscript or even what inspired the writing of this book.
Follow submission requirements to the letter. Your synopsis should provide a thumbnail sketch of who, what, where, when and why--the theme, setting, principal players, all in a few sentences.
The point of a cover letter is to introduce yourself and your work. It is the sample of your work that you include which will clinch the deal.
List any qualifications, relevant previous publication credits, writing credentials, especially if you've studied with a prominent person, or on-the-job experience that would lend credence to this particular manuscript or even what inspired the writing of this book.
Follow submission requirements to the letter. Your synopsis should provide a thumbnail sketch of who, what, where, when and why--the theme, setting, principal players, all in a few sentences.
The point of a cover letter is to introduce yourself and your work. It is the sample of your work that you include which will clinch the deal.
June 3, 2011
Help Readers 'See' Your Story
Fiction is most effective when readers can see vividly what it is you're describing on the page.
Scenes need to hook the reader, make us eager to find out what happens next. A scene needs to be a unified action with its own beginning, middle and end, usually taking place in a single location, in a single period of time. A scene should be a mini-play with its own powerful climax and resolution.
Filmmakers can serve as helpful guides to writers striving to achieve 'visual language.Use visual elements to capture the electricity, tension, and suspense.Try to write your scene with out adjectives, using instead really strong verbs. Help your reader learn about your characters by way of descriptive traits.
Use the elements of plot, characterization, tone, point of view, voice, etc. to tell your stories in the most compelling way possible.
Scenes need to hook the reader, make us eager to find out what happens next. A scene needs to be a unified action with its own beginning, middle and end, usually taking place in a single location, in a single period of time. A scene should be a mini-play with its own powerful climax and resolution.
Filmmakers can serve as helpful guides to writers striving to achieve 'visual language.Use visual elements to capture the electricity, tension, and suspense.Try to write your scene with out adjectives, using instead really strong verbs. Help your reader learn about your characters by way of descriptive traits.
Use the elements of plot, characterization, tone, point of view, voice, etc. to tell your stories in the most compelling way possible.
May 27, 2011
Choose Your Verb Tense Wisely
A novelist's key concern is to create an east-to-read balance between writing in summary, exposition, or writing in scene, action.
Exposition is a form of summary, any words in your story that are not dramatizing an action.
Action, on the other hand, are specifically tied to the movements of characters in scenes.
The tense of the verb in use indicates whether we are writing summary or scene.
Developing a working knowledge of verb tenses, you can apply this information to create and control the balance between summary and action in your work.
Compound tenses define the moments either before or after the dramatic present, and the simple tenses reveal the dramatic present.
An example:
'is doing' is a compound tense of the verb. Use of a compound verb indicates the sentence is summary.
"bends " is the simple tense of the verb and describes her specific action in the scene.
In most cases, tenses function in this matter, giving you the author, a means to consciously strengthen and control the balance between summary and action in your story.
Exposition is a form of summary, any words in your story that are not dramatizing an action.
Action, on the other hand, are specifically tied to the movements of characters in scenes.
The tense of the verb in use indicates whether we are writing summary or scene.
Developing a working knowledge of verb tenses, you can apply this information to create and control the balance between summary and action in your work.
Compound tenses define the moments either before or after the dramatic present, and the simple tenses reveal the dramatic present.
An example:
'is doing' is a compound tense of the verb. Use of a compound verb indicates the sentence is summary.
"bends " is the simple tense of the verb and describes her specific action in the scene.
In most cases, tenses function in this matter, giving you the author, a means to consciously strengthen and control the balance between summary and action in your story.
May 21, 2011
Finding The Stories
The stories that live within us do not move in straight lines, no more than our lives do. They move in circles, so it is wise to learn to listen, even write, in circles. There are stories inside stories, between stories; stories that may be incorporated into poetry, prose, or short stories--yes, even novels.
Finding them, finding our way through them is as hard as finding our way home. Part of the finding is the getting lost. When we're lost, we become attentive to our surroundings; the sounds, the sights, the contradictions and the likenesses.
This has been paraphrased from WRITING FOR YOUR LIFE by Deena Metzer. If you aren't familiar with this book I highly recommend it to writers of all genres.Writing for Your Life: Discovering the Story of Your Life's Journey
Finding them, finding our way through them is as hard as finding our way home. Part of the finding is the getting lost. When we're lost, we become attentive to our surroundings; the sounds, the sights, the contradictions and the likenesses.
This has been paraphrased from WRITING FOR YOUR LIFE by Deena Metzer. If you aren't familiar with this book I highly recommend it to writers of all genres.Writing for Your Life: Discovering the Story of Your Life's Journey
May 18, 2011
A Few Notes on Story
A story, like an Oriental carpet, is a pattern and everything in it is supposed to contribute to the design. Ultimately, something should happen in your story; some difference should be made.
But real life is not perfectly ordered–real life is messily patterned, if patterned at all. Fiction that is too neatly patterned will not feel real.
A plot is nothing more than a recap of what your characters do. Plot arises out of opposing forces–forces that come out of the characters. The actions of the characters must have significance; what gives significance to actions is to take the characters toward some kind of resolution from whatever predicament they may be facing. Events happen to,and because of people/characters.
The people you are writing about cause things to happen. The action must follow from some knowledge imparted about the characters. Your character must do that specific “something” because it is the only thing they can do in a given situation, because of who they are rather than because that is what you, the author, wants them to do.
When plot problems occur and our characters refuse to do what we ask of them, it usually means the author is thinking about how the author would handle the problem, not how the character would. If you create characters that are strikingly different from each other will greatly eliminate plotting problems.
But real life is not perfectly ordered–real life is messily patterned, if patterned at all. Fiction that is too neatly patterned will not feel real.
A plot is nothing more than a recap of what your characters do. Plot arises out of opposing forces–forces that come out of the characters. The actions of the characters must have significance; what gives significance to actions is to take the characters toward some kind of resolution from whatever predicament they may be facing. Events happen to,and because of people/characters.
The people you are writing about cause things to happen. The action must follow from some knowledge imparted about the characters. Your character must do that specific “something” because it is the only thing they can do in a given situation, because of who they are rather than because that is what you, the author, wants them to do.
When plot problems occur and our characters refuse to do what we ask of them, it usually means the author is thinking about how the author would handle the problem, not how the character would. If you create characters that are strikingly different from each other will greatly eliminate plotting problems.
