Weekly Writing Memo: Writing Truth

Posted: August 3, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Screenwriting, Uncategorized, Weekly Writing Memo, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Books, Fiction, Screenwriting, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a comment

Weekly Writing Memo One of the things that is distinct about great writing is that it delivers a truth. This doesn’t mean the narrator or characters have to tell the truth, but it does mean that the writing has to be true to the story. Even if your characters or narrators are liars, their actions and their words have to be true to who they are. There are three main ways stories tell the truth:

Truth of Story

For a story to read realistic, it has to stay true to itself unless the writer has a very big reason to write it another way. However the events of your story happen, they have to be the true way they would happen and not forced for the writer’s preference. For example, in the Harry Potter novels, people had to die whether JK Rowling liked it or not. If she let everyone survive through all of the conflict within the novels she would be lying to her audience for the sake of a happy ending. In wars, people die, and without that death the story is a lie.

Whatever type of story you are writing, you have to stay true to the type of story. People die, couples break up, families are torn apart, and bad things happen. You can’t protect your characters and your audience by lying to them. If you do, the story will lose its depth and worth, and the audience will know it.

Truth of Character

Characters in stories have to stay true to who they are. If they behave out of character for the sake of progressing the plot, then the character will often lose the audience. The audience is not dumb and they know when the writer is manipulating a character for the sake of the plot. You can’t force your characters to go where you want them to. Every action has to be justified by your characters motivations. By staying true to your characters, you are strengthening your plot and your story, and your audience will buy into your story more.

Big Truths

Finally, every story has a big truth to it. In Harry Potter the truth was that people die, good has to make sacrifices to defeat evil, and that evil can be an alluring force that turns good people bad. I’m sure there are others, but these are some of the big truths and themes that the Harry Potter stories bring out in their telling. So what are your story’s truths? What is your story saying about the world? Whatever it is, make sure it is truth and not wishful thinking or a fairytale unless you are doing it deliberately.

A lot of children’s stories will have morals that aren’t always true, such as “good always triumphs.” These kinds of stories when given to adult audiences don’t work as well because adults generally know that they aren’t true for how the world works. By telling the truth about the world to your audience, you are creating a story with more depth. Of course, what is true for some is not true for all, but write the truth the best you can.

The purpose of all this is to say that you can’t lie to your audience. Your audience is buying into your story, and if you lie to them they will know and they will almost always be disappointed. You can have characters and narrators that lie, but you the writer cannot lie. Whatever you do, do it with purpose, and with truth, and if you do that, your story will be the better for it.

Robin Conley offers great writing advice most Wednesdays on Writing to be Read. If you just can’t wait until next week to find out more, you can pop into her blog, Author the World, for more tips, or a weekly writing prompt.

Weekly Writing Memo: Setting Writing Prompt

Posted: July 21, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Fiction, Screenwriting, Uncategorized, Weekly Writing Memo, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Creative Fiction, creative process, Fiction, Screenwriting, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Comment

[Sorry for the delay this week, there was a glitch in posting yesterday.]

Weekly Writing Memo I’m off in Gunnison, Colorado this week for a writing conference at my old graduate school, Western State Colorado University. For me, a writing conference is a chance to talk writing and get inspired, so I thought I’d post a writing prompt this week to spread some of the inspiration.

Since I’m in a place that is known for its beautiful scenic views, I thought I’d go with a writing prompt that is all about starting with setting to find your story. Try to use the prompt to help visualize the setting, and see where it takes you for creating a story.

A Tree Grows in the Desert

A tree grows alone in the desert. What kind of tree is it? What does it look like?
Describe every detail you can think of. What do those details tell us about the tree?

How does it grow there?

Who discovers it? Someone has to come across it and be our narrator. So who? Why are they in the desert? How did they find the tree?

Who are they?

What does the tree mean to them? Do they interact with the tree somehow?

Is this all a dream?

Or a vision?

A miracle?

A mirage?

Don’t just have this character be at the tree, give them a reason, a purpose. Why are they there? Why is the tree there? How do the tree and the character impact each other? Where do they go once they part?

This prompt is about character and setting, since they are the two core parts of the prompt. It’s also about using mysterious elements to help draw the plot out. If there is a mystery element to be investigated, and a character to investigate it, then there is a plot in there somewhere. So explore the tree, develop the character who interacts with the tree, and see where the story takes you.

Next week I’ll be back with my usual post, but for now, happy writing! If you want to play with this prompt, you can try to set it in other unusual places if you want (the ocean, a grocery store, etc). The key is, that the tree is somewhere unusual, and the story comes from someone interacting and exploring the tree and why it is there. So explore, have fun, and get writing!

Weekly Writing Memo: When to Include Movement with Dialogue

Posted: July 13, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Fiction, Uncategorized, Weekly Writing Memo, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Screenwriting, Writing, writing advice, Writing Process | 1 Comment

Weekly Writing Memo One thing I’ve noticed during my time reading and critique fiction, is that not everyone includes movement of characters, or actions, within the dialogue scenes. This is a pretty obvious thing, as not all scenes would call for it, but how do you know when you should or shouldn’t include movement with the dialogue?

Forward Momentum

One reason to include movement in dialogue is that it moves the story forward physically in a way that dialogue generally cannot. The exception to this is if you write like Shakespeare or other playwrights where they often imply or describe the movements in the speech. If a scene of dialogue goes on for a long while without any movement, it can make the reader feel like the story is standing still as two or more characters talk things out. Adding in the body movements can make the reader feel like the characters are actually doing something and that the story is still progressing forward, even if the characters are staying in one room.

Emphasis

Movement can also help emphasize certain words that are being said, as well as how they are being said, and can even be used to tell more about the character who is speaking. For example, if your character is trying to act tough but doesn’t feel very tough at all, you can give them strong words in the dialogue but have their body language be weak to show they’re not confident in the words. This can be a subtle way to show a lot about the character without telling.

Another example of this is if you want to emphasize a characters anger, you can have them throw something or slam something. Yes, these types of gestures can venture into cliché, but when done well they can also really highlight how a character is feeling and what they mean by their words.

Transition

Movement can also be used as a transition of subjects in dialogue. If you jump from one subject to another in dialogue without any sort of physical break on the page, the story can feel clunky or awkward, and sometimes throw the reader out of the story. Adding in the movement between a subject change can slow things down for the reader and make the transition smoother by helping the reader follow the speaker’s train of thought. An example:

“I want to go to the park,” Bobby said. He looked down the street as the milk truck drove by, then turned back to his brother. “Did mom go to grocery store yet? We should eat first.”

If you remove the dialogue tag and the action, the dialogue seems cluttered, rushed, and not necessarily cohesive: “I want to go to the park. Did mom go to the grocery store yet? We should eat first.” Written this way, the character seems almost like his has an attention disorder. By using movement, you can create a pause between the subject shifts if needed, or use the opportunity to help show the reader what is the cause of the subject shift as done above.

Exceptions

There are a few spots where movement should not be in dialogue, but really it should be judged on a scene-by-scene basis. If you are having an important conversation where the emphasis really needs to be on the words, then the focus should be the dialogue with movement only added in where an action is needed for the story.

If you have a long scene with a lot of movement and little dialogue, then keeping the dialogue sections movement free can help balance the chapter out. If you add more movements into a scenario such as this one, it can make the dialogue feel cluttered and buried in all the actions in the story.

Another exception is if you have a slower chapter and want to speed the dialogue up some, then you can take out the movement. A segment of dialogue with minimal movements or dialogue tags can really speed up a chapter because the reader can move through it quickly, focusing just on what is being said by the characters.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, each instance of where to put movement within the dialogue should depend on the scene and the writer’s goal for the scene. If you understand what the effect of the actions and movements in dialogue are, then you can understand how to use them in the strongest way for your story. If you really want to understand it, take some of your favorite novels and look at the scenes with dialogue. See how the author handles them and try to figure out the effect it has on the story. Really, when working on any aspect of writing, seeing how it has been done and then experimenting with it yourself is the ultimate way to understand it.

Weekly Writing Memo: Inciting your Story

Posted: July 6, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Weekly Writing Memo The inciting incident is the event in the story that causes the main conflict of your story to happen. Choosing the incident that starts your story is important because it is the foundation for all events that happen from that moment on. If you don’t write the inciting incident correctly, your story may not work or make sense. To know if your incident is working, ask yourself these questions:

Is it big enough?

The inciting incident has to be something big enough that it changes things for your character. It may seem small when it happens, but the event has to create a cascade of events for the rest of the story. Basically, the inciting incident is starting an avalanche, so it has to be powerful enough to get things moving.

An example of this which most people will know is in Lord of the Rings. The inciting incident for the trilogy can go all the way back to Bilbo Baggins finding the ring, or it could be considered to be when Bilbo leaves the ring to Frodo. It seems inconsequential, but it’s a major thing because of what the ring really is. Basically, because the ring is not just any ring, it’s THE ring, it’s a huge event that leads to the endless conflicts throughout the rest of the series.

Is it small enough?

While it’s important that the inciting incident is big enough that it can cause a huge series of events that will fill a story, it doesn’t need to be so big that it feels like the climax of the story. There are some stories that have huge inciting incidents, but the inciting incident should never be so big that it overshadows the rest of the story. There has to be somewhere for the story to build to. In most cases, the inciting incident is something small, that could almost seem inconsequential to the reader and the protagonist, but it has much bigger implications.

Returning to the Lord of the Rings example, when Bilbo leaves Frodo the ring it seems like such a small unimportant thing. It’s just a ring! But there is foreshadowing with the way characters interact with it that shows there could be something more about it.

Is it realistic?

Whatever your inciting incident is, it has to be something that is believable for your story. Being realistic and believable is, of course, subjective, but what matters is that it fits YOUR story. If the inciting incident doesn’t fit your world and your characters, it will feel like the author is forcing the story to go in the direction they want it to go; it’ll make the story feel unnatural.

If you worry about making something realistic, just remember that anything can be believable in a story if set up right. Sticking with the Lord of the Rings example, Bilbo finding the ring could be considered unbelievable, except that the ring is set up to have a sort of will of its own that makes people do things. This sets it up for every character who possesses the ring, or who is even in the same vicinity of it, to act in certain ways that can help move the plot forward. It works because it was set up that way from the beginning.

Does it matter?

The final thing to consider for your inciting incident, is whether it matters. If the inciting incident is something that changes nothing for your character, or the plot, then it is not really an inciting incident at all. As mentioned in the previous sections, it has to be something that is big enough to lead to future events. Beyond that, though, it has to be something that impacts the protagonist in a way that is significant enough to force them to act in some way. This is the incident that propels your protagonist to make some decision or change that leads them on the journey of the story. If the inciting incident isn’t something that does that, then it doesn’t matter to the story or the character and isn’t an inciting incident.

In Lord of the Rings, when Bilbo gives the ring to Frodo it matters immensely to Bilbo. He doesn’t want to give it up, and almost doesn’t. Frodo knows how much this ring means to Bilbo, so it matters greatly to Frodo when he is given it. He knows it’s something special, even if he doesn’t know what.

Final notes:

Whatever your inciting incident is for your story, as long as it fulfills the requirements above it should be a successful event to get your story started. The thing that matters most is that your event fits your story, and that it can be the first domino in a chain that causes future conflicts. Your entire story hinges on that first incident, so make sure it is solid before you get started writing or your entire story could falter.

Weekly Writing Memo: Building a Story

Posted: June 29, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Fiction, Screenwriting, Stories, Uncategorized, Weekly Writing Memo, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Creative Fiction, Fiction, Writing, writing advice, Writing Process | Leave a comment

Weekly Writing Memo Stories are essentially a million little pieces intertwined in such a way that they relay a picture from the writer’s head into the mind of the reader. Specifically, every scene, and every story, is made up of a series of arcs (character arcs, plot arcs, genre arcs, etc) that combine to tell the story on various levels. In order for the arcs to work, they have to be carefully constructed and woven together so that they support each other and so the story forms a cohesive whole.

One of the most important parts of building a story is the construction. Each of the various arcs within the story have to start and end at the correct place, and have to be balanced with the other elements. If any arc or element is out of place, the entire story can falter or fail completely. There are dozens or more elements and arcs within a story to consider, but the main arcs I’m going to focus on are character, plot, and genre. These three are generally the core of every story, and if they’re right, the other elements are more likely to be right.

Character

The general rule in any story is that every character has to have an arc of their own, not just in the story as a whole, but in every single scene of the story. At the start of every scene, each character present should have two or more goals. The first goal is their overarching goal, and the second is their immediate goal. For example, in a scene where a man wants to get his daughter an ice cream, his first goal could be a larger goal that carries on throughout the story of trying to make his daughter happy, while his second goal is one that is the focus of the scene such as simply trying to buy an ice cream cone.

These goals are what drive each scene forward, and are what drive the character’s every action. A goal can change in the middle of the scene, but no matter what a character has to have a goal. The character arcs in every scene are generally caused by how they succeed or fail at achieving their goal. In the ice cream example, the character’s arc could be something like:

On the scene level: the character starts out hopeful that he will be able to buy the ice cream, he hits a peak in line when he is about to achieve his goal, but then when he gets to the front and finds out that they are out of the ice cream his daughter wants his hope disappears and he is in a much worse position than he started.

On the story level, this would be a minor arc in his larger development. This would be the arc where the father goes from trying to find his daughter’s happiness in material things to maybe looking deeper to find something more that can truly make her happy. The scene won’t resolve the problem, but it would be the first step of the father solving the problem and help him head toward the path where he will find the solution.

As shown above, by looking at and understanding the goals you can find the character’s arc of emotional and mental development in every scene, and in the story as a whole.

Plot

Each goal itself should be a part of the plot, and should have some form of arc as well. Some goals, like the larger story goals, will be made up of a bunch of mini-arcs, while the minor goals will just have a minor arc of their own. The goals make up the plot because they are what drive the action and create conflict within the story. They’re what the character wants and is constantly stopped from getting one way or another.

For each goal, there should be an arc of how it develops and changes throughout each scene and the story. Goals in general will be made up of some mix of the basic format of: conception of goal, plan to achieve the goal, enacting the plan, and failure or success. The outcome either leads to a new goal, or a new plan to achieve the new goal. Each arc of the plot can lead to new plots and goals depending on whether the character is successful or not, and whether the success/failure of the goal leads to new problems or new goals.

For example, in the ice cream story, the dad doesn’t get the ice cream so it leads to a new goal and new problem for the plot. He either has to find somewhere else to get the ice cream his daughter desperately wants, or he has to find a new way to make her happy.

Genre

Many people don’t consider that there are genre arcs within stories, but in there are almost always some form of genre arcs that happen in genre stories. For example, most romance stories involve some form of meeting of the potential couple, a period of interactions between the couple culminating in some form of acknowledgement of feelings, the breaking point where they are thrown apart, and then the reunion. This varies, of course, depending on the different types of romance stories, but being aware of the genre arc and knowing how to use them can help you create a certain flow within your story that readers find natural. It can also help you make sure your plots are working well for the genre you are using.

Even if you don’t go with a typical genre arc for your story, you should consider how the genre evolves throughout your story. For example, in horror there should be a general increase in the horror as the story develops, culminating in the final climactic moment toward the end of your story. If you don’t have an arc of the horror elements as well as the character and plot elements, then the horror part of your story could fall flat. So always consider the genre you are writing in, and think of how that influences your plot and character.

Whatever you are writing, there are many levels of story you are telling and each element should really have an arc of its own, even if it’s a minor one. Some arcs may not be super important or even that interesting, but it’s how they fit in with the other larger and more important elements that matter. Each element should be supporting the larger story as a whole. If you find a part of your story that isn’t doing its part to support the story, remove it. You’re building something where every part needs to do its job, so make every element count.

Weekly Writing Memo: Where’s the Story?

Posted: June 22, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Weekly Writing Memo As I’ve touched on in previous posts both here and on Author the World, the setting you choose for your story can be pivotal to your story’s success. The setting of a story can have just as much impact on character and plot as an antagonist could, so it’s incredibly important to think carefully about where you set your story. The three biggest ways the setting can influence the story is through tone, character, and plot.

Tone

The tone of your story can help tell your audience how to interpret everything that happens. If your narrator has a flippant tone to how they tell the story, it can tell audiences not to take things too seriously. If the narrator has a serious, dark voice, it can tell audiences that the story will be dark. The setting is a major part of declaring the tone. Think of any story, movie or book, whichever comes to mind. Where is it set? What if you set it somewhere completely opposite? How would the story change?

A great example of this is the TV show Burn Notice. I heard somewhere that the original script had the show set in a city like Chicago (I can’t remember if this is the right city, but at the very least, it was similar to Chicago in tone). Imagine how that setting would change the story compared to where it actually was set, Miami. First off, visually it would be very different. Instead of the bright sunshine and beautiful beaches, you’d get the cold concrete and grayer tones that Chicago has to offer. Instead of brightly dressed citizens in sundresses and bikinis and laid-back suits, you’d get city folk bundled up against strong winds and even snow now and then.

The story taking place in such a bright sunshiny place creates a contrast between the serious spy drama with the laid-back atmosphere. It makes things more humorous, and allows the story to have some brightness in what is really a dark story if you think about it. If the story was set in Chicago as originally planned, then not only would the drama be more serious because the setting would be more serious, but the overall appearance of the show would be more serious.

Character

Setting is not only important for tone, but for character as well. If your character is a hardened detective in a small town, he’s going to be out of place and his tactics might not work. Of course, if that’s the point then that is a perfect set-up. If you want your detective to fit in, though, then you might reconsider where you place him. The setting has to highlight something about your character. Does it show how perfectly your character can navigate their world, or does it show how out of place they are? Whatever it is, make sure you’ve thought it through.

The other thing to consider is how the setting helps create your character into who they are. If this is a setting that your character has lived in for a while, then it will have an impact on their personality and past. If this is a setting they are new to, then remember to show how the setting your character has come from contrasts to the setting they are in now.

Plot

One of the final things to consider when choosing a setting is the plot. How does the setting you choose affect the plot? If you are writing a big spy thriller but you set it in a small town, it’s going to be hard to have the kind of espionage needed to really make a spy thriller succeed unless that small town has some sort of national secret to it. Similarly, if you’re looking for a big chase scenes with lots of chaos and people, you’re going to be hard pressed to find the right setting for it in a small town setting.

When choosing where to set your story ask yourself a few questions. What kind of people does this setting allow my protagonist to interact with? What kind of conflicts are inherent to this setting? What kinds of locations does this setting provide for me to work with? These three questions are all vital things to consider when choosing a location, so make sure to consider them carefully.

Final Notes

Ultimately, wherever you set your story will influence every other part of your story. If you’re ever doubting a choice, or if you want to check if your choice is a good one, try asking yourself what your story will look like if you set it in the complete opposite location. If your story doesn’t work at all in this location, then your original location is probably best. If the opposite location does work, then compare the two and see which one works better overall. Sometimes there will be more than one optimal setting for a story, but the important thing is that you’ve considered your options, and that you’ve chosen your setting carefully and with deliberate purpose.

Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Exposition

Posted: June 17, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I know at this point a lot has been said about the movie Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, but as a writer I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the story issues I felt were a problem within the film. The three largest issues in the film, in my opinion, was the exposition, the protagonist/antagonist confusion, and the some of the transitions.

I shouldn’t really have to say this, but SPOILERS BELOW…

Exposition

This movie had an uphill battle as far as trimming exposition from the very start because there was a lot that needed to be set-up. They had to set up Batman’s new past, his vendetta against Superman, Superman’s hero worship in the public, Lex Luthor’s role in the world, Wonder Woman’s presence, and a ton of other minor elements as well. Almost all of these really big elements deserved a proper set up because they are major story parts that will potentially carry over into future stories, however, setting them up in one movie led to a very long build up in the film before the action started. The long exposition and set up in the film makes the story drag and hard to stay involved, no matter how many interesting elements there are.

Protagonist/Antagonist Confusion

Many stories have multiple protagonists without there being any sort of problem, but in this story the protagonists, and antagonists for that matter, are warring for the focus. Batman is originally set up as the protagonist of the film, with Superman as his antagonist. Then it switches to Superman as the protagonist with Batman as his antagonist. That wouldn’t be such a problem, except there is a bigger antagonist in the film – Lex Luthor.

So much focus is on Batman and Superman being at odds, that Lex Luthor’s plot line is shafted somewhat and pushed until later in the film. There are elements early on, of course, but the Lex Luthor plot feels week because he gets so little attention. He is also painted as the minor threat in a lot of ways, because both of the protagonists don’t even see him as a threat until very late in the film. If Lex’s plotline had been worked into the story a bit earlier, so his plan was clearer earlier (at least to the audience) then I think it would have helped balance out the conflicting antagonists. Audiences know who Lex is, most likely, so they know he’s the villain, but if he had been more involved in the feud between Batman and Superman, instead of just an opportunist about it, then it would have helped strengthened his plotline.

Transitions

The jumps back and forth between Batman and Superman’s plotlines were some of the main rough transitions in the film, however the ones where Bruce is getting a vision of some sort are the ones that really don’t work for me. Things transition into these visions and then it throws the viewer off balance as they try to figure out what is going on. It’s only clear once we come out that we’re in a vision or dream of some sort, but even then it’s not really explained. If you know some of the comic lore then you might understand what is happening, but without it there isn’t enough to set up the visions to explain why they’re happening, or what they mean. Which is really a shame.

Overall, the film is not a terrible one. There are a lot of great moments, and acting, and I’m excited to see what future films come from this. If the exposition had been more balanced and condensed in the beginning, and if Lex Luthor’s role had been better intertwined, I really think I would have loved this one. As it stands, though, I think it’s one I won’t watch again until I’m feeling like a Superhero marathon.

Weekly Writing Memo: Going Through the Motions

Posted: June 15, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Fiction, Screenwriting, Uncategorized, Weekly Writing Memo, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Creative Fiction, creative process, Writing, writing advice, Writing Process | 1 Comment

Weekly Writing Memo Lately I’ve been coming across a lot of writing where the emotional connection has been lacking. If your audience isn’t invested or connecting with your story somehow, they will not want to stick around to finish it. There are a lot of ways your writing could lack an emotional connection, but the main one I find is when your characters or your plot aren’t ringing true to the audience. When it feels like the characters are just going through the motions of the story, rather than really living and breathing the story, then it starts to feel false. So how do you keep it feeling realistic so your audience is emotionally invested?

Actions and Words

One of the most important elements in a story to help it feel realistic is that your characters dialogue and their actions match up. To do this, make sure your character is behaving in a way that goes with their attitude and dialogue. If your character is angry, and is yelling, don’t have their body language be weak and cowering. If your character is shy and afraid, don’t have them adopting a dominant posture. These things are minor touches in your writing, but if your characters’ words aren’t backed up by their actions and body language, then their words won’t ring true and will make the audience feel as if something is off, even if they can’t put into words what exactly it is.

The exception, of course, is if the character is someone who says one thing and does another, or if your character is purposely behaving in a contradictory way because of anxiety, fear, or ulterior motives. In those cases, you still have to be consistent with that character and continue that behavior throughout the story. If they act irrationally when they’re afraid, then show the audience that and make them behave that way every time. If they are a perpetual liar, or manipulator, then again show that and make sure the audience understands the contradictions.

Sincerity

The second element that helps make your audience emotionally connect is to feel like your characters are behaving sincerely. I don’t mean they have to be telling the truth all the time or behaving kindly, they just have to be behaving true to who they (the characters) are. If a character isn’t behaving the way they would in reality, then the audience will pick up on that and feel like they’re being lied to and not connect with the story.

This comes down to one thing – you want your characters to be people, not actors. If it feels like they’re actors pretending to be someone, then it will create an unnecessary barrier between the story and your audience. You want your characters to always be themselves, and to behave in accordance to how they would naturally behave unless there is a significant reason for them not to.

Others

A lot of people think that the only characters the above stuff matters for is for the main characters, and maybe the secondary or even tertiary characters, but it’s more than that. Every single character in your story matters, and every single character should have a motive for their behavior that they drives their behavior. Without this, minor characters in stories will feel like placeholders and even disrupt the story.

If you have a ton of minor characters who just pass through the story without distinguishing them by giving them their motivations, it’ll be like placing a color photo on all gray background. While that can be pretty and help make the main photo pop, it’ll make the background uninteresting.

In a story, this kind of thing makes the story as a whole suffer because your character is living in this world, and if the world is boring and uninteresting, or unrealistic, then it’ll start to affect the main character. If you give your minor characters one thing, give them a motivation for being in the scene and every action they take. As long as they are clearly motivated, and stick true to these motivations, they’ll help give the scene more purpose and make the story more dynamic, which means it’ll be easier for your audience to get invested.

Weekly Writing Memo: Parts of a Scene

Posted: June 8, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Fiction, Screenwriting, Uncategorized, Weekly Writing Memo, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Creative Fiction, Fiction, Screenwriting, Writing, writing advice, Writing Process | Leave a comment

Weekly Writing Memo Whether you’re writing a novel or a screenplay, you are going to be writing scenes for your story. The breakdown of a scene for each is essentially the same, and requires that three things happen.

The Setting

The first thing that has to be established in almost any scene is where it is taking place. Sometimes this can be as simple as establishing that it’s a mysterious unknown place, that’s fine, but some form of setting has to be established. Showing the setting helps ground the audience and helps them visualize what is happening.

To do this in a screenplay, you use the scene heading and then give a brief description of the location in a line or two. Find a succinct way to set the tone and layout of the scene without giving long descriptions. Also, make sure to mention any elements of the setting that are vital to the action of the scene. Don’t wait to mention there is a newspaper on a chair if a few lines down that newspaper is going to be used to slap someone!

This is true for fiction as well. It’s best to set up details that will come into play early on so that way when they are used, the audience feels they have been established instead of feeling like they were just thrown in when the writer needed them. Unlike in screenplays, fiction can let the setting unfold a little more naturally as the character interacts with it. You’ll still want to mention key elements as soon as you can for the best effect, but you can let some details come out more fluidly as the scene develops.

The Character

The second thing to establish in any scene is who the scene is about, and who the protagonist and antagonist of the scene is. In every scene there is one of each, even if one is an inanimate object or something. Every scene is driven forward by a character wanting something, and whatever is getting in the character’s way at that moment is the antagonist for the scene. There can also be an antagonist that is not present in the scene as well, but do consider who the antagonist within the scene is.

You’ll also want to find a way to introduce other characters that are present for the scene as early as possible. If a character is in the room while something is happening, and the audience isn’t aware of it, it can be startling when that character finally “appears” to the audience. It can also change a scene completely. So make sure to find a way to introduce each character within a scene so the audience knows who the players are.

The Conflict

Every scene is about one thing – someone wants something, and something (or someone) is stopping them from getting it. If this isn’t happening in your scene, then your scene has no conflict or tension and really needs to be reconsidered unless you have strong motivations for it.

The other key thing to remember for every scene is that every single character in the scene has a want, and their behavior is going to be driven by whatever that want is. You want some of those character desires to conflict to create tension. If the conflicts are the same (like two characters want a sandwich) then find a way to make the wants conflicting. For example, maybe they both want a sandwich, but they want the other character to make it for them. Or they both want a sandwich, but there is only enough bread for one.

If you know what your characters want, then you know how they will behave in a scene. You also know what you need to keep them from getting it for as long as you naturally can within the scene. Don’t let them get what they want easily, unless what they want isn’t really what they need! If it isn’t what they need, then the moment they get what they want, it’ll create new conflict. The point of every scene is to create tension and conflict, and to drive the story forward.

Final Notes

The final thing to consider when writing a scene is that you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the beginning setting up what your character is doing or trying to achieve. If you find yourself doing this, try jumping forward in the scene and seeing how it reads without the introduction.

For example, if a neighbor wants to borrow a cup of sugar, but the other neighbor wants someone to talk to, try this: Instead of showing Person 1 knocking on the door, show them already in Person 2’s kitchen and show Person 2 blabbering on about some subject that Person 1 cares nothing about. Maybe show Person 1 with an empty measuring cup in their hand and have them eyeing the cupboard.

Doing that tells us everything we need to know without going through the motions of the knocking on the door and asking for the sugar. It jumps straight to the conflict. And you almost always want to cut to the conflict when you can do so without the story suffering.

Weekly Writing Memo: The Query Letter

Posted: June 1, 2016 | Author: Author the World | Filed under: Fiction, Uncategorized, Weekly Writing Memo, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: Writing, writing advice, Writing Process | 1 Comment

Weekly Writing Memo A query letter to an agent or a publisher is one of the basic things you should be able to write if you want to be a writer. Sooner or later, if you want to go the traditional publishing route you will have to send a query letter out to get your writing read. So what goes in a query?

Salutation:

To start your query letter, you’ll want to address it to a specific person instead of using something generic. So find out the editor of the publishing companies name, or who reads the queries. If you’re sending it to an agent, make sure you know the agent’s name. You don’t want to use a generic greeting like “to whom it may concern” because you want to show the person you are sending it to that you’ve done your research about them, and that you’ve chosen them specifically for a reason. By addressing the letter to a specific person, you’re saying I want you specifically to read this because you specifically are right for my story, instead of implying that the letter could go to anyone.

Introduction:

The introduction paragraph of your letter needs to have a few specific details in it. First, it should say why you are writing the person. Are you seeking representation, or publication? Second, it should tell them what you are writing them about, specifically the name of your novel or piece you’re trying to sell, what genre it is in, and a general idea of the word count. Finally, the introduction paragraph should include a line or two summary or description of your novel that gives the general feel of the novel. This should be some sort of hook about your novel and doesn’t have to tell the whole story or anything. The point is to show the person reading the query what type of novel it is in as short a way as possible.

Synopsis:

The second paragraph of your query should be a brief summary of your novel. It doesn’t have to tell everything, but it should touch on who your protagonist is, who the villain is, and what the core conflicts of the novel are. You want it to sound as narrative as possible. I like to think of it as the paragraph that would go on the back of the book – it’s meant to get people to want to read your story. The point of this section of the query is to give the person reading it a taste of what your novel is about, and to get them interested enough to want to read more. So don’t give everything away, but do give them the important details if you can.

Bio:

The final paragraph of your letter should tell a bit about yourself. Specifically, mention your experience as a writer, any publication history, and if you’re seeking representation you should mention what other genres or projects you may be working in. This section shouldn’t be too long, as you just want to give the letter a sample about you. End this section with a final “thank you” to the person who is reading your letter, and maybe something about looking forward to hearing from them.

Sign-Off:

Finally, end your letter with some sort of sign off. Some people like the classic “sincerely”, others prefer to use something less formal such as “best” or “thank you.” Whatever you use, make sure to sign your name. You can also add your contact information below your name, and if you attached anything to the letter you should include the words “Encl.” and whatever is attached after. Such as: “Encl. First three pages and synopsis.” That way the receiver knows what is coming with the query.

Final Notes:

The best way to get good at writing queries is to look up examples online of successful queries, and to practice. There are a lot of examples out there if you look. Just remember, always read what the person you are querying wants you to send, and do everything you can to stick to those guidelines. Not sticking to the guidelines is a very quick way to get yourself rejected if the query reader isn’t feeling generous.