Writing Tips

[Mistermoonlight]

Just got Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing from the library and it's very short but fabulous. Leonard, for those of you who don't know, is quite possibly the best writer of crime fiction of all time. And his advice is superb.

So, I thought perhaps a thread was in order where we can share any good advice on writing that comes our way.

I love how he opens the book:

"These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story. If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your own voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip these rules. Still, you might want to look them over."

Here's Leonard's first rule:

Never open a book with weather.

If it's only to create atmosphere and not a character's reaction to the weather you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people. There are exceptions. If you are Barry Lopez, who has more ways than an Eskimo to describe ice and snow in his book Arctic Dreams, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

[Aeryn]

Here are some rules I've learned throughout the years:

1. While you're writing, don't stop to edit anything. You can do that later.

2. When an awesome idea pops into your head, sit down and write it at that moment. Don't put it off, because you'll probably forget what it was.

3. Capture your reader quickly...most people stop reading after a few pages when they get bored. Grab their attention with a fabulous beginning.

[davidhayes1956]

Moon, "It was a dark and stormy night ...."

Aeryn Tip #3 works pretty good. You do have to be quick or they can get away and call the police. And it does get expensive feeding them once you've captured them. It works best though if you don't feed them until they read something. Otherwise, they can get obstinate.

With Tip #2, avoid napkins and TP if possible. The writing bleeds in humid weather.

Tip #1. Sometimes the editing part never happens ... especially if the ideas keep coming. That's how I got 3 years behind. People told me about books about avoiding writer's block. I needed a blockage ... something like imodium for writing. Not to be confused with immodiam which is a statement made by forum administrators.

[davidhayes1956]

The best tip I have gotten about writing is "Don't quit your day job." When I explain that I don't have a job, I'm told to not quit being unemployed if the other option is writing. I guess this teachers you to persevere in the face of apathy.

[Mistermoonlight]

Jun 8, 2012 21:40:16 GMT -5 Aeryn said:

Here are some rules I've learned throughout the years:

1. While you're writing, don't stop to edit anything. You can do that later.

2. When an awesome idea pops into your head, sit down and write it at that moment. Don't put it off, because you'll probably forget what it was.

3. Capture your reader quickly...most people stop reading after a few pages when they get bored. Grab their attention with a fabulous beginning.

I agree with all of these. It's much more important to get the story out than to stop and edit. But the glory of all these rules is that once you know what they are, you can break them if you have a good reason.

Sometimes I can't stop from having editing ideas while I'm writing. My solution? I jot them down in the word processing document I'm working on at the bottom of the page, so I don't forget them later, then I plow on.

Alongside with #2 I find that it's often helpful to free-associate and write down all of the ideas that come to your mind at the point that you have one good one. You're on a roll with your muse, and something is going on, so try for more.

I have a legal pad that I used on the best thing I ever wrote, and upon it are a jumble of ideas, about 70% of which were thrown away, and right in the middle this sparkling gem of a line which scared me after I wrote it. How could that come from me? Answer: it didn't, it came from the character, and I had gotten completely out of the way to let them express it. Not until I set it aside for a while and came back did I realize that it was the best line I'd ever written. Again, I don't think I did it. It came through me. That's what the best writing is like.

#3 reminds me of the most important rule for writing a short story I was ever given. Start at the most interesting part. There is a Latin phrase, in media res, which means 'in the middle of things.' Whatever the conflict is, go there first. Then use flashbacks to give whatever backstory you want.

If you're like me, you choose a book to read based on the first sentence (or the first paragraph if you're feeling charitable.) Make sure that first sentence has what Hemingway called 'the true gin.'

[Mistermoonlight]

Jun 8, 2012 21:51:48 GMT -5 @davidhayes1956 said:

Moon, "It was a dark and stormy night ...."

Aeryn Tip #3 works pretty good. You do have to be quick or they can get away and call the police. And it does get expensive feeding them once you've captured them. It works best though if you don't feed them until they read something. Otherwise, they can get obstinate.

With Tip #2, avoid napkins and TP if possible. The writing bleeds in humid weather.

Tip #1. Sometimes the editing part never happens ... especially if the ideas keep coming. That's how I got 3 years behind. People told me about books about avoiding writer's block. I needed a blockage ... something like imodium for writing. Not to be confused with immodiam which is a statement made by forum administrators.

Oh yes, those dark nights. As opposed to the retina-destroying supernova ones, right?

I've only written one song, or co-written I should say, because my writing partner worked best in a bar we both loved and he produced wonderful stuff on cocktail napkins. I stuffed them in my pocket, took them home, and wrote my parts out on a legal pad, along with his. That can work, believe it or not.

Finally, editing is a bitch, isn't it? But that's where the secret lies, I think. It's where the discipline comes in, and those awful moments when you have to kill your darlings--those wonderful scenes you love so much that do not move the plot forward or define a character. I always hope I can use them somewhere else, but that seldom happens. Still, one can hope.

[Watchtower]

Thank you for this thread, Moon! It'll be great to come back to this!

I always hear the suggestion to keep a notepad or notebook with you, but sometimes, that would be impossible and some of those times are when the inspiration strikes me! That's why I always use the notepad on my phone!

Also, if you're having writers block, start taking 5-10 minutes out of the day everyday to just write... write whatever is on your mind, or write something interesting that you have observed, or try going somewhere else other than inside your home and describe what you see or hear or smell or any of your senses, even if it's something as small as smelling a rose (that's probably where the saying 'stop and smell the roses' came from) or hearing the birds singing or even hearing the leaves that crunch under your feet!

That was how I first started writing, I learned that from my third grade teacher, I just added to it as the years went by...

[davidhayes1956]

Editing conversations/dialog. People speak in a focused, polished way in motion pictures and drama, but not so much in real life. If the conversations are too clean and the characters know exactly what each other mean when they discuss something, then it isn't as real.

[Mistermoonlight]

That's an excellent one, David.

And dialogue is such a great place to reveal more about your character, too, not only in the words they use and how they put them together, but also in whatever business you give them to do while talking. Is the character worried? Have them rub their temple or eyebrow. Let their shoulders fall a notch, or tighten up. Whatever works. Seize any opportunity to show, not tell.

You should be able to convey they are worried using only dialogue and body language. If you still feel the need to tell folks he/she is worrying, keep working on that scene until it tells that for you without your ever needing to say it.

And this is a good place to bring up Elmore Leonard's 2nd rule of writing:

• Avoid prologues.
  

They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a forward.

But these are ordinarily found in nonfiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.

There is a prologue in John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, but it's okay because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says:

"I like a lot of talk in a book and I don't like to have nobody tell me what the guy that's talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks . . . figure out what the guy's thinking from what he says. I like some description but not too much of that."

The Steinbeck character goes on to say, "Sometimes I want a book to break loose with a bunch of hooptedoodle . . . spin up some pretty words maybe or sing a little song with the language. That's nice. But I wish it was set aside so I don't have to read it. I don't want hooptedoodle to get mixed up with the story."

Okay, back to my own comments now. (Quite a thrill to see my words in print just below Leonard's and Steinbeck's.) Don't you know everything you need to know about that Steinbeck character, just from his language? He sounds real (and entertaining to boot, that's always good.) I love how he says sometimes he wants a book to break out in hooptedoodle, then goes on to tell you how he wishes it was set aside so he didn't have to read it. That's a real person, with gaps in logic.

One of the neatest tricks in writing is to have an unreliable narrator. It's one of my favorites, anyway. But we'll save that for another day, or for you to Google.

[avp60685]

Here are some of my own tips for writers or future wriiters:


here are my tips:
1. Keep a notepad with pen/pencil with you at all times
2. Keep eyes and ears open to look for good quotes, situations, etc you can use to write about
3. Read books and use them to inspire you
4. Be original in your ideas, don't be afraid to make up names, settings, etc. I do it all the time in all of my stuff
5. If it is a poem-don't worry about it not rhyming, as long as you have the thoughts down you can do it
6. Use your dreams to help write out story ideas it may help unlock plots, characters, you hadn't thought about!
7. Don't be afraid to change things after you type it up on the computer, and don't be afraid to add new things or take out things
8. Have others read it and give their opinions, listen and then try to take it into consideration, does it really need a bad guy? Does it need to be a love story when it is really an adventure? Etc. etc. Etc.
9. Have fun with it!
10. You can draw little drawings to go with your stuff too, it helps sometimes that way you can visualize what you are thinking of, it may be stick figures but as long as you have the idea on paper you can do it.
11. Look for pictures from magazines to help as well!
12. Look for ways to get it published~local newspaper, newsletters, contests for writers, etc.

that's all i can think of for now

[gilmorefanalways]

Find something that inspires you and take time to be quiet to hear whatever story is pressing on you to write