 For Authors: April 01, 2009 Issue [#2983] |
  For Authors
This week: Edited by: Cubby  
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Hello, everyone! Welcome to this edition of the For Authors newsletter.  This week's topic is focused on giving your story relevance; but first off, I'd like to share a few quotes with you. Enjoy!
Quotes:
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“Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow...”
~ Lawrence Clark Powell
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The difficulty of literature is not to write, but write what you mean.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson
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The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.
~ Terry Southern |
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What's Your Point?
Giving relevance to your story is important. To keep your readers turning the pages, be sure you are pulling them along with curiousity, not a day-by-day journal filled with uneventful happenings that don't matter one way or another. Give your characters a mission to accomplish and light a fire under them as they go off to accomplish it. You readers will follow suit.
Here is one meager example of sprucing up a very unenventful paragraph.
1) I got some new toothpaste today. Can't wait to try that new flavor. It was a little more expensive than the generic kind, but I decided to splurge. Actually, I found a coupon for it right on the shelf!
2) You'll never guess what happened to me today? After picking up toothpaste at the store, I was headed home when I heard movement in the back seat. I looked in my rearview mirror to find a twelve year old girl with duct tape over her mouth and rope wrapped around her body. I quickly pulled into a parking lot, noticing for some weird reason, the $2 coupon I forgot to bring in for the new flavored toothpaste. Refocusing, I grabbed my cell phone, dialed 911, and proceded to free the girl from her bindings.
The first example is more like a step-by-step account of the character's thoughts with nothing exciting attached to it. Boring, yes? By weaving in a bit of action, it reads much more interesting. There is actually a point to the paragraph. You might think, So why do we need to know about a coupon and a new kind of toothpaste?. You don't, if that's all the author is telling you. And there's no point in it. But when mixed with action, it adds to the reality of a situation, rounding out the character and the scene. It flavors the story.
Be very careful not to include too much irrelevance into the story, especially on its own. Too much description right off could turn your reader away instead of turning the page. Is your plot going nowhere fast? Hmm... Perhaps you need to put more excitement into it. If the point of your story isn't enticing all the way through it, you risk losing your readers. Or even worse, being rejected by a publisher.
Another consideration is, are you telling a story or walking your characters through events without a direction? Is there motivation in your main character? Is your villain convincing enough to make you wonder if he or she might possibly take over the world, win the girl's heart, blow up the capital, or whatever it may be?
Watch out for too many characters with names. If a character has little relevance in your story, don't give him or her a name to add to the reader's memory list. Lily-the-librarian might only show up in one or two scenes, so why refer to her other than the librarian. What's the point? Perhaps you promised your family-of-nine you would include everyone's name in the story. Or maybe you think it's fun to come up with names for every human being or animal that exists on your paper. Think again. How important is it? It might be fun, but it's challenging for a reader to keep track of too many names.
Don't dwell on too much description, uneventful events, or naming each and every creature in the universe of your story. Do consider your character's motivation, making your character convincing, and giving your story relevance.
A few interesting books to check out:
 Ordinary Miracles - Harness the Power of Writing And Get Your Point Across! by Danny Iny
The Mind Of Your Story: Discover What Drives Your Fiction by Lisa Lenard-Cook
Now for a fun prompt... Write a short paragraph that is pretty much pointless. Now... add depth to it by including an exciting scene!
Happy Spring! and...
Keep on Writing!
Cubby ") |
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~FEEDBACK~
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katiedoyle100
Wow! That was really... interesting and yet very amusing how you managed to add up all those cliches into a few sentences. Good job.
~ It was actually quite fun! A little bit of a challenge, too. Something different, either way. 
Zeke 
You left me up to my neck in cliches. They are always a great temptation for novices like me.
Zeke
~ There sure are a lot of them out there! A few weeks ago, our writing group leader asked us to write down some cliches and then use our own words in place of them. It was harder than I thought!
THANKFUL SONALI Library Class! 
Hi Cubby!
You made me feel on top of the world - the cat that got the cream, over the moon! I have stars in my eyes, seeing my humble offering served up on a platter for your readers!
In other words - Thanks for featuring my poem! Hey, love the cliche-filled beginning!
- Sonali
~ Thank you! 
pooja_sr
hello cubby :)
brilliant quotes, but please do something about the font!
~PooJA
~  I've had a few font-complaints, but I've also had several appreciation remarks for those who have a hard time reading the smaller... so... I'm trying to figure out which way to go with it.  Anyway, glad you enjoyed the quotes!
Elaine's Beary Limited*~ 
This is a great letter. I enjoyed reading the old remarks and quotes. I hadn't heard some of them since my mother died. Thank you for bringing those to my attention again.
~ You are so welcome! And thank you for a warm response.
Elven Friend
I found this newsletter on cliches to be very interesting and helpful. It actually made me start rethinking how I write because of how many cliches there are. I realized that I use a fair many of them that it could probably get annoying eventually. Thanks a lot.
~ I am so glad my cliche editorial was helpful for you. Actually, I must admit, I catch myself saying cliches, along with others, since I wrote that article. It is amazing how often we use them! 
 Thank you, everyone, for all the wonderful feedback you send in!
As always...
Have a wonderful week!
AND KEEP ON WRITING!!!
Cubby ")
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