Billy Franks's Blog: A Far Cry from Sunset, page 7

Brandon Sanderson Lecture 1: Intro to Sci-Fi/Fantasy Writing

This is post #26 of 26 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

In which Brandon introduces his winter 2012 class at Brigham Young University on creative writing for science fiction and fantasy authors.

Writing Tips – Effective Scene Changes (Transitions)

This is post #25 of 26 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

Writing Tips – Effective Scene Changes (Transitions)

Most new writers have problems with scene changes (transitions). A smooth scene transition will encourage your readers to keep reading, whereas a sudden scene change can jolt your reader out of the story.

Transitions

What connects one scene to the next? A transition, which can be either a word or sentence that links one scene to the next. If you want to connect sentences, use transitional words, to connect scenes employ the use of transitional phrases or sentences.

The Purpose of Transitions

Transitions move your story forward. A sign of poor use of transitions would be if your reader gets lost in your story or novel, and needs to go back to the start and re-read what you had written earlier. This may be caused by other problems too, but poorly executed scene changes are often at fault. Quick scene changes, without the proper use of transitional phrases, can leave your readers wondering where the story is heading.

If you use transitions well, you will inspire confidence in your readers. They will know they can trust that your characters will stay connected to the story. Even if your story has muliple POV’s (point of view) those reading will be assured that you’ll come back to the other characters at some point further on. You won’t leave any character lost in the forest, or lying hurt and bleeding for too long. There will be a closure to their particular thread.

Have you ever read a novel that was written in real-time? Probably not. There are always instances in your characters life which do not need to be chronicled; for example, the seven hours spent sleeping; trips to the bathroom; the days or weeks in your story when nothing much happens to them. Transitions come to your rescue, they aid you in moving your characters either forward in time or to new locations.

Author’s Responsibility to their Readers

It is best to wait until your novel or story is finished to add and adjust transitions and scene changes. Start at the beginning and read over the beginning of every scene change, working your way through scenes and chapters. Are your scene changes clearly identified?

Just as you do your best to use correct punctuation, spelling and follow the rules of grammar when writing, you should also endeavor to clearly identify all scene changes. People will not read your novel if it is poorly punctuated, words are misspelled, or there are gaping holes in your plot. They won’t continue reading it if you mishandle scene changes either.

Clearly Setting the Scene

One idea for making sure the scene change is clearly marked is to describe your character and their surroundingsin the opening paragraph.

Bob Mayer (author and writing instructor) described one technique for doing this:

“When you start a new chapter or change perspective, you have to quickly (in first two paragraphs usually) orient the reader as to:

-Where is the locale?

-When in the timeline is this, with relation to the previous

scene?

-What is the point of view, and if it is a character’s, which character?

-Who is here?

Answering those questions “sets” the scene.”

You can also use a brief narrative to set the scene. You can use your character’s thoughts to show the reader how they felt about the previous scene, or their thoughts about what is to happen.

Visual Scene Dividers

Visual dividers are less often used for quick scene changes or when you switch the story to another character’s perspective.

The standard way to mark a scene break in your manuscript, so your editor or publisher will know there is a scene break, is with one #. These signs don’t remain in the published manuscript, they’re usually replaced by either more white space or a specific graphic break.

Was Your Scene Transition Successful?

If you can ask someone to read the section of writing in question and formulate a plot summary for it you can soon learn whether your scene transitions were successful. If all the elements in the series of connected scenes are included in the summary, you have nothing to worry about. However, if it is difficult for the reader to summarize the section, parts remain a blur, or they had to refer to the beginning of the chapter, or reread another earlier scene to make sense of the summary, you may need to look at your use of transition.

Samantha Chase Write and Sell Romance Indie Authors

This is post #24 of 26 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

Write and Sell Romance Indie Authors

Writing A Book For The First Time – Easy Habits To Help You Finish That Book

This is post #23 of 26 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

Writing A Book For The First Time – Easy Habits To Help You Finish That Book

If you’re either thinking of writing a book for the first time, or you are in the early stages of writing, remember, it’s not going to write itself. Maybe you’ve always dreamed of writing a book. It’s important to realize that you’re the only one that will make that dream come true. You can write a book more easily by starting to implement some habits into your life. If you’re serious about writing a book, here are some easy writing habits you need to begin using on a regular basis.

Habit #1 – Establish A Daily Writing Time

First, if you’re writing a book for the first time, it’s important that you establish a daily writing time. Get into the habit of writing on a regular basis. Even if you don’t write much, it’s important to develop this habit. Some days will be more difficult than others, but you have to at least dedicate some time to write. While you may write at other times, come up with a specific time frame when you write every day. Usually it’s best to start out with 30 minutes and then work your way up to a couple hours.

Habit #2 – Take Time To Brainstorm

While writing daily is an important habit, you also need to take time to brainstorm. No doubt, you’re engrossed in your book, but you need to have dedicated time in your schedule to think about your story and brainstorm new ideas for your book. Dedicate some time to brainstorming. It’s fine to do this while engaging in other tasks that don’t require thinking, such as while walking, cleaning, washing dishes, or even exercising.

Habit #3 – Write Down Ideas

It’s so easy to come up with great ideas, only to lose them because you didn’t write them down, this is especially true when writing and it can even happen to seasoned authors. Wherever you go, have a notebook with you so you can write down the ideas as they come to you. Maybe you think of a plot twist or hear some dialog from people around you that spurs off a brilliant idea. Don’t miss out on great ideas – write them down.

Habit #4 – Just Get Started

There will be plenty of days when you won’t feel like writing. Sometimes you may deal with writer’s block. You may have no idea what to write, but you still need to get started. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis or procrastination. Just start writing and often this will get you past blocks in writing. Simply starting to type can help you get going and you’ll find that the writing comes easier from there.

Unfortunately, most people who are interested in writing a book for the first time don’t realize that it takes real discipline. While writing comes easier at some times than at others, it’s always going to require some hard work and discipline on your part. However, if you can develop some good writing habits, it can make the process easier for you. Start out by adding these habits to your daily life and you’ll find that writing becomes easier as you go along.

Source by Anthony Stuart Price

Paul Auster Tips to Young Writers:

This is post #22 of 26 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

The novelist believes that it’s “the burning need to do it,” not to be praised, that spurs great writing.

Reasons Indie Authors Don’t Sell Books-Self-Publish Successfully

This is post #21 of 26 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

Agent Suzie Townsend: Writing a Great Novel

This is post #20 of 26 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

Literary Agent Suzie Townsend, of Fine Print Literary Management gives some great tips on writing your book.

Unusual Writing Tips

This is post #19 of 19 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

I’ve gotten lots of questions from you guys about my writing, so I thought I would give you some tips that you may not have heard before.

source

Book Writing For Beginners

This is post #18 of 19 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

I talked about writing a novel for a long, long time before I actually got around to doing any real book writing. I must have spent three to four years saying “I want to write a book” or “I should write a book” before I actually wrote down one serious word.

In the meantime, I kept journals, wrote short stories, wrote essays – essentially, I wrote anything that I could finish within a day or a month. I avoided anything that would take real discipline or commitment. Like writing my novel. I had no dreams of being discovered. I wasn’t really interested in being a famous writer. I just knew that I wanted to write a book. I even knew what it was going to be about.

I also read a lot of books about how to write. I told myself over and over that the research was what mattered. The technique mattered. I wasn’t…quite…ready…but once I read just one more book about writing, I’d get after it.

Things came to a head. I was too young to be having a mid-life crisis, but for some personal reasons, I vowed to quit procrastinating. I was not going to waste time talking about things I wanted to do. I was just going to do them. There would be no better validation of the new me than actually starting and finishing my book. It would be my symbol of triumph, or it would prove that I hadn’t changed at all.

Long story short, I spent the next three years writing that book. I self-published it to zero fanfare and little acclaim beyond my own satisfaction. And that was just fine.

Here is how I did it, which will not blow your mind at all: every day I wrote something. I did not hold myself to a word count, but I wrote something every single day and I did not go back to edit until I had an entire draft. The more words I wrote, the more paragraphs I had. Paragraphs soon turned into pages, and so on until I had a gigantic stack of papers sitting on my desk. I had done it.

I spent two of the three years re-writing the book. That was actually the most enjoyable part of the process for me, which was a huge surprise.

So if you want to write a book, I have some advice for you. Not as a famous author, just as a guy who finally figured out how to get it done: just get started and write something every day. Stop reading about writing and just write. Don’t worry about the quality. Just keep those fingers writing, or typing, with whatever tool you use.

Do not tell yourself that anything except writing is actually writing. There will be a time for research and revision. If the words are not appearing on the page, it’s not writing. Make that your mantra, even though it’s not catchy!

Enjoy the process, write every day, and you will have a book one day. It’s just simple math.

Source by Josh Hanagarne

Writing Tips – Trust, Let Go & Leap

This is post #17 of 19 in the series “Writing Tips For Authors & Bloggers”

When you sit down at the blank page or screen, you have three simple tasks:

Trust.

Let go.

Leap.

Trust.

Trust that each word that emerges is the correct and appropriate one. Don’t judge.

Trust your imagination.

Trust past your imagination, which has its own limits, and trust those creative sources that guide and inspire you.

Trust the unknown.

Trust the depths of a passion you may not even know you feel.

Trust the light that kindles your faith — your faith that one word will lead to the next, that two words will form a cogent and coherent thought, that each sentence will form part of a whole that is not visible in the writing of it.

It’s easy to get so caught up in the word of the moment, the word that doesn’t seem right or doesn’t seem to make sense, that you cannot see the whole. Of course you cannot, for the whole has not yet come into its wholeness.

Let the words tell their story, your story. Then wait until the story is done to discern (not judge) where the meaning lies.

Trust each writing situation — as you trust each living situation — to be in your highest good. And it will be. In time you will see the underlying wisdom of your words and will come to recognize the wisdom in your life.

Let go.

Let go of any expectation whatsoever, including the one that states that what you write today will have any value beyond today, that it will serve or aid or heal or pay, that it is anything but what it is on the page.

No expectations.

None.

Of anything.

At all.

Period.

Let go of all preconceptions of form. Don’t put your words into the straitjacket of a predetermined form. Your words will find their own shape and form. Your words will find their own place on the page, in the order and structure that suits them first and you second. You cannot always know that shape and form in advance.

Follow your fingers as they dance across your keyboard. Follow your words as they create the form that best suits your material, the structure that best suits your message, the message that best suits your readers.

No, this may not be the way other writing books tell you to write, particularly nonfiction. Outline, outline, outline, they say. There is a place for the outline. That place is not here, not now.

Sit down at the blank screen or blank page and let emerge what longs to emerge: those thoughts, ideas and miscellaneous strands that seem not to link with anything else. They do, even if the patterns elude you. The grand design will emerge…in the emerging of it.

Leap.

Leap onto that blank page and let your whole body fill it with its juices. You in your entirety. Your body. Your mind. Your soul. Your spirit. Your divinity.

Yes, your divinity. For every word you pen is an expression of that divinity. Your divinity is what links you with God, Buddha or the Christ mind or whatever higher power you believe in. If you believe in none, than your deepest, heartfelt truth will be the fuel that fires your passion. For they are one and the same.

Leap onto the page with that first word, that first godlike piece of creation. Then leap from that word into the next and into the next and into the next. And into the next.

Leap off one cliff and then off another and then off another. And know that you are safe. There is no splat onto the ground. Even if there were, it wouldn’t matter. What matters is the word. The one word and then the next.

Keep writing and keep trusting that each word will lead to the next and the next and the next. For as long as you trust that it will, then it will. That’s one thing I can guarantee. The words will always flow when you allow them to flow, when you surrender to them, fully…when you trust, let go and leap.

Source by Mark David Gerson