Category: Daily Fix

Dialogue Your Characters

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[found on theguardian.com]

“It’s never too soon to start thinking about what your characters will say and how they’ll say it. Giving each of your characters a distinct voice is key to writing great fiction.

The goal of Worksheet 9 is to encourage you to think about your characters’ individual speech patterns and specific word choices. Your characters will probably reveal these distinctions as your story progresses, but thinking about it early will make you more receptive to such revelations.

For each of your major characters, record information about individual speech patterns and any catchphrases they may use.

With this information in place on a dialogue sheet, you’ll know exactly what a given character will say and how he/she will say it. You can also use this worksheet during the final edit and polish of the manuscript to double-check speech patterns.”

[found on http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/19/researching-your-novel]

New Writers, Listen Up

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[found on goinswriter.com; by Jeff Goins]

“Getting started

  • Start small. 300 words per day is plenty. John Grisham began his writing career as a lawyer. He got up early every morning and wrote one page. You can do the same. (Need some ideas for getting started? Check out these book ideas.)
  • Have an outline. Write up a table of contents that guide you. Then break up each chapter into a few sections. Think of your book in terms of beginning, middle, and end. Anything more complicated will get you lost. If you need help, read this book: Do the Work.
  • Have a set time to work on your book every day. If you want to take a day or two off per week, schedule that as time off. Don’t just let the deadline pass. And don’t let yourself off the hook.
  • Choose a unique place to write. This needs to be different from where you do other activities. The idea is to make this a special space so that when you enter it, you’re ready to work on your project.”

For more tips from GoinsWriter, click here.

[found on http://goinswriter.com/tips-writing-book]

Identity Creation

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[found on writetodone.com; by Mary Jaksch of GoodlifeZen]

“Forge your identity. Say, “I am a writer!” Maybe you feel reluctant to say it because you think you’re not good enough? Well, forget about ‘good enough’! A writer writes. Do you write? If yes, then you are a writer. Plaster your home with notices that say, “I am a writer!” Tell people about it. When you next fill in a form, put ‘writer’ as your profession. Thinking of yourself as a writer will boost your confidence and unlock your creativity.”

For more tips from Mary Jaksch, click here.

[found on http://writetodone.com/zen-power-writing-15-tips-on-how-to-generate-ideas-and-write-with-ease]

Schedule, Not Afterthought

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[found on chronicle.com; by Michael C. Munger]

“Write, then squeeze the other things in. Put your writing ahead of your other work. I happen to be a “morning person,” so I write early in the day. Then I spend the rest of my day teaching, having meetings, or doing paperwork. You may be a “night person” or something in between. Just make sure you get in the habit of reserving your most productive time for writing. Don’t do it as an afterthought or tell yourself you will write when you get a big block of time. Squeeze the other things in; the writing comes first.”

For more writing tips by Michael C. Munger, click here.

[found on http://chronicle.com/article/10-Tips-on-How-to-Write-Less/124268]

Be Passive The Writing Must Not

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[found on bookcoaching.com; by Judy Cullins]

“Stop passive sentence construction.

When you write in passive voice, your writing slides along into long sentences that slow your readers down, even bore them.

Before you put your final stamp of approval on your writing, circle all the “is,” “was” and other passive verbs like: begin, start to, seems, appears, have, and could. Use your grammar check to count your passives. Aim for 2-4% only.

Instead of, ”Make sure that your name is included on all your household accounts and investments.” Passive culprits include “Make” and “is included.” Create more clarity with this revision,” Include your name on all household accounts and investments to keep your own credit alive after your divorce.”

For more tips on writing from Judy Cullins, click here.

[found on http://bookcoaching.com/wp/non-fiction-book-writing-solutions]

Show Up, It’s the Secret

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[found on writing.ie; by Carol Tallon]

“Turn up, keeping turning up and don’t forget to breathe!

While this may not sound original or particularly enlightening, struggling writers should focus on this as a first step.  Turn up and keep turning up until it no longer requires any conscious effort.  You might not be in the mood to sit at the computer, and you may even feel that it is a waste of time if your mind is blank, turn up anyway.  The ego of a writer is a great thing as it means we will not tolerate a void, regardless of whether that void is in our mind, in conversation or on the screen in front of us.  Our aim will be to fill that void.  It’s a compulsion. Give into it. Over time, with discipline, your words and ideas will be transformed into concepts that can be shared with the world.”

For more tips from Carol Tallon, click here.

[found on http://www.writing.ie/resources/tips-for-writing-non-fiction-from-carol-tallon]

Feel Not Alone, Dear Writer

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[found on quentinschultze.com; by Quentin J. Schultze]

“Discuss Your Writing with Writers (and Authors)
Authors need one another.  Writing is personal, but learning about writing is communal.  Every author depends on the work of earlier writers.  This is true for style and content.  We all need feedback from other writers as well as from readers.  Discussing our ideas and manuscripts with other writers helps us to discover what works and what doesn’t—and why.  Join a local writers group (e.g., through a bookstore), read one another’s drafts, and offer kind but honest feedback.  If possible, invite some published (but humble) authors into the group.  Eventually, sitting at your keyboard or staring at a notebook will not seem so lonely, intimidating, and baffling.”

[found on http://quentinschultze.com/tips-1-5-for-book-writers]

Enter, and Resolve Thyself

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[found on iuniverse.com]
“Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel. If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction. Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development. Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution.”
— Michael Moorcock

To see the rest of the tips from iUniverse, click here.

[found on http://www.iuniverse.com/ExpertAdvice/20WritingTipsfrom12FictionAuthors.aspx]

The Perfect Scene

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[found on advancedfictionwriting.com; by Randy Ingermanson]

“Writing the perfect scene:

    1. Goal: A Goal is what your POV character wants at the beginning of the Scene. The Goal must be specific and it must be clearly definable. The reason your POV character must have a Goal is that it makes your character proactive. Your character is not passively waiting for the universe to deal him Great Good. Your character is going after what he wants, just as your reader wishes he could do. It’s a simple fact that any character who wants something desperately is an interesting character. Even if he’s not nice, he’s interesting. And your reader will identify with him. That’s what you want as a writer.
    2. Conflict: Conflict is the series of obstacles your POV character faces on the way to reaching his Goal. You must have Conflict in your Scene! If your POV character reaches his Goal with no Conflict, then the reader is bored. Your reader wants to struggle! No victory has any value if it comes too easy. So make your POV character struggle and your reader will live out that struggle too.
    3. Disaster: A Disaster is a failure to let your POV character reach his Goal. Don’t give him the Goal! Winning is boring! When a Scene ends in victory, your reader feels no reason to turn the page. If things are going well, your reader might as well go to bed. No! Make something awful happen. Hang your POV character off a cliff and your reader will turn the page to see what happens next.

For more tips on writing from AdvancedFictionWriting, click here.

[found on http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/writing-the-perfect-scene]

The Art of Conflict

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[found on huffingtonpost.com; by Writer’s Relief Staff]

“Learn the art of conflict. Creating a powerful conflict and weaving it tightly throughout the story is a tricky thing to master, and can take years of practice. The catharsis that a reader will experience at the resolution, however, is worth the struggle. Conflict is what makes us interested in outcome. And your conflict must affect your characters in a way that forces them to act and grow as a result. A story with a weak conflict that leaves the characters exactly as they were at the start won’t be satisfying; your story won’t make a lasting impression.

Here’s a tip: The best way to learn how to write conflict is by reading it. The next time you’re reading a short story or novel, take note of how the author presents the main conflict and the specific ways in which the characters react to it.”

[found on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/writing-tips-advice-fiction-authors_n_1628537.html]