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Balancing Dialogue and Description in Your Story

By Alexander Limberg on Aug 03, 2015 05:00 am

By Quinn Dombrowski via Wikimedia Commons

Note from Jane: In today’s guest post, Alex Limberg (@ridethepen) discusses attaining the perfect balance between dialogue and description in your fiction.

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To shape your dialogue scene into a compact and intriguing unit, dialogue and non-dialogue have to complement each other. If the equilibrium is off, one of two things will happen:

If your scene contains too much dialogue (and not enough description), your reader might lose her orientation and sense for the characters’ surroundings. Also, your audience might feel like there is something missing. Whenever we talk to each other in real life, our minds are not just all dialogue. We usually do something else too while we are speaking, whether it’s sipping a coffee or doodling on a notepad during one of those long telephone conversations. At least we see or hear something else too. Our lines of dialogue never fill up our entire reality, and they shouldn’t fill up an entire scene in our reader’s reality either. In literature, readers are used to an interplay between dialogue and surroundings. They are conditioned to expect it.
If your scene contains too much description (and not enough dialogue), on the other hand, chances are it will become boring. Your readers want to see character interaction.

Signs You Have Too Much Dialogue

Description is probably missing if the reader feels even the slightest confusion about who is speaking or how the characters are positioned toward each other.

But even if the attribution of dialogue and movement in your scene is perfectly clear, it could still lack description in another way. When you read your scene aloud, does the description give you a sense of the mood?

Great stories are not just all characters and conflict. They also use description and setting to create an intriguing atmosphere. Imagine an apparition on a busy street in broad daylight. It wouldn’t be as spooky as the very same apparition in an old, cobweb-draped castle with the creaky doors. Setting makes a big difference.

Can you feel the atmosphere of the place based on how you’ve written the scene, or are you rather just feeling the mood play out in your own head? If the mood is only in your head, your scene lacks description.

Finally, it’s possible you have concentrated so hard on crafting intriguing words for your characters to speak, that the form has just become one monotonous back-and-forth. It’s all dialogue. Even if your figures are giving the monologues of their lives, you’re still much better off accentuating the words with a brushstroke of surroundings every now and then.

Signs You Have Too Much Description

First, check if your description is moving your scene forward.

A character walking over to his liquor cabinet to pour himself a cognac can be a good idea and add an additional flavor (quite literally) to the scene. However, if you spend too many sentences or even paragraphs on the character looking for his slippers, feeding the cat and scratching his arm, the scene is at risk of falling into an unbearably slow pace. Your reader will use a different term, though. She will call it “boring.”

How can you recognize description that doesn’t move your scene forward?

Any new information that advances plot or character or creates a mood can help move a scene forward. But if there is description after description that doesn’t have a dual purpose, your scene will become static.

Keep in mind that pure entertainment can also be a way to advance a scene. But if you are describing a lot of detail about a character, a location, or an action, that’s a strong warning sign your dialogue scene is overloaded with too much description—unless you are purposefully slowing down the scene.

Test your dialogue: When you read a line, has the previous one fallen out of your immediate memory? In that case, the connection is broken and your description is suffocating your dialogue. Time to cut back the description.

6 Excellent Ways to Let Your Description Support Your Dialogue

So you know your scene needs a certain amount of description. But how can you ensure it creates a rich, vivid scene and compelling overall story?

Advancing Plot. Obviously, you will use description when you have plot to develop: Brian finally dares to kiss Claire or punches Gregory in the face. Often, your dialogue will build up to that pivotal moment. When the climax finally arrives, make the description of the action short and spend more time on the characters’ psychology: we want to see the drama unfold, that’s what we tuned in for. It’s also a good idea to cut the scene not too long after its high point. Describing unnecessary ordinariness will be a big turn-off for the reader at that point.
Orientation. It’s absolutely essential that, during the entire dialogue, your reader is clear about who is speaking. If you just have characters A and B talking and they consistently alternate A-B-A-B, it’s not that tricky. An occasional dialogue tag with the speaker’s name attached will do. On the other hand, if there are several characters talking and/or they talk in irregular succession of speech, then you need to be careful. Mention the speaker every now and then in dialogue tags, or describe an action with his name attached. Your characters should also be individually recognizable simply for what they say and how they say it. In case your characters’ positions within the scene’s location matter, make sure the reader is clear about whereabouts and movements too. Don’t describe Henry as next to the door and whispering to Lady Chatterbee, who is sitting at the other end of the hallway. It’s what filmmakers call “blocking”—the sequence of character movement throughout the scene. You can convey a message very subtly by how a character moves and by his body language. Imagine Desmond turning away while confessing an awkward truth or Mary moving slowly closer to Clark throughout a scene as a sign of her attraction.
Information. For each piece of information you give your reader during a dialogue scene, you have two options: including the information in your dialogue or in your description. Dialogue will often be the easier and more obvious choice, because people can talk about literally anything. Sometimes your setting will offer information quite generously or your characters display information in a very natural way. Think of microscopes and vials standing around or a first-prize ribbon for an acrobatic riding competition hanging on the wall. If a character used to travel by bike and suddenly a new Ferrari is parked in the driveway, what might have happened?
Characterization. The little side actions we perform while we are speaking don’t lie. Whether your character is nervously fumbling with his pen or mischievously rubbing his hands over victory, he delivers a statement about himself. If he is watering his plants, we now know he likes plants (or at least owns some). If she is stopping in front of the shop window to look at a baby stroller, she might secretly (or not so secretly) desire a baby. Be smart about it and you can use even the smallest movement or action of your character to tell your readers a bit more about her.
Atmosphere. We already talked a bit about atmosphere earlier. Any description is a great chance to let some moody details slip in: the huge, noisy washing machine, a warm breeze in the air, the alien’s breakfast spoon lying around. Don’t overdo it, though. Sow your details sparsely, because most of them will likely be static. Only when the big picture becomes clear during the scene will your investments in mood and vibe pay off, and your carefully woven atmosphere will creep up on the reader.
Entertainment and Variety. Don’t forget what your story is there for in the first place: to entertain your reader. For screenwriters, it’s almost mandatory to give each scene its very own source of entertainment, but novelists will profit from that mindset as well. Say a story is about a guy named Gary fighting a legal battle against a huge construction company. When Gary enters his attorney’s office for the first time, he finds the guy hanging upside down from the ceiling, practicing a new, modern form of yoga during the entire consultation. While the attorney’s surprising and ridiculous posture has nothing to do with the overall plot, it’s an additional small element the writer can use within a single scene. It’s fun for the reader.

Great descriptions can fulfill several of these functions at once. Like with any part of your story (e.g., character and plot), the functions don’t just stand side by side, but are deeply interconnected and have a strong effect on one another.

How Much Description Is Just Enough?

There is no hard rule to follow. Great writers have written scenes consisting almost entirely of dialogue and made them work. William Gaddis’s novel J R is a magnificent piece, and it’s composed almost completely of unattributed dialogue!

Even though there is no mathematical way to calculate it, there is one indicator that can serve as the bottom line. It requires experience, it’s something you need to develop a strong inner sense for, and it’s something that’s impossible to explain within the scope of a post. I’m referring to rhythm.

Every scene, just like any sentence and the entire overall plot, has a certain rhythm to it. In every dialogue scene, the interplay between direct speech and description automatically establishes a certain rhythm.

After a certain amount of direct speech, the reader just expects a countermotion by a descriptive part. After some description, he expects direct speech again. It simply satisfies our urge for ebb and flow, for music to our inner ear. It sounds good.

As you gain writing experience, you develop a sensible ear for what sounds great and what doesn’t. You start to clearly recognize which parts lack dialogue and which parts could use a little more description.

 

 

 

Wanna’ be a Private Eye or Lawyer

Ann Rule on Breaking Into True Crime

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Breaking Into True Crime: Ann Rule’s 9 Tips for Studying Courtroom Trials
By: Zachary Petit | July 29, 2015
     
 In honor of the passing of crime writing legend Ann Rule (you can read all about her life here), we’re re-sharing this piece—written by former WD managing editor Zachary Petit—that’s full of tips and advice delivered by Rule.

Bestseller Ann Rule had a heck of a journey to becoming a writer—something she never really wanted to be in the first place. “All I ever wanted to be was a police officer,” she told the crowd in her ThrillerFest session “How to Stalk a Serial Killer and Tell the Gruesome Tale: All You Need to Know to Write Great True Crime.” “The one thing I knew I didn’t want to be was a writer.” Rule thought it was all too hard—heck, you’d have to rewrite what you already wrote.

As a kid, she would visit her grandpa, who was a sheriff, but to see him she’d have to go to the jail. There, she was given the job of bringing prisoners their meals. From an early age, she was fascinated by crime—not the how, but the why.

“I think that we come to our genre naturally,” she said.

Following her passions over the years, she took any ridealong with law enforcement she could get. Attended classes. Got an associate’s degree in criminal science.

[Want to land an agent? Here are 4 things to consider when researching literary agents.]

And along the way, she began writing, collected innumerable rejections, and penned pieces for true detective magazines, which she realized could pay the bills.

“You have to write about what you know about,” she said.

Back then, not even her children slowed her down. “Unless the kids were actually fighting on top of the typewriter, I could keep writing.”

And then there’s the famous story that led her to her first book, her breakout The Stranger Beside Me.

Her brother had committed suicide, so she decided to volunteer at the crisis clinic in Seattle. The clinic paired volunteers with work-study students. At night, they’d be locked up in the building all alone together. Her partner was a psychology student getting paid $2 per hour.

His name was Ted Bundy.

[21 Fast Hacks to Fuel Your Story With Suspense]

After his crimes became apparent, Rule attended Bundy’s trial, and the rest of the story is history, amazingly documented in The Stranger Beside Me.

Her writing passion went on to encompass documenting the suspects and victims involved in crimes, and describing their lives before their paths crossed—along the lines of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

In her presentation, Rule pointed out that pros are always saying that you only have a 1/10 of 1 percent shot at becoming a professional writer. But she decided that she was going to be in that 1/10 of 1 percent.

“You can’t let the naysayers make think you can’t make it, because you can,” she said.

If you want to be a true crime writer, Rule said the best thing you can be is immensely curious. And, you should go to trials—something anyone can do. From a life spent in courtrooms, here are Rule’s tips and etiquette for doing just that.

You can usually get a press pass, but there’s often a deluge of writers trying to obtain one. Rule calls the prosecutor’s assistant.
Study the witnesses, watch the jury, and soak up the entire experience.
Try to obtain the court documents from the court reporter or the prosecutor, or purchase them.
Observe the other reporters in the room, and analyze what they’re doing.
If you’re sitting out in the hall with potential witnesses, don’t ask them about anything. You can comment on the weather or the courtroom benches being hard, but “Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth pretty shut.”
Don’t take newspapers into the courtroom.
Know what you’re getting yourself into. “You don’t want to start a nonfiction unless you’re really in love with it, and usually you want a go-ahead from an editor.”
Absorb detail. “When I’m writing a true-crime book I want the reader to walk along with me.” Rule describes the temperature, how the air feels—“I think it’s very important to set the scene.” As far as the writing, you can novelize, but keep all of your facts straight.
Don’t use the real name of a rape or sexual crime victim in your writing. (Though Rule has written about a few who have asked to have their names included.) As Rule said of her subjects at large, “I always care about my people. And if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.”

Getting my feet under the table

Cypriot People & Culture

By Blanca Garcia

 

Cypriots are not always described simply as “Cypriots”. The word is often used together with the prefix “Greek” or “Turkish” in recognition of the two major ethnic groups that inhabit the island: the Greek-speaking Greek Orthodox community and the Turkish-speaking Muslims.

When Cyprus achieved its independence from Britain in 1960, the new Republic’s constitution defined the Greek and Turkish Cypriots as two separate ethnic groups. At that time, the members of both groups still co-habited in mixed villages and cities and purely Greek or Turkish villages were few. In the majority of cases, neighbours lived together in peace and celebrated their festivals together.

Then the events of 1974 split the island, and the two communities have not lived with each other for over 30 years.

Nevertheless, the two communities still have a lot of things in common: in the way they conduct their lives, their gestures, their food and drink. The Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots on both sides of the Green Line are all Cypriots, after all.

Language

The official languages of Cyprus are Greek, Turkish and English. Visitors have no trouble communicating in English due to the fact that Cyprus was a British colony from 1878 until 1960, and even today the British maintain military bases on the island. While you can get by this way, the ability and willingness to say even a few words in Greek will definitely be warmly welcomed and may “upgrade” your status from a simple touristas (or tourist) to a more honourable xenos, which means foreigner or traveller.

It is important to note that the Greek spoken in Cyprus is a strong dialect, with about 15% of the words peculiar to Cyprus. This means that people from Greece often find it hard to understand a conversation among Greek Cypriots.

Greek is not an easy language. The grammar is complicated with nouns divided into three genders, all with different ending cases in the singular and plural, and adjectives that have to agree with these in gender, number and case. Then comes the verbs which are even more complex; they come in passive and active voices, in two conjugations, and so on. But this should not be a discouragement to learn at least the basics.

Religion

Most Greek Cypriots belong to the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Cyprus (78%), while most Turkish Cypriots are Muslim (18%). Other religions represented on the island include the Maronites and the Armenian Apostolics (4%).

While the power and wealth of the Orthodox Church in Cyprus is evident from the many lavishing churches that have been built in the last few years, religious observance is varied.

In traditional rural villages, women attend religious services more regularly than men, and elderly family members are usually responsible for fulfilling the religious obligations on behalf of the entire family. Church attendance is less frequent in urban areas and among educated Cypriots. For most Greek Cypriots, religion revolves around rituals at home, adoration of icons, and strict observance of certain festivities marked by the Orthodox calendar.

The religious services are long and colourful, with singing, incense, and elaborate vestments according to the occasion for the priest. Statues are not allowed, but the veneration of icons, located on the church’s walls and often covered with offerings of the faithful, is highly developed. Easter is the focal point of the church year, closing the fasting of the Lent season with an Easter eve vigil and procession.

Churches and Monasteries

Many of the famous Byzantine buildings are still used in some sacred capacity and remain locked. Part of the experience of visiting them is locating the key-keeper, who might or might not be a priest. When this is the case, it is customary to leave a small donation to the church or monastery after you complete your tour. The most courteous way to do this is not to hand your donation to the priest, monk or key-keeper himself, but to leave the money on the plate or box provided for this purpose.

Out of respect, visitors should avoid pointing to icons with their fingers or standing with their backs towards them. Likewise, men should not enter in shorts, and women should not wear very short dresses. Sleeveless tops should be avoided in all cases.

Education

Cyprus enjoys 97.6% literacy, with a school life expectancy of 14 years.

One could even argue that Cyprus suffers from an “over-qualified population”, with an overwhelming number of Cypriots holding post-graduate degrees.

The education system in Cyprus is backed up back public and private schools and consists of the following stages:

Pre-Primary Education – one-year pre-Primary education is obligatory and it accepts children over the age of three.

Primary Education – it is compulsory and takes six years to complete. Primary education is also provided by English-language, French-language and Russian-language private schools.

Secondary Education – secondary education consists of two three-year cycles: Gymnasio (lower secondary education) and Lykeio (upper secondary education) for students between the ages of 12 and 18. Instead of the Lykeio, students may choose to attend Secondary Technical and Vocational Education. More than 30 private primary and secondary schools operate with Ministry of Education and Culture approval. Apprenticeship Scheme – this is for students aged 14-16 who drop out from a secondary school. The system is managed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance and run by the Cyprus Productivity Centre and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Higher Education – students can choose to follow their university studies in the public or one of the three private universities with campuses in Lefkosia and other towns.

Culture and Social Behaviour

Cypriots are little more reserved initially in friendship than Americans and most Europeans, but tend to become closer friends once friendships do develop.

Cypriots are typically more formal with their elders than other nationalities. People older than you are typically referred to as Kyrie (Mr) or Kyria (Mr), followed by their first name.

Being on time may be a virtue, but it is not one well-practiced in Cyprus. Being 30-45 minutes late to a social engagement is not considered unacceptable. It is actually expected.

Overall, Cypriots are extremely hospitable. It is considered polite to accept at least a little of what is being offered to you even if you do not want it. This applies most often to food and drink.

Cypriots speak more loudly and with more hand and facial gestures than western Europeans. A friendly discussion may look like an argument to the outsider.

Among friends (male-female, female-female), a kiss on each cheek is a common greeting; otherwise a handshake will do. Men do not typically kiss, unless they are old friends. Young female friends will sometimes hold hands.

Cypriots are quite trendy when it comes to clothing. Styles are similar to the US or Europe, but probably a bit dressier. Even for the younger generations, a typical going-out outfit definitely would not involve shorts and sandals.

Binge drinking is not part of Cypriot culture, and losing control in public is not viewed as desirable.

Musical taste in Cyprus tends toward a blended mix of Euro-pop, techno, American hip-hop and Greek music. Developing a taste or at least a tolerance for Greek music will definitely help you improve your experience on the island.

The Role of Women in Cyprus

The Cypriot Woman at Work

Cypriot women have seen a gradual change in their role as players in the economic revival of the country since the events of 1974.

This has been achieved through their increased participation in the island’s economic activity, the updating of family and labour law, the public awareness of women’s issues and the government’s policy for the promotion of gender equality.

The contribution of Cypriot women in the overall development of the country is evident:

Women’s share in the total labour force rose from 30% in 1976, to 37% in 1985 and 44% today
62.1% of all women aged 15-64 years are integrated in the labour force
31% of Cypriot women over 20 completed tertiary level education compared to 29% of Cypriot men

But there is still a long way to go when it comes to gender equality in the workforce:

Only 14.4% of high posts are held by Cypriot women
While women are paid an average of 17.4% less per hour than men across the EU, the gap for Cypriot women is 24%

The Cypriot Woman at Home

Cyprus is essentially a male society. Patriarchy, the social system in which a male is the family head and primary authority, is still very much alive in Cyprus. This is probably due to the political conflict that prevails on the island.

The island’s institutions, represented mainly by men, have been focused on the Cyprus issue since 1974, marginalizing thus any other important issues such as women’s rights and gender equality. As a result, Cypriot women still have a long way to go through before claiming their liberation from a system which traps both genders.

Traditionally, the expected primary role for Cypriot women has been to get married and have children and all other achievements were perceived as secondary. Nowadays, Greek-Cypriot women are split when asked if they believe that their social role is different from men.

Cypriot women do not talk much about themselves, what they want and their achievements. This is due to gender socialization, which promotes the norm for women to speak very little about themselves and when they do, to be judged as inappropriately showing off. Another reason related to women’s socialization is that women are expected to listen rather than speak, and to focus on caring and serving the needs of others, especially their children.

While many Cypriot women work outside the home, they are usually expected to fulfil the traditional domestic roles of housewife and mother. Even when these women have full-time jobs, they usually expect little help from their spouses or male children.

Why a ‘Smile’ is boring

I have just finished a re edit of one of my books and was given some sound advice on a whole list of things that agents are looking for in order to reject your work. Don’t get me wrong. They are looking for that book that will be a gem. It is much easier though to look for pet hates. If they’re there it’s normally a one liner rejection note.

So what is it theyare looking for on the hate list? I’ll pick a few.

Ever heard of a writer’s crutch?

A writer’s crutch is a silent word – a word that means a facial expression or body movement. How about ‘smile’ or ‘smiling.’ Then there is ‘turn’ or ‘turning.’ Or ‘looked’ and ‘looking.’

It can also mean an overused word in descriptive narrative.

Another crutch can be a punctuation mark like the exclamation mark -!!!!

I was reminded of this by the editor working on my re edit. There was nothing wrong with the storyline or the descriptive pros or dialogue. However an agent looks at this and knows instinctively if the writer is ‘lazy’ or ‘at a loss for good words.’ That is why most agents will ask for the first 10,000 words or the first five chapters. If the exclamation mark starts peppering the pages or characters are smiling or grinning, your work will become a reject slip.

As an exercise I looked at my book on ‘Word’ and went to ‘find’ – put the word ‘smile’ into the box and had the shock of my life. I had my characters smile or smiling over 100 times. Similar figures were recorded for ‘look.’

Of course characters are going to smile or cry but too much and the story starts to bore the reader. I lost half of the words but replacing them was really hard and that showed me how dependent I had become on easy to use silent words. The end result was very satisfying. By the time the corrections were made the story read so much better, not that it was not already a smooth read but rather it now seemed more interesting. The characters were showing the readers how they felt inside by ‘grimacing’ or ‘sneering’ or ‘pursing their lips.’

Another pet hate is the lack of research into some of the smallest but easiest to check story details when characters are up to something – like the proper name for a tube station and in describing the platform the character is standing on and the posters on the wall etc. You can glean so much information from Google and other social media including pictures that you can study. Without overdoing the description you can set a scene that some readers will immediately relate to. Your characters will be moving around in a ‘set’ from real life and you will find yourself getting excited. That in itself will inspire you’re enthusiasm.

One of the easiest ways to improve and further your writing standards are joining in the serials we run at the Story Mint. If you want advice or just want to enjoy the sheer pleasure of writing fiction join us and let your imagination run riot. I do and I have learned a lot.

 

The Story Mint CEO is recognised and published

Congrats to Suraya Dewing. Her second edition of “Bend with the Wind” with new cover will be launched shortly. Already attracting the attention of a publisher and agent, her audience is growing. Don’t miss out on this thought provoking book that merges fact and fiction surrounding the cultural background of New Zealanders and their national sport mixed with a wonderful love story.

The Vacant Room

Chapter 5
Written by: Ray Stone

This serial proved quite popular. It is a mystery right to the end which is how mysteries should be. See what you think.

Marie always puts the kitchen rubbish out each afternoon. My feet crunch on broken glass and I step sideways quickly onto the rust stained concrete by the swinging gate.

As the ambulance speeds off I turn around to find a hand thrusting out toward me, accompanied by a widening grin.

“I’m Brian, your neighbour down the hall. You must be Tamara.” He points to the pile of sacks. “She took a tumble onto that broken glass. That was a nasty gash.”

I agree with him and turn to walk back to the kitchen. He might think me rude but I choose to ignore conversation for a quiet moment to reflect and gather my thoughts.

Marie has confirmed that there is a link between the photos and me.  The room holds the answer; the vacant room where the first photo lies on the table, upside down.

It has been some time since I visited that room. For some unexplained reason I have never entered there since that first day despite several opportunities when Marie has gone out.

Maybe I have an overactive imagination but my mind conjured up all manner of frightening scenarios after finding the photo. Staying out of the room has somehow kept any danger I imagine at arm’s length. As the door remains shut so my fears subside. With the discovery of another photo I am not so much fearful now but more angry. I need to revisit the room.

I hear the soft tick ticking of a clock in the hallway. The worn blind is tapping on the kitchen window. A newspaper lying on the table near the open kitchen door rustles constantly. It’s as though the house is talking to me in soothing tones, calming me. My mind is set and walking past the photo on the wall, I glare back at the cat who sits on the washing machine with unblinking eyes, staring me down.

There are two boxes I want to examine. Maybe there will be something that reveals an answer to the puzzle. A movement on the landing breaks into my thoughts and I turn nervously. There is no-one. The music box starts playing. My head spins and I grab instinctively at the handle.

The music stops as I close the door swiftly behind me. I look expectantly at the two boxes. Before I can move, the door opens behind me and Brian is standing there.

“There is obviously something wrong,” he says. “Would you like to share?”

I don’t want to but I have to explain why I am in the room. I briefly tell him of my strange experience and Marie’s message. “I have to look in those boxes,” I tell him.

As we remove the lid from the first box, I gasp. Sitting neatly at the bottom is my backpack, or rather a similar one. The New Zealand key ring has gone.

There is a small metal ornament attached to the zip instead – the Eiffel Tower.

http://www.thestorymint.com/serials/vacant-room

 

Oh troubled island in the sun.

I was amazed a few days ago when an American asked me if Cyprus was part of Europe. They had no idea where it was. That has happened several times in the last eight months and I felt I should write something so that my friends and readers have a little more understanding of who and where we are. Below, with thanks to Wikipedia, is a condensed look at Cyprus. I will be posting another chapter next week on the cultural side of this wonderful island.

 

Officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, and a member state of the European Union. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and the Gaza Strip, north of Egypt and east of Greece.

The earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, and Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC. At a strategic location in the Middle East, it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians, from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Subsequent rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates for a short period, the French Lusignan dynasty and the Venetians, was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman rule between 1571 and 1878.

Cyprus was placed under British administration in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain in 1914. The partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders and Turkey in the 1950s. Turkish leaders for a period advocated the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as Cyprus was considered an “extension of Anatolia” by them; while since the 19th century, the majority Greek Cypriot population and its Orthodox church had been pursuing union with Greece, which became a Greek national policy in the 1950s. Following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. In 1963, the 11-year intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots started, which displaced more than 25,000 Turkish Cypriots and brought the end of Turkish Cypriot representation in the republic. On 15 July 1974, a coup d’état was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta in an attempt at enosis, the incorporation of Cyprus into Greece. This action precipitated the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which led to the capture of the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus the following month, after a ceasefire collapsed, and the displacement of over 150,000 Greek Cypriots and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots. A separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north was established in 1983. These events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute.

The Republic of Cyprus has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus and its surrounding waters, according to international law, except for the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, administered as Sovereign Base Areas. However, the Republic of Cyprus is de facto partitioned into two main parts; the area under the effective control of the Republic, comprising about 59% of the island’s area, and the north, administered by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey, covering about 36% of the island’s area. The international community considers the northern part of the island as territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The occupation is viewed as illegal under international law, amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union.

Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean. With an advanced, high-income economy and a very high Human Development Index, the Republic of Cyprus is a member of the Francophonie and the Commonwealth since 1961 and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement until it joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the Eurozone.

The island is 149 miles long and 62 miles at its widest point.

To lose one’s end – is that okay?

Are loose ends in a story ok? | The Story Mint

Are loose ends in a story ok?







Submitted by Suraya Dewing on Wednesday 15 July 2015

Does every story need to be neatly tied up with every loose end accounted for? In her blog ‘Loose ends in a story’, KM Weiland talks about this and it makes very good reading.

It also set me to thinking about my own storytelling. The serials have taught me to write more open ended stories. As I pondered the question of whether all stories need to be neatly tied up, I realised they do not. Life does not come in neatly tied packages, so why should stories?

It is sometimes satisfying to read a story and to have to think about how it might end.

If art truly imitates life, then we would always have open-ended stories. Nothing in life happens in isolation. There are peaks and troughs, but there is always history leading up to the event and there is always an aftermath of some description. Loose ends allow the writer to reflect that reality. Even if someone dies, there are those whose stories continue and the person’s death will influence whatever unfolds after he or she has gone.

So loose ends are okay. But some loose ends are better than others.

There is nothing more jarring for a reader than to have a story suddenly stop without a conclusion of some kind. When a story stops suddenly, it feels as if the writer ran out of ideas or perhaps he or she had a deadline to meet so just ended the story.

Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code ends abruptly. It was the first Dan Brown novel I had read and I was not familiar with his format, so I became easily hooked into the twists and puzzle solving. However, half way through I began to wonder how he would convincingly end the novel. In her review of The Da Vinci Code, bestseller reviewer Erin Collazo Miller states the ending was disappointing and I would agree. It felt as if Brown had written himself into a corner and was unsure how to get out of it. So, he just finished the story with his characters in Scotland, mystery unsolved.

This kind of hanging end is disappointing for the reader because too much of the plot hangs on the reader discovering the answer to all the clues planted throughout the novel. Today I posted a chapter by Greg Rochlin for our serial, Cut Away Pass.  It also has an open ending. The main character is at the bottom of a crevasse and the reader decides his fate. However, because this story has included a number of accidents and the terrain is dangerous, the reader is not surprised that someone ends up in this situation and, depending on how we feel about Ray, the reader can end the story his or her own way.

The other argument for open-ended endings is that the writer acknowledges that there are too many complexities for there to be one ending. This point is made on the Scratchpad  of a website called Learning and Creativity. The writer quotes Chekov’s ‘The Lady with the Dog’. Here we leave the story with the ambiguous situation of a couple knowing they must part but may or may not.

The important thing about endings is that they must leave the reader with a sense of satisfaction, a feeling of, ‘oh, I like the way that ended’. It must feel like a natural conclusion and not forced.

I, personally, do like to tie up the ends and leave the reader with something to think about so I have not written very many open ended stories. I think that is more do with my personality than anything. While some people are comfortable with starting projects and never finishing them, I like to finish everything I start and am very deadline driven.

story endings

Stop, Start, or Stop and Start.

I have had two conversations this week regarding the proper use of a comma. Depending on who the editor is and who the writer is and what the nationality is, there is no definitive answer as to where the bloody thing goes. As far as I am concerned I put the comma where I want it and if the editor moves it or gets rid of it I don’t argue. My definition of the word “Comma.”

A comma is a rest stop on the way to – a cup of tea.

— drinking frappe.

Cut Away Pass – Greg Rochlin

Chapter 10
Written by: Griffin

“You OK?”

Ray had come to rest on his own ledge, two metres above Dalton. There were patches of blue in the sky. The view of the mountain range to the south was glorious.

Small cubes of rock fragments tumbled down. Ten metres of the red climbing rope hung below them.

“Me — I’m fine, thanks,” answered Ray. “But you, Ken, I need to know, what is your condition? Anything broken? Do you think you have concussion?”

Dalton coughed and said softly, gazing at nothing in particular, “Sat on a bit of a sharp rock  … Arm got a wrench from the tree … Bloody cold …  Bloody cold.”

The oilskin, which Dalton had extracted himself from, was snagged on a small wiry juniper living on the otherwise barren rock-face.

Ray fashioned a sling from it. Pete was forty metres above, looking down. Ray waved, and then there was the sound of the 4WD’s winch. Up and away went Dalton.

The end of the rope disappeared. An hour passed. Ray toyed with scenarios. In his mind’s eye he saw Pete trip and bash his head against the winch, then collapse onto the snow. A red patch was forming, and Ken was in the front seat in a coma.  Then he thought, “No, that’s not it. He has calmly stowed the rope, and driven off with Ken to dispose of him some other place, so as to leave no witness. He is now on his way back to the Ranger’s Station to have a smoke and chat with the other character.”

Cirrocumulus clouds were invading the sky from the west. The light was dimming.

Evenings were the best times with Heather. They would sit in his back yard, with the couch grass and the rickety paling fence, and between them a bottle of Merlot. She would have another story about her unpleasant supervisor at the agency. He would talk about escaping his office job, into the outdoors.

He thought of the disaster of last year. He had tried so hard to redeem himself, and now this. The sharp head on the bolt was at this moment pressing into his left thigh. Pete must want to get the tourists off the mountain so it could be exploited.

He thought he heard a horse galloping. “They shouldn’t gallop up here,” he said aloud. But it was the wings of a small bird landing nearby — a mountain bluebird. “Ah, you beautiful thing,” he exclaimed. It preened, and flew off.

He remembered when his dad placed him on the pony when he was five, for the first time. It was on the farm. He had on his red gumboots. The pony had a black mane. He was so excited, and they laughed and laughed.

He looked down at his hiking boots. “These won’t get me up the slope without a rope,” he thought. “Wrong shoes, cold hands, crumbly rocks.”

He descended to Dalton’s ledge, tied himself to the juniper tree, and waited.

Greg Rochlin (AUS)

Want to read the serial through?  http://www.thestorymint.com/serials/cut-away-pass