Tag: novel
Make Your Readers Cry
[found on goinswriter.com by Jeff Goins]
“Shattering the frozen sea
Frank Kafka once said, ”A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.”
Be honest. You dream about your writing having that affect on someone, don’t you? Because words have had that affect on you.
The frozen sea inside of you has been shattered by stories, truths, ideas, and turns of phrase so astounding that you had no words to respond or even tell someone what it meant to you. Isn’t that why you want to write?
So, how do you write words that will move people, and potentially even play a part in breaking the frozen sea inside of them? It’s actually quite simple:
You write what moves you.
Except that part is not always easy. Because in order to write what moves you, you will have to visit your pain. Your fear. Your weaknesses. Your nightmares and demons. The skeletons in your closet and the horrific possibility of self-disclosure, even if veiled in stories and themes.
Because, as you well know, that’s where the frozen sea inside of you is. If you are ever going to crack the ice of another person’s soul, you have to be brave enough to go first. To be a witness. A testimony. An example.
You have to go first
If you love your reader, you will go first. You have to lead them on this journey. To show them how and why it’s important.
There is enough fluffy, meaningless drivel on paper to fill the Marianas Trench. So don’t add to it. Write something that matters. And write it with conviction:
- Write about the truths and ideas that are so astonishing you can hardly believe them.
- Write the story that keeps you awake, tossing and turning at night because it echoes the ache in your soul.
- Write that memoir, and include the parts that you are terrified of putting on paper, because it will remind you that they are real. (Some may no doubt need the support of a friend, therapist, or pastor for this.)
Whatever it is, write about those things that punch you in the throat and stir your insides.
Because if it moves you — if it raises a lump in your throat as you type, it will move someone else.
It might just give them the hope that you’ve been given by other writers, with their words and stories that have inspired and reminded you that you are not alone. Aren’t you glad they went first?
As I was writing my first novel, there were many times where tissues had to guard my keyboard from falling tears. The story I was writing moved me and, thankfully, it has gone on to move others.
Such is the inexplicable magic of words, and I am in awe of the weight they can carry.
This is not just for the reader
Oh, and one more thing: Don’t believe that going first is only a gift to your reader.
It is first a gift for you — and a very meaningful one at that.
We all need to go to our frozen sea, because seas were not meant to be frozen. They are meant to thrash about with life.
So, what are you waiting for? Go find your ax. And get to work.“
For more great insights from Jef Goins, Click HERE.
[found on http://goinswriter.com/emotional-writing]
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Pick Your Reader, Not Your Prose
“What model reader did I want as I was writing? An accomplice, to be sure, one who would play my game.”
― Umberto Eco, PostScript to the Name of the Rose
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Perfect Horror Short Story? Yes, please.
[found on fecklessgoblin.blogspot.com]
- “Pick something that could happen to your reader.
- Pick a location that’s familiar to your reader.
- Eat, drink, sleep the horror that you have created before you actually begin to write. Lie back in a darkened room and really visualise it. Scare the pants off yourself.
- Go to your location or one that looks like it and sit there quietly for a while. If your story takes place on a quiet street in the early hours, find one, get up in the early hours and drink it up. Take a pad and write down some notes about what you see and how you feel.
- Try to see the story from three or four different views even if they won’t be in the final version. Choose someone timid, someone thick skinned, someone religious. The choice is yours.
- Take your time, build up the pressure, slowly but surely. This may be a short horror story but you’ve got more time than you think to lay out your stall.
- Stay focussed. Don’t get bogged down in back story. In fact, try giving back story a miss altogether.
- Anticipation is nine tenths of the horror story battle – let your reader know something bad is going to happen, lead them there by the hand.
- Dig deep into that horror. Choose one that scares you. If it doesn’t scare you, how do you expect it to scare the hell out of your dear reader?
- Throw a few red herrings in there, twist them on their heads. The old cat jumping out of the fridge is a bit of cliché but you get my drift.
- If you’re scared of heights, go and stand on the edge of a tall building and lean over, if you’ve got a spider phobia, go and put one on the palm of your hand. Remind yourself how real fear feels.
- Don’t overload your reader with gore. It becomes boring and they quickly attain sensitisation. A splash of blood here and there will do fine.
- Don’t over describe. You’re not Dickens. Give your reader some credit that they can imagine your ultimate horror. Don’t be afraid that they won’t get the point.
- Keep the monster/horror hidden for as long as possible.
- Read the best and the worst of horror. Reread the passages that got your heart racing and try to see how the author did it. Look at the way you reacted and imagine that’s what you want your reader to feel.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles. Write a couple of different versions of your story to see how it comes out.
- Leave your first draft for a decent amount of time so that you come back to it fresh. For some people that’s a couple of days. For others it’s a couple of months.
- Always, always read your draft through once without touching it before you sit down to edit.
- Check you have the right vocabulary to scare. Choose the words to describe your fear with care. Make sure they fit and sound right. Try not to use unusual words that your reader won’t readily know the meaning to. It will break the flow. You’re trying to build fear not a larger vocab.
- Don’t forget that your story isn’t written in stone. It can change. It can evolve. It can be totally different from the original. Don’t be afraid to delete stuff that doesn’t belong.“
For more great tips, check out The Feckless Goblin.
[found on http://fecklessgoblin.blogspot.com/2012/02/20-tips-for-writing-perfect-horror.html]
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Happy, & Now You Know It
“Maybe being oneself is an acquired taste. For a writer it’s a big deal to bow–or kneel or get knocked down–to the fact that you are going to write your own books and not somebody else’s. Not even those books of the somebody else you thought it was your express business to spruce yourself up to be.”
― Patricia Hampl
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Does Your Writing Have YOU?
“There’s one thing your writing must have to be any good at all. It must have you. Your soul, your self, your heart, your guts, your voice — you must be on that page. In the end, you can’t make the magic happen for your reader. You can only allow the miracle of ‘being one with’ to take place. So dare to be yourself. Dare to reveal yourself. Be honest, be open, be true…If you are, everything else will fall into place.”
― Elizabeth Ayres
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To contest? Or not to contest?
[found on blog.nathanbransford.com]
“What should writers know about contests?
The absolute most important advice I can give you is this: read and understand the fine print.
Know what you’re entering. Know what happens to your work in the event you win (or even/especially if you don’t win). Make sure you’re completely comfortable with it.”
For more information on writing contests from Nathan, click HERE.
[found on http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/12/all-about-writing-contests.html]
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What Goes In…Is What Comes Out
“To have output you must have input. It helps to go on a period of creative nourishment, or dolce far niente, clearing the brain. Go to bed with the cat, some flouffy pillows, tea and a book which could not in any sense be called improving. Read for fun for a change: superior Chicklit is good, or children’s classics. You are not allowed to try and analyse what the author is doing. After a good sleep, go and do something new, or that you haven’t done for a while….”
― Lucy Sussex
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In The Beginning…No, Now.
“They say everything that can be written has been written. I say we are just getting started.”
― Andrew Barger, Mailboxes – Mansions – Memphistopheles: A Collection of Dark Tales
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Genre? GENRE?! Don’t panic.
[found on fictionwriting.about.com]
“The most obvious way to pick a genre is to write what you like to read. If you mostly read romance, then write romance. Most of us read in several genres, and that can make it tricky though. Do you choose the one that seems the most marketable? The one you think is the most fun? Flip a coin?
This is ultimately a personal choice, but there are a few techniques that can help you choose:
- Make a pros and cons list. The classic decision-making tool. Write down the good and bad reasons to write in each genre and see how it shakes out.
- Go with your gut. After thinking about your options for a while, sit quietly for a while and listen to your intuition. Forget about marketing, or what your friends will think, what does your heart tell you to write?
- Pick the most marketable genre. This is tricky since it’s almost impossible to guess where the market is going. That said, you may be choosing between writing in a super-niche, micro-market, and something more mainstream. If you truly feel that they are equally-weighted in every other way, then maybe go with the one you think you can sell.
As you examine potential genres pay attention to the ones that attract you, but scare you at the same time. If you’re excited to write in a certain area, but afraid that you won’t be able to do it, then seriously consider choosing that genre. Often what you fear doing is what you need most to grow as an artist.”
Editing Addict, LLC 