The Importance of Setting in Fiction

I read another chapter of Donald Maass's book, The Fire In Fiction, and it was all about setting. When I think about setting, I usually think about the place and the details, but Maass says it is oh-so-much-more! You "bring the setting into the story in a way that integrates it into the very fabric of your character's experience." Easier said than done, I know. But he gives suggestions on how, like:

LINKING DETAILS AND EMOTIONS - Take a childhood home, for instance. Describe the place and let your character experience the feelings the place evokes. Together, details and emotions make a place a living thing.

MEASURING CHANGE OVER TIME - Tangible things in your scene can bring out passage of time, such as ice cream trucks, crew neck sweaters, leaf blowers, Popsicles, swim suits, scarfs, snow plows, etc. Of course, these things can evoke emotions as well, to enhance the experience of your character.

HISTORY IS PERSONAL - Historical detail is a good thing, but a story doesn't have to be chock full of it. Creating a sense of the times is not just about the details (or even coupling them with emotions). The times are also enhanced by infusing a character with strong opinions about both the details and the emotions. What does the character feel about historical events? What shapes his views?

SEEING THROUGH CHARACTER'S EYES - Use different POV characters to "see" the setting. Each character's personality will see with different emotions and from a different perspective.

CONJURING A MILIEU - Yeah, I had to look that word up. (*blush*) It means a social or cultural environment. It is not necessarily a "place", but something like the world of pro-baseball players, or the life of stage actors, etc. This is what Maass said about it: "A milieu exists not in a time or place, but in the mind and hearts of the characters who dwell in it. Their memories, feelings, opinions, outlook and ways of operating in their realm are what make it real."

SETTING AS A CHARACTER: A setting may participate in the story, like a blizzard, drought, or nature. It can be a place of significance, like The Boardwalk on Coney Island. It could be the place where your husband proposed and you spend every anniversary at. You make it real by making it significant to the character.

As always, Maass gives many examples of each point from many different author's works. It is very helpful to see how others are doing it.

Setting is one of my weak points in writing. I like dialogue and action best, so all the details slip me by. I am trying to incorporate setting with each new scene, but I am definitely a minimalist. :)

Do you love to build your story's world? If not, how do you make yourself write the setting? What tools or rituals do you use?

**Originally posted at Sherrinda.com on 6/22/09
**Photo by schwoaze at pixabay.com


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Sherrinda Ketchersid is a born and bred Texan, preacher’s wife, mother of 4 children, and works part-time as a bookseller at Amazon. With the children grown and out of the house, she weaves tales of fierce knights and their ladies in a time where men were warriors and women had to be strong enough to keep them in check.

After taking time off from writing, she has returned with a new motto in place to spur her on. “Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.” ~Jack Bickham.  No excuses this time. She is weaving her love of romance with history to bring joy and the hope of love to those who may one day read her stories. Her first book, tentatively The Lady's Masquerade, will release April 2019.

You can connect with her through:

Personal blog: sherrinda.com

Twitter: @sherrinda

Instagram: @sherrinda

How DOES A Walk Tattle-Tale Our True Thoughts?

Many children will aim straight for a puddle. What I find amazing about this photo is the little girl is not stomping to create a splash or kicking the water into the air. She is going somewhere and won't let anything get in her way. This young lady is determined and ready to tackle whatever is dealt.

I always knew when my mom was mad at my dad. She didn't need to say anything or even look at him. How then did I know?  Heavy placed steps boomed with a distinct rhythm throughout the house. Mom was actually walking from one room to another, but I knew that negative spirit thump without seeing or hearing her. I bolted to my room or slipped outside to play.

Our characters walk a lot in our stories.

They walk to the store, walk in the store, walk out of the store, walk to their car, from their car, in their house, to the kitchen, and at the end of the day they walk to their bed. Ho hum.

The word walk and some of its synonyms can drag the momentum of a story to a snail's pace. 

Walk is hardly descriptive other than to communicate a living creature moved from one location to another. What real benefit is that to move a story forward? 

Imagine treating this vague, nondescript, four-letter word as the diamond it's meant to be. A time to tattle-tale a person's emotion. Now we're talking.

Consider the devious thrill you, the author, will have when lighting a spark to a sentence by revealing the secret emotion behind the movement.

This topic popped in my mind when hubby and I toured Columbus, Ohio. Hubby and I waited at the light to cross the downtown street. A crowd of pedestrians from the other side stepped into the street when the light turned green and moved toward us. One young man, about college age, swayed side to side with his hands stuffed in his pockets. His baggy shirt covered the waist of his jeans which sagged lower than his hips. His shoulders took the lead, left, right, keeping a cool, tough, beat. He squinted, keeping his gaze forward. 

Then IT happened. Whoever he put this show on for must have passed. His eyes popped open to normal. His gait leveled as if strolling in the park. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and let them swing normally with his stride. I knew I had witnessed fodder for our characters. 

I had so many questions. Who did this young man want to impress? Why did he feel the Joe Cool walk would impress the person? Why did he change his gait after the person passed? See how this clarity of the young man's walk deepens our understanding and adds questions about him? 3-D material to the max!

Proviso: Getting wordy is not the answer. Purple prose, waxing eloquently, and pages of boring words do not help us understand a character. Being clear with our words is the answer. 

Think of killing two birds with one stone. So we invest a few extra words to communicate the manner in which a person moves and at the same time infuse what is conveyed by that style of movement. This could be a goldmine! 

Today I'm going to discuss a few styles of walk and see how we can help our characters show their emotion/thoughts in their movement.

Photo by Mary Vee

1. The cowboy walk. This phrase is used in many books today. What does this mean? After living in Montana, I've seen quite a variety of cowboy walks.

*We love to read about the handsome cowboy whose boots resonate on the floor, one step to every ten beats of our heart. Swoon. 
*What about the cowboy who walks off the arena after being thrown in a rodeo? His steps are wide to accommodate the chaps and planted firm in the dirt. The poor guy is embarrassed and hurtin'. 
*Consider the cowboy who found the missing calf tangled in brush and has to carry the injured animal to safety. The weight is heavy. His steps shorter. He is leaned back. His heart is filled with compassion. Sweat drips down his neck. 

The only thing all these cowboys have in common with their walk is their bowed legs.

Photo Courtesy

2. Maneuvering through a crowded area takes concentration.
Add to the mix: 
*A stroller. How many people's heals will be bumped? Space is a big issue. What if there is no elevator and your character has to tackle the escalator?
*Packages. 
*The slow moving person in the way when your character is in a hurry. Of course the slow mover slides in the exact direction your MC wants to go, compounding the problem.
 I haven't seen too many happy/bubbly people moving in a crowd like this.

Photo Courtesy

Slipping sandals off and strolling on a beach with your man is romantic. 
But, a sandy beach can be difficult to maneuver.
*An unexpected wave can send our female MC running to dry sand. To avoid getting her clothes wet, she crosses the foot in the water over the other before taking another step. She might trip. This doesn't upset her, though. She'll break out in laughter.
*Bare footed walkers curl their toes and tip somewhat to keep their balance. Calf and thigh muscles are strained. She is focused. Can be distracted from a conversation by a jelly fish, or stepping on a pebble.
*Beach walking is a workout and can cause her to become winded during conversations.
*Breaks are sometimes taken to watch ships, etc.
*Losing track of where one started is a common problem on the return stroll. 

Photo Courtesy

Walking is so much more than moving from one place to another. Our characters are using this action to communicate. 

*small steps are taken when concerned (ice, stilettos, obstacles, pacing)
*long strides are taken when angry, in a hurry, motivated
*one foot is placed in front of the other (like in the picture) when having fun or following an intentional path. Children walk on cracks. Adults follow colored stripes in hospitals.
*hips sway when female characters call attention to themselves, shoulders sway when male characters want attention. Think of models or when we parade a new outfit.
*slow steps are used when contemplating, relaxing, sad, lost, lonely, reflecting,
*hard steps with intention are used when confident, angry, in charge.   



Consider one of your scenes. Most likely someone is walking at some point. How can you demonstrate what the character is feeling, thinking, sensing, etc by their movement? Can you substitute some clarity where you have the word walk in this scene?


Photo Courtesy for top photo: MorgueFile.com by hotblack-photo modified for this use. 

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If you found any typos in today's post...sorry about that. 

Mary has moved to Michigan with her husband, closer to her three college kids. She misses the mountains of Montana, but loves seeing family more often. She writes young adult mystery/adventure Christian fiction, is honing marketing and writing skills, and loves to pen missionary and Bible adventure stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids.

Visit Mary at her website and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

Juicy Words and Tasty Pages

 

Ever gobbled up a book? Obviously I don’t mean actually chewing up the paper and swallowing it down. Not the right kind of roughage. Trust me on this. What I mean is, do you remember a particular reading experience where you were almost literally voracious for the next line, and when you had devoured the whole story you were left sated and blissfully full?

Whether reading or writing, a storyline that satisfies is the ultimate goal of the journey. Some stories are snack sized and fluffy, others are a Thanksgiving feast you will feel long after the last bite. Some are simply a sweet treat and others are for sustenance. But I think we can all agree that a great story told poorly is like consuming empty, unsatisfying calories. What’s the point?

The words are not only the skeleton of your body of work but they are also the lifeblood, the muscle, the nerve endings, the skin, AND the cosmetics. Each one nourishes the body of the story while feeding the readers appetite. Word choice is so very crucial simply because your words not only ARE your story, they also give it its flavor. You might be thinking, right. Words+Plot+Paper=Story…. What is she getting at?

What I want you to ask yourself is….

How well seasoned is your story? How flavorful are your words?

Using lots of big, high-falutin, twenty dollar words can quickly get tiresome. You may have an exceptionally large vocabulary and like showing it off but more often than not this will slow and frustrate the reader. A good rule of thumb is to make sure your reader doesn’t have to stop and seek out a dictionary to figure out what you are trying to say. If they can’t draw meaning from the context you are using words that sour rather than stimulate your reader’s taste buds.

On the contrary, using only bland, basic language and descriptions can make a reading experience rather stale and uninvolved. And a bland meal might fill your stomach, but very few will be anxious to go back for seconds.

Whether I’m reading or writing, running errands or having a conversation with a friend I am always on the lookout for what I like to call “JUICY WORDS” to store up in my arsenal. These are not just terms that describe foods or reference our sense of taste. They are sensory words that are so flavorful, whether in tone or feel, meaning or cadence that they activate my senses and awaken my palate so I can almost taste them! Jeans might look buttery soft molded to lean hips. A cutting remark might swallow down like a breath of broken glass. A laugh could be effervescent. The wind melodic. There are so many liberties you can take to make ordinary words vivid and succulent and ultimately extraordinary.

And how do we do this? Simple. Befriend a Thesaurus! (The resource--My sons think this is a dinosaur!) Also keep a notebook handy to jot down a word or phrase that grabs your attention. Inspiration is everywhere!

Wanna play writers workshop? Do you dare put your words to the test? This could be lots of fun! Let’s see how tasty our pages are….

1. Post a line from page 7 of your WIP that you feel is the juiciest morsel you can find.

And/or

2. Then find another one that could use some extra spice and we’ll shake some seasoning on them. Let’s do this workshop style. Any and all suggestions welcome.

And don’t forget to check up on your stuff from time to time. Flip to some random pages and have a taste. Are you salivating?

Happy reading, writing, and editing!

 

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

 

Amy Leigh Simpson is the completely exhausted stay-at-home mama to the two wild-child, tow-headed toddler boys, one pretty little princess baby, and the incredibly blessed wife of her hunky hubby.

She writes Romantic Suspense chalked full of grace that is equally inspiring, nail-biting, and hilarious. And a little saucy! Okay fine, a lot saucy. :) She is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and now uses her Sports Medicine degree to patch up daily boo-boos. Her greatest ambitions are to create stories that inspire hope, raise up her children to be mighty warriors for Christ, invent an all-dessert diet that works, and make up for years of sleep deprivation. 

She is represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, Inc.

 

 

Setting that Sparks the Senses!

 A lifetime ago, I graduated with a Degree in Landscape Architecture. One thing we were taught to incorporate in our designs is a thematic experience that would engage the senses. Whether it be the use of a site line to direct the somber view of a memorial, or aromatic plant material to provide pleasant smells in an outdoor tea room, the senses were always considered in our landscape designs.

As writers, this is also true for the setting. Using the setting to spark the senses is a crucial tool for active participation of the reader. It transports them into the novel, and ultimately, into the character's mind. If we miss the opportunities to utilize the setting in an active way, then we've missed the chance to connect readers deeper to the story and characters.

Here are some examples of instances in three of my novels with very different settings. I first give an attempt without the use of senses, and then the actual section with the senses incorporated.


Rural Hunt County, Texas: 

Without senses:  When she stepped off the bus, the white steeple in the distance stirred bad memories in her mind. Even now, after many years, she was reminded of her awful childhood every Sunday.

OR:

The odor of exhaust offended her, but not nearly as much as the pointed steeple growing closer in the distance. She could almost smell the bleach used to scrub the church and make it shine. The scent of that place was clearer in her mind than the exhaust haze she had just stepped through. She was assaulted every Sunday with the stench. 

Using her sense of SMELL gives enough implication  at her internal struggle affected by the external surroundings without just saying the setting had a negative effect.


The Coal mines of Utah:

Without senses: The coal mine began to cave in. 
"Run Jack!" Stavros yelled. He ran through the mine amidst the commotion. Rocks fell everywhere. He covered his mouth and nose to keep from inhaling the dust. When Stavros stepped into the daylight, he wept. 

Jack was gone.


OR:


When the moan turned into a loud crack just behind and above Stavros, he whipped his head around. “Run Jack!” But a rocky clatter of tumbling rock muffled his words. 

Stavros covered his face with his arm and began to crawl away. He looked back one more time, into darkness and rubble. The ceiling had collapsed within seconds, a puff of dust pushing Stavros to continue on and avoid breathing as much as possible. He moved faster, drowning in powdery breaths. 
When the light of day seared his eyes, and the crisp air soothed his lungs, Stavros fell to the ground and wept. 

 Jack was gone.

The coal mine setting becomes the enemy for the hero. The senses of SOUND, SIGHT, TOUCH, and TASTE heighten the intensity of the struggle.


The Peruvian Amazon Jungle: 

Without senses: I ran through the jungle, determined to reach my destination. When I reached the pool, I jumped in. But as I came up, I noticed the beautiful man upon the rocks, just above the falls. 

OR:

I ran through the vibrant foliage like a monkey running from a hungry jaguar. The thick forest air glazed my skin with its moist kiss and lingered long enough to induce an anxious thirst for the waiting waters. I wiped the beads from my eyes, the hair from my cheeks. Fingers of light summoned me through two large ferns, and I heard the gurgle of the falls spilling into the pool. Brushing through the fronds, I came to the most familiar edge of our sunlit pool, and slipped my whole body into the water without a second blink or a gasp for air. The swimming mirror delighted my skin. My previous thoughts were left on the side of the bank. I indulged in the pure quenching of my body's heat, nothing else entered my mind. 

But as I came up to fill my chest with air, I nearly choked on my anticipated breath. All the thoughts laying on the bank jumped up and took hold of me again when I saw the beautiful man upon the rocks, just above the falls.

The setting is crucial to developing the character in this story. Because she is a native, she has a unique relationship to the land, so engaging the senses of TOUCH, SOUND, SIGHT, and TASTE, enhance the importance of the relationship.


Wanna share a snippet from your own stories? If not, do you have a setting in mind that you would love to explore with your senses?

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

Writing A Setting Of Where You've Never Been

Writers are a tricky brood of people. You see, writers often must weave a tale set in a place (or a time period) that they have never been. How do you do that? Sure you can make it up and hope that it comes close to the real thing, but more often than not, you will get someone shooting you an email telling you that you are way off the mark in your setting. They used to LIVE in the place you are writing about and it never had the types of trees or flowers you wrote about.

What if I were to write a story set in Scotland, yet I've never been there? Let's say I've heard the song that goes..."You take the high road and I'll take the low road..." so I think there must be some mountains in Scotland. I've heard about the craggy cliffs there. Sure! So I begin to write the setting picturing this:

photo by CNaene
freedigitalphotos.net

Yes! It must look like Colorado. Mountains, right? Well, not really. Scotland looks more like this:

photo by James Barker
freedigitalphotos.net

Yep...a bit different, wouldn't you say?

So how does one go about writing a setting in a place you have never been before? Here's some ideas:

• If you have the money, take a vacation there! If you were published, you could write it off as a tax deduction. Maybe you can write it off even if you aren't published yet. Hmmm, possibly Krista Phillips would know the answer to this, being our only published author right now! 
• Check out or rent movies set in the area you are writing about. I wrote a medieval set close to the Scotland border so I watched movies like Made to Honor, Braveheart, Brigadoon, etc. Even though I wasn't physically there, I took note of things particular to that country. (Foliage, roads, rain, sun, etc..)
• Check out documentary type or travel type DVDs at the library. You can get a lot of great information from those.
• Check out books from the library about the country/area you are writing about. Yes, it takes longer to research, but who knows...you might stumble upon an old legend or great landmark that you didn't know about before!
• Talk to someone who has been there or lived there. Maybe they have photographs of their trip that they would share with you.
• The internet is a great place to find pictures of places. All you have to do is google the country/area and then search within google images to find pictures of what you need. (FYI...just don't copy them to use in any of your blogging...I learned the hard way!!!)

Those are just a few ways to learn more about the place you are writing about. You want it to be realistic. You want to transport your reader into the scene with the perfect setting. So do your research and make it REAL!

What other suggestions do you have for creating a real and tangible setting when you've never been there before?

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This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is a minister's wife and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Writing a Strong Opening Chapter

We've all heard how important opening lines, opening pages, and opening scenes/chapters are. I think somewhere back in the beginning of my writing journey, I didn't believe it. I thought...nah, if I write a good book, it shouldn't matter if my first seven paragraphs are about the weather or have a little - okay, more than a little - back story.

But after writing several books, critiquing several books, reading tons of craft books and articles, entering contests, judging contests, querying and all that, I've realized that when "they" say those openings are important, "they" aren't kidding.

So what helps make strong opening pages?

A Hook

Yep, this one is first because it's probably one of the most important. An opening hook makes a reader/agent read on. That very first sentence or paragraph can say a lot. It sets the tone for the story. So be sure to write one that makes the reader sit up and take notice - and then read on. That's your big goal - to make the reader read on.

Sympathetic Characters

Readers, just like us, want to relate to our characters. So how do you do that?

Give your characters a goal, present an obstacle to that goal, give them a strong belief in that goal. With that foundation in mind, trying also giving them a fun or unique quirk, something that shows their vulnerability, and make sure you really get into their heads.

Various Writing Styles

Withing your first several pages, you're going to want to show you have a good grasp of various writing styles. Good dialogue, smooth description, varied sentence structure, and deep POV. If you can, try to include as much variety as possible so the reader doesn't get bored.

Be Succinct! Make Sense!

Don't take a lot of time to say what you can say in a short amount of time. In other words, brevity is good! You don't need an entire paragraph of description (yes, this will vary depending on genre) or a page of back story. Also, don't put in so much that the reader is confused. Stick to one conflict and make the reader want to know more.

Show Your Voice

This is going to give you that extra edge. This is what will differentiate a good manuscript from a great one. Giving the reader a sense of your voice will show them that you're confident about your story, and engage them to keep reading.

That's a lot to do in just a few pages, right? But sometimes that's all you have to show an agent, editor, or reader what you've got.

And don't forget, these are just guidelines to get you started. Whether you include a few or all of them, your number one goal is to get the reader to continue reading.

For me, writing that catchy hook is one of the hardest things to do in an opening. What's something that challenges you when writing opening pages?

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Cindy is a Colorado native, living near the mountains with her husband and three beautiful daughters. She writes contemporary Christian romance, seeking to enrich lives with her stories of faith, love, and a touch of humor.

To learn more about Cindy, visit her at her personal blog, www.cindyrwilson.com

Digging for Jewels: the power of original description

At the risk of sounding like a snob, I have a confession to make. I adore literary writing.

Literary books often get a bad rap, because let’s face it, they can be dense and slow-moving. But if you can get past that, you’ll find the writing often sings with fresh and unexpected imagery and beautiful turns of phrase.

Searching for the right adjective, the right word is like digging in the sand. Easy just to shovel up a spadeful and fling it in the bucket without thinking too hard about it. It takes an artist to dig for the treasure in every turn of phrase, every description, refusing to settle for the stale or mundane.

Nothing turns me off a book quicker than overused turns of phrase. To me it shows a lack of care for craftsmanship. And if you, the author, don’t care about the words you choose, why should I invest in those words as a reader?

Here are some ideas for keeping your descriptions fresh.

1. Eliminate clichés.

Clichés have become cliché for a reason. When first coined, these turns of phrase were considered so dazzlingly original, so apt, that they became wildly popular. Now they’re overused because successive generations of writers have been too lazy to reach for their own original and apt expressions.

Read through your manuscript. Have you used any clichés like these? Thin as a rail. Neat as a pin. Fresh as a daisy. Clear as crystal.

Or these? Her hands were cold as ice. His heart beat like a drum.

Yawn.

Get out your pruning shears. Lop those suckers out of your manuscript. Now it’s time to reinvigorate your descriptions.

2. Brainstorm alternatives.

Okay, so rails are thin. What else is thin? Don’t censor yourself. As fast as you can, write a list of a dozen alternative ideas.

Now have a look back over what you’ve written. Do any of these alternate descriptions have additional shades of meaning that may suggest something else about your character, other than mere physical thinness?

For example – Thin as a dandelion stem. A dandelion is a pretty weed. Could you imagine using this description for an emotionally fragile young girl who, although fresh and lovely, sees herself as worthless?

What about this? Thin as a kite string. A kite string snaps with brisk energy. This description would be fitting for a playful boy.

Or this. Thin as the leather-bound ledger she kept on her desk. I’m picturing a woman who is precise and particular, and somewhat lacking in humor.

See how this sort of imagery enriches your writing? Suddenly your description is doing double-duty. You’ve harnessed an obvious physical characteristic and used it to give subtle insights into character.

3. Make new connections.

When describing an object or setting, ask yourself what the image reminds you of. The obvious parallels are always the first to spring to mind. Shadows reached across the path like fingers. The wind moaned in the eaves. Now think again. What unexpected associations can you conjure?

Shadow and moon-fall braided themselves across the path.

A bossy wind scolded at his window, clucking and fussing amongst the leaves. Can you picture the wind as an outspoken housewife?

In Katy Popa’s beautiful book, The Feast of Saint Bertie, she describes the “marigold flames” consuming her protagonist’s house. Comparing something so ravaging to a flower is out-of-the-ordinary. But suddenly, through those words, we see the fire as a thing of unexpected beauty. Can’t you just picture the vivid orange-yellow of those flames?

One of my favorite examples is from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. He describes a person sitting on the step in a pair of  “decomposing shoes.”

He could have described the shoes as worn-out, moldering, wet, smelly, or falling-apart. Instead he selected one unusual word that sums up all of these things in a powerful word-picture. What’s more, this one detail gives us instant insight into the character, revealing more about them than could have been achieved in a page of more mundane description.

4. Read poetry.

In a poem, every word counts. Therefore, the poet chooses each word with care, often creating word pictures of startling originality and simplicity as a result.

How about these beautiful lines by poet Brook Emery, taken from her poem “Night”?

Expectation stitches me to the dark, makes silence that can be touched.

During the day rain falls as light, at night it falls as sound

Like a fish twisting against the line

I’m drawn into the sharp transactions of the light.

As you read poetry, you’ll train yourself to see the world in new ways, forming new associations that may not previously have occurred to you.

5. Grow your vocabulary.

Be intentional about it. The best way to do this is by reading widely and recording new words in a notebook. If you come across a word you don’t know, look it up. Write it down. The more words you know, the more you shades of nuance you’ll have access to in your writing.

But do all of this with one important caveat. Namely:

6. Don’t fall prey to purple prose.

The true power of literary description lies in its simplicity and restraint. One truly apt word, one lean and carefully crafted sentence is more powerful than a dozen overused phrases.

Aussie writer Tim Winton is a master at this. Here are some of his lines from “Dirt Music” and “The Turning”:

The girl’s “lank blond hair fretted in the wind.”

The man’s “crow’s feet like knife cuts.”

The fire “sucked the air from the room and danced before him like a thought just out of reach.”

The blood “runs thin as copper wire in his veins.”

His breath “aglow like a coal in his chest.”

The night is “hot and salted with stars.”

Your turn. What beautiful turns of phrase have you uncovered recently?

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Karen Schravemade lives in Australia. When she's not chasing after two small boys or gazing at her brand-new baby girl, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website, on Twitter or getting creative over at her mummy blog.

Does Your Character Wear Purple Converses?

I don't think I've ever had a character who wore purple Converses, but I've had one who owned a mustard leather purse. One who referenced specific paintings whenever she entered a new setting and wanted a way to express how she felt. Another who would only use a purple pen when note-taking for her job.

Characters come alive with specifics. So maybe if your character doesn't wear purple Converses, she should. Or, at least something specific and fun for her.

There are many ways you can use specifics in description to give your readers a simple, but quick look into who your character really is. And even better, it will help your readers relate to your characters.

So what ways can you use specific descriptions in your story?

Appearance/Style

A great way to say lot about your character with a few words is how he/she looks - in an original way, of course. Your MC is a fashionista, and you show it through Jimmy Choo's or Valentino originals. Your MC is low-key, and all about comfort. He wears shorts in the winter, no gel in his shaggy hair, and drives a beat-up Chevy pick-up the color of a strawberry.

Setting

This encompasses everything from how a character decorates her house to how she views other homes or settings. Is she organized or messy? Does he step outside and notice the trees and clouds shaped like mythological creatures?

Quirks/Habits

Dropping hints here and there, like your MC kicking off her shoes at the door to indicate she's not overly concerned with organization, is a great insight to her personality and doesn't take up many words. Does your MC bite the tip of a pen when she's thinking, or always twirl her hair around her finger when she's nervous?

Drawing detail from what's around a character will spice up your writing and give more insight into your character.

You can use specifics with word choice or bigger things like how they treat their job or their relationships with family and friends. Sometimes it's just for the sake of the reader getting a more vivid picture in their mind, like specifying the color of a rose, and others, it's to help the reader get to know your character.

Do you write specifics in your story and do you enjoy reading them? What kind of specific descriptions do you like to use?


***photo courtesy of kirstinmckee

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Cindy is a Colorado native, living near the mountains with her husband and three beautiful daughters. She writes contemporary Christian romance, seeking to enrich lives with her stories of faith, love, and a touch of humor.

To learn more about Cindy, visit her at her personal blog, www.cindyrwilson.blogspot.com

What I've Learned About Writing From Joining a Book Club

I probably shouldn't have joined a book club. It's not like I don't have enough to read. The good thing, however, is that we read pretty much anything and everything I'd probably never pick up on my own. Maybe that doesn't sound like a good thing, but it is! It helps me branch out and grow as a writer. And not only that, the feedback from the rest of the group has shown me what different readers (different genders with different tastes) really do and don't want in fiction.

So what have I learned about writing from my book club?

1. Multiple POVs or scene shifts can be confusing or annoying
If there's not a reason to shift scenes or POVs every page or two, then maybe think twice about doing it! I know it works for some authors, especially those who are more established, but some members of my book club bring it up time and time again. The constant POV or scene shifts are too much!

2. Relatable characters are a must
Yeah, we writers hear this all the time. And hey, now we know it's not a myth! Readers are looking for characters they want to root for and if they don't like the character, they're not going to want to read about them for several hours and several more pages.

3. Ditch the description
There are readers in my group (none of them are writers, by the way, except for me) who are fans of literary fiction and genres that tend to have more description. And even they are saying, "I ended up skimming the story for pages and pages because there was too much description." It's worth it to watch your words and make the most of page space. It might result in a devoted reader instead of one who wants to put your book down.

4. Misleading back page summaries are disappointing
I know much of this has to do with the publisher, and authors don't always get a final say. But if you do have some say when your book is published, the closer the summary resembles to the book, the better.

5. Pacing is important and first pages are really important
Gotta start with momentum and keep it up. Also, as far as pacing, it's great to switch between description, internal thoughts, dialogue, etc. Paragraphs upon paragraphs of just one thing gets overwhelming. Mix it up!

6. Don't write too many subplots
Yeah, my other book club members dislike too much of this, as I do. It can get confusing if not done well, and hard for readers to get one defining theme from the story. Which brings up my next point...

7. Tie up loose ends
Along with all those plots comes several threads that need to be wrapped up. Readers don't like to be left hanging. It makes the reader not trust the writer. They want to know that the time they invested has a conclusion, and a good conclusion at that!

Have any of you ever been involved in a book club and what have you learned about writing from it? Or, if you haven't, what kinds of things do you dislike as a reader?

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Cindy is a Colorado native, living near the mountains with her husband and three beautiful daughters. She writes contemporary Christian romance, seeking to enrich lives with her stories of faith, love, and a touch of humor.

To learn more about Cindy, visit her at her personal blog, www.cindyrwilson.blogspot.com

Talking Heads In Your Novel Writing

Photo by geralt @ pixabay

In the beginning of my writing journey, I was overcome by an invasion - an invasion of the Talking Heads. I was blindsided by these creatures, because I didn't know any better. These Talking Heads took over my manuscript until I learned how to creatively combat them.

Talking Heads occurs when two characters converse together without any action, description, setting, or mood. It's just two people talking back and forth, confusing the reader as to who is who, and therefore losing the flow of the story.

So how do we get rid of these pesky buggers? 

Action Tags: Break up the dialogue with action from the character. Have a character cook, open the refrigerator, get a drink, pick up toys off the floor, etc. Simple things that a character can do will help identify them and give the reader a sense of placement in the scene.

Descriptive Setting: Add a touch of descriptive setting into an action tag. Have the character pick at the folds of the red checkered tablecloth; or plop into a worn, threadbare recliner; or step over a huge mound of dirty laundry. These give the reader hints into the life of the character and anchors them into the scene.

Inner thoughts: Get into deep POV and express the thoughts of your character. Have your character say one thing, yet think the total opposite. Or let the character think through a problem he/she is arguing about with the other character.

Body Language: This may be one of my favorite things to combat Talking Heads. Using the character's body to give a sense of their feelings helps to identify them in the scene. Have your character roll their eyes, heave a sigh, slam a door, or run their hands through their hair. These convey (show) feelings instead of "telling" them to the reader.

What else can you add to the list of defense against the Talking Heads?

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This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is wife to "Pastor John" and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Self-Editing Checklist: Setting and Description

Most writers have a basic visual in their minds of the story's setting and the main characters. Case in point, this picture is the hero in one of my manuscripts (rugged-looking, isn't he?). :-)

The challenge is translating what we see in our minds and displaying it for the reader to see as well. When editing my scenes, I ask myself four key questions related to description.

1) Have I grounded the reader in the setting? At the beginning of a scene, do they know where they're at? Do I have my characters interact with the setting, so that the setting is a natural part of the story (versus a paragraph of description separated from the action)?

2) Do I give at least a snapshot description of new characters when they're first introduced in the story? If they're important characters, do I provide more than just a snapshot?

3) Do I filter in character descriptions throughout the manuscript in a way that distinguishes each character and avoids cliches? Jody Hedlund wrote an awesome post on this topic. You can read her article here.

4) Have I written too much description? Is it written in a way that is non-dynamic? The key with description is sprinkling it naturally throughout the scene. Fuse it with action and senses to make it more fluid and dynamic. For instance, instead of having your character run across a room, you can say, "Her heels click-clacked on the wood floor as she ran after him." We get a two-for-one out of this type of sentence. We see that she's wearing heels, and we see that the room has a wood floor. Not only that, but we hear what the heels sound like on the wood floor while getting a sense of the physical action.

Your homework, should you choose to accept it: Study the introduction of each of your scenes and each character and determine whether you've given them the appropriate level of description. If you have a stagnant descriptive sentence, rewrite it in a way that fuses it with senses, action, or emotion. And be sure to read Jody's post for some super tips.

So let's talk. Do you always have a strong visual of what your setting and your characters look like? Do you tend to write too much description or too little? Any other tips you can add to my list?

This post is part of the Self-Editing Checklist series. For the rest of the series, click here.

*Floor photo by suphakit73 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Becoming a Word Artisan

"The Riverbank" by Henri Matisse

“My vision blurs. 

My lungs beg for oxygen.

His hands don’t relent.                                                       

And in this moment, I cradle a delicious thought.  Maybe this is it.  Maybe it’s finally over.  He can take my life from me.  He’s taken everything else.  Why not my heartbeat? I fight to remember Sissy and Jed.  In the struggle, I finger Elijah’s bracelet under my sleeve, touching the boy and girl charms, hoping they’ll forgive me for giving up so easily.  But as light halos my vision, and I sense the warmth of a love I’ve only tasted, I give myself to it, rest in it, feel its warmth.  I hear the Voice, beckoning, whispering the kind of words I’ve longed to understand my entire life.  Such beautiful, beautiful words.”

This is taken from page 192 of Life in Defiance by Mary DeMuth, the third book in a trilogy I highly enjoyed.    There are numerous places in this novel where I could feel my heart quickening and knew I couldn’t put it down until I felt a sense of “safety.” Through several scenes I noticed the quick intake of breath that lets you know a suspense reader has really hooked you.

I’ve been reading Rebecca McClanahan’s Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively in my quest to develop my own language usage.  I would recommend this primer if this is an area you would like to improve in your own writing and I especially appreciate the exercises included at the end of each chapter.

Aristotle in The Rhetoric of Aristotle tells the reader that good description should include four primary elements:

1)      It should be “appropriate in sound and sense.”  It should be worded well and place precise images in our mind.

2)      The reader should be able to “see” things.  We should include concrete and very specific description.

3)      As writers we should be “using expressions that represent things in a state of activity.”  Did you create a moving picture?

4)      Metaphor or other figurative language is often used.

(Word Painting, 9-10)

Let’s look at a classic example from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (p.53):

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

OK, first we have to discount the fact that Montgomery has written one honking run-on sentence here breaking many of today’s literary mores.  She is too wordy by today’s standards, yet still I love this description and I believe it follows many of Aristotle’s standards here.

The reader can very precisely see the stream in their mind.  We also quickly have a clear picture of Mrs. Lynde, after which even the landscape is viewed through new eyes.

“Rahab felt her stomach drop.  What was her father scheming? Their voices grew too soft to overhear. Frustrated, she strode to the end of the garden. In a dilapidated pen, two skinny goats gnawed on the tips of a withered shrub, already stripped to bare wood.  With the men and Rahab working the fields every day, no one had cleaned the pen. A putrid stench assaulted her senses—an apt background for her roiling emotions, she thought…But the knot in her stomach tightened with each passing second.”

(Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar, 14)

Wow, this descriptor catches me early on, bringing me into Rahab’s emotional world and Afshar uses smell, sight, sound and physical body movement aptly.  The reader feels the physical revulsion.

Who are some of your favorite "word artisans?"