Getting It Out Into the World - Writing Class Series Week 8

During week 1 of “The Inspiration and the Perspiration,” we attempted to define Christian writing. Here’s what we came up with:

Christian writing is any writing inspired by the Holy Spirit with the goal of advancing God's kingdom on earth.

This definition implies that ultimately, we want our writing to find an audience so that it can touch lives and change people, at least in some small way. That means, for our writing to achieve its purpose, we have to get it out into the world. We don’t want to hide our light under a bushel. We don’t want our writing to sit in a drawer or computer file where no one can read it. There can be a therapeutic type of personal writing, however, if you’ve invested the sort of time I've suggested in this series, that is probably not your goal.

For smaller pieces like short stories, articles, devotionals, and poems, blogging can be a fun and easy way to find an audience. You can also begin to look for magazines and journals. The Writer's Market, available at bookstores, libraries, and amazon, is the best resource for finding places to submit your writing. They have new versions each year and multiple editions specializing in various genres. There is also The Christian Writers' Market Guide. If you regularly follow a certain periodical, consider writing something specifically to fit their needs.

Now on to full books. Here’s the bad news, on a very practical, business type level, in order for your book to sell well, you will need to begin to view your precious baby--the result of years of blood, sweat, and tears--as a product. Yes, you heard me, a product not at all unlike a Big Mac. It will need to be packaged, distributed, and marketed. What we have previously called your “audience” will now become your “target market.” While on some levels marvelous writing speaks for itself, there is a business side of writing as well. You need to get at least some people reading your book and spreading the word if you want it to reach farther than friends and family members.

On the other hand, be realistic and understand that only a handful of Christian writers actually make a living at writing. Writing can be a profession, but at least in the beginning, it will probably need to be more of a hobby or a ministry. Still, we want to reach the largest audience possible. There are three main routes you can take for getting your book out into the world. So let’s discuss the pros and cons of each.

The traditional route, which is preferred by most authors, is to find a major publishing house to contract your book. If you can find a major publisher, they will do an excellent job editing your novel and making it the best it can be. The con is that you lose some control over the content of the book. They will provide a professional cover design. However, you will have little or no say concerning the cover. Your book will be distributed in bookstores, on Amazon, possibly even retail stores like Wal-Mart, so they will reach a large potential audience. On the other hand, a good run for a Christian novel is about 10,000 books, and you will receive only 5-10% of the profits. Probably less than a dollar per book. Another pro for traditional publishers is that you will receive a lump advance. In other words, you might make $5,000, even up to hundreds of thousands for secular best-selling authors, in advance. The down side of the advance is that if the publisher does not make their money back, you might have a hard time contracting another book--with anyone.

Traditional publishing is still the preferred route, because it provides a large potential audience. It also provides marketing and promotion. However, the traditional publishers have less influence in this area than they used to because their primary sales are switching from small booksellers to mega bookstores and online booksellers. These days, royalties are smaller than ever, and at the same time, authors are expected to do more and more of their own marketing and promotion. Not a great deal. At the end of the day, I think most authors still dream of the big publishing houses because they offer instant validation and respectability. If you’ve been published by one of the big Christian companies: Baker, Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Multnomah, etc… people know that you have made it, and you are now a “real” author.

Now for more bad news. If you decide to go the traditional publishing route, you will not be able to send your manuscript to any major publishers. You will need to first find an agent. In order to find an agent, you will need to prepare query letters, book proposals, and sample chapters. (You will also need this if you decide to go the small press route.) Go online and begin researching agents who represent your genre and how to write these all important marketing tools. You may want to consider hiring someone to help you write your first proposal. I did, and I had many requests for full manuscripts from agents. Agents generally charge about 15% of what they help you earn. In addition to being your gateway to the publishing world, they also provide legal advice, handle contract negotiations, and in many cases, even help you improve your writing. If you want to go the traditional publishing route, finding an agent is well worth the effort.

If you truly want to forego the agent, you have only a few options left for pursuing a major publisher. You can try to meet acquisition editors at writer’s conferences and pitch your book to them in person. Make sure you do your research and learn which editors will be there ahead of time. There are also a number of writing contests that send the winning entry to an acquisitions editor. Again, do your research. Finally, there are online services that will advertise your manuscript to editors for a fee. I personally don’t know anyone who has gotten a contract through this route.

The next way to get your writing out into the world would be to look for a small publisher, or “small press” as they are often called. These publishers do not pay large advances, and they generally do not sell as many books. On they other hand, they are more accessible, more personal, and willing to take more risks. These publishers are more likely to contract a book with a smaller market such as literary writing or an obscure genre. They are still respectable, and while they may not have the name recognition of the big companies, an author can still feel that their work has been validated and someone is willing to invest in publishing their book. Books published by small presses are eligible for all the same awards and accolades as books published by large publishers. In addition, the author tends to have more input, and in many cases, earns higher royalties. While an agent can still be helpful, many small presses will accept queries and proposals directly from authors. You can find lists of small presses in The Writer's Market and The Christian Writers' Market Guide. Be careful to follow their submission guidelines to the letter. Same is true when submitting to agents. Please remember that a reputable small press will not charge you a penny to publish your book.

The final way to publish a book is “self-publishing” or “vanity publishing.” This should not be a first choice, because in addition to the cost, it is not as respectable and could actually hurt the author’s reputation. However, there are instances in which self-publishing can be a good idea. If you are a pastor, public speaker, or well-known in your field and write a nonfiction book in your area of expertise, self-publishing can be a good option because you already have an audience and the name recognition to sell books on your own. You keep a much higher percentage of the profit when you publish your own book, so if you already have access to an audience, this can be a wise business decision. Self-publishing is a great idea if you primarily wish to distribute your book among family and friends. Finally, in rare instance where a book has no clear genre or an unpopular genre, self-publishing might be the only way to get it off the ground. I can only think of one example, but it’s a doozy. The Shack is a bizarre Christian allegorical novel that started as a self-published book and went on to make the New York Times best-seller list and millions of dollars.

If you decide to self-publish, again, do your research and make sure you are getting a good deal. WinePress and Westbow are two Christian companies reported to have good reputations. You can also do small print on demand runs or even offer your manuscript as an ebook and keep the cost low in that manner.

So, as I’m sure you can see, no matter which route you go, you will need to learn the business side of being an author. Writer’s networks and conferences are great places to learn the tricks of the trade. Christian conferences and loops will provide information specific to Christian publishing.

And, as I’ve mentioned, even once you have the illusive contract in hand, most publishers will still ask that you be active in marketing and promoting yourself. This is something you can actually begin now through methods like a website, blogging, and being active on social networks such as Facebook. Once your book is published, you can also consider methods like book launch parties, book signings, interviews, and speaking engagements.

As always, what I’ve shared here is just the tip of the iceberg for getting your writing out into the world. You can see it’s a lot of hard work, but if God has truly laid this message on your heart, then it will be well worth the endeavor. Writers go through the pain of writing and editing because they need to write. They go through the pain of publishing because they need someone to read what they have written.

So, I hope that in these eight weeks I have given you a picture of how a book is brought into being--from the idea stage, through all the hard work of writing and editing, and now out into the world. For many of you, this has probably been a reality check on how hard writing actually is. For some, it has provided a much needed roadmap for a journey you long to take. For yet others, it has helped you to spot areas in your writing process that can be honed and strengthened in order to take you to that next step. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did learning about “The Inspiration and the Perspiration.”

Homework: Finish that book and get it out into the world!

Editing Line by Line and Word by Word - Writing Series Week 7

Before we move into today’s subject let’s take a minute to review the full process of inspiration and perspiration. First, we must have a good handle on what Christian writing is and our purpose for undertaking this task. Next, we purposely posture ourselves to receive inspiration from the Holy Spirit in the shape of our “lump of clay” writing. If we already have an idea, we search for input from the Holy Spirit  as to what we should do with the idea. We must realize that inspiration is not enough and be willing to do the hard work, or the perspiration, of the writing process. Once we have gotten our initial ideas down on paper, we should take time to structure the ideas through an outline or a plot summary. We write the book, using fictional and artistic elements to strengthen the basic story or premise. We edit chapter by chapter and scene by scene to make sure we have utilized these elements to their full potential and balanced them well.


Which brings us to today. Just as we went through each scene to make sure it pulled its weight and lived up to its full potential, we must also search our manuscripts paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, and word by word. This is the sort of in depth crafting that is the mark of a true artist.
Here are some of the things you can look for concerning paragraphs. Are paragraphs divided properly to keep the story flowing effectively? Could long paragraphs be divided? Could sentences within paragraphs be combined for greater efficiency of language? Could powerful sentences be set apart in their own short paragraph for greater impact? In dialogue, does each paragraph represent a single speaker’s words, thoughts, and actions?

On a sentence by sentence basis ask yourself if every sentence is necessary. Could redundant sentences be removed? Is punctuation working in an effective manner? Could complex sentences be changed for stronger parallelism? Should long sentences be broken into two? Try not to use words more than once in close proximity unless you are intentionally creating a sense of refrain.

Now we get to the true nitty gritty. Word by word editing. First realize that just like in a poem, we want to use each word to its maximum benefit. I mentioned in my “Top Twenty Things I Wish I Knew Before Writing My First Novel” that you should pay yourself $.25 for every word you can remove. Economy of language is a clear sign of an experienced writer. A possible exception is in dialogue, but remember that fictional dialogue is representative speech, not actual speech. Readers will not put up with rambling ineffectual dialogue.

Here are the types of words you can look to remove. Begin with excess adverbs and adjectives. Adjectives are good when used selectively, however, don’t string together lists of adjectives with similar meanings. Chose the best one and delete the rest. Adverbs are almost a bad word in fiction, but sometimes they can be effective. Begin by removing words like "very" and "really" that don’t “really” add anything to the sentence. (I told my husband recently that maybe if he said "very" three or four times in a sentence he would convince me it was important. Note the sarcasm.)  Do a find search for “ ly” and remove any adverbs that aren’t strengthening the meaning of the sentence. Try to replace an adverb/verb combo with a stronger verb if possible. When do you keep an adverb? Only when it changes the meaning of the verb and there is no verb to take its place.

Remove statements of the obvious like “stood to her feet.” Remove or replace any words you tend to overuse, or so called “weasel words.” Examples would be: just, well, still, oh, that, had. I’m sure you’ll figure out your own list before long. Remove helping verbs and linking verbs as much as possible. Of course they are sometimes needed. “Had” is needed to enter and exit that past perfect tense. If you have long segments full of helping verbs, see if you can move the segment to a more active moment. Strong action verbs that really “show” something happening are always the best choice.

And speaking of verbs, be sure to keep your book in a consistent verb tense. Most novels are written in past tense. A few are written in present tense. This is a new trend, but hard to execute. Others are written in the present tense with long sections of flashback in past tense. This can work well. When you find yourself in the past perfect (had run, had gone, etc…) tense, this is probably a recollection. If the segment is long, consider changing it to its own flashback scene. One of the clearest signs of an amateur writer is lack of control over the verb tense. So whatever you choose, make sure you do it well and consistently.

Another area to check into on a word by word basis is the accuracy of your word choice, especially in historical, legal, and scientific stories. Most writers of American and English historicals check to make sure that each word they choose existed and was used in that sense at the time they are writing. That’s a lot of work. Trust me, I know. While I couldn’t limit myself to words available in the 1300s for my medieval novel because the English language was still evolving and unrecognizable to most contemporary readers, I did make every effort to choose words available by the time of Shakespeare and King James when the language stabilized into Modern English. Even if you get the words right, watch out for longer sayings, expressions, and figures of speech. For example, I discovered the word “tackle” only applied to fishing supplies until the invention of American football in the 1800’s. And the word “teenager” is actually a modern invention as well, since people took on adult responsibilities at a much younger age throughout history.

That brings me to what most people think about in reference to editing: those hundreds of spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules. I will tell you what I tell my college students. “If you haven’t learned them by now, I’m not going to try to teach them to you.” Here’s what you need to know. If you aren’t good at English, get help. I usually ask at least five well educated friends to read my manuscripts and look for errors, and I’m an English teacher! It’s just too easy to overlook your own mistakes. If you expect that you will have extensive errors, then consider paying a copy editor. It’s not cheating to get help. You’ve written an entire book for crying out loud.

Give yourself and your manuscript the respect that you deserve by making sure it is edited well before sending it to agents or publishers. The days of publishers being willing to overlook mediocre grammar in otherwise great writing are long gone with the manual typewriter. We now have computers, spell check, online grammar resources, countless editorial services. Messy manuscripts are considered lazy manuscripts. Agents and publishers will not put up with them. There are thousands of well-written, properly edited manuscripts waiting in a pile to take their place.

Of course, after all that hard work, you will still have basic typing errors. Even most published manuscripts have a few. But try to get rid of as many as possible. The cleaner your manuscript, the happier your potential agents and publishers will be. Here are some of the steps I personally take my manuscripts through to ensure that every word is perfect.

1. Read on paper
2. Read out loud
3. Have a voice to speech program read it to me
4. Ask friends and family members to read it

And after all of that, you should finally have a strong manuscript. Then you begin part two of your very long and tedious journey. Finding a way to get that book out into the world. Come back next week as we will wrap up the series by discussing how to see your book through to publication.

Homework – take one to three pages of your lump of clay writing, and turn it into a finished product.

Resources for Writing/Editing - Writing Class Series Week 6

I am actually vacationing in Florida with my family today. The live class at Acts 2 Church will be having a critique session. Your assignment is to share some of your writing with a supportive person or two, and ask them to evaluate it by this critique list. You could also post something you’ve written in the comment section, or email up to three pages to me at dinasleiman at gmail dot com. Type it out the normal way.

This is probably a good time to mention the importance of critique groups or critique partners. It is very helpful to find a few writers of similar expertise in similar genres to trade manuscripts with. They can help you isolate problems in your writing. They can also provide much needed encouragement. However, the wrong sort of critiquers can be discouraging, even harmful. So take time to look into your options and check out possible critiquers before jumping into anything. I wrote my first novel without critique partners. But, I paid a writing coach to critique the manuscript, which served the same purpose. Last year when I realized I needed critique partners for my new projects, I slowly courted a few women in my writer's groups until I found the right ones. I'm thrilled with my critique partners, and I've learned and grown so much through both their comments and suggestions, and through critiquing their writing. It's certainly something to look into.

Critique groups can be local or online. I like my online critiquers because they share my love for Christ, history, romance, and literature. That would be hard to find on a local basis. Also, critiques can vary from general comments and encouragement to detailed line editing, so be sure to communicate your needs and desires as well as where you are in the writing process with your critiquers. There's no point in them wasting time fixing grammar on a first draft. Finally, critiques are usually traded for critiques of similar length and scope. However, if you find the right people, you will probably become flexible on this issue.

Here's the critique checklist for this week's assignment. Since the lesson is short, I will also use it to give you my list of 20 things I wish I knew before writing my first novel, some self-editing tips, and some poetry exercises.

Critique Checklist 

Please be honest, but offer positive critique to balance negative. These are only suggested questions. Use them as a springboard for your discussion.

Ideas:
Is there a clear purpose?
Is there a specific audience?
Has a specific genre been chosen?
If the author offered a plot or outline, is it effective?
Where can the plot or outline be strengthened?
What do you like/dislike about the idea?
What changes would you suggest?
What step should the author take next?

Nonfiction:
Is the thesis or premise clear?
Do they introduce the idea?
Does the body follow a clear linear or weaving progression?
Could the organization be improved?
Did the author make his/her point?
How could their support or examples be improved?
Do they have a strong conclusion?
What did you like/dislike about the piece?
Did the concept interest, inform, or persuade you?
What changes would you suggest?

Fiction Scene:
Did the author pull you into a fictional world?
What genre was it?
Did the story have character in conflict?
Was there a clear point of view?
Was the scene effective?
Which fictional elements did they use?
Which fictional elements could be added?
What did you like/dislike about the piece?
What suggestions would you make?
Did the piece hold your interest?
What is the author’s plan for the plot of the entire story?
Will this scene advance the plot?

Poetry:
Does the poem have an appealing look on the page that fits its purpose?
How does the author use sound elements in this poem?
How does the author use imagery?
Did they engage the five senses?
Is there any symbolic meaning in the images?
Do sound, image, line breaks, and look on the page work together to form a meaning?
What meaning do you take from the poem?
What did you like/dislike about the poem?
What changes would you suggest?

Top 20 Things I Wish I Knew Before Writing a Novel

1. The 15th Chicago Manual of Style is standard for fiction.
2. Industry standards have changed. You can’t write like authors from 20 years ago.
3. Write to an attention deficit society that grew up on TV and videos.
4. Think of your novel in terms of scenes. Scenes occur in a clear time and place.
5. Scenes move the plot forward and contain visual action in a present moment.
6. Plan plot beforehand by the plot skeleton or similar model, even if it will change.
7. Every line should either move the plot forward or deepen character development.
8. Cut lines and scenes that don’t do their job.
9. The ending of each scene should thrust the reader into the next.
10. Short narrative summaries are permissible if framed within a scene.
11. Description should be shown in conjunction with action.
12. Show someone moving through a scene and describe the scene that way.
13. Show someone doing an action and describe them in the process.
14. Write your sensory details into the action.
15. Your words should pull double duty as much as possible.
16. Pay yourself $.25 for every word you can remove
17. Keep dialogue segments visual as well.
18. Use action beats in place of dialogue tags.
19. Write in a distinct genre
20. Know the standards, conventions and lengths for your genre.

For the following helpful self-editing rules apply the 9 out of 10 times caveat and remember that these rules are more flexible in dialogue.

1. Do a “Find” command for problematic words.
2. Remove as many “weasel” words as possible: just, very, rather, began to, started to, that, there was, suddenly, quickly. Sentences read better without them. Also figure out and remove any words you tend to overuse.
3. Remove all adverbs from speech tags. Make dialogue or action beats do the work.
4. Remove as many adverbs as possible without changing meaning
5. When you can’t remove an adverb, check if a stronger verb would solve the problem
6. Replace passive verbs with active ones as often as possible: was, were, is, are
7. Remove helping verbs as much as possible. Try restructuring sentence.
8. For passages full of helping verbs, consider moving to a present moment
9. Remove most hads. Only use one to enter past perfect and one to exit. Had is unnecessary if passage of time indicated.
10. Remove statements of the obvious. Ex. – stood from his chair, scratched with her hand
11. Don’t use a series of adjectives that mean the same thing. Choose the strongest.
12. Remove exclamation points. The words should do the work
13. Remove as much italics as possible, all would be great.

Poetry Exercises

1. Take a picture from a magazine and write a descriptive passage focusing on creating the emotion in the picture through tone and sound

2. Choose an interesting object and describe it using all five senses, use the details to make it a symbol for something bigger in life

3. Try writing to different styles of music, write what you’re picturing in your mind, let the music influence the rhythm and emotion

4. Have one person write the first line of a poem and pass it around the room each adding a line as you go along

5. Take a descriptive passage and rewrite it in iambic pentameter. Now try again with a different sort of rhythm

Crafting Chapters and Scenes - Writing Series Week 5

Last week we discussed the overall plot or structure of a book. As you begin editing your initial lump of clay writing (or as I like to think of it—word vomit), structure should be your first consideration because it affects the book as a whole and can sometimes require huge changes, or macro-editing. Next begin to look at your book on a chapter by chapter and scene by scene level to see how all the various elements are working together.

In a nonfiction book, examine each of your chapters to see if they are working as strong individual essays that prove your point. Examine your details that you use to support the point in each chapter. Could you dig deeper? Could you choose stronger examples? Could you add more story elements to bring your examples to life? Does the chapter either 1) follow a strong logical progression ending with a conclusion, or 2) follow a woven pattern ending with a strong wrap-up. Also, does this chapter tie in well to the chapters surrounding it?

For novels, scripts, biographies, and examples within nonfiction books, let’s move on to how to use artistic and fictional elements to their full potential in your writing. If you’ve never taken a creative writing course, you may have some catching up to do. Go to websites like http://www.la.unm.edu/~katem/E102fa03/fiction_terms.htm   and http://www.poetryresourcepage.com/teach/fgloss.html  to brush up on some basic fiction terms before moving on with this lesson. If you aren’t familiar with them—get familiar with them quick. And before you start weaving these elements into scenes, practice writing smaller separate pieces like conversations, descriptive passages, and character sketches.

The first thing to keep in mind when writing stories is the old “show don’t tell” adage. In nonfiction, you need to tell, but not within the actual stories. Once the story is finished, you are free to explain what you saw in it and why you chose it. In fiction, you don’t get to tell. You can, however, on occasion, let your characters do some telling for you if it’s not too heavy handed or didactic. Let’s face it, you started with an idea you wanted to share with the world. But no one likes to be preached at. Let your readers take a journey with your main character and learn and discover through their experience, not just their summation or commentary on their experience. The more “literary” the book, the less telling you can afford, even through the mouths of your characters. Literary writing expects more from the reader. In popular fiction, readers do like to hear things wrapped up for them and more clearly explained. Children’s fiction generally requires the moral of the story be presented in an overt fashion. But again remember, this is only after “showing” the story and should ideally be presented through the mouth of a character.

Next, let’s discuss scenes. In our video based society we are used to stories coming to us in scenes. In classic books you will often find characters meandering from one time and place to another with no clear break and the narrator jumping around from one mind to another. In contemporary fiction, a simple “***” takes us effortlessly from one time and place to another, and requires little or no explanation of how we got there. The reader understands that we are cutting to the vital information that moves the story forward. This allows the author to keep the tension high and the pages turning by eliminating a lot of fluff. In your own mind, you will want to figure out what happened in between and how the transitions occurred, but your reader needs only the briefest explanation and does not care about irrelevant details. As you edit, make sure that each scene is doing its job in advancing the plot and/or deepening characterization. Something vital should happen in each scene. If not, cut it. If you have a scene where nothing happens but reflection, weave the relevant reflection into a different scene. If you have a scene where nothing is happening but description of an important setting, weave it into a different scene. If you have a dialogue scene that’s interesting but nothing really happens, weave the conversation into a different scene. Every scene should have tension and conflict and end with something to thrust the reader forward into the next scene.

Are you getting the point? Of course, not every single scene requires every element. Certainly stories and examples in your nonfiction will not always need every element. However, check every scene and story for places you could strengthen it by weaving in characterization, action, dialogue, inner dialogue, and description.

As you edit your scenes, first decide if they’re pulling their weight, and if they earn staying in the book. Second, look for a nice balance of elements above. Also, look at the progression of your scenes. In a story, it is good to be continually moving in a cause and effect progression. You don’t want to say. “She entered the room and turned on the lights because it was dark.” Say, “She entered the dark room shrouded in nighttime terrors. Her hand scraped across rough stucco, searching the wall for the switch. Light flooded the room, chasing away the shadows…” In the first version, “because it was dark” stops the flow of action. In the second version, it’s actually hard to find a stopping place. One sentence flows into the next, and there’s a feeling that we must keep going. Notice how I also wove characterization and description into these simple action sentences. I even created a tone.

The fourth thing you want to look for in a scene, is a clear and consistent point of view. In a first person story or limited third person point of view, this will stay consistent throughout the book. However, still check to make sure that what they see and think is true to that character and is not your author’s voice intruding with things that they wouldn’t know or contemplate. For example, if you’re character is standing behind someone, remember that they can’t see their facial expressions. You can move them to a different vantage point, or they can comment on general body language. Likewise, a character will not comment on their own facial expressions, unless they are aware of the face they are making. You wouldn’t say, “Confusion flashed through my eyes.” You would instead describe how confusion felt in their body, or give of a glimpse into their confusing thoughts. A male POV character will not describe another guy as "cute" or "sweet."

The most popular point of view being used these days is multiple third person point of view. In this POV, each scene should take place from the perspective of a specific character. Since we’re using scenes anyway, think of this as the cameraman for the scene. We can only see what they see and hear what they hear. If we are in “close” third person point of view, we can even hear their thoughts. So perhaps this is a cameraman whispering commentary to the audience. If you are writing in multiple third person, give thought to who will be most changed or effected by a given scene, and put the scene in their POV. If during a specific time and place you want to switch point of view, that’s fine, but it still constitutes a scene change and requires a  “***” break. If you aren’t sure if you are firmly in one head, try rewriting the scene in first person, then change it back when you’re finished.

As each scene opens, drop us firmly into the head, even the body, of the point of view character. Set up the scene by letting us know where and when they are. Twang at least one of our five senses so that we can see, hear, feel, smell, taste, or touch what they are experiencing. Then we will be ready to join the character in the fictional world of the scene.

You may be wondering with all this talk of scenes, where chapters come into play in novels. In this contemporary model, you don’t need to make decisions about your chapters until late in the process. Short chapters are helpful to keep your readers turning pages. They give the reader a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and have become very popular in recent years. There are different strategies for breaking chapters. For instance, suspense and thrillers often break chapters in the middle of a tense scene. Experiment with your chapters and see what works best. Your editor may ask you to change your chapter breaks, so don’t get too attached to them.

If you have had some good literature training along the way, you may also be wondering about the omniscient point of view. For you as a beginning writer, assume it is dead. It has to do with that Postmodern mindset we studied last week. We don’t trust a single authoritative point of view anymore. Omniscient stories rarely make it to publication these day, and you don’t need that strike against you as a new author. It’s also incredibly hard to write an omniscient story well. I don’t have space here to go into all the reasons, so trust me or research it more on your own.

Let’s look at some of these fictional elements more specifically now. Characterization should be built by showing us your characters in conflict, action, and relationship. Weave their physical description into action and dialogue. Show them in relationship with other characters and show the contrasts between the characters. Let us into their thoughts, but try to let us in on what others think about them as well. Keep your main characters round. Give them complex personalities. Everyone contains the capacity for good and evil and has mixed emotions and motivations. Make sure that your characters do have strong goals and good reasons for wanting their goals.

In order to make each character individual and distinct with a consistent personality, I recommend using some sort of personality profile on your characters. I like to use the exhaustive Myers-Briggs analysis on all my main characters. There are many other systems available. Or choose a few people you know with similar personalities, and build a composite in your head from those.

Similarly, dialogue should be woven into description and action. The primary way we do this in contemporary fiction is through the action beat. Instead of always writing “he said” or “she said” or worse yet, trying to come up with hokey dramatic tags like “she complained” or “he pontificated loudly,” we simply show what the character is doing, or if in their point of view, we can share their thoughts that accompany what they just said. For example:
        “That’s so unfair.” Sharon stomped her satin slipper to the hard wood floor.
        Mike crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I’m unfair? You’re the queen of unfair.”
       “You both just need to settle down.” And stop being a couple of whiny brats. (said by the point of view character, John, who has already been established.)

Notice that each time a new person speaks or acts, we start a new paragraph. These are called action beats, and they seamlessly weave action, description, and characterization into the dialogue. Notice how we get a feminine picture of Sharon, and a strong masculine one of Mike. Notice how we see the floor and imagine the feel of stomping it in a satin slipper. Notice how we learn about all three of the characters through the inner dialogue at the end, and notice the juxtaposition of what John said against what he thought. This reveals much about him as well. Master the action beat, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming an accomplished novelist.

Descriptions of setting should also be woven into action and dialogue. Show us characters moving through and interacting with the setting. Be sure to use those five senses as mentioned earlier. When at risk of losing the POV character for a scene, plant us firmly back in their body by telling us what they feel, hear, smell, or taste. Use setting to your full advantage. Also, description can be developed into symbol. When choosing symbols for your book, look for ones that arise naturally from the descriptions of settings and characters, then develop them further. These usually make the strongest symbols.

Finally, I’m going to give you one of my favorite artistic secrets. One that not many novelists employ. Paying attention to rhythm and word choice can give your book a strong tone and voice. It also adds that final artistic touch needed for literary fiction. I especially like to give attention to rhythm in longer descriptive passage and internal dialogue. For example, in my historical novel, I use iambic rhythms, which bring to mind Shakespeare and King James. The rich rocking meter creates a real sense of beauty and music. Often, I lull you into a lovely rhythm and snap you out of it to bring attention to a specific detail. In my contemporary novel, I use crisper, sharper rhythms and shorter sentences. I have the most fun with rhythm in my narrative nonfiction. Since I am the main character, I can use rhythm in my own voice to create emotion and give you a sense of rambling or chatting. Then switch to a feel of smacking you. Quick, hard hitting points. Fun, fun, fun. If you would like to learn more about rhythm, spend some time in the world of poetry.

Homework: Write a scene. Try to incorporate character, setting, action, and dialogue in a specific time and place from a specific point of view.