Florence Witkop's Blog, page 48

How can I introduce and describe and multiple characters in the same room?

 It can be done, but it’s best to follow the rule of three. This rule exists because few writers are good enough to write a scene containing more than three characters without their readers becoming confused. So limit your scene to three characters or less if you want your story to actually be read and understood.

How, you ask, can I limit a scene to three characters when there are many, many more characters that must interact in that scene? It’s easy.

 

Put your characters into groups so you have no more than three groups. Then go ahead and write your scene, except instead of describing individual characters, describe which group that character is a part of. It won’t matter which specific character is carrying the story, all that will matter is which group of characters is involved.

You can mention a character’s name to introduce the name to your readers but be sure that the reader understands which group that character belongs to.

If there are more than three groups, then your story is possibly too complex to be understood by any casual reader and should be changed. Simplified. Honed. Slimmed down.

What are the best ways to improve writing skills as a beginner?

I’m sure you’ll get this answer from all kinds of writers, but it bears repeating:

Read, read, read. But zero in on the kinds of things you want to write because, after a while, you’ll start seeing patterns that will hold true for that kind of writing. Pay attention, even start jotting down what you think you see and then start taking everything apart and figuring out how it was done.
Write, write, write, and while you are writing, refer to those notes you jotted down to make sure you are doing the things those other writers did that was so appropriate for that kind of writing that it not only got published, but also was read (which is even more important in today’s world of self-publishing where tons of things are published but few are actually read).
If you wish to hone your skills, read a book about the craft of writing (I wrote such a book but it’s just one of many that will do the job) or take a class. Or several classes. And find out what you have been doing right and what you might consider changing.
Go back and read some more and write some more.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 for as long as you are a writer because you’ll never stop learning.

WRITERS MUST BE CRAZY

I definitely believe this, especially now. The thing is, I’m a writer.

But:

I absolutely cannot learn the technology behind internet marketing. I recently spent two days — two whole days — figuring out how to get a newsletter out using Mailchimp. Now, according to other writers, Mailchimp is easy to use. Takes a few minutes to get anything out, which is partly why they use it. (The other part is because there’s a free option.)

So how’s that for crazy? Spending two days doing what should only take fifteen minutes? Yet I did it because I was told that all writers need a newsletter.

Like I said, writers must be crazy.

How do I properly write my characters’ thoughts in first person in a third person book?

Normally, it’s done by putting the character’s thoughts in italics. A simple, elegant solution that readers understand because it’s done so often that it’s almost a rule.

How can I motivate myself to finish writing a novel?

 By doing whatever you do to motivate yourself to do all the many things you don’t really want to do but must, including but not limited to:



Putting it aside for a while and then returning to it, reading it, and realizing it’s better than you thought and deserves to be finished.
Figuring out what’s wrong with it that your mind can’t grapple with. What kink in the plot was wrong all along that needs to be fixed so you can finish it and wrap up all loose ends. This is the big one, the one that many writers find is the problem because all stories point to the end and sometimes they fall apart and simply can’t be finished until something is changed.
Meditating because it kind of frees your mind to think it through to the end.
Having a friend read it and tell you to finish it so they’ll know how it ends.

Do pets sense our emotions?

Yes, they do. They are more aware of our emotions than we realize. At least that’s what my son-in-law, the animal person who managed an animal shelter for a while, says and I’m sure that he’s right.

Once, when I was just a bit depressed — nothing special, just a down day — the family dog came to where I was sitting on the couch, jumped up beside me and lay her head on my lap and stayed that way until I started to smile. Then she jumped back down and went on her way.

Another time, as I went to bed, my cat, who sleeps at the foot of the bed, came up and curled up beside me and stayed that way all night. As before, it had been a down day and he knew it and acted accordingly.

So my wip, A Very Black Cat, is right on when the cat character knows what people are thinking and acts accordingly.

Have you ever felt that the story you were writing was not good? What did you do then?

 I feel that way about a lot of the stories I write. My current wip (work in progress) is an example. It’s a good story but thin and I have a word count to meet that requires more words than the story does!

So I’m doing what I do in such situations and what you might consider doing also if and when you are in a similar situation.

Sit down with your outline, synopsis, or whatever you use to lay the story out. Then simply stare at it until you lose your mind or figure out more action/scenes/characters/disasters to include.

This works, not only because it adds words to the story — my current reason — but also because that action provides ideas that improve the story itself. Makes it more complex. Digs deeper into it. Includes twists and turns that make a boring story interesting.

Good luck and I could use a bit of luck right now too!

Witches, Warlocks and Black Cats, oh my

One of the main characters in my wip (work-in-progress) is a black cat named Little Guy. He’s totally black. Not a speck of any other color on him.

Little Guy was found as a kitten, abandoned, in an alley.

The reason this is important to the story is that the heroine’s best friend is superstitious and decides that Little Guy is a familar. A witch’s cat. Or, in this case, a warlock’s because, as the story progresses, the friend decides that Little Guy deliberately chose to live with the heroine because she works for a warlock.

Did he? Is Tobias a warlock or simply a nice boss?

And is Little Guy a familiar? (Diabolical laughter here.)

Only the author knows and she’s not telling. Yet.

How do I get started as an author of books that people buy?

I like that you asked about books people buy because writing a book  that sells is a whole different animal from writing a book for your own enjoyment:



Read the best books in the genre you wish to write in.
Choose a best-selling book in that genre and take it apart. How is it structured? How long are most books in that genre? How many characters (if it’s fiction) are there and how are they described? How much description is in the book? How fast does the story move? Everything you can think of.
Learn the craft of writing. Yes, writing is a craft and any craft can be learned. Buy a book, take a class, go to a workshop. Or all of those and more but make sure they teach you about your chosen genre because one genre can be totally opposite a different one.
While you are learning, compare what you are learning to what you figured out when you took that book apart. The lessons you are taking will tell you the ‘why’ of what you’ve already figured out about your chosen genre and that will help you know how to write your own book.
Then write your best-seller.

Is it ok to write in 1st and third person for a novel?

Sure. It’s done a lot.

The secret is to make sure the reader knows which POV you are using at the time. One common way to do this is to simply write which POV is being used at the beginning of a chapter, as a chapter title, and then make sure that POV is used through that whole chapter.

You can switch in the middle of chapters — or vary POVs by paragraphs — but that’s a little more complicated for the reader so make sure he/she knows who’s doing and saying what.

When you are done writing, go back and read what you wrote. If you don’t know who is who, then your reader definitely won’t. Or, better yet, have an honest friend read it and see what they say. Just make sure you are asking them ONLY to determine if it’s easy to know which POV you are using so you won’t end up with a complete critique of your work that wasn’t what you wanted!