Category Archives: Writing Tips

Today’s Writing Tip

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We perceive our world through the five senses and sometimes a 6th. Be sure to use them all in your stories. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and intuition each provide different types of information. If you’ve ever had any of them compromised or perhaps even lost, then you realize how important they are. For example, if you have a head cold and can’t taste or smell anything, that definitely adds to the discomfort. Those who have had sinus surgery often have their sense of smell and taste altered, sometimes for years, others permanently. How would you like it if suddenly your favorite food tasted horrible?

Some people are visual learners, others auditory or kinesthetic, i.e. “hands-on.” Think about which one fits you the best. Then consider that readers who favor a certain type of learning or channel their perception of the world through preferred sense will want to do so in a similar way through fiction. One example that comes to mind are the novels that include recipes. What does that tell you about using the sense of taste and most likely smell?

Once you decide which one fits a particular scene, then you get to figure out how to “show, not tell.” Simply saying “the bread baking in the oven smelled really good” really doesn’t do it. A slight improvement would be “the aroma wafting through the kitchen transported her back to coming home from school to a loaf of home-baked bread with strawberry jam.”

How would you describe it?

Today’s Writing Tip

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A while back I saw a blog that named the main reasons that a book’s reviews were less than 5-stars. These were a great condensation of writers tips. When you’re doing your final edit, keep 1, 2, 3, and 9 in mind. When you’re constructing and writing your first draft, keep 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in the forefront. As a reviewer, these are great suggestions of issues you can point out to help the author improve future works.

1. Spelling errors

2. Too many he said/she said

3. Overuse of person’s name

4. Characters all the same

5. Too many characters

6. Main character forgotten

7. Similar names

8. No challenge

9. Too many adverbs

Today’s Writing Tip

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Including other cultures and their respective norms in your story provides additional texture. Just make sure you get it correct, either through research or, better yet, consulting with someone who knows it well.

One of the best examples I’ve seen where this is done beautifully is the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” You may be part of such a culture and not even be aware of it.

Many years ago when I worked for NASA I attended a class that addressed getting along with people from other cultures. This was essential because we were working with Japan, Russia, Italy, and various other countries with the International Space Station. One thing they told us that I’ve never forgotten is that right and wrong can have entirely different definitions in different cultures. They are what they are, having evolved separately and under different circumstances.

Cultural microcosms are all around you, whether you notice them or not. If you’re an author, you should pay attention to such things. Every city, even section of a city, has its own personality and culture. This is perhaps more noticeable among the different states of the USA and certainly between other nations. Cultural clashes surround you on any given day. If you don’t believe me, just watch the news. Remember that conflict is essential in fiction and this is another area where you can work it into your story.

Pay attention to such things as an essential ingredient to life and therefore has a bearing on fiction. Capture it properly and you can become an outstanding author.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Avoid blatant stereotype characters, especially for the good guys or bad guys. This is especially advisable for those that carry a racist spin. Challenge your own prejudices and you’ll do the same for your readers. There are good guys and bad guys of all races, religions, nationalities, and so forth, so be fair. Furthermore, if you character has overcome the negativity associated with a particular group and thus invited the rejection and possibly the ire of his peers, you have some built-in conflict to work into your story.

I’m not saying that you should always be politically correct. Like Steve Jobs supposedly said, “If you never want to make anyone mad, then sell ice cream.” Some of the funniest books I’ve read have been quite politically incorrect, but they have done so under the guise of satire, which can get away with a lot of blatant rudeness. Satire is a very special case and not always easy to handle. More on that some other time.

Today’s Writing Tip

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The more you know about human behavior and psychology and incorporate it into your writing, the more convincing your characters will be. These are things you should pick up from the people around you and your life experience. If personality types like Myers-Briggs (I’m an INTJ, by the way) and various other behavioral descriptions absolutely aren’t your thing, then a viable alternative that I’ve mentioned before is using the characteristics of the various astrological signs as a character template.

If you’ve paid the slightest attention to those around you, you’ll undoubtedly recognize the characteristics that fit the various signs. Then, if you find out which ones do and don’t get along, you have a ready-made formula to introduce conflict.

WGTA216x324If you read these tips on a regular basis, then you know I don’t usually use them for self-promotional purposes. However, since I have actually written a book about astrology that describes the signs, I feel it’s my duty to mention it here. You can pick up a copy on Amazon or just about any other retail sales channel here. For a quick overview of how different signs get along, you can find that for free on my website here.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Reviewer’s opinions of your book are not only subjective, but their rating systems are often inconsistent as well. I can’t believe how many 3-star reviews I’ve seen where the person goes on to say how good the book was. I don’t know about you, but when a reviewer awards less than 4-stars I expect to see some explanation for why the book rated such a mediocre review.

I suppose you can associate the 5-star system with academic grades. In other words:

***** = A

**** = B

*** = C

** = D

*=F

In that context, I suppose a 3-star review thus equates to a C, which supposedly is average.  But I still find it confusing, if that’s the case, how a reviewer will then go on to compliment the book and say good things about it without saying how it could be improved.

As an author, you want reviews and should thus be reviewing books yourself. Bear this in mind when you do so: If you give a book a poor rating, do the author and readers of the review a favor and tell them why, even if it’s purely subjective, such as you didn’t like the main character or the writing style. That will give them a better idea what you’re trying to say.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Holiday themes work well for plotting a story. They provide a familiar backdrop to build upon and are likely to be popular around that time of year. Not so much at other times, however, so bear that in mind.

halloween5Nonetheless, if you write a best-seller, that’s another story (pun intended). I remember years ago someone wrote a short story called “The Christmas Box” and it was a best seller. Write something like that and you might make enough money off that one story a few weeks of the year to finance your other less lucrative endeavors.  Counting on that, however, is a bit of a long shot.

If there’s anything about your story that you can exploit in connection with holidays, do so. Halloween is obviously good for zombie, vampire, and paranormal stories. Don’t forget those lesser known holidays such as Global Cat Day (October 16), World Vegan Day (November 1), and STEM Day (November 8) and be sure to use their specific #hashtags. You can find more holiday ideas here.

Today’s Writing Tip

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If you plan to include an “Acknowledgements” section to thank those with whom you’ve consulted while writing your book, start a file early where you can list each person and what they did. That way you won’t forget someone when you finally finish up.

People to mention include your editors, proofreaders, book interior designers, cover designers and artists, technical consultants, beta readers, and anyone else who has helped along the way. I remember years ago before I had any of my own books in print it meant a lot to at least see my name in a book for helping out.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Interruptions are often the author’s worst enemy. The real question, however, is how many do you invite or cause through poor planning? The next time you’re distracted from your writing schedule, figure out how you allowed it to happen, either by checking your email or phone too often or some other disturbance.

You have more control over these things than you may realize. It’s a matter of setting priorities and then sticking to them. Most emails aren’t emergencies that require immediate attention, the same with phone calls.

Today’s Writing Tip

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There are as many styles of putting together a novel as there are for writing it. Some authors will do so methodically from a carefully designed outline, others piece by piece as their muse directs. There’s no right or wrong way as long as your finished product is seamless. Creativity comes to each author in a different way. Don’t stifle it by trying to force yourself into a methodology that isn’t comfortable. Go with the flow.