Florence Witkop's Blog, page 62

Write Fiction Like A Pro

Tips and techniques to improve your fiction.

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I’m writing this on a small table in th

I’m writing this on a small table in the living room. Sometimes I write at the kitchen table, which is much larger, sometimes at the library table I treasure, sometimes in the computer room that was included when we built our house just so I’d have a place to work. But that was before I started using laptops.

Laptops are great because they can be used anywhere. There are lots of ads featuring writers working on laptops while enjoying the sun on a beach in some sunny climate.

Forget the ads. They have it wrong.

That sand can be a problem. Did you ever try writing on a laptop while sitting in sand? Your back will soon ache. Your laptop will soon be covered with sand and probably become useless. The sun is hot and makes you squint. And when you finally stand up, your legs tend not to work well. Not to mention that the water is so inviting that you wonder why you’re sitting in a cramped position instead of enjoying a swim.

Trust me about this, I’ve tried the sandy beach thing but I didn’t try it for long. Same with writing on the deck. That lasted a little longer, but not much.

Any writer who has ever tried the beach thing… or the deck thing… will tell you that the best place to work is in a climate-controlled room sitting in a comfortable office chair that can be adjusted however you want at a large table that will hold a lot of stuff. Research papers. Coffee. Lunch. Cats. Tissues if you have a cold.

So much for those ads. They don’t reflect the real world.

I started out writing romances. At least

I started out writing romances. At least I thought I was writing romances. Turned out they weren’t romances after all but it was a while before I realized that. It was liberating when I figured out that I didn’t have to push the main characters together whether they wanted to be pushed or not.

But it presented another problem.

Romances are the best-selling fiction genre, generating half of all book sales. The genre sells so well and is so well organized that all a romance writer has to do is type ‘romance writer’ online and enough information comes up to get that writer published. The mystery genre is somewhat similar, though there aren’t quite so many sources of information and so is the science fiction field. But when you go farther afield, the information is harder to find.

I often wonder why this is so and I’ve never heard any reasons. There used to be something called ‘mainstream.’ I haven’t seen that label used for a while so I don’t know if it still exists as a genre or not. I suspect it was once what everything was dumped into that couldn’t be categorized easily.

I find that I enjoy writing a story without wondering what genre it fits into. And I’m learning that there are a lot of fiction genres out there just waiting for good stories.

I’ve been thinking of that indefinable

I’ve been thinking of that indefinable spark some writers have. The thing that makes their writing stand out from the works of others. I don’t know what that spark consists of but I know that it exists. I know that any writer of mediocre talent who is willing to work hard and be professional can make money as a professional writer. But I also know that there’s still a difference between such a person and the writer who happens to have that special spark that comes across in his or her writing and makes readers laugh or cry and remember what they read forever.

I don’t know whether I have that spark or not. I guess it’s okay if I don’t have it because I’m doing what I want and pursuing a career as a writer. But sometimes in the dark of the night I wonder. Some day maybe I’ll know.

Wolf Legend will soon be advertised. It

Wolf Legend will soon be advertised. It’s out in the world. Ready or not, sink or swim and I’m terrified. I know the story is good, I know the writing is adequate. Unrelated people who have no reason to say anything other than the truth have said so.

But selling is different from writing. Sales can only take place if people know the story exists and if that story is the kind people want to read. And that can only happen if the people who want to read Wolf Legend happen to be the same people who visit the sites that are advertising it on the days it’s being advertised.

It’s almost too much to think about. To comprehend. I’d like to hug the wolf pup Snowball and tell her not to feel bad if no one loves her because I love her.

It’s a cold winter. The frost is alread

It’s a cold winter. The frost is already six to eight feet deep in the ground and it’s only February. I hope the water lines don’t freeze. I’d hate to have to melt snow for water. But the weather promises to be warmer than it has been so far, so that’s hopeful.

The funny thing is, I still love winter. It’s still my favorite season. Don’t know why, it just is. Maybe because winter provides hot cocoa and fireplace occasions. In fact, I think I have some cocoa in the cupboard. Think I’ll make some and watch the snowflakes drift past the window, turning the outside world clean and white once more.

Stories are sneaky. They can seem to be

Stories are sneaky. They can seem to be about one thing while sending an entirely different message to the reader. That different thing is sometimes called the plot, Sometimes it’s called the theme.

I call it the focus, that thing that was in the writer’s mind while crafting the story and it can be no more than an emotion. But the reader will pick up on it.

I sometimes write dystopian stories. Down From the Mountain is one such story. It ends with a group of people setting out to eradicate all of mankind except themselves. Survival of the fittest. Us or them. A universal theme and one I didn’t know I had in me until I was finished with the story.

Writing can be scary. I can make you look at yourself closer than you’d wish.

Watching the Olympics, I thought about h

Watching the Olympics, I thought about how hard the athletes work to get to the top of their sport. Some work very hard, making their sport the center of their lives, moving to wherever is the best place to train, leaving family behind, making their sport their full-time job and doing whatever else is necessary to make it to the Olympics. Others spend their spare time perfecting something they enjoy as a past-time. Think of the difference between figure skating and curling. One is often a full-time job, the other is merely a rather demanding past-time.

Writing is like that. Some stories grab you and keep you at the computer until it’s on paper. Others can be dabbled at during spare moments whenever there is time. Sometimes the writer knows what is ahead, as when much research is required, other times it’s a complete surprise when the story takes over their life.

Either way, though, as in the Olympics, the result is what’s important. That well-crafted product that says and does what the writer hoped for at the beginning.

I think Earth Legend will be such a story. It began as a quickie romance that I decided to set on a space ship because I like space ships. It is a romance, that part is surprisingly integral to the plot, but it’s more. It’s also a statement about humanity moving beyond our home planet and that was a big surprise to me. Not a big statement, I’m not into that kind of thing, I just tell stories, but there’s no doubt that the space ship Goliath is carrying people to a new life beyond the solar system.

Which brings me to another subject. The working name for the space ship is Goliath. I’m not sure it’s the right name, however, because David slew Goliath and I don’t want this ship to have any such problems. If anyone has a better name for a behemoth of a space ship, let me know. I could use the help.

It’s possible to create a villain in a

It’s possible to create a villain in a story without designing a terrible person because villains don’t have to be people. It depends on the story, of course, but the elements, animals, birds, fish, natural disasters, spirits, ghosts and goblins make great villains. All those things and more can wreak havoc as easily as people can.

Some stories that come to mind are The Old Man and the Sea, The Birds, the movie 2012 and any story about demonic possession to name just a few.

I like such villains. I don’t have to turn a perfectly nice person into someone nasty. But it depends on the story. Some stories require human villains. Some don’t. But my personal feelings on the subject are part of the reason I tend to write about spirits (Spirit Legend), ghosts (When Dreams Come True), nasty animals (Wanted Sharpshooter) and self-aware plants (Earth Legend). And I’ll probably continue to do so in future stories.

Villains are difficult to portray. They

Villains are difficult to portray. They must be villainous but they must also be believable. No black hats and mustaches, today’s villains must come complete with good and bad traits that come in a combination that makes their goals diametrically opposed to the goals of the main character. Hence the conflict in the story.. Those traits must be portrayed so the reader cheers for the demise of a villain that was a worthy opponent of the main character. And they must be so well-matched that the outcome is in doubt until the climax. of the story

Whew!!! That’s asking a lot from a writer.

I struggle with villains. I’ve always believed in the good in people so I tend to make even villains too likable. Which creates a problem later on in the story when the villain must be thrown under the bus. Or in jail. Or wherever. Occasionally I’ve rewritten an entire story to accommodate the new character that started out as the villain. Then, of course, I had to find a new villain. It makes writing interesting.