Writing Advice and Tips

Are Writing Exercises Helpful?

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I used to think that using writing prompts or exercises was like plagiarizing or cheating because you begin with someone else’s idea and just build on it.  But I have recently found that many writers use writing practice as warm-up or as a help to get ideas for a story flowing.  Recently, I have begun to read:

In this book, Josip Novakovich offers many writing exercises and he suggests that you connect them, to take your best shots and connect them in a collage or use them as seeds for fiction.  The exercises vary from very narrow to very broad and they build upon each other.  He explains that these exercises can be used to develop a story, to grow a story or to support a story in progress.  I am finding this book quite interesting and helpful.

Another great source for writing exercises is The Write Practice website.  Not only does this site offer writing practice prompts and ideas, but it also offers a wealth of writing advice.  You can also simply google “writing practice” or “writing prompts”, and their are other books that offer writing practice and prompts as well.

As I am still kind of stuck in a bit of a writing slump, trying to decide what genre to write and building a good story idea, I am finding the writing practices helpful because between them and this blog, at least I am writing.  I may post some of my writing practices here if I feel they are worth sharing.

A Great Resource

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I have just discovered a Christian author that I have never heard of before.  I was looking on Amazon.com for books on the writing craft and discovered K.M. Weiland.  She has two books out on the writing craft that I will be purchasing as soon as possible.  She also has a blog that she writes to help other writers:  Helping Writers Become Authors.  She has a current opportunity to download a PDF entitled “Crafting Unforgettable Characters” if you sign up to follow her blog and receive her e-newsletter.  I signed up and downloaded and printed the PDF and can’t wait to dig into it.

K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction.  She has several books published already, including a couple of short stories, and she has two books in the works.  On her blog, she also offers webinars.

Check out her website, her facebook and twitter pages.  You won’t be disappointed.

Do I Really Need an Outline of Some Sort?

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I have always been the kind of writer who simply sits down and writes.  I have a story idea and I simply write it.  Of course, like any other writer, I then have to edit and do rewrites until it is as good as I believe it can possibly be.

However, as I have been attending a writers’ group and reading some books on writing, I have given this a bit more thought, and now see at least one good reason for some type of outline.  I believe I may have mentioned in my post about our last writers’ group that the guest speaker mentioned that she had created a minor character for one of her stories and hadn’t written down her information about that character, and when the story went to the editor, the editor contacted her and explained that she gave two different physical descriptions of that character in two different scenes.  It is easy to see how that can happen, so I would say that is a very good reason to have at least some kind of outline of your characters.  I also believe there are other good reasons for having an outline.

I will admit, though, that I have never enjoyed creating outlines.  I find them a bit too structured and when I try to use them, I feel my creativity drain away.  Can anyone relate?

Then I read Short Story:  From First Draft to Final Product by Michael Milton (I know I’ve mentioned this ebook before).  In this helpful, little book, I found an outline that encourages creativity instead of stifling it, because you use it while brainstorming!  It is called the “Herringbone” diagram and Michael Milton credited it to David Mitchell.  It was explained as drawing a vertical line on a piece of paper.  This is the “spine”.  Then insert “bones” off this spine which represent the chapters.  Coming off those bones are smaller bones which represent scenes within those chapters, and coming from those can be bits of dialogue, sentences or ideas that will be part of these scenes.  (This is like advanced brainstorming.)  With a few ideas already there for what needs to happen in each section, it should be easy to write during writing time.  I’m looking forward to giving this type of outline a try.

What type of outline do you use and do you find it helpful?

Do You Want to be a Quality Writer?

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What do I mean by the title of this post?  Well, I have been reading some physical books and some ebooks, and it got me thinking.

You see, in addition to being a writer, I am also a photographer, although I choose to keep this as more of a hobby.  I have found since digital photography became the norm, that ANYONE can take a photograph and make it a good photograph, either by deleting and re-shooting, or by using one of the many editing programs that can completely transform a photograph.  I find this a bit frustrating because people who know nothing about photography or what makes up a good photograph are taking pictures and being told they’re wonderful.  The appreciation for the person with the true photographer’s eye, photography knowledge and experience simply doesn’t truly exist anymore.

However, I still believe that a true photographer can take a great picture the first time and not need to do much, if any, editing to deliver a wonderful product.  A true photographer doesn’t just have a photographer’s eye, photography knowledge and experience, but they also have patience — the patience to sit and wait for the shot, and they know when to hit the shutter release button when they see what they have been waiting for.

All that said, let’s now look at writing in a similar manner.  You see, as I have been reading, I can tell you that, yes, I have noted one or two typographical errors in some physical books.  However, I see LOTS of typographical and grammatical errors in MANY ebooks, as well as poorer quality writing.  This has given me over to much thought about the quality of writing.  I have read that there are more writers in this computer technology age than ever before.  My question is, but are they worth reading?

You see, like the thought that ANYONE can take a good photograph with today’s technology, I think it is comparable to ANYONE who THINKS he/she can write, can produce a book.  Self-publishing has become a more utilized venue, and ebooks can be created by anyone with some basic computer knowledge.

I believe to be a quality writer, you must be an avid reader who reads good quality stories that are the type of stories that you want to write.  I also believe you must study the craft of writing, which also has more options than in the past.  Now you don’t have to go to college or take a correspondence course, you can take a course on the computer in your own home, and you can join a writers’ group.  I believe it is important to allow other writers to read your work and offer advice, and I believe it is important to seriously consider the reader(s)’ comments and advice.  We should not be overly sensitive about our writing to a point that we cannot consider improvement.

I believe that reading the classics also helps to improve your writing skills.  After all, would theses stories be classics, being read a hundred or more years after being written, if they weren’t good quality?

Finally, I would like to suggest that if you want to be a good quality writer, don’t rush into self-publishing or creating an ebook.  Be sure to re-read and revise/edit your story more than once before you consider it finished.  When you feel that your story is finished, put it away for three to six months, and don’t look at it at all during that time.  During that time, continue to write other things.  Then, after three to six months, take that story out again, and you will see it with fresh eyes.  You may find some more need for editing or even some changes that would make the story even better.  (This tip of letting your story sit for months and then reading it with fresh eyes, was something I read in Short Story:  From First Draft to Final Product by Michael Milton), and I think it’s a very good tip.

Think about it, do you want to produce good quality writing or do you just want to publish your writing?  Having the patience to put in the time for revisions and waiting and reading again later could mean the difference between a dozen or even a couple of hundred people reading your book today, or tens of thousands of people reading your classic story a hundred years from now.

My Writers’ Group Update

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This past Saturday, I attended my second Christian Writers’ Club meeting.  The guest speaker was Michele Chynoweth, who has written and published two novels and has a third one currently in publishing.

          

She explained that she writes modern Bible stories and that The Faithful One is based on the Book of Job and The Peace Maker is based on the story of Abigail.  I purchased both books and she autographed them for me.

She spoke about building character in our stories.  She talked about how important our characters are because they are what connects the reader to your story.  They make the reader feel.

Ms. Chynoweth encouraged us to allow the reader to make his/her own judgments rather than stating character traits directly, which, she explained, is part of the “show, don’t tell” mantra.

At the end she gave us a handout that includes 85 Character Development Questions for Writers.  I won’t post them here, but I will give you the acrostic she gave us:

Communication:  How does your character talk and sound?

History:  Where does your character come from?

Appearance:  What does your character look like?

Relationships:  What kind of family and friends does your character have?

Ambition:  What is your character’s passion, goals, needs?

Character defect:  Flaws make your character real.

Thoughts:  How does your character thnk?

Everyman-ness:  Your character needs to be relatable and believable.

Restrictions:  Your character has to deal with a challenge, weakness, handicap

Those are some of the things to consider when creating your characters in your writing.

I have never been fond of writing outlines, but Michele Chynoweth shared how important it is to be able to keep track of your characters so that you are consistent and don’t make errors.  She told of how she had once created a minor character and hadn’t made a note about him and one place had written about his dark hair and later said “he ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair”.  So, she said, even the little guys are important.  Therefore, I will at least keep a notebook about all of my characters, even if I don’t do an actual outline.

In His Sandals

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Image

This is a photo of a book that is a great tool for practicing writing or for teaching the tools of writing.  You can find out more about it or purchase it here.  I used it with my oldest son and now my other two sons have done a similar writing assignment for their Writers’ Club.

We attended their Writers’ Club last Friday and each of the eight students took turns reading, what their teacher called, their “In His Sandals” assignment.  There are eight students in the class, and the teacher had asked them to choose a story from the Bible and choose a character to be in the story.  Then they were to write the story, creatively, from their character’s perspective.  It was so much fun to hear their stories.  They all did a great job and they all chose a different Bible story to write.

My middle son chose to write about the fall in the Garden of Eden, and he chose to be the serpent and to tell the story from the serpent’s point of view.  Another student commented that she would never have thought to write from an evil character’s perspective.  My son did a good job and read it quite well also.

My youngest son chose to write about Noah’s Ark, and  he chose to be the dove that Noah sends out to see if the waters have receded.  He didn’t enjoy writing the story and found it challenging, but with a little help from Mom, he finally completed a decent story, and when he read it at Writers’ Club and heard the stories of the other students, he really enjoyed it.  I’m hoping that was a turning point for him and that he will look forward to his writing assignments now.

Writers’ Club

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This is a neat idea that two of my boys are participating in this school year.  A lady in our area had taught her children writing and had held Writers’ Clubs for them during their schooling years, and she enjoyed them so much and saw such growth and improvement in the students’ writing, that she has decided to continue to run Writers’ Clubs during the school year for homeschool students.

We meet once a month every month of the school year except December, and the students have an assignment for each month.  When we meet, they each take a turn reading their assignment aloud to the group.  It’s a great way for these young writers to hear what other writers are writing, how they are writing it and what voice they are writing it in.  The clubs are made up of children in all grade levels and some have been attending the writers’ club for several years and some are brand new this year (like my boys).  It helps those who struggle with writing to improve and to get ideas as they listen to other students share, and it’s fun for the ones who are good at writing to share as they continue to learn more about writing and continue to improve.

This is very much like the Writers’ Groups that are available to adults, except that in the Writers’ Groups, the other group members usually offer input on each person’s writing, hopefully in a kind, constructive criticism way.  The group I recently visited uses the “Oreo Cookie” method of input, which means the first thing is to say something positive about the piece, then offer your ideas of weak areas with suggestions for improvement, and wrap it up with another positive statement about the piece.  That’s a great way to help and encourage any writer.  After all, aren’t all of the rejection letters a writer receives, when trying to find a place to publish, hard enough blows to his/her confidence?

My First Writers’ Group Experience

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Some time ago, I went searching online for writer’s groups in my area.  I found two, but only one that I really felt would be a good fit for me.  They meet once a month but take the summers off.  They had their seasonal ‘kick-off’ this morning.  They had a guest speaker, Dean Drawbaugh, who spoke about the “Nine Qualities that Generate Book Sales”.  He spoke for almost two hours.  It was very informative and interesting.  Mr. Drawbaugh is a writer, publisher and consultant.

It was definitely a step out of my comfort zone to go to the group this morning, as I am an introvert and am uncomfortable going into a group situation not knowing if anyone I know will be there.  It was a good-size group, between 30 and 35 people, some of whom drove for an hour or more to get there.  I didn’t notice anyone really reaching out to people they didn’t already know, but it is easier to get to know people and learn more about them in the small groups, so I’m sure that’s where I’ll get to know more of the people.  I did speak with the leader of the small group for a little while afterwards to gather a little more information about the group and the sharing process.

Mr. Drawbaugh also said something that I had posted here in the past about writing.  I had shared a while ago that I have been seeing a lot of stuff about writers writing for themselves and the fact that this seems to have become more important to some writers than determining their audience and writing for a specific audience.  I mentioned that unless you know who you are writing for and write to that audience, you probably won’t sell many books.  Mr. Drawbaugh said the same thing.  He said that if a writer wants to write for him or herself, that’s fine, if he/she only wants to sell one copy.  He stressed the importance of knowing who your audience is, writing to that audience, and then preparing to market to that audience.  That’s how you become a successful writer who sells lots of copies of your book.  So, the real question is, do you want to achieve a level of success that enables you to earn some money or do you just want to write for your own pleasure?  I know I want to achieve a level of success and earn some money.   Writing is hard work, and though I love it, I would really like to be paid to do it.

This particular writer’s group frequently has guest speakers.  Most months, though, they divide into small groups and whoever wants to can share a piece of writing for feedback from the others in the group.  There is a limit on the number of words your piece may have, to enable everyone who wants to share to have the time to do so.  Then there is the ‘oreo cookie’ rule that says that those giving feedback must start with something positive, followed by tips and advice on things that they think should be changed or that could be done better (this is also done in a kind, polite manner), and then end with another positive.

I think this is a great way to get and give feedback.  It gives the writer helpful advice and offers them another point of view or perspective that can be helpful without tearing them and/or their writing apart in a manner that is simply defeating.  This type of writer’s group is very helpful and encouraging.  I think I’m going to like this group.  I plan to continue attending.

It has inspired me to write more, and I look forward to seeing what I can come up with and, maybe, share at the next meeting.

Many people speak of a writer’s life as solitary and in many ways it is, but it is so important to have a network or group that you can be a part of to prevent yourself from giving up or becoming depressed.  It’s always good to know that you’re not the only one struggling with a scene or a character or whatever.

Are you a member of a writer’s group?  Can’t find one in your area?  Maybe you could start one.

Point of View: Yours, His, Hers or Theirs?

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How do you decide whose point of view to tell your story from?  Do you simply choose the point of view that is easiest for you to write from?

Since my last short story, Out of the Pit, I have given this a lot of thought.  Should I become the main character and tell my story from the first person point of view?  This really limits what your main character can know, because they can not tell anything about the story that they are not knowledgeable of.  They can’t tell you what happened in a place they weren’t at.  They can’t tell you what happened to a character they weren’t with.  It might make it easier to keep your story focused and not stray from your story line.  I know at least one writing teacher who stresses that their students tell their first novel from the first person point of view.

Do I create a main character, male or female, and tell the story from their point of view, but not becoming them.  In other words, third person?  And, of course, if I write in third person, it should be limited to keep from abrupt changes that would lose my reader.  That means that I tell the story from my main character’s point of view, but use “he” or “she” pronouns instead of “I”.  That allows me more freedom to offer details to my reader that my main character may not know about places he/she hasn’t been.  If you choose to write in third person and use two main characters, it is important to make clean breaks between whose point of view is being used when.  In other words, after the part that is told from the first character’s perspective, use a page break, like extra space between paragraphs, a line between the last paragraph and the new section, or change your chapter, to make it clear to your reader that the next part of the story is being told from the second character’s point of view.

It is very rare that a writer writes from multiple characters’ points of view, and it is very difficult to pull off successfully.  Often, a story told this way is choppy and difficult for the reader to follow.  Also, there isn’t a protagonist for the reader to really get to know and care about, which causes the reader to dislike the story or maybe, stop reading the story.  Readers like to get lost in the story.  They want to feel like they are the main character or that they know the main character personally.  If there are too many main characters, the story will lose this ability and may turn the reader off.

My opinion:  write in either first person or third person from just one character’s point of view.  This keeps it fairly simple to write, and because you become so in tune with that one, main character, that character becomes richer and more realistic to your reader, and your reader will be able to relate to that character, like that character, and care about that character.  It allows you to create the kind of character that a reader wants to read about again (they hate to see the story end because they feel as though they are losing a friend).  You can create other rich characters in the story as well, but it is your main character or protagonist that will capture your readers’ hearts.

Where Do You Like to be When You are Writing?

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You might think this is a silly question.  You might have a den or office in your home where you like to write.  I do not have that luxury.  As a homeschool mom of three busy boys, I have nowhere in my home that I can write without interruption, unless the youngest child is in bed, then I write at the dining room table.  If I am able to sneak away to the family room earlier in the day, I like to write there.

But, my favorite places to write are sitting at a picnic table in a park or in the food court or center of the mall.  You may be thinking that’s crazy.  You may ask, “how in the world can you write in a place like that with all of the noise and distractions?”  But, you see, I don’t see those places as being noisy and distracting.  As a person who enjoys people watching, (it’s a great way to get ideas for characters for stories), I enjoy those busy places, and I don’t find them distracting because none of the people there are my children nor are they with me.  Therefore, though many people may be around and may be talking, I don’t have to focus on them or be concerned about supplying their needs.  I can fully concentrate on my writing because I am alone in a sea of people, and I can pause and watch people, for more ideas, whenever I choose.  I would also enjoy writing as I sit in a coffee/tea shop or a cafe area in a bookstore.

Where do you like to be when you are writing?