Writers Central

[missp]

I've never read the SK book on writing. I write the way I teach my student's to write. I try not to let the dialogue take over, and I try to use vivid descriptive "show me" verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. I keep a thesaurus right next to me at all times...I hate using the same word to describe something/someone over and over. I struggle the most with dialogue tags...to tag or not to tag...that is the question! LOL! And, if I tag, how do I keep from saying "said" every time? I try to use transitional words and phrases whenever appropriate to help the writing flow. I'll be honest...although ffic is supposed to be a way for me to relieve stress, it sometimes stresses me out because I am such a perfectionist!

[Amanda Beth]

missp, I read a book on writing when I was in college and just found it when I moved. It's one of those "Complete Idiot's Guide" books BUT before you knock it for that, it's written by Tom Monteleone. He has a long history of writing under his belt along with 4 Bram Stoker Awards. If no one knows what that is, its an award for horror writers and Stephen King has won it 9 times...if that gives Monteleone any street cred.

Regarding dialogue he said some things which I found REALLY interesting regarding the "said" debacle and I think its so interesting I'm going to paraphrase his points out. I'm guilty of ALL of these:

The use of "said" in dialogue is one of those necessary evils. New writers worry about overusing it..."He said/she said" is simply there when you write dialogue; try to think of it as punctuation...Nobdy really notices 'he said/she said'. Trust me, okay?

Some writers decide it's a better idea use just about any word in place of 'said'. So the reader is treated to an unending parade of sentences in which speakers never say anything. Instead they stammer, opine, declare, hedge, even laugh out their words...Half of the time, the substitute is a word or word-sound that would preclude the speaker from actually producing speech. (Just exactly how would you "chortle" out a sentence?)

Writers agree to use it, but they insist on dressing it up with an adverb, which as Mark Twain once said, should be shot whenever we run into one. So you have endless variations of "he said slyly," or "she said harshly," and so on...every once in a while it seems unavoidable to add that one little extra piece of description to the dialogue, but keep it to a minimum.

Phew. Good thing I can write over 90wpm lol. I do recommend the book, only because I JUST started to reread it and it's a lot different reading it now verses when I was 20. It's very easily formatted as most of those books are. He even delves into the business aspect of writing.

[missp]

^^^Those all make such sense! I agonize over how to state "he said/she said" without being redundant! Maybe redundant is okay. I also tend to over-adverb things! Thanks for the tips, Amanda Beth! I think I shall go do a little adverb-shooting tonight!

[VirginiaMay]

AmandBeth, Awesome advice there. It is so true, sometimes we make things way more complicated than they need to be. I like the idea of he/she said being a little bit like punctuation. Almost as if you don't notice it when it is there, but if it's missing or misused, then you notice!

Second thing/New topic:

Do any of you find that it is often necessary to write pages and pages of information that is important to your characters, like past events, family history, the way their house looks from the front , yet rellly has little to do with the story you are trying to tell?

For instance I spent hours building a back story for my main characters, which came very very easily and may or may not be referenced at some point, but I have struggled to get the action going at the point where my story should actually begin. I guess it is true that "The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult."

Any thoughts?

(Interestingly, the middle and end seem to be flowing and I make progress on specific scenes later in the story, I'm just stuck at the beginning. Is this normal, or should I be worried?)

[Amanda Beth]

Yes Virginia May! I actually use a software called Storyist (for Mac only) and it gives you a whole thing to lay out each setting, and each character. You can even put pictures for each place.
http://storyist.com/

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist1.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist2.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist3.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist4.jpg

[JillOBean]

Yes Virginia May! I actually use a software called Storyist (for Mac only) and it gives you a whole thing to lay out each setting, and each character. You can even put pictures for each place.
http://storyist.com/

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist1.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist2.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist3.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist4.jpg

I WANT! I WANT!

When I get a new computer... that isn't on the verge of dying, I will have to get that!

[VirginiaMay]

Yes Virginia May! I actually use a software called Storyist (for Mac only) and it gives you a whole thing to lay out each setting, and each character. You can even put pictures for each place.
http://storyist.com/

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist1.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist2.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist3.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg45 ... ryist4.jpg

Oh, my my!! That is awesome. Oh, why did I buy another PC?? Dang! Anyone have a suggestion for a Windows user??

[ringswraith]

I'd like to hear of a PC equivalent as well.

VirginiaMay: The middle and end parts are usually the first to come to mind- it's how you arrive there that oftentimes takes the most effort to figure out. So it's perfectly normal to think that way (that's how my fic got started). Conversely, some people like to think "Okay- what happens if CharacterA is put in SituationA, or meets CharacterB?" Those stories will usually start from the beginning.

As for backstory, I'm really into making backstories. So much that the main story usually doesn't get going for a while until I settle something. But I look at it in the sense that any future (i.e., current storyline) behavior the character does is going to be shaped by his history, so in making that part up I have a better idea of how he/she will react in certain situations.

[missp]

Amanda Beth~~That program is so cool! If you ever run across its PC compatible equivalent, PLEASE let us know! It sure beats the spiral notebook I keep all of my notes in about characters, plots, etc. I'm thinking on the next one, I may organize a binder with all the "stuff" I usually write in the notebook. Unless, I spring for a wireless printer and top all of the notes out instead of writing them by hand. Although, I just like having the hard copy to look through because I hate constantly having to scroll up and down to find something.

BACKSTORY~~I am a big backstory girl. It helps me to have as much history with a character as possible. I also believe it makes readers get a little more invested in the characters/story when they know the backstory.

[Openhome]

Back story is huge. If I don't have my notebook handy with all the timelines and names and ideas for backstory, I get totally messed up. I'm going to get the storylist program for my Mac when I get paid. It would be so nice to have it all available right there. I'm very excited about it!!