The Writer’s Questions

Question: what is it?

What are you writing about, who are you writing about, when are you writing about?

Straight forward questions, but ones an ambitious writer needs to take into account when preparing to write a novel or in the midst of spinning a tale.

 I’ve been a writer for some years now and published frequently and I can remember  clearly writing entire scenes and describing little or nothing, not pinning down a character’s character and more distracting missteps.

Questions create a story and if you, as a writer, don’t answer those questions you’ll lose your readers. “What if…” is a big question. So is “What would someone do if”… or “if the world was a much different place in these ways, what would happen...”

Questions, so many questions, but isn’t that our nature, to want to unravel ‘mysteries’?

There are many questions big and small that arise when the writer is writing. And writing (any story, whether screen script, novel, or short story) is a tricky business.

 So, here are some of the “big” questions.

Where is your scene taking place? Right, should be a ‘duh’ question, but so many times the writer knows very well where the scene is taking place, he or she can see it clearly in mind’s eye, but surprise, your reader can’t read your mind. How about a hint; just a touch of where things are happening, maybe from the protagonist’s point of view.  And just because you tell us it’s a subway platform, don’t leave out the other senses. What does it smell and sound like? Is it day or night? Busy or  not so much? Are we in present time, or another time altogether?

Another question – are you making it plain how much time is passing in your story? Is it minutes? Hours? Days? Years? Don’t confuse the hapless reader.

What’s going on with your character? This relates a bit to the guest post I did for TV Writer on  Writing Action recently. Seriously, your characters need to react. Whether in novel or in screen script. If somebody gets a ‘dear John’ letter she needs to react. If another somebody gets in a car wreck he doesn’t ‘think about his situation’ he feels pain or confusion or both or more. The character may have to force himself to think logically after such an incident, but there’ll be ‘stuff’ going on along with it. Reactions are how you explore character and let the reader in on the character’s idiosyncrasies.

Sometimes, when you’re hot, writing fast, you don’t really focus on this one, but it needs to be addressed. What is the point of your scene? Sometimes an author is wrapped up in a really cool scene idea, perhaps something he or she has experienced and wants to get that scene down on paper to the point that a scene is written that really has no point relating to the story at hand. Many times this isn’t even caught until editing, but caught it must be. A scene needs to have a point whether it relates to character or plot. Don’t just stick something in, or leave it in, because it’s some of our coolest writing.  If you love it, save it, it may actually work in another book or script, but don’t leave it where it doesn’t belong.

Now here’s a biggie I’ve seen get lost in the shuffle. What is the goal of the story’s main character? From there is where your story hangs. Your reader is breezing through those first sentences looking for exactly that – the character’s goal.  Said reader might not be aware that’s what’s happening, but it is. Whether that goal is attainable…or not…it needs to be there. Without said goal you don’t have a story, you just have a bunch of people running around doing things.

Questions, always questions. Keep asking them and your stories will bloom.

Writing Up The Little Guys - Creating Authenticity In Your World

Our world is full or people, places and things. So should the world your writing creates. If you want it to feel real, to draw the reader in (and I know you do) then you have to write to create a living breathing world.  Whether it's just down the street in your neighborhood or set in the distant reaches of space it is imperative that you fill in the details, make things real.

How?

Well for one thing, the world is full of 'walk-on' characters, people like waitresses, car mechanics, fast food servers, grocery check-out folks, bank tellers, pedestrians, security guards, cops, nurses - well, you get it. A good place to get a feel for this is the movies you like. Play a DVD or get a download online and pay attention to the background characters. Most are background, literally, you see them move around, but that's about it.  A few sort of cause something to happen or have a line or two of dialog, but are not a focal point in the story so they do what they do and then move on.  So with this in mind, remember your writing is going to reflect that as well.

You'll need to write in minor characters, sometimes important ones (as backdrop goes).

What about these people?

Well, they need no more than one or two lines of introduction. Probably they don't need names and just a bit of description is enough.

Focus on details.

Maybe the kid on the bicycle is skinny with a "TinTin" haircut and oversized jeans. Maybe the burger flipper is tall, skinny, wearing bright yellow and has dirty fingernails. The PTA mother could have flaming red hair and a temper to match. Maybe the baseball coach is revealed to be bald when he jerks off his cap and throws it into the dust in disgust.

You'll need to create these secondary characters with your writing so they form a backdrop for your main characters and don't steal the show themselves. They are actually more like 'things' than actual 'people' though of course they must be portrayed as real, not cardboard cut-outs.

All this means you need to strike a balance. Don't get carried away and write in too much punch for your minor characters. Through these characters give your readers taste of the environment they, and your main characters, occupy. Your minor character might even have a line or two of dialog, but what you're writing is to push the plot along.

And at times all you'll show through writing and words is a crowd scene, or a scattering of people with no real defining traits. More backdrop. If you're talking about a stadium full of people, a street scene or the opening run at Macy's bargain basement, you're not going to write descriptive passages about all the people occupying those scenes. Just the main characters and perhaps a minor character or two. The rest create a crowd and backdrop.

You might skim a couple of your favorite books with all this in mind and see how the writers of those books handled their lesser players. And if you'd like to read a bit more about creating minor characters click here.  But again, the article is about writing minor characters - not the ones who fill your written crowd scenes. 

Play with it, have fun. 

Writing Your Novel - Tormenting Your Hero

It's a lovely, sunny day after much needed rain so what could be a better writing topic to discuss than tormenting your hero?

We all know that every hero needs an adversary - the "anti-hero". That pretty much goes without saying. But there's more to tension and a good story than the good guy vs. the bad guy slugging it out. There are all those other characters - sort of like the family members you might like to forget.

Think about all the books you've read and for that matter, the movie's you've seen. There are all sorts of things going on in the background that add zest to the story and there's usually that character, a good-guy character, who drives your hero or heroine nuts, inadvertently puts obstacles in his or her path, pushes their buttons, and is generally a pain for the hero/heroine to deal with, yet can be a best friend, a close relative, a meddling co-worker or any other of a thousand possibilities.

This isn't the villain, the bad-guy character, but might be a side-kick or perhaps even simply a thickheaded character as in someone in authority above the hero who cannot be convinced to the hero's cause and ends up being deliberately obstructive.

Some examples of more prickly characters to torment your hero might be a superior police officer who takes the hero off the case. Or it could be a senior reporter who won't pass along story details because he or she doesn't want the junior reporter to get the credit for a story or in politics it might be an elected official who stops an investigation that would put the folks who bought and paid for him in jeopardy. These aren't the hero's buddies, but they aren't the villain (though they can be nasty) and they most certainly serve the same purpose - distraction, tension, obstacles.

Or, if it's not a character deliberately trying to side-track the hero as in the above paragraph, it might be a friend who's always in the wrong place at the wrong time putting him or herself in jeopardy or  working at cross-purposes with the hero's intent, meaning no harm, but serving his or her own purpose. Writing these characters into your novel can create all kinds of interesting problems complicating the story by throwing up all sorts of roadblocks to the hero's progress. It can create amusing an/or deadly situations.

Whichever way you want to go, whether an overbearing authority figure throwing in 'monkey wrenches' or a more 'loveable side-kick" type remember when you begin to develop the character, it needs to be one in a position to annoy, get in the way, thwart and generally be a royal pain. With that kind of a character in the story, a sort of friendly adversary, your hero gr heroin will get plenty of chances to struggle, verbally spar and generally showcase his or her ingenuity and the stuff from which he or she is made.

Oh, and remember when writing your story, don't allow room for character confusion regarding your lesser characters. Take things as they come, don't try to throw too many characters at your reader at once. Don't refer to one character by several different names and when introducing a character for the first time give the reader his or her whole name. Then writing can proceed with just calling that character by one name, the one you stick with all the time.

Got the basics?  Okay then, go out there and torment your hero!

For Writers The Devil Is In The Details

Details, details, details.  As writers we need them, and are told time and again not to overdo them.  Both admonitions are correct.

But, we can be come such masters of our own written work, such orchestrators of our stories that things happen.  Oh, don't get me wrong, many times it's very good things, but there can be others as well, things that simply aren't expected.

As an example, have you written a story where the descriptions of your characters are non-existent or the setting one that simply disappears?  I have. When I was just beginning I wrote a story.  My then helpful Godmother/acting editor pointed out she loved the story.  Had to read it a couple of times in fact to figure out what was wrong.  Turns out she had no idea what my characters looked like.  I'd totally written the story but left out little details like short, tall, fat, skinny, long hair, short, you know, the things that let us identify with characters. 

That same thing can happen with setting. You're telling a story.  The setting is crystal clear in your mind. You, as the writer, see everything perfectly, so perfectly in fact that you forget your reader and kind of presume since you know - they know.

Well, they don't. Give your reader information as you go along. It doesn't have to be, nor should it be a long, drawn out description of where they are, but if you put your characters inside a building, in an office, let your readers know if it's an opulent office or a humble cubicle.  Is there a window or are they across the room beyond the their cubicles?  Is it comfortable or cramped, cluttered or tidy, light or dark, private or in the open with others around to hear conversations. All those details, scattered through your scene gives your readers visual clues to the setting so they don't visualize your story in a hazy, undefined white space like your unattended computer screen with a new document as yet untracked by words and punctuation. It also provides the readers of your novel or short story with opportunity to get to know your character better.

Here's another thing. If we, your readers, can't see the space the characters are moving in, it turns your characters into talking heads and that is deadly when you're writing a story and want to move it forward.

So take the time to read through your writing to see what you've provided your reader in the way of setting. Don't let yours be one of the stories with a vanishing setting - one you begin, but just trail off into nothingness. Take advantage of the opportunity to flesh out the setting to write your story to life and enjoy the opportunity to sidle up to your character and really learn what makes them tick. Read some passages from your favorite books, just pick a few at random and read. Not the different ways different writers create the texture of the background and enhance without turning it into a lengthy exposition.

Example?

Here goes -
without description

John stormed into Larry's office and slammed the door.
    "What the hell did you do?" John demanded.
    "Huh, what?"
    "You know what I'm talking about."
    "I do?"
    "The Belmont case, you threw the damn case like a bad wrestler throws a bout."

Okay, a little excitement there, just because of the confrontation.  No details, nothing to let your readers bond with your characters.

So, how about:

John flung the door open to Larry's office, stormed in and slammed it behind him rattling the glass in the door. The heels of his shoes clicked imperiously on tile flooring. "What the hell did you do?" John demanded.

Hunched over his desk Larry peered up at his friend through designer glasses and squinted eyes focusing past the bankers lamp that pooled light on his work. A malfunctioning printer clicked, whirred and stuttered on a misfed sheet behind him. "Huh?  What?"

John strode past the age-patined maple desk to the window that looked out from the 40th floor and stared out of it, not looking at Larry.  "You know what I'm talking about."

"I do?" Larry ticked the pen he held on the desk blotter.

John's shoulders slumped.  He turned and dropped into the leather chair across from Larry.  "The Belmont case, you threw the damn case like a bad wrestler throws a bout."

Okay?  So it isn't the best, but it's a hint.  Not only do you see more of the surroundings, but it brings out a bit more of the character of John and Larry. Be aware of it, play with it. Have fun.

So How's the Weather, Writers?

We don't think about the weather much usually, it just is, unless it's doing something particularly violent. In fact we don't think about it to the extent that we may not put any of it in a book we're writing.  How many times have you read a book and not even noted the weather? 

Now you say, it's not important really, and in the end, literally, that's probably true, but it can add a very powerful element to your writing, provide sensory texture and contribute to the mood you're creating in a scene. With a bit of practice and a light touch you, the writer, can foreshadow coming events or enhance a character's emotional response.

Weather can be a powerful backdrop to the action in the novel you're writing.  But, that said, caution must be used.  Weather can exert a pressure on your character that is otherwise invisible. It can be used to project symbolism into a scene, and it can add conflict. It can be a natural barrier to your character moving forward or act as an excuse, a delay, an obstacle.

BUT, and you'll notice that was a big but, the weather shouldn't become a 'central character' in your book unless it is a very unusual book indeed. You don't want the weather to overtly tell emotion with weather cliches like a raging storm above a fight between lovers or the old cryin' in the rain cliche.

And remember there's lots of weather for you as the writer to play with - not just rain.  There's heat and cold and wind and sleet and snow and ice and sun and cloud and tornado and blizzard and hurricane...well you get it. If it can add color and life to your story, use it, just be sure you bring it along and don't just stick it in where you think it would be cool. A well-written story is intricately woven, you can't just stick things in willy nilly.

So, as one example, what can weather add to your story?  Well, what are the possibilities?  Let's say a storm is approaching. 

Rain is likely, but there's a lot more.

There's lightening.  The sight of it can be amazing, forking and branching, or a single bolt hitting the ground.  It can travel amongst the clouds.  It can be a single strike or it can be repeated with strikes hitting nearly one after another seeming nearly continuous.

But there's more.  There can be smells associated with rain.  The freshness of it falling on grass and trees, the electrical/ozone smell and burning that can accompany a lightening strike.  The heat a nearby strike can generate. Lightening can kill or stun a person it strikes, drop him or her like a rock or toss them a great distance.  It can splinter a tree, burn a patch in the grass or sizzle overhead like a passing UFO.

Rain itself can be gentle or pounding, slashing or drumming. It can pool and flow or it can sprinkle and soak into the earth.

Thunder can roll, howl or sing through the trees. Or a breeze and the gently falling rain can quietly rustle the leaves of the trees and patter on the ground at their feet.

 

All of this can contribute to the mood of your characters and test the writer abilities in you.  Some people fear storms.  Some are exhilarated by them. Lightening is insanely fast and often fills people with a sense of impending doom or fear or awe.

 

Think about the weather next time you write.  Don't hesitate to use it to add contrast to your story. It can add color, flavor and tension. Think about it. A dark mood for a character could be made to appear more intense when contrasted with a beautiful sunny day, perhaps especially with one where the sun sparkles off the snow on the ground as it does outside my window right now. Or the opposite, a feeling of joy can be damped down by a frigid wind or darkly overcast day spitting icy slush. And that can foreshadow a dark day to come.

Think about the weather, play with it when you write.  Don't make it your star (again, unless you're writing a very unusual tale), but let it pose as backdrop, emphasize emotion, contrast with what your characters are going through.  Trust me, it'll add a lot to your stories.

Writing Compelling Characters

Let's face it, your story really is nothing without characters that grab the readers by the throat and won't let them go.  Yes, story is iportant, local too, but the characters who populate your stories are what breathe life into it. They're what really draw readers in make them want to know what happens next.

So, that established, how does one create compelling characters?  Characters that leap off the page, then draw the readers down into their own little hell or lift them up to heights unexplored?

A variety of things contribute to create compelling characters. There's the tangible, strength of character, meaning being true to who the character is and not causing him or her to go off on inexplicable tangents or for the character to fight you as the writer. (Believe me there can be some hairy battles between writer and character when writer wants to force a character to do something agains that character's character - get it?)

There's also the human touch. That means basically making the character really human, just like the rest of us, giving that character quirks, foibles and problems of his or her own that intermingle with whatever the problems of the story are. People are many-faceted. If you're an observer of people, and as a writer you should be, then you're familiar with that fact. The trick is to reveal that humanness, to not make a villain all dark or the hero without flaw. To  make Indiana Jones afraid of snakes, give a serial murderer a puppy, or a killer who wants to kill a girl friend's spouse so they can be together a consience. And by that I mean go deeper. There's more to being afraid of snakes or having a puppy, there's the interior of the character.  Reveal some of the emotional guts to your readers. Why was Indiana Jones afraid of snakes?  Why would a murderer have a puppy and what does the puppy mean to him or her?  If the guy who wants to murder his girlfriend's spouse has a conscience how is he going to accomplish is goal, what's going on inside? 

Additionally there's also the less tangible, what the story-teller writes between the lines.  The  underlying feeling that is created out of the character's actions, how that character relates to others within the story and what springs out of the character's own past history. This links back to my last sentence above. Make the reader feel part of the story, like the characters are people he knows, friends, acquaintances, nightmare people from the pages of his own newspaper, then you have a compelling character.