Better than the Dream

I’ve read a lot of blog posts recently about writers doubting themselves, their abilities, their chosen profession. I think as writers we are built to question everything, including ourselves. But we can’t let that stop us from writing.

Writing isn’t a stroll through a field full of daisies. It takes hard work and dedication. It requires a lot of sedentary and solitary time. It needs perseverance and an active mind. And it’s demanding on family and friends.

As a writer we wrestle with schedules and deadlines. Pressure squeezes us from every direction. Our acquaintances pressure us for our time. Our daily lives and duties pressure us for our attention. The desire to write well is a pressure. The need to pay bills is a pressure. Our own personal goals can also become a pressure.

When it gets too much, it’s important to reassess our priorities. Perhaps your daily word count goal is too high. Perhaps you need a weekly word count instead. What works for one writer may not work for you so you have to find out what works for you. The key is flexibility. Life changes, so sometimes our goals must also.

Perhaps the increased pressure is an indication of your need for a break. Everyone needs a break at some time. There is no point fighting it. But sometimes change is as good as a break. Change the way you write. Change where you write. Change what you write.

Don’t let the pressure frighten you off from writing. Don’t let it tell you lies about your abilities. Writing is better than that field of daisies we all think we dream about. It’s the challenge that wakes us up and lights the fires.

What is it about writing that you love so much?

4 Ways to Write with Passion

William Wordsworth advised about writing, “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” In other words, write with passion.

To write with passion, to have your words sing, you must give of yourself. Rather than tip-toeing through the puddles of the worlds you create, wade in, and then immerse yourself.

If you aren’t willing to fully enter your world, then your readers won’t either. You’ll be cheating yourself (and your readers) from everything that makes writing (and reading) such a trip.

Below are four ways to tap that passion:

1. Get involved. Get involved in the lives of your characters. Get under their skin. Find out what motivates them. Learn their likes and dislikes. Discover their quirks and imperfections. Care about the details. Nurture them. Help them to grow.

2. Get poetic. Don’t settle for the everyday way of description. See the world through the eyes of an artist – because we are artists and our paint is words.

3. Be true to yourself. Don’t try to imitate someone else’s art. Make your own. Write the stories inside you that cry out to be written. Be brave and don’t hold back.

4. Care. Care about what you write. Care about the impact your writing may have on another. Extend yourself. Learn about your craft. Do your best and never settle for less.

What is it that makes you passionate about your writing? Can you think of other ways to tap that passion?

Subtlety vs the Sledge Hammer

Part of the joy of reading is the journey of discovery. We like to think ahead and wonder what might happen next. We like to make our own minds up about characters, to learn about them as we would a new friend. It’s how we get involved and why we become so engaged.

To give this freedom to the reader, a writer must employ subtlety. Rather than revealing all the secrets at once, it’s more effective to leave hints and clues, and foreshadow what is to come.

Jaws was such a successful movie because we weren’t sledge-hammered by the shark. We didn’t even see the shark for the majority of the film. Our imaginations worked overtime.

The use of subtlety is important even if your novel isn’t a mystery or a thriller.

Subtlety requires a certain level of trust in your readers. They have long memories so you can trust they will remember the hints you leave lying around in your plot. It might even encourage them to read your novel more than once because they’ll want to go back and pick up on the clues again.

Subtlety also requires a certain level of trust in yourself as a writer. With that confidence you’ll be able to allow your words to ring true without the use of a sledge hammer. You’ll be more willing to show rather than to tell.

Do you agree that subtlety is a clever tool to keep your readers interested? Do you struggle with the confidence to keep your writing subtle?

Hook, Line, and Sinker

The hook in fiction (or non-fiction) writing is a rhetorical device that hooks the readers into wanting more. It’s most often found in the first sentence or first paragraph and it’s something catchy that grabs the attention. It can be subtle or it can knock the reader on the head with a 4x4. But it must be there.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. The problem with a hook is that it builds an immediate expectation in the reader. This expectation must be handled with care or else the hook will backfire. In other words, make sure your hooks are more than just an obvious marketing ploy.

If your story starts with something full of action, such as a helicopter crash in your main character’s yard, don’t then embark in a ponderous backstory.

If your hook mentions fish raining from the sky, don’t then follow up with descriptions of your characters.

Keep it related and keep it consistent because follow through is the ‘line and sinker’ that will essentially make the reader allow themselves to be hooked.

Grab a reader’s attention with a clever opening line, and then follow it up. This is the best way to reel in your readers.

What are some of your favourite opening lines in books? (and do they follow through?)

7 Ways to Improve Dialogue

1. Keep to the point. Remove redundancies and everyday chatter. For example:
      “Hi, how are you?”
      “I’m good thanks. How are you?”
Readers don’t care about these pleasantries. They don’t have a lot of time to sift through all the inconsequential babble. It only gives them a reason to put down your book.

2. Make it Show, not tell. Dialogue is a great vehicle to reveal backstory and keeps the plot moving, but used incorrectly, it can come off as a mere devise and make the characters sound stilted. By using it to show the story in a natural way, the readers can become more involved and engaged.

3. Keep it interesting. The careful use of dialect and slang will help to bring the characters alive and will add an element of realism. Just be careful not to over-do it.

4. Avoid speech that is too realistic. Often conversations between people are clipped and repetitive. People also add lots of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’. In the quest for realism it’s not necessary to include these elements into written dialogue. It only makes it slow and confusing to read.

5. Remove clichés. It’s just as important to avoid clichés in dialogue as it is to avoid in description and plot. Don’t get lazy.

6. Don’t forget the spaces between the lines. A lot can be revealed in a character through the words they don’t say. A silence or an action can speak louder than words.

7. Avoid large blocks of pure dialogue. If all you give your reader is a wall of chatter, the reader can quickly lose connection with the story. Break it up with action and description. It doesn’t have to be a lot of action or a wad of description. We are after variety to add flavour and interest. It will also give you greater control on the pace of your story.

Can you think of other ways to improve dialogue? What are your weaknesses when writing dialogue?