The Trouble With Adverbs

I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs ....
- Stephen King, On Writing

Why do many writers hate adverbs?

When I first read Stephen King's On Writing I confess I thought his stance toward adverbs a tad harsh. How could a part of speech be categorically condemned? As Jeff Chapman writes:

Adverbs shade the meaning of the words they modify. They are grammatical and an accepted part of speech. I've seen them used by well-respected writers. So, what's behind the injunctions against adverbs? (Why No Adverbs?)

As I investigated the roots of the prejudice against the adverb (I was tempted to write "the lowly adverb" but restrained myself) I came to agree with the admonition to eschew the use of adverbs, or at least to try. This blog post is my attempt at a partial explanation of why we should treat the adverb with caution.

Much of what follows has been drawn from Charlie Jane Anders' article, Seriously, What's So Bad About Adverbs?

1. Adverbs Often Express A Redundant Meaning

Jeff Chapman writes:

Adverbs are redundant when paired with strong verbs. For example: "clenched his teeth tightly"; "moped sadly"; "screamed loudly"; "whispered quietly." In each case, the adverb adds no additional meaning to the verb. There is no other way to mope than with sadness and when someone whispers, they are being quiet.

But what about something like, "He yelled angrily"? It doesn't feel right, but the notion of being angry isn't directly implied by yelling.

For instance, you might yell to tell someone they're in trouble ("Look out! A bus!") or because you're in a nightclub ("I said, 'What would you like to drink?'"). In these cases, though, one shouldn't have to use an adverb because the context should make it clear whether the person yelling was angry.

2. Adverbs Are Sometimes Used To Bolster Weak Verbs

The idea being that the weak verb should be replaced by a strong verb rather than propped up by an adverb.

Before I get into this I feel I should say a few words about what is a strong, as opposed to a weak, verb. I looked this up and, apparently, strong verbs are irregular verbs and weak verbs are ... well, here's a quote:

A weak verb (or regular verb) is one that forms its past participle and past form by adding "-ed" or "-t". (Weak Verbs)

For instance:

Look at the most famous adverb in science-fiction history: Captain Kirk's "To boldly go where no man has gone before." What do you notice? Okay, yes, it's a split infinitive. But look past that. The verb is "go," which doesn't really tell us much in itself.

What would happen if you took the adverb out of that sentence? You get: "To go where no man has gone before." Which sounds bland, and a little apologetic. ("Hey, we're, uh, going, ummm, somewhere that we haven't gone before." "Oh. Are we there yet?" "No.")

From that, you might conclude that the adverb is necessary. But actually, it's more that the verb is weak. "Go" just doesn't give us much, and it definitely doesn't have the swashbuckling feeling Captain Kirk's ringing voiceover demands. So the best bet is to replace it with a stronger verb, like "venture," or "explore." Or how about: "To walk where no man has walked before"? It's evocative and calls to mind men walking on the Moon. (Seriously, What's So Bad About Adverbs?)

I love Star Trek so just let me say that I think, here, the flexibility of the verb was a good thing. After all, we don't want to say, "To fly where no man has flown before," "To dive where no man has dived before," "To walk where no one has walked before," "To run where no one has run before," "To crawl ..." well, you get the idea.

But, point taken. Most of the time weak verbs are insideous. They creep into one's prose and weaken it with clutter. Jeff Champman writes:

Adverbs are used to prop up weak verbs. A better solution is to replace those weak verb/adverb pairings with a stronger verb. For example: replace "frowning angrily" with scowling; "running quickly" with sprinting; "petting softly" with caressing; "moving slowly" with creeping. (Why No Adverbs?)

3. Using Adverbs In Dialogue Attribution

For instance,

"Get out of my house!" she said angrily.

From the dialogue itself it's probably clear the speaker was angry. Yes, it could be that there was a fire spreading through her house and she wanted everyone to evacuate but the context should make the meaning clear.

4. The Adverb And Purple Prose

Charlie Jane Anders gives "He smiled thinly" and "He grinned wolfishly" as examples of adverbs aiding and abetting purple prose.

Of course she's right. Adverbs are likely present in a lot of prose that could be described as purple (that is, excessively ornate prose that does not further the story).

That said, it's interesting only one -ly adverb occurs in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's famous first sentence:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness. (Purple prose, Wikipedia)

Are Adverbs Irredeemable?

Charlie Jane Anders concludes:

But adverbs aren't necessarily all bad, and they can spruce up your writing if you use them judiciously. Here's a test you should apply before using an adverb.

1) Does it change the word it modifies? Does it make the verb or adjective mean something drastically different?

2) Does it convey some vital piece of information in a way that's better or more evocative than real description or a stronger verb by itself?

If the answer to either or both of these things is "Yes," then go ahead and use an adverb. There's nothing wrong with an adverb, if it conveys new information or provides a distinct slant on something.

I couldn't agree more!

Professor Quest has written a wonderful article The Betrayal of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Adverbs in which he talks about Fitzgerald's use of adverbs to, "create internal tensions or to emphasize points-of-view". He writes:

[In The Great Gatsby] People intrude deferentially; their eyes roam speculatively across empty ballrooms. At one point, Gatsby's house is lit like Coney Island at night, every door and window wide open. As Nick turns away, he speaks of the house "blazing gaudily on."

Charlie Jane Anders writes:

For example, "horribly fatal" doesn't tell us anything new. "Hilariously fatal" does. So does "moderately fatal." So does "arguably fatal." I will never quibble with anyone who wants to use phrases like "statistically significant number of maimings." An adverb can signal a certain tongue-in-cheekness by undermining or tweaking the adjective it goes with, like: "the savagely handsome first officer." Or "the obnoxiously sexy co-pilot."

I'll give Jeff Chapman the last word:

So, should you ever use an adverb? They are permissible in a few cases. It's reasonable to employ them in dialogue. People use them when they talk. In other cases, an adverb is adequate to create a mental image and rewriting makes the prose wordy. Consider this example: "The man stood silently at the window" versus "The man stood at the window making no noise." The instance with the adverb is more concise. The rewrite is longer and draws unnecessary attention to the phrase "making no noise".

It is very easy to fall into the adverb traps. The good news is that they are easy to find. Search your manuscript for "ly" and consider each instance. You will be surprised how much richer your writing will be when you eradicate those adverbial weeds from your prose. Happy weeding.

A Disclaimer

None of this adverb hate applies to your first draft. When you write, ignore everyone except your own muse. On your first draft you're birthing a story so it's going to be messy. Use all the adverbs you want. You'll start cleaning things up on your second draft.

Other articles you might like:

- 8 Tips For Finding The Motivation To Write
- Describing Character Reactions And Emotions: She Smiled, He Frowned
- Tags, Traits And Tells (Podcast)

Photo credit: "?" by Bruna Schenkel under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

8 Tips For Finding The Motivation To Write

Sometimes we don't want to write.

Perhaps you've hit a rough patch in your work-in-progress, perhaps you've come back from vacation or--like myself--taken time off to heal an injury.

Often getting back into the swing of things can be daunting and there's the guilt of having taken time off, for not having written (or edited) for a few days.

Deadlines loom--and perhaps pass, unmet.

It's natural to want to give up, to push the anxiety-inducing project to the side.

That's where I'm at now, and I'm looking for ways to pull myself out of this funk and WRITE.

So, in that spirit, here are 8 reasons to write, even if, like me, you don't feel like it.

1. Reward yourself

Give yourself something, a reward, when you finish your writing goal for the day.

For some, this might be a glass of nice wine, for others this might be a piece of fine chocolate--or perhaps a cup of hot coco with masses of miniature marshmallows dissolving into white foam on top. (You can perhaps guess what my preference would be! I'm a sucker for hot chocolate.)

Or perhaps you could get some time to yourself. For instance, if you have children, perhaps you could arrange for someone to mind them for 15 minutes or so while you take a nice hot bubble bath.

Or, if neither of those excite you, perhaps give yourself permission to watch a movie or an episode of your favorite TV show.

In the article How to Find Your Daily Writing Motivation James Chartrand writes that there are three things to keep in mind when choosing a reward:

a) The reward must be personal

It has to be something you want and something you're not going to feel guilty about afterward.

b) The reward has to be immediate

In order for the reward to work you need to give it to yourself as soon as you accomplish your daily goal. This way the reward will be associated with the stimulus (meeting your goal) and unconsciously you will feel that much more motivated, next time, to sit and write.

c) It has to be special

If your reward is something you regularly indulge in it won't motivate you to write because you'll be able to indulge in it regardless. James cautions that it may take several weeks for this method to reach its peak effectiveness, but it does work!

2. Set up consequences

Jody Calkins in her article 3 Keys to Getting Motivated to Write recommends also setting an extreme consequence that will befall you if your writing goal goes unmet. For instance, 50 pushups or crunches.

Or babysitting the neighbor's kids.

3. Warm up with a writing exercise

You wouldn't start exercising without warming up first, the same goes for writing. Do a writing exercise for 5 or 10 minutes to help get your creative juices flowing. But be sure to keep it to under 15 minutes or so. The goal isn't to start a whole new project (unless it is, then go for it!) it is to get you back into a writing mindset so you can work your way back into your old project.

4. Re-read a few pages of your previous work

Trish Love Elliott in Ten Ways to Find Motivation to Write recommends re-reading your previous pages as a way of working back into--and renewing your passion for--your project. She adds, though, that one should guard against getting so caught up in editing that you don't move on and write new words.

5. Write in a new place

One thing that sometimes works for me is going to my local (overpriced) coffee shop and treating myself to a decadent beverage--the more decadent the better! It helps if you surround yourself with all the accoutrements of a writer. The idea is to put yourself back into the mood, so play the part of the writer hanging out at the coffee shop, channeling her muse.

6. Read

To start yourself off, read for 15 minutes. If you're having a hard time believing you can actually do this thing, that you've got to be crazy to even think you could write, and so on, get a bestselling book from a second hand store or from the library. Pick one you think is horrible. The idea is to find a published book that sold well but makes you think: Hey! I can do this!!

Because you can.

7. Get your friends involved

Ask one or more of your friends to phone or email you and inquire whether you wrote. Be honest with them!

If you don't have anyone you feel comfortable asking to do this for you, set up your calendar program (I use Google Calendar) to send you an email reminding you to write.

8. Start small

In the beginning, when you're trying to ease back into a project, it's best to start small. Rather than demanding of yourself that you work for three hours, try 15 or 30 minutes. Once you're back in the groove you can increase the amount of time spent writing or editing.

Here are a few tips on how to, once you get back into a daily routine, keep it going: 12 Writing Tips: How To Be A Writer.

Do you have any advice, any tips or tricks, to share? How do you help yourself keep to a daily writing schedule?

Other articles you might like:

- Describing Character Reactions And Emotions: She Smiled, He Frowned
- Tags, Traits And Tells (Podcast)
- Good Writing: Using The Senses

Photo credit: "Untitled" by eflon under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Describing Character Reactions And Emotions: She Smiled, He Frowned

If you're anything like me, you've had the experience of trying to find another way of writing "she smiled" or "he frowned". It can be maddening!

Which is why I was thrilled to discover Janice Hardy wrote a blog post about alternate ways of describing character reactions/emotions. (By the way, if you haven't read Janice's blog, The Other Side Of The Story, I highly recommend it.)

Janice Hardy's article is well worth the read, but here are a few of her tips:

Other Ways Of Expressing A Character's Emotions/Reactions

1. If this is a first draft just write "She smiled"

If you're writing a first draft just write "she smiled" or "he frowned" and move on. You can tidy things up on the second draft. Chances are, a lot is going to change from the first to the second draft, just concentrate on laying the foundation of your story.

2. Express the reaction through synonyms

For instance, instead of writing "She smiled" you could write "She grinned" or "She beamed" or "She laughed". All of those communicate pleasure/happiness.

3. Express the reaction through internalization

Ask yourself: Why is the character smiling? If she realizes a cute guy likes her you might do something like: Sue tried to look at Rob without being obvious. He is kind of cute, she thought.

4. Express the reaction through dialogue

Mary nudged Sue, "Hey! I think the cute guy in the corner was staring at you."

5. Express the reaction  through movement

Janice Hardy suggests, "Her lip twitched," or "her eyes sparkled," rather than "she smiled".

8. Express the emotion through subtext

Here is an example from The Italian Job. John is on the phone with his daughter.

John: I'm sending you something.
Stella: Does it smell nice?
John: No. But it's sparkly.
Stella: Does it come with a receipt?

In other words: Is it stolen?

Janice Hardy has a lot more to say on this topic, and you can read it here: Alternative Ways to Describe Character Reactions
 

Useful Links: How To Write Emotion

I like to do background reading when I write a blog post and, today, I came upon a few articles I didn't use but they're great so I want to share them with you.

How To Describe Emotions - Gives great pointers.
Emotion Thesaurus: Relief - 15 ways to express relief.
List of Human Emotions - What the title says!

"She smiled," is a tricky one. Characters smile a lot so this phrase is easy to overuse. What alternatives have you come up with?

Other articles you might like:

- Tags, Traits And Tells (Podcast)
- Podcasting
- Good Writing: Using The Senses

Photo credit: "The Hidden Beauty!" by VinothChandar under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Tags, Traits And Tells (Podcast)

Okay folks, I've taken the plunge and put together a podcast!



Please keep in mind this is my FIRST podcast. One's first time doing anything is not going to be anywhere close to polished so please keep that in mind. Also, although I'm getting a proper mic on the weekend, today I made due with the built-in mic on my iPad.

As you can see, I've embedded the sound file at the top of this post. If it doesn't show up for you, please let me know.

For those of you who would much rather read than listen, I've included a written transcript here of what I talked about.

Jim Butcher On Story Craft

Jim Butcher, in his Story Craft blog post writes that stories are about characters attempting to attain goals. The problems, the setbacks, a character encounters makes him or her struggle and creates tension.

But, ultimately, whether we'll be interested in a particular story depends on whether we find the character's interesting.

So, what makes a character interesting?

What makes a character interesting?

I imagine different writers would answer this in different ways. My goal as a story teller is to tell an entertaining story so I seek out the advice of authors who have created stories which have entertained me. Authors like Jim Butcher.

Mr. Butcher has a list of characteristics that make a character interesting--and I want to talk about them all one day soon--but for now the one that interests me is "verisimilitude", verisimilitude being "the quality of appearing to be true or real". A character that has verisimilitude will "have the appearance of being real". In other words, they will act and react believably in whatever world you've set up.

What makes a character act believably?

I think consistency is a big part of believability. (It can be that a character consistently seems to behave randomly). A part of consistency is just something simple like don't give a character blond hair in one scene and red hair in another, at least without some sort of explanation.

There are two parts to creating believable characters:

a) Being clear about what your character is like, their traits, quirks and mannerisms.

If this isn't clear then it will be impossible to predict their behavior.

b) Assigning different characteristics to each character.

These characteristics should be markedly different so that it's easy to tell characters apart. Also, if, say, "grey eyes" are being used as a tag for one character then try to avoid using that as a tag for another character.

Tags, Traits and Tells

Tags, traits and tells are concepts writers can use to help create interesting, unique, characters.

The first time I came across the concept of tags and traits was courtesy of Jim Butcher so he's the one I quote from, below, although writers such as Dwight V. Swain have talked about the concept as well.

Tags

Tags are physical characteristics that define individual characters and differentiate them from the rest.

Here's what Jim Butcher wrote about them in his LiveJournal blog:

TAGS are words you hang upon your character when you describe them. When you're putting things together, for each character, pick a word or two or three to use in describing them. Then, every so often, hit on one of those words in reference to them, and avoid using them elsewhere when possible. By doing this, you'll be creating a psychological link between those words and that strong entry image of your character.

For example; Thomas Raith's tag words are pale, beautiful, dark hair, grey eyes. I use them when I introduce him for the first time in each book, and then whenever he shows up on stage again, I remind the reader of who he is by using one or more of those words. (Characters)

An example of a tag is blond hair, a peg leg, or stunning beauty. Tags are physical characteristics that can help differentiate one character from another. Since tags differentiate one character from another they need to be unique to each character.

Traits

There are a couple of different ways of thinking about traits. Jim Butcher views traits as "decorations hung onto the character for the reader's benefit."

For instance, Harry Dresden's black duster, his staff, his blasting rod and his pentacle amulet are traits. Bob's traits are the skull, how his eyes light up, his intelligence, and so on.

That's one way of thinking of traits. Here's another:

Traits as dispositions

A trait is a disposition. Examples: Being ambitious, or anxious, or bossy.

On this view--and this is how I look at it--there are tags, traits and tells, a tell being how a trait/disposition is manifested.

For instance, if a character is anxious she might bite her lower lip, jump at small sounds and gnaw her fingernails.

I call how traits manifest--nail biting and the like--tells because a tell means "to make known; reveal." It reveals a character's traits/dispositions.

To sum up, we have tags--physical characteristics like blond hair and freckles that don't have anything to do with the character's psychological makeup. Then we have character traits which are internal dispositions (e.g., anxiety) and tells (e.g., nail biting) which are how a character's traits manifest.

The importance of being different

Tags, traits and tells should be unique to a character since one reason for coming up with these markers is to quickly differentiate one character from another.

For instance, let's say we have a character, Pam. Pam has blond hair, a voluptous figure and loves mathematics. Although she fits the stereotype of the blond bombshell she is smarter than just about everyone else.

Pam's tags:
- blond
- voluptuous

Pam's traits:
- brilliant
- outgoing

Pam's tells:
- Can do math problems in her head quicker than a calculator.
- A favorite lecturer at the university.
- Chairs a number of committies.

When a character is introduced also introduce their tags, traits and tells. Repeat each two or three times to fix them in the readers mind.

For instance, the way technology malfunctions around Jim Butcher's character Harry Dresden is a manifestation of the trait of being a wizard/magic user. The blue beetle, Harry's low tech car, is perfect for Harry because of this trait even though the car is falling apart.Harry's icebox--he doesn't have an electric fridge--is, again, a concession to his shorting out anyting technological within arms reach.

You see how tells can help not only define a character but can suggest plot elements.

Other articles you might like:

- Podcasting
- Good Writing: Using The Senses
- Dwight V Swain On How To Write A Novel

Photo credit: "Untitled" by thejbird under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Podcasting

While I've waited for my arm to heal I've been preparing my first podcast.

I know I've blogged about podcasting in the past so this post is more about my experience over the past few days than it is about podcasting in general.

Podcasting Programs

Audacity & GarageBand

Generally, the programs I see recommended most often are Audacity for the PC and GarageBand for the Mac (although you can get Audacity for the Mac as well). These programs are both free and the initial learning curve isn't brutal.

Final Cut

Final Cut Pro is a bit pricey but if you already have it, or you don't mind spending a few hundred dollars, Final Cut is a great program for Podcasting.

Final Cut is both easy to use and powerful. I should note that so far all my attempts have been very basic. The most I've needed to do was splice out failed attempts to communicate in anything vaguely resembling English, and slap a filter on the audio to enhance audio captured by the default, built-in, microphone. (And, yes, I squandered a good hour applying effect after effect and laughing like a demented hyena. My favorite, completely absurd, filter was the Robot.)

The iPad and Final Cut

When I first bought my iPad 2 I had dreams of using it to take footage and importing that footage into a program like Adobe Premiere (on the PC) and editing it.

Yeah, that didn't happen. There was no straightforward way to get the video off my iPad and into Premiere. I was reduced to editing each sequence in my iPad until it was under a minute in length and then mailing it to myself. After that I'd save the clip to disk and then import it into my project.

Not simple. Not easy. Not fun.

With Final Cut, though ... wow! I can import video directly from my iPad into the program in one seamless step. And it doesn't crash as much as Premiere did.

Sorry, I know this is starting to sound like a commercial for the Mac. My apologies, it's just that I've been in geek heaven over the past couple of days playing with Final Cut.

My Podcasting Plans

Enough about video and audio editing! This is a writing blog.

My tentative plan is to take some of my favorite older posts, update them and make a podcast based on that material. I don't know how many I'll do, but I want to try doing at least five and see how they turn out. At the very least it will be an interesting experience and I'm sure I'll learn much.

Another idea I had was that I could do short interviews with other artists. And next year I would like to, if possible, narrate my book Until Death. But that's for the future. Hopefully I'll get my first podcast up this week.

Have you ever created a podcast or narrated one of your stories? If not, why not? If yes, how'd it go? Can you give us any advice? :-)

 Other articles you might like:

- Good Writing: Using The Senses
- Dwight V Swain On How To Write A Novel
- Michael Hauge On How To Summarize Your Novel

Photo credit: "Starry Starry Winter's Night" by jumpinjimmyjava under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Good Writing: Using The Senses

My last post, Dwight V Swain On How To Write A Novel, was an info dump. Sorry about that! Today I'm just focusing on one thing: Making our prose clearer and more powerful.

I loved the way Dwight V. Swain talks about writing and structuring stories. Sure, at its core it's nothing we haven't heard before, but the way he put things together made a light-bulb go off for me. What I want to do today is talk about--in Emeral Lagasse's words--kicking our writing up to the next level.

We're going to look at two things: First, how to use Motivation-Reaction Units to make our writing clearer. Second, we're going to discuss how to make your readers feel. This last point goes, I think, to the very heart of what it is to tell a story: we want to entertain.

The Flow Of Narrative: Motivation-Reaction Units

What do we mean by "motivation-reaction unit"? It's simple. We're talking about cause and effect, stimulus and response. Mr. Swain writes:

Where your character is concerned, when you stick a pin in him he yells, "Ouch!" He doesn't yell "Ouch!" and then you stick in the pin.

Simple, right? But there is something more subtle going on here. Look at this example:

The wind had an icy edge to it. Eddy shivered and dug his hands deeper into his pockets. The wind kept right on chilling his hands so, still shivering, Eddy turned his back to it and headed for the house. Even as he did so, the lights went out.

Eddy stopped short.

Let's unpack Mr. Swain's example.

Motivation: The wind had an icy edge to it.
Reaction: Eddy shivered and dug his hands deeper into his pockets.

Motivation: The wind kept right on chilling his hands ...
Reaction: ... so, still shivering, Eddy turned his back to it and headed for the house.

Motivation: Even as he did so, the lights went out.
Reaction: Eddy stopped short

When I read this it was like a light went off for me. THIS sort of thing is what makes a piece of writing easy to read and understand.

If you're scratching your head wondering what I'm going on about think of it this way. Would it have seemed excessively peculiar if Mr. Swain had written:

Eddy shivered and dug his hands deeper into his pockets. The wind had an icy edge to it.

That seems to work, but it doesn't work as well. Or at least that's how it seems to me.

Help Your Readers Feel

Everyone writes for different reasons, but one reason common to many writers is the wish to entertain. That doesn't mean we have to turn our readers into human-shaped tear factories but it does mean we need to engage their emotions.

The 64 thousand dollar question: How can a writer make his, or her, readers feel things?

Dwight Swain gives four practical tips.

1. Use Action Verbs

Action verbs show something happening. For instance:

He turned
He sat down
He jumped
He whistled

2. Pictorial Nouns

Pictorial nouns are specific. Dwight V. Swain uses this general rule of thumb: The more specific the noun, the better off you are.

For instance (this is based on Mr. Swain's example), if you wrote, "The female sat," you haven't given your reader a lot of information. The subject could be a young girl, a teenager, a middle-aged woman, and so on. 

If you wrote, "A woman sat," you've communicated more information to your reader but the image formed is still vague. However, if you wrote, "An elderly woman with a lined face sat," then you would have given your reader a much clearer idea of what the subject looked like.

The more specific the noun, the more pictorial, and the more it paints a picture in your readers mind.

When your readers have a clear picture of what's going on in the story it's easier to generate narrative drive.

3. Use Sensory Language

Mr. Swain urges us to write in terms of what you can see, hear, smell, taste and touch. For instance:

Sight: bleary, colorless, faded, dim, glance, hazy, indistinct, shadowy, smudged, tarnished.

Sound: Bellow, cackle, grumble, howl, jabber, murmur, rant, screech, squawk, thud.

Touch: Balmy, chilly, dusty, feathery, gooey, hot, icy, moist, oily, prickly.

Taste: Bitter, creamy, gingery, nauseating, piquant, peppery, ripe, rotten, salty, sharp, tangy.

Smell: Acrid, fetid, odor, pungent, putrid, redolent, sweet, musty, waft, moldy.

Here is a list of sensory words (it's a .pdf file).

4. Use An Emotional Clock

I hadn't heard the term "emotional clock" before, but it makes a lot of sense.

Subjective vs Objective Time

Objective time is clock time. It's the time on your watch. Every second is the same.

Subjective time has to do with how each of us perceives time. We live by subjective time, by the excitement and tension of the moment.

Here's Dwight Swain's example: Einstein once said time passes quickly when you're talking to a pretty girl and slowly when you're sitting on a hot stove.

Very true.

We need to write to an emotional clock

So, what does an emotional clock have to do with writing?

Here's the idea:  you measure the amount of copy you put down according to the tension and excitement of what's happening.

For instance, if you're writing about lunch at a greasy spoon you're not going to give that a lot of space. You could probably tell rather than show.

On the other hand, if you're writing about the villain holding a gun on you and his finger going white on the trigger and the knowledge you're going to be blown away in the next minute, you stretch that out. You make the character suffer. How? By writing in terms of motivation and reaction. When you do this you slow down the pace and show. 

(This post has been based on Dwight Swain's Master Writing Teacher CDs, especially the first two.)

Do you have any tips for how to kick one's writing up a notch? Any tips or tricks you'd like to share?

Other articles you might like:

- Dwight V Swain On How To Write A Novel
- Michael Hauge On How To Summarize Your Novel
- Six Things Writers Can Learn From Television

Photo credit: "Harry" by kevin dooley under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Dwight V Swain On How To Write A Novel

Time and again folks have recommended Dwight V. Swain's books on writing to me but I put off reading his work. I told myself I didn't have time. Well, the past week as I've waited impatiently for my arm to heal I've had the time!

Yep, that's called hunting for a silver lining. But I have to say: Wow! What a lining. I wish I had discovered Mr. Swain's work years ago. His advice (I listened to his Master Writing Teacher CDs) is specific and concrete; it's the sort of thing that I feel will give me an immediate payoff in my own writing.

Today I'll talk a bit about what Mr. Swain has to say about how to build a story (the first 2 CDs) and tomorrow, or another day, I'll discuss his views on character development.

Casting Your Novel

Alfred Hitchcock once wrote, "First you decide what the characters are going to do then you provide them with enough characteristics to make it seem plausible that they should do it".

Writers are like gods; we set up ourr characters, decide what they need to do, then rationalize their behavior.

Cast for contrast: TAGS and TRAITS

Assign each of your main characters tags and traits and see to it that these tags and traits are different, each from the other.

Tags

Here are examples of tags:
- blond hair,
- long finger nails painted red to look like talons dipped in blood,
- a peg leg, etc.

Do not have three gorgeous blonds in the same story.

Do not have two characters with peg legs unless you have a very good story driven reason.

Do not have all of your characters blue eyed or black eyed.

You get the idea.

Traits & Dominant Impressions

Dwight Swain suggests you give each of your characters different manners of dealing with the world so that the reader can tell one character from another. Specifically, give each character a different dominant impression.

Impressions

An impression is made up of a NOUN OF VOCATION and an ADJECTIVE OF MANNER.

Noun of Vocation

Most of us are known according to our role, our vocation. For instance, we expect a carpenter will behave differently from a lawyer. A stay-at-home mom will behave differently than a longshoreman.

Mr. Swain holds that you need to give each of your (main) characters a vocation, a role in life; for example, carpenter, lawyer, stay-at-home parent, writer, and so on.

Adjective of Manner

Each of us behaves in a distinctive way. Most of the time it isn't anything we think about, it is automatic, habitual.

Dwight Swain admonishes us not to be subtle. Assign characters manners in such a way that your readers will be able to recognize that character instantly whenever they appear in your story.

Mr. Swain uses this example: Let's say a character's noun of vocation is "waitress" and her adjective of manner is "sloppy". The dominant impression would be "sloppy waitress". Once you know this, you know how she is going to behave. You have a picture of her you can write to.

Dominant Attitude

Assign each character a dominant attitude. This is "a way of looking at life, a way of dealing with the world".

Here's an example of a dominant attitude: Don't make waves. No matter what happens a character with this dominant attitude will manage to fade into the background. Why? Because they don't want to conflict with anyone. They deal with life by being self-effacing.

Here's another example: Might makes right. This character feels they can get their way by pushing people around. This is his attitude toward the world, toward your other characters.

Character And Situation

Let's go back to the beginning for a moment. What is a story all about? What lies at its core? It's this:

A character wants to change his unacceptable situation, a situation he just can't stand.

What you need to do as a writer is figure out why, objectively, this character wants to make this change. It will help us if we first know what kinds of things people want.

Things People Want

a) Possession of something

They want a girl, they want an alley cat, they want one million dollars. They want something, it doesn't matter what.

b) Relief from something

They want relief from a boss the character doesn't like, from a wife the character can't stand, from a climate that gives your character the most hideous allergies.

c) Revenge for something

Someone has done something to your character and he wants to get back at them.

Your Character's Subjective Reasons For Acting

Dwight Swain feels that, often, the subjective reasons for action are more important than the objective ones (for instance, he wants to win back the heart of the one he loves or he wants to find treasure, and so on).

a) We need to know what the character needs to feel happy.

This is likely going to be a little different for everyone. Some people need to have an active lifestyle filled with extreme sports to be happy while for others happiness is a good book and a warm fire. Tell us what your character needs to be happy.

b) We need to have some insight into what the character is scared of.

For instance, is she scared of the villain? Of old age? That she will be convicted of a crime committed in the past? That she will lose someone she loves?

A character is always scared of something and you need to know what that is, even though it may never happen.

c) What is your characters lifestyle?

Mr. Swain observes that most of us are impulse buyers in the supermarket of life. Most of us drift rather than go in a straight line. We think something is a good idea so we do it.

The 4 Wishes/Motives

When we talk about lifestyle there are 4 wishes that drive people. Know which of these is dominant in your character, as well as how they combine with others.

a) Adventure
The desire for new experience.

b) Security
A woman grew up dog poor on a farm. Now she's rich. But that need for a feeling of security is so important that she lives like she was still on that dirt farm.

c) Recognition
The drive to fame. This is the drive that Mr. Swain feels makes groupies. They want to associate themselves with something bigger than they are.

d) Response
Some folks crave being surrounded by people who demonstrate they think highly of you, that you are important to them.

Each of your main characters are going to have each of these desires to a certain extent. You need to decide what the main thing is that drives them.

Why doesn't your character quit?

When the going gets tough why doesn't your character throw in the towel and walk away? Why doesn't she go home, crack open a tub of Rocky Road ice cream, climb into sweats, and watch her favorite TV programs?

Yes, there's going to be an external goal, something out there in the world she wants. For instance, winning over the one they love, gaining their freedom, finding a treasure, and so on. But perhaps the most important reason for not quitting are the subjective reasons. For instance, maintaining ones self image.

Self-Image

We all have a self-image, we all have an idea--or think we do--of what we'll do and what we won't do. Pride and shame shape this. We'll do things we're proud of and we will avoid doing things we are ashamed of.

What is the self-image of your main characters? What is that the that is so important they can't let go of it even though it makes no sense in terms of logic.

Alfred Hitchcock once wrote:

Audiences want to identify with a hero who wants to do something and eventually succeeds in doing it even though they don't necessarily, morally, endorse his actions.

Villain/Antagonist

The strength of your villain is the strength of your story.

The key characteristic of villainy is RUTHLESSNESS. A villain is someone who wants something so much that they are perfectly willing to push other people around in order to get it.

For instance, the guy who wants the corner office with all the windows. He's willing to hurt others to get this.

Building Your Novel & Writing Your Novel

Dwight Swain notes that building a novel is a bit different than structuring your novel. When we talked about structuring a novel we were discussing the broad, general, outlines of the story. When we talk about building a novel we are talking about putting in item after item to make the whole thing make sense.

The Beginning

A good opening raises questions in your reader's mind. It carries the implied premise that something interesting is going to happen. That the first paragraph and those that follow have exciting consequences.

Consequences

Whatever happens in a novel should have consequences. That's the way the world works, that's the way we work. Whatever you start your book with is what is going to have this ripple effect, is going to send cause-and-effect ripples throughout your book, so you need something interesting to start everything off.

Mr. Swain writes that there are many ways to begin, but that he has found these to be the most effective: hooks and springboards

The Hook

The book is a "striking, self-explanatory scene that plunges some character into danger in a manner that intrigues readers".

Ordinarily it raises the fear that something will or won't happen. For example, the shark in Jaws was a hook. It instantly established fear and tension.

The Springboard

In its simplest, bluntest, form it will open with "he" or "she" or the character's name, and then will follow with motivated action. That is, the character has a purpose, whether it's related to the overall story or not, as long as it puts the character in a position to be in danger. Not necessarily in danger, but in a position where he could be in danger.

For instance, you could have a character that was going to the post office to mail a package and something happens which puts him in a position to be in danger.

In other words we are allowed to build the character without a lot of melodrama in the beginning but the important thing is that, in the beginning, you either put your character in danger or you put your character in a position where he will be in danger.

The Middle

A strong beginning is important but tension and interest are things that you capture and recapture. You need to hold, and build, your readers interest throughout the novel.

You leapfrog from one exciting moment to the next. Remember: Drama is life with the boring bits left out.

"When in doubt, drop a corpse through the roof"

That pearl of wisdom is from Ray Palmer. And it doesn't just apply to horror stories, this is true for mainstream as well. Or, rather, the idea behind it.

In mainstream fiction you still have to hold your readers interest. Yes, you go about it in a different way--it's probably not going to be raining corpses--but the essential idea is the same.

Chapters, Scenes & Sequels

You build your novel a step at a time and you build it in segments called chapters. A chapter is made up of a succession of new developments, of changes, presented in an interlocking series of SCENES and SEQUELS.

A scene is a time unified unit of conflict, of confrontation, and is made up of three elements:

a. Goal
b. Conflict (between two opposing forces)
c. Disaster

We use sequels to link scenes together.

Sequels have three parts:

a. Reaction
b. Dilemma
c. Decision

The function of a sequel is to give your story some logic, some plausibility and to enable you to get from one clash to the next.

For instance, you have a fight between two people. The fight is over and it ends on a note of disaster. This unanticipated development throws your character off. What is their reaction?

a. Reaction: Shock
b. Dilemma: What do I do now?
c. Decision. Eventually your character will reach a decision about what to do. This decision provides him with a GOAL, the purpose, the what-shall-I-do of the next scene.

This is your single most useful tool in putting together a story.

A scene is the place where you build the movement of your story and a sequel is a unit of transition that links two scenes.

Further, the proportion of SCENE to SEQUEL is what determines the pacing of your novel.

A scene puts emphasis on the struggle between your two forces, it builds action and excitement and speeds up your story.

A sequel gives you the logic and the believability of your story.

You will find, if you analyse books, that they are built of scenes and sequels. That's how you build a story.

(See also: Making A Scene: Using Conflicts And Setbacks To Create Narrative Drive for a discussion of the idea of Yes but .../No and ...)

Endings

Each time you introduce a new development--a complication--your characters situation changes. No state of affairs--no scene, no chapter--should end the same way it began.

Big Moments

Dwight Swain advises that writers devise three or four big moments for their story. Some highly dramatic scene disaster. A disaster is any unanticipated development that changes the course of things.

Maybe your MC is broke and finds he inherits a million dollars. That's a disaster in the sense it changes his situation and forces him to look at things in a new light.

Plants

In order for a Big Moment to work out a writer will have to include a PLANT where a plant is something one includes in a story just so something else will work out.

The End

There are two parts to the end:

a) The climax
b) The resolution

The Climax

This is the showdown. The final clash between whatever threatens the main character's happiness and the main character.

You need a clash that will force your character into some kind of decision about what his immediate actions are going to be. You want something that will set your readers up and tell them how they should feel about your main character and whatever else is going on.

Here's Dwight V. Swain's advice on how to do this: Provide your character with an easy way out, but don't take it.

This easy 'solution' should provide the hero with a way to solve his problem--it will fix things--but it will be morally unacceptable.

For instance, Ken (the MC) has money problems, he just needs to steal from the till at work--and he has a good scheme for doing it--and that will solve his problem.

But it would make your readers mad. Readers want a happy ending, they want to see the character in.

The Resolution

This is the wrap up, the pay off. Now you'll reward or punish your central character according to how he, or she, has behaved.

Mr. Swain notes that writers should keep in mind that books with moderately happy endings tend to sell best. Generally readers don't like a tragedy, although you would be able to get away with more if you were writing a horror than if you were writing, say, a romance. Readers tend to like to see the main character make the 'right' decision and be rewarded. But you're the writer so you're the god of the story and can do whatever you want. That's the bottom line. This is your story.

In Conclusion

Wow! This has been a long post. There's more, but I think I'll break off for now. Tomorrow I'll pick up where I left off and talk about what Dwight V. Swain has to say about emotional clocks and testing your novel to make sure it's got all the right bits.

Other articles you might like:

- Michael Hauge On How To Summarize Your Novel
- How To Succeed As A Writer: The Value Of Failure
- Six Things Writers Can Learn From Television

Photo credit: "Ivy and Sweetiepie" by thejbird under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Gone Fishing: Back in a Week

Sorry folks, my arm is acting up.  I have to give it a complete rest, I think a week should do it. (cross fingers)

Good writing! See you in a week.

Michael Hauge On How To Summarize Your Novel

Michael Hauge's Story Mastery

As some of you know, my right arm is out of commission so all typing--except for this blog!--is out of the question. As a result, I've been taking care of tasks I normally put off.

Tasks such as filing papers.

I struck gold! I went through some of the handouts from conferences I've attended--I thought I might find something interesting for a blog post--and came across Michael Hauge's handouts, along with my notes from the workshop he taught at Write On!

Michael Hauge's Biography

For those who don't know, Michael Hauge is a story consultant, what some folks call a story doctor, as well as an author and lecturer. The following is from his bio:

[Michael Hauge] has coached writers, producers, stars and directors on projects for Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Robert Downey Jr and Morgan Freeman, as well as for every major studio and network.

Michael has been involved "in the development of I AM LEGEND, HANCOCK and THE KARATE KID".

I was riveted by Michael's talks. If you ever have a chance to attend one of his workshops I recommend it.

Novel Summary Template

The really cool thing about Michael Hauge's template is that it isn't just a 'plug in the description' kind of thing, he ties it into the underlying structure of the story.

I'll do this in two parts. First, we'll look at the template, then we'll look at how the template ties into the underlying story structure.

This is straight from Michael Hauge's handout:

When hero who empathy/setup, is opportunity, s/he decides to new situation/preliminary goal. But when change of plans s/he now must outer motivation/primary goal but hero's plan as well as second goal. [NOT a necessity, except in most Romantic Comedies] in spite of the fact that outer conflict.

Michael Hauge's Six Stage Plot Structure

Now let's take Michael's tempate and see how it lines up with a story's underlying structure (see Figure 1). In the next section I'll give an example and pull everything together.

Figure 1. Click to Enlarge

KM Fawcett has written an amazing article: Michael Hauge's Six-Stage Plot Structure. I encourage you all to read it, she gives the best summary of Michael's system I've seen, here is a sample:

A character arcs when he moves from his identity to essence.

Identity = emotional armor (facade) worn to protect himself from some wound.
Essence = who the character is when the emotional armor is stripped. True self.
 
What is your hero’s wound? From the wound grows a fear. This fear gives IDENTITY (emotional armor) to the character.

The character should have a physical goal, but that goal is primarily a symbol. It represents an emotional need (the true goal). The end reward must satisfy the character’s emotional need.
 
The only way the character can get to his longing (his emotional need) is to step out of his IDENTITY (emotional armor) and into his ESSENCE (true self).

Once you’ve established your hero’s WOUND, FEAR, IDENTITY, ESSENCE, EMOTIONAL NEED and PHYSICAL OUTER GOAL, we can move onto The Six Stage Plot Structure.

That is only the start of her analysis, to read the whole thing, click here: Michael Hauge’s Six-Stage Plot Structure.

Michael Hauge's Example: Shrek

Okay, so now we're going to bring everything together. We're putting Michael's structure for a summary together with his underlying plot structure and coming up with something you can use to wow editors as well as the next person who asks you: So, what's your story about?

Hero = Shrek
Role = lovable, courageous ogre
Setup = lives alone in his swamp because the townspeople reject him, has his home invaded by fairy tale creatures
New Situation = go tell the powerful Lord Farquaad to send them back home
Change of plans = Farquaad sends Shrek on a mission in return for his swamp
Outer motivation = rescue a princess and give her to Farquaad
Hero's plan = overcoming a fearsome dragon
Secondary goal = win the love of the princess for himself
Outer conflict = a) Farquaad will stop at nothing to get her, b) Shrek is afraid she'll reject him, and c) she's secretly cursed with turning into an ogre herself every night.

So here's how that reads:

When Shrek, a lovable, courageous ogre who lives alone in his swamp because the townspeople reject him, has his home invaded by fairy tale creatures, he decides to go tell the powerful Lord Farquaad to send them back home. But when Farquaad sends Shrek on a mission in return for his swamp, Shrek now must rescue a princess and give her to Farquaad by overcoming a fearsome dragon, as well as win the love of the princess for himself, in spite of the fact that Farquaad will stone at nothing to get her. Shrek is afraid she'll reject him, and she's secretly cursed with turning into an ogre herself every night.

An added bonus is that since the summary is drawn right out of the structure of your novel, it's tethered to it, so doing this exercise before you write the first draft could save you a TON of work later.

Try it out! What is the summary for your work-in-progress? 

Other articles you might like:

- Six Things Writers Can Learn From Television
- How To Succeed As A Writer: The Value Of Failure
- The Magic Of Stephen King: A Sympathetic Character Is Dealt A Crushing Blow They Eventually Overcome

Photo credit: "Metrò Paris" by superUbO under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Six Things Writers Can Learn From Television

Today I'm going to talk about 6 things fiction writers can learn from television, but before we get to that I'd like to talk about a fantastic site I just discovered.

Nerdist Writers Panel

I've always wondered what it would be like to be a TV writer so I was ecstatic to learn about the Nerdist Writers Panel podcast. TV writers for shows like Modern Family, Family Guy, The Office, Big Bang Theory talk about their experiences. It's fascinating. Many thanks to Matt Debenham for recommending the site.

6 Things Fiction Writers Can Learn From Television

1. 'You can’t just tell the story of Some Guy. You have to tell the story of THE Guy Who….'

TV is all about the characters, even premise-heavy shows like Burn Notice. Matt Debenham writes:

There have been a dozen shows that tried to replicate the mix of sci-fi and mystery that seemingly made LOST a hit, but the secret to LOST was this: People came for the crazy premise, they stayed for the characters. The writers took time to show us exactly who Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Charlie, and Claire were. In fact, the flashback structure LOST used from the start was there explicitly to deepen the characters, which the creators knew would then keep us invested in the mystery. People watch because they love to become invested in characters. They love to know them, they love to worry about them, they love to be surprised by them. 6 Things Prose Writers Can Learn From Television)

2. Good Characters are Obsessed and Broken

Great characters are the most DRIVEN and the most DAMAGED. They are active.

An active character is one who:
- wants something
- does something related to those wants
- have what they do in (2) be bad for them.

Rule of thumb: Bad for the character? Great for everyone else!

Example: Walter White from Breaking Bad. Matt writes:

Walter is obsessed with becoming a bigger and bigger player in the meth business. Which is probably a fairly normal trait for someone in the meth business. But Walter is broken because his attachment to meth stems not from money, which was his original version of things (he was dying of cancer and wanted to leave his family with some security after he was gone), but from a desperate need for respect. Family doesn’t really enter into it. Walter White is driven by pride — to the degree that he continues on despite the bodies and ruined lives and broken relationships piling up around him. Walter’s obsession is what helps him, a former high-school chemistry teacher, quickly become the biggest meth player in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Walter’s brokenness is what keeps him from getting out despite the fact that his work constantly endangers his life and the lives of those he supposedly loves. (4 Steps (And a Bonus!) To Making Character Everything)

3. Be Entertaining To Others

Some folks write to please themselves and that's great, but if you want an audience, write for the audience.

4. Don't explain everything.

Leave key information up to the audience to figure out. Leave room for revelation.

5. Plot, Narrative Structure, Is Everything

Structure matters because without it there's no story. Structure isn't formula. Structure, plot, simply provides framework for content, it doesn't dictate content. For example, Michael Hague, from Story Mastery, talks about the five key turning points of all successful scripts.

6. You Have To Go On To The Next Project

In the movie Bossy Pants Tina Fey said, "The show doesn’t go on when it’s finished; it goes on because it’s 11:30" (Kris Rusch: The Value of Imperfection).  Nina Munteanu writes that

Robert J. Sawyer’s response to the question of “when do you stop revising?” was “When you’ve taken out all the boring bits.” That may seem on the face of it either too simple or too abstract. But, in fact, he is right on the mark. (When Do You Know Your Story Is Finished?)

How can you tell when the boring bits are out? Nina gives these tips:

1. Objectivity: Distance yourself

If you think your manuscript might be done set it aside for a few weeks, or as long as you can afford then read it again with fresh eyes.

2. Is each scene essential and well developed?

- Does your character have clearly defined goals in each scene?
- Is there conflict? Something keeping the character from achieving his or her goal?
- Is the point of view character's goal tied into the story goal?
 You need to know when to step back and pronounce your work done. If you don't have an editor and are making this call on your own it can be difficult.

What is your favorite TV character? Why?

Other articles you might like:

- How To Succeed As A Writer: The Value Of Failure
- The Magic Of Stephen King: A Sympathetic Character Is Dealt A Crushing Blow They Eventually Overcome
- Ray Bradbury On How To Keep And Feed A Muse

Photo credit: "bee zzzzzzz Sunday" by linh.ngan under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.