LisaHartjes.com » advice

Writing Advice from K. A. Applegate

Lisa — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:46:53 +0000

K. A. Applegate, creator of the Animorphs series (which both my kids loved) was interviewed on Reddit (I learned about it from The Mary Sue). In the conversation, when asked about writing, she said:

As for advice: write. That’s thing one. Write stuff that sucks. It always sucks when you start. Keep sucking, then fix it. That’s the whole job…

I love that statement. It’s so true. Nothing you ever write is perfect the first time the words hit the page. Similar Posts:

Writing Advice from K. A. Applegate originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on April 29, 2011.

How To Get Your Worldbuilding Into Your Story

Lisa — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:52:13 +0000

We’ve all heard it. An info dump is the worst possible way to get information across to the reader. The stereotypical one is at the beginning, where the author tries to get everything about the world into the reader’s head when the story starts. Problem is you still need to get the info across. To do it, you need to be sneaky.

No, I don’t mean hide it or not put it in at all. S. Andrew Swann’s guest post at SF Signal has six ways to get worldbuilding into your prose. My favorite one from that list would have to be “Blipvert Your World”. Here’s a part of it:

“”The door dilated,” is one of the most famous pithy examples of world building in the SF cannon. (Props to Heinlein for that.) And the idea behind that type of construction is one of the more potent tools at the author’s disposal to get across to the reader- and often as important, remind the reader- that they aren’t in Kansas anymore. Like the above, the principle is simply stated; in the space of a sentence, describe some familiar action or concept, and through the description or word choice, make sure that a single major difference between the story’s world and the reader’s is communicated. If it’s the right word or description, the author can communicate much more than a single sentence’s worth about the nature of the story’s world. “

The example he uses illustrates the idea perfectly. A dilating door really is a hallmark of science fiction. Something “shaped like a dragon’s scale” just screams fantasy. There are so many little ways to get the setting and mood across using simple descriptions.

The other method I like is “Protagonists need exposition too”. Swann’s right. Sometimes you have no choice but to have exposition – you need to get the info to the reader. The key is to make it seem natural. Have the character presenting a report as part of his job. Maybe she’s thinking about something that happened – or might happen – and why it affects her. Or have the thing happening immediately:

“Kalia tried not to scurry past the tower as she always did, and averted her eyes so she couldn’t see the door. It was harder not to hide her fear of it when she was alone in the castle’s courtyard and nobody could see her. So much easier to put on a brave face when you had an audience – or at least not one crafted of hell-spawned magic.”

Ah, that’s not the best I’ve written, but I think it works, don’t you?

Similar Posts:

How To Get Your Worldbuilding Into Your Story originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on February 17, 2011.

The Importance of Backstory

Lisa — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:36:53 +0000

As writers, the need to do worldbuilding is a given. Without it, there’s no world for your stories to take place in. Sometimes, though, we forget that the world didn’t just spring to life when the story starts. Things happened in the past – wars, love affairs, mage wars, World War III. You know what I mean. All the your characters have a history. Don’t you think you ought to know what it is before you start writing? Yes, this could be considered part of worldbuilding – the development of the characters. More accurately, I think, would be to call it backstory.

What is backstory? It’s the life your character lived before he walked onto the pages of your story. It’s his history, what defined and molded her and made her what she is today. It explains his motivations, what he holds dear.

K.M. Weiland wrote an excellent article about it on her blog WordPlay. I’d like to quote part of what she posted:

“The key to crafting stories with many layers—stories with depth and ballast—is to never ignore the blank spaces in your characters. Don’t let them get away with telling you only what they must to make the story work. Search out the shadows in their pasts, discover their parents, their childhood friends, their catalysts. Don’t just accept that your main character is a cop; find out why he became a cop. Don’t just slap a scar on your heroine; discover where the scar came from. “

I couldn’t agree more. The better you know your characters, the better your can write them. Giving them a history gives you a huge resource to draw on. Being able to have the hero’s buddy say “Remember that time in Malta” helps support the reader’s being drawn into the hero’s life at that moment. It makes them more of a person, someone with a past – just like we do.

Similar Posts:

The Importance of Backstory originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on February 15, 2011.

How to Organize Your Worldbuilding Notes

Lisa — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:49:29 +0000

Before we go any further, I want to come out and say there’s no one true way to organize anything. You need to discover what works for you and what doesn’t, and use that. My goal is to show you one way of doing things, and give you a place to start.

I have to admit, I have notes for things everywhere – bookmarks on my computer, pages printed out and tucked into a folder, ideas scribbled on index cards and tacked to the corkboard above my desk, notes written into the small notebook I carry in my purse and typed into a note taking/list making app on my phone. I’m sure I’m not the only one with stuff all over the place. There’s nothing with that, but there comes a time when you’re going to need to refer to something quickly, and if it’s spread out all over the place it might be a nightmare trying to find it.

As much as I love to use my computer, I still seem to work best if my notes are in hard copy and I don’t need to flip from window to window while writing. Right now, I have a combination of everything I’ve mentioned above, but when it comes time to get writing, I combine everything into a writing “bible”.

What’s a writing “bible”? It’s a record of everything you have about your world and the story you’re writing. My bibles tend to have 6 sections: People, Places, Things, Magic, Religion, and Stuff. I figure the names are all rather self-explanatory, with Stuff being the catch-all for everything that’s not covered by the other categories.

Domino Girls Webcomic Bible Downloads: 200 times

If you download it and take a look at it, you’ll see there’s a lot of stuff in it. We even went so far as to create a “how to use this document” page. Shows what kind of role playing game geeks we both are. Still it will give you a good idea of the kinds of things we considered important at the time. Some things we created ahead of time. Other things were spur of the moment ideas we fleshed out an added to the document. I put everything into a pdf so the two of us could both refer to it online, and it could also be printed out in hard copy.

One thing I’m particularly pleased with is our including statements from the story about the characters that contain a pretty good (or telling) description. For example: “She’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet for life-draining creatures.” That’s about Diana, who’s main power is the creation of life, healing, and so on. She’s like the Energizer Bunny of Life magic – she keeps going and going, and will likely never run out of power. Then there’s the entry for Apollo: “Yeah, that Apollo. Greek god of the sun, music and poetry. Currently, he’s working as a music reviewer.” Those three sentences give a really quick and definite mental image of the character.

You’ll also see we pasted in references and research notes where we thought we needed them – like for the character Gus. And then we did a lot of work on the stories, both the overall metaplot (the “big story” that defines the whole thing) and the individual storylines. We made a list of various events that needed to happen as part of each story, so we had a road map to follow. The final section, called “Books” refers to each “issue” of the story. Book One, called Slow River (and the title of the comic), is written like a story synopsis with all the important details.

That last part – the planning out of all the plots – isn’t really a big requirement for the bible, but we put it in there. A comic has a set number of pages for each printing, so if you’re planning on publishing them in hard copy (as we were), you need to work out what happens on each page very carefully. You’ll see a lot of blank or mostly blank pages too. Not all the planning got done, but we wanted to make sure there were placeholders so we remembered that work still needed to be finished.

Oh, at the very end of the Domino Girls bible, you’ll find the “Domino Girls Tarot”. We were thinking of creating a tarot deck using characters and images from the comic. We didn’t get very far, as you’ll be able to see, but it was fun.

Now I turn this discussion over to you. And I do hope someone will chime in with their thoughts. How do you organize your stuff? Do you use the same method for each project, or do you customize it as needed?
Similar Posts:

How to Organize Your Worldbuilding Notes originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on February 1, 2011.

The World Government

Lisa — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:04:07 +0000

Or perhaps, more accurately, the government of the world you’re writing about.

I happened across Mary Catelli’s LiveJournal entry from back in 2008 called “politics of worldbuilding“. She brings up the thought of government, and revolution. I think she’s got a good point.

Much of the Western world lives in some form or another of democracy, so we don’t think much about how other governments work. I think it’s a good thing for writers to do a bit of research into them before saying “the Kingdom of the Sea is a monarchy because I said so”. Nor does it make sense to have people in rebellion, trying to overturn the monarchy in favor of another form of government – even if it is democracy.

Why deciding on a form of government, you really do need to look at the history of the nation. I personally don’t think that Ancient Greece with its city-states could easily form up into a single nation under a king. In my mind, it’d more likely be some sort of coalition – unless one city-state goes out and conquers all the others.

If you’re contemplating having the villain (or heck, even the hero) being involved in a revolution, you need to come up with a reason why – and not because you want a revolution for the story. Most people will be happy with the status quo, or even be appalled when presented with the thought of overthrowing the government for a completely new style (like monarchy to democracy). The villain can’t want to foment revolution because he’s the bad guy any more than the heroes because the bad guy is the kind (or whoever is in power).Similar Posts:

The World Government originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on January 18, 2011.

Tips Found on Writing and Pre-Writing

Lisa — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:22:49 +0000

The blog Visual Adjectives is dedicated to helping artists and writers get published. I recently started following them (on RSS feed) because I liked a couple of their earlier articles. Today’s is about the process of writing, specifically pre-writing and writing.

The part on pre-writing is mainly about helping you get started, with ideas for writing prompts and some suggestions for planning. I’ve used a couple of the ones mentions, specifically my own version of the writer’s notebook, and I use index cards (or their software equivalent) for planning.

I found the second part of the article, about writing, less useful to me – it was more a rehashing of things I’ve known for years. Try to set aside a specific amount of time each day to write, limit distractions, and so on.

That said, the article wasn’t a complete loss for me. There were links to other articles that I found interesting, and I’m glad I took the time to check them out.Similar Posts:

Tips Found on Writing and Pre-Writing originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on January 13, 2011.

Writing Book Proposals

Lisa — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:58:46 +0000

Happy Tuesday!

I firmly believe that you should never stop learning, and anyone who says they know “everything” about a subject is either deluded or lying through their teeth. As a writer, you never stop honing your craft, and it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for new ideas and thoughts for improving what you do.

I am a published writer, but not in for-pay fiction. As such, I’m always on the lookout for tips and tricks that will help me once I’m ready to start submitting to agents. One link that arrived in my hands through various means was Top Five Mistakes Authors Make in Proposals by Alicia Rasley.

It’s a great list of things to keep in mind when submitting the every so important book proposal or query, ranging from the obvious (make sure you don’t have typos) to the importance of how your submission of pages (first three chapters, first 50 pages, etc.) ends.

Good stuff. I recommend checking it out.Similar Posts:

Writing Book Proposals originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on January 4, 2011.

Writing With Children

Lisa — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:38:26 +0000

In the first parent/teacher conference with Donovan’s third grade teacher, we talked about the usual. When she discovered I was a writer, she asked if I would come in and talk to the class about writing fiction. Of course, I said yes.

While a date for it hasn’t been set, I’m working on getting my “lesson plan” together. As third graders, they’re just getting started in their writing careers. It’s too early to hit them with character or world building strategies. Plus, I’ll only have about half an hour, maybe an hour at most, with them. So, it needs to be something simple, but will affect them profoundly. But where to start?

I did a search for “teach children to write fiction” and came up with a pretty good list of places to start. The first page I checked out was “How to Teach Kids to Write” at eHow.com. Not really what I was looking for – too complicated for the half hour I’m aiming for. The next page I looked at was “Teaching Children to Write” – and that’s what I’m looking for.

I think that author’s right – kids sometimes need a helping hand, a bit of guidance. So I’ve decided to do a kind of guided writing exercise. One of the things I find in a good writer’s work is the incorporation of all the senses into a scene. “The alley stank” as opposed to “the alley smelled like week-old garbage.” So, that’s what I’m going to teach them about – using the senses in a story.

I’m putting together a one page hand-out for the kids, which will be a one paragraph example of using the senses, then a list of questions they need to think about when writing. Then, after they’ve read it, they’ll be given a prop which they have to write about. What is the prop? A chocolate chip cookie.

Only, they won’t know it when they first get it. I’m going to put each cookie in a brown paper bag, and then we’ll go through and write a paragraph together as we explore with our senses and write it all down. And the very last sense we will explore is taste. After all, for all that hard work they’re going to be doing, they deserve a reward.

Have you written with kids (either or own, or someone else’s) before? Do you have any tricks you can share?Similar Posts:

Writing With Children originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on February 3, 2009.

The Man With A Gun & Other Ways To Defeat Writer’s Block

Lisa — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:51:27 +0000

One of the things writers talk about is writer’s block. Some people say there’s no such thing. I think of it more as “writer’s stuck”. I don’t think you can ever truly be blocked. There’s always something ready to come out of your head. You just need to figure out what you can do to get unstuck. Here are four ideas that might help you:

The Man With A Gun: If you find yourself in the midst of a scene and you have no idea what to do next, or how to get your characters from where they are now to where they need to be, have a man with a gun show up. I don’t mean literally a man with a gun shows up to threaten them, but introduce something to shock or motivate them. It could be a man with a gun, an ex-boy/girlfriend (with or without a weapon), a knock on the door, a phone call, overhearing a breaking news flash on the radio or a breaking window. Something to jolt your characters out of complacency.
Jump Ahead: If you can’t figure out how to move your characters from Point A to Point B, just skip ahead and write as if you’ve gotten them to Point B. You guys know I don’t necessarily mean a physical Point B, right? Points A and B can be plot points too – you’ve got them eating dinner, but then you need them to be in the office to find Joe’s boss’ dead body, but you can’t figure out how to do it? Just jump ahead and write them walking into the office. Don’t worry about how they got there, or why they went, just have them there. You can go back during your revisions at put that stuff in then. Who knows. Maybe as you continue forward in the story your characters will give you the answers.
Write Something Else: Sometimes all your brain needs is different scenery to play around in. If you’re having problems with Project A, try working on Project B for a while. If you want to stick with Project A, then why not try working on a tangent – write a journal entry for one of your characters. You may learn something you can use immediately, or find inspiration for future writing.
Entertain Your Brain: Once in a while, you just might need a break from writing. Go do something else. Read a magazine. Read a story – or better yet, read something outside the genre you’re writing in. You never know what tricks or ideas you might learn that you can use. Surf the web a bit. Read my blog, or check out my online swipe file. Watch some tv.

I will come out and say it right now – don’t use these things as an excuse not to write. What you’re trying to do is refresh your mind, get it unstuck so you can move forward.

So, what do you do to get past your blocks, get unstuck, and move forward with your writing?Similar Posts:

The Man With A Gun & Other Ways To Defeat Writer’s Block originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on January 26, 2009.

Journals as a Character Development Tool.

Lisa — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:27:25 +0000

Yesterday was a pretty big writing day for me. The word count was about 4000 words written/revised. 2400 of it was for TMA (so for those of you keeping track, you can see the word meter has progressed), and the rest was for games I’m playing in. That doesn’t count the actual in-game stuff I wrote. (There wasn’t a lot of that.) What was it that I spent 1600 words on? Journal entries for my character. (If you’re interested in those journal entries, check them out here. )

Why do I write them? It’s a way to record my character’s thoughts about what’s happened. It also allows me to explore her, learn new things about her, and express stuff that really ought not to be brought up in game because it is either inappropriate or would derail the scene. For example, in journal entry #3, Brigid talks about the scars she got. She goes on to explain why they are so important not to just her, but to her own kind. That kind of exposition (I had to look that word up to make sure it meant what I thought it did would have been out of place in the game. It was an ensemble scene, and it was a point of transition between one act of the story and another. A completely inappropriate time and place to be talking about things the character already knows, and is unimportant to the story as a whole.

The reason why I bring up these character journals is because they are a great thing to do for characters in regular fiction. You can’t have pages and pages of inner monologue in a book. Not if you want your reader to keep turning those pages. Not can you afford to ignore that stuff going on in your character’s head that wants – and needs – to come out. An in-character journal is the ideal tool.

It’s not something you ever have to include in your book, or even show anyone. The important thing is that it lets you work things out. It allows you to verbalize your character’s thoughts and feelings and figure out what they’re thinking. You might know your hero hates the color red, but it’s in a journal entry where you discover the playground bully in elementary school always wore a red jacket. That specific piece of information may never make it into your story, but it’s an important piece of background that colors (if you pardon the pun) your hero’s actions.

Why not consider creating a journal for your characters, to see what they’re thinking?Similar Posts:

Journals as a Character Development Tool. originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on January 23, 2009.

Top Five Writing Myths

Lisa — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:50:37 +0000

One common thing whenever human beings gather is the need to talk and share experiences. Often that need turns into something a little more fun, a little more dangerous — gossip. Gossip is often fun but it can also be dangerous because it spreads quickly (because it is fun) and often distorts or even completely avoids the truth. Gossip creates myths in many fields and professions, and the field of writing is especially prone.

Here are the top five myths about writing:

Myth 1: Writing is easy for some people. Let me tell you that is just about the biggest myth going. I have been writing for almost three decades now. I also know professional writers of various ages, experience, and income. I don’t know a writer that will tell you that writing is easy. Writing is brutal, hard work and there are times when I think it would be easier to simply open a vein as Red Smith said. However experience and practice can make many writing tasks easier. There are some writing tasks that I can almost accomplish on autopilot because I have written that specific format and/or topic a lot.

Myth 2: Writing requires talent. I won’t lie. Talent can certainly help and talent is what separates the great writers from the good writers. But the truth is that talent is not enough to make a writer great or even good and talent is not a necessary requirement to be a good writer. Writing is a skill that can be learned, developed and honed. If you practice your craft, if you read the writing of others to learn more about your craft, and if you seek and accept guidance and suggestions about your writing then you will improve and grow as a writer. Dedication harnessed with talent can create amazing results but if I had to pick just one then I would go with dedication. You can always increase your skill level through dedication.

Myth 3: Writing isn’t a useful skill. Even if you don’t intend to make your living with words you will need this crucial skill. There simply isn’t a profession that does not involve writing. Perhaps the form will vary, but written communication is the cornerstone in every professional field. Your writing ability will often impact landing a job as well as advancing in your career. Today written communication is even more crucial in professional and personal relationships.

Myth 4: You can’t make a living as a writer. Lots of people say English Majors end up flipping burgers – you can’t support yourself. The truth is many people never had trouble finding a job and some own their own businesses because of this flexible and important skill. Not only can you make a living as a writer but writing is an essential tool for many other careers and professions.

Myth 5: Writers block is alive and torturing writers as you read this. I’m not dismissing the difficulties inherent in dealing with writers block but whenever I talk with writers purportedly suffering from it they fall within two general groups. The first group actually creates their own block by insisting on the perfect place, mood, or alignment of planets in order to write. This is beyond ridiculous. To be a scucessful writer you have to be able to write in almost any condition or mood. Deadlines will teach anyone how to give writers block short shrift. The second group I have more sympathy for as their problem really is internal in nature. Usually the problem is that the particular story (whether fiction or nonfiction) they want to tell is not yet finished cooking in their brain. In this case, while the writing may be stalled I don’t agree that it is blocked. The writer must listen to that inner voice and respond appropriately. Sometimes the idea needs more time to percolate and sometimes more research and/or planning is necessary. Once the proper adjustments are made the writing will begin to flow again.

Don’t let your writing fall victim to these five myths about writing.

Similar Posts:

Top Five Writing Myths originally appeared on LisaHartjes.com on January 20, 2009.