W is for WORD CHOICE

              Keeping it simple tonight.  


              I almost changed W to be something else because this topic is another one of my weak areas.  There are subjects I get windbag about, some that I know a little something and then topics like this.  But everyone has been accepting of my naiveté so far, which I appreciate.  The more you practice, the more you learn, right?  :0)

            And the way I understand it, word choice is where you choose the most succinct and appropriate word in a sentence.  The word can be long, short, multi syllable or humble, as long as it sums up your point concisely.  This concept is simple enough, but the biggest hurdle I've encountered with word choice is vocabulary.  

Or in my case, limited vocabulary.  

It’s tough to cinch a sentence when you have a narrow list of words to pick from. 


In the T is for TENSE entry I’d mentioned that children learn by hearing and repeating, and it’s interesting how language is picked up from one’s environment that way.  Traditionally, you need to hear a word or expression being used before you integrate it into your own verbal collection.  And when I think about it, my vocabulary consists mainly of idioms and terms spoken by people in my surroundings, my family and friends.  And while this is good for everyday conversation, it's generally expected that a writer’s glossary be much more expansive.

            So with my writing I strive to be a word collector, contributing new terms to my mental dictionary every day.  Call me strange, but in my nightstand I keep a 5”x8” steno pad of paper and a pen handy to jot down words that stand out to me when I'm reading.  I make a mental note if I hear a new phrase used in conversation, and I even have a word-a-day calendar on my wall, so I can take a new word with me. 

             My goal is to use the new word at least three times that day, allowing its meaning and application to sink in. 

             

            The game is pretty fun.  In the last month alone I’ve come across words such as: 

Parietal,   Disingenuous,  Kitted,  Semaphore,  Gloze,  Evince,   Prurient, Estival,  Didactic,  Vinaceous,   Anneal,   Popinjay,  Intestate, Turbid  and  Deft

            And there are terms that really center in on the action like:

            Susurrus,  Flyting,  Keelhaul,  Deke and  Chicane

          Simple formations of letters that have prompted me to explore new places, situations and things.

           

             Isn't it amazing how powerful one little word can be?

 

            Please come back tomorrow—X is for X-Mark. 

            Goodnight!

V is for VILLAIN

*Shelley clears throat—hums loudly*  

MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Tonight’s letter gave me the perfect opportunity to do that—V is for Villain.

One would think that a villain would be an easy topic, but I found that it really brushes up against our last letter, the Usual suspects. 

In a majority of fiction today, the villain is one dimensional.  He’s bad to the literal bone.  Which makes sense because he is the bad guy, but like secondary characters, there are archetypes to the baddies.  

These outlines make for strong villains, they play the role right—I mean, if you can’t be good, heartless is the way to go, however in the genre I write--Romance--the villains need not always be so mean.  In the last novel I wrote, I took a different tack with my villain, and in turn, got a lot of feedback.  Going into it I thought of the bad guy as a real person, and I asked, “What would make this character do this despicable thing to the heroine?” 

In the story, the baddie is an ex-fiancé who technically leaves the heroine at the altar on their wedding day.  This should make him an unforgivable @#$&*!, right?

But I wanted to pull on the heartstrings of the reader a little bit, so I gave the ex a reason for doing what he did.  Yes, I gave the jerk enough “likeableness” for the reader to be conflicted over his motives.  In the end he still does the evil deed, but you can sort of understand why.

This is a fantastic counterpart to have in your story.  The reader wants to connect to the villain but can’t because the badness gets in the way.  This technique has been used in breakout fiction quite a lot in recent years—Severus Snape has one of the biggest frickin’ fan clubs I’ve ever seen.  

When the reader can relate to the villain—just a little bit—then the drama begins.  The bad guy isn’t merely a dark soul, he's a lost one.  

 It’s important to keep the balance, the villain has to remain parallel to the hero, but a touch of concern makes the reader really consider your bad guy, rather than simply write them off in the beginning.  That makes for great tension.  You want your reader to be torn, to scream, 
               “I want to like you, why must you be so bad?!”

Then your bad guy can tip his black hat and reply, 

         “’Cause I’m the villain. Muahahaha.”   ;0)

Only four more letters to go! 

Please come back tomorrow—W is for WORD CHOICE.

-SNG

U is for the USUAL SUSPECTS

            Let’s do this.  Time to throw open the door, trot ‘em out and line ‘em up.   You know who I'm talking about - the Usual Suspects.

            When writing fiction, your hero and heroine are always the main focus.  While they interact with the leads, the secondary characters are primarily in place to play specific roles: the temptress, mentor, confidant, fool, trickster, devil, fool, king/father, etc.  These functions are important to the story, but often the rudimentary job of the secondary character gets a little played-out.  That’s when they become the usual suspects.  

            The bubbly best girlfriend, the trusty guy companion, the smarmy rich guy there to rival the poor-guy hero, to cite a few. 

            Essentially the usual suspects are stock characters and they get that bum rap because, let’s face it, they work.  They have the heroine's back at the right time and enable the hero to ride to the rescue on his horse.  This is good, but if you want your writing to stand out, you want to push against the tried-and-overused.  Turn the usual on its head.  Avoid the stereotype.  

            It is okay to go with the same ol' suspect line-up, just give them new traits.  For instance, don’t let the trickster look so mischievous.  Let him act smooth, almost innocent.

            Make the mentor reluctant; the sage scatterbrained, the confidante assertive.  Keep them simple, but hard to pick out of the crowd.  Call in the unusual suspects.  

            We’re in the homestretch to Z!  Twenty-one letters down, five to go! 

            Please join me tomorrow—V is for Villain.   *evil grin*

            Goodnight! 

T is for TENSE

          Looking at my letter list, I figured that this would probably be the “See Spot Run” entry, but that’s okay.  Twenty letters in and we’ve had a few tough ones, funny ones and brief ones.  Our alphabet is winding down fast.

            And verb tense determines in what time your narrator is speaking.  It basically determines if the action is currently happening, will happen in the future or has already occurred.


Simple Present:       She writes

Present Perfect:      She has written

Simple Past:             She wrote

Past Perfect:            She had written

Future:                      She will write

Future Perfect:        She will have written

            I think I got that right(?)  Honestly, verb conjugation intimidates the crap out of me.  All the perfects, participles, regular vs. irregular and subject-verb agreement makes me anxious.  With all those rules, there is too many ways to mess up.

   The best advice is to choose a tense and then play it by ear.  Children learn language by hearing and repeating; adults are the same way.

The only caution in writing is that you want to try to avoid passive language.  The verb “was” is an indicator of the passive “to be” when paired with a past participle.  An easier way to spot this—as a wise contest judge once taught me—is to search your word document for the term “was.”  If more than fifteen highlights pop up on the page, you’re using passive language.  It’s not officially wrong to write passive, it’s just that staying in the moment is the strongest way to hold your reader's attention.  You can write in the past tense and still be in the center of the action.

            Okay, this is the last toughy letter, I swear. 

If you come back tomorrow, we’re in for some fun—U is for the USUAL SUSPECTS.

            *heeheeheee*  Goodnight!

S is for SUBTEXT

            This is Saturday’s entry submitted late Sunday night.  I flip-flopped the post schedule, taking Saturday as the free day; I hope that’s okay according to blog fest rules.   It’s just been a long week and that worked out better for me.

            That and I looked at my A- Z schedule and decided that if I do this again next year I’m not allowed to pick the list of letters anymore. 

Real letter list.  ;0)

             I should have of learned with analogy and narrative voice… I like the tricky topics, and tonight is another whopper.  S is for SUBTEXT.

When I think of subtext, I break down the word in my mind.  SUB meaning “below” or “hidden,” and TEXT meaning “written” or “spoken.”

And that is what subtext is: the unspoken, subconscious meaning of writing.

            Subtext can be found everywhere in literature and in your favorite novels.  Some books have subtext used throughout and some have it only here and there, but almost all subtext is seen using metaphor.  The narrator is saying or describing one thing, but the subliminal message is implying something else.

           And your writing needn't be real elaborate or overly detailed, it simply has to offer a deeper meaning to the literal.

Tomorrow I will take the English literature hat off, I promise!   Lol.

Please come back—T is for TENSE.

Goodnight!  :0)

            

R is for RESEARCH

            Research is a double-edged sword for some.   For me, it’s another one of those, “I know a little about it, but not everything” kind of topics.

            This being the digital age, I understand that most research is done through the internet.  

            And when preparing to write a story, a writer has to perform a lot of research on an array of different topics.  What your character does for a living, their psychology and even the car they drive can all be reasons to hit the search engines.

            One personal research experience I have is with my second romantic-suspense. The plot centered around a team of FBI agents, which resulted in more research than I ever imagined.  Sarah and I had quite a few long conversations about everything from what firearms an agent would carry to whether or not my injured hero could handle the kick-back when shooting one-handedly.  

           And aside from all the physical spy-guy stuff, there were a several girly queries too.  The HEA for one of my heroines involved a hunk of a diamond engagement ring.  When looking up information on Harry Winston, I discovered that the company rarely works with stones that are smaller than three carats.  So in order for the facts and the fiction to come together and still be feasible (a FBI agent with a Harry Winston-sized salary), I had to do a lot of research. 

Pretty detailed stuff, right?  Lol. 

                          

            And Sarah’s real-life knowledge helped me a lot with that story. I've still never met anyone else who knows the dynamics of shooting a gun, blinding by engagement ring, a fireman's carry, biting by a toddler and Judo.  LOL!  She’s just THAT good.

            And if you happen to have a certain area of expertise—include it in your story. I guarantee readers will notice the mindful detail. 

            Personally, I feel like I still have much to learn about formal research—I would love to discuss it with other authors and compare techniques.  

Over the years I’ve heard many authors talk about how they’ve conducted interviews to gather data.  When your character is a police officer or an FBI agent, a chef or a PR rep, it’s good to perform that kind of thorough research about their job.  And while you’re at the interview table, don’t be afraid to ask about the inside facets of that career. 

That's one perk I love about being a writer--you get the inside scoop on so many areas of life.  

The only caveat to keep in mind is that not all information regarding certain positions (i.e. federal law enforcement) can be made public, so it’s good to also note what is open to fictionalization and what is not.  There are workshops offered on going “Inside the FBI for Writers,” and I imagine that’s a good place to start when writing a Fed-based book.  

And here I’ll beseech everyone to teach me—in what ways have you conducted writing research?  Any fun stories to share?  Any systems or methods that you find helpful?  How do you go about setting up an research interview? 

            Thanks for stopping by and please come back tomorrow—
            S is for SUBTEXT.

            Goodnight!   :0)

Q is for QUIRK

A big aim for fiction writers is to create memorable characters.  You want your heroes and heroines to be funny, cute, handsome, accomplished, brave, loving…

            (Stay with me, we’re almost done) …strong, charming and kind.

            That’s a long list.  And, let’s be honest, I know a few of you were yawning halfway through.  That’s okay.  That’s what our Q is going to fix.  All those attributes are great, it's what makes a hero a good, likable character.  We just don't want them to be TOO good.  


            Admit it, too good is kind of…annoying.

            I mean, if your characters are flawless, then what do they have to change?  How can a reader relate to them?

              One easy and fun way to solve this dilemma is to give your character a quirk—a unique or weird tendency that makes them different.  Quirks can be habitual like gum-chewing, a coffee addiction or a pattern of speech like stuttering when nervous.  Your character can have a weakness for shopping, drive like a maniac or be an uncontrollable flirt.  Quirks help define a character and are a good way to let the conflict and humor naturally unfold. 

            

            And quirks can be more complex, too, like a medical condition, something that challenges your character, which in turn adds depth to your story.


                   

            And that’s the power of a good quirk.  Let it flesh out your characters and thicken your plot.  

            Tomorrow—R is for RESEARCH. 

            Goodnight!  :0)