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  1. Comicality

    Callbacks

    Callbacks As I might have mentioned in previous writing articles...I really am a fan of having my stories come full circle at some point in time. Usually, this takes place in the beginning of the story, and then at the very end. But not always. Sometimes you can create an entirely different flavor for some of your previous scenes and interactions, and even redefine the meaning that other characters and hardships that you focused somewhere (anywhere, really) within your fiction. And an effective way to do that is through the clever use of ‘callbacks’. Now, while there are many times that I purposely plan these things out way ahead of time, sometimes they work even better when they’re a bit more spontaneous. Whichever works best for your writing, that’s up to you decide while practicing your skills and challenging yourself when the opportunity presents itself...but it can have a major impact on your story either way. So I recommend trying both methods and figuring out which one works best for you. Or, at the very least, when to use one method or the other. Consider it literary exercise for the creative mind. I love to have fun with my characters, and I enjoy creating scenes where they seem to be having fun with each other. A ‘callback’ is like taking these scenes of character and story development in an earlier part of the story, and then mirroring that particular moment at a later point in the story. It doesn’t have to be something from the beginning of your story, and it doesn’t have to wait until the end or the climax before you call back to it. Nor does it have to be an incredibly significant event for it to be worthy of the effort. It merely has to be understood and displayed as a part of the story’s progression. It’s like...building blocks, laying down the foundation for what’s to come later, but being a little bit sneaky about it. Hehehe...you can build the most magnificent skyscraper on the city skyline...but nobody really thinks about important it was to lay those early foundations in the ground to make sure that the thing won’t fall over the second it gets hit by a heavy wind. So being sneaky doesn’t have to be all hamfisted and weird, it just has to be somewhat clever. For example, I was once watching this vampire movie called “30 Days Of Night”...and early on, the film made sure to show and focus on this machine with all of these incredibly sharp, rapidly spinning blades...and then they just went back to the rest of the story. Hehehe, well...OBVIOUSLY, somebody is going to get pushed into that thing and get totally shredded to pieces! Everybody is expecting it, so why even bother to hide the fact that they’re going to call back to bladed death machine? I mean, you can have fun with it, sure. Nothing wrong with that. But you won’t be fooling anybody, so don’t even try to trick yourself into thinking that you can. It’s technically a callback, but it’s a bit of a lazy one. Hmmm...a cool example of this would be from the movie “Real Steel” from 2011. There are actually a bunch of effective callbacks in the movie, from certain scenes and actions, to simple lines of dialogue. (And if you’ve never seen it before, I highly recommend it! SO underrated!) This one is fairly simple, but extremely effective. Makes me smile and laugh every time! I love it! So, the short version of the story is an estranged father and son are forced to spend the Summer together, while the father has a great amount of skill with operating fighting robots, and a horrible gambling problem that keeps him broke as he loses one match after another. The son finds an old abandoned robot in a trash heap and wants to rebuild him and teach him to fight. So, if you look at this scene below, you’ll notice that the robot hasn’t really learned much yet and has no real ‘moves’ to speak of. All it can do is shadow and mimic the movements of its user. As long as it can see the boy, it can copycat his motions to a tee, and not much else. So here we have the boy trying to get it to learn how to move in the ring, and while listening to some music, just as he’s getting frustrated...they have this really fun and sweet bonding moment where things begin to work in his favor. And...he’s a kid, so of COURSE he’s going to play with it like a brand new toy! (Just hit the ‘Play On Youtube’ link! They’re being….difficult.) The thing is, this could have been left alone and would have existed as a really cool scene in the movie, where a boy and his robot pal discover a certain connection and a kinship for one another. It would have been great. However, how much more of a bonus would your story have if you called back to it a little bit later? As the movie goes forward, and ‘Atom’ the robot begins winning fights, the boy develops an unshakable faith in him and his abilities (Notice how the robot went from an ‘it’ to a ‘him’ in the way I describe him now?), and the father begins to bond with his son. Bringing us to this moment below. The boy helps Atom learn how to loosen up and movie, and the father teaches his son a couple of moves so he can learn how to box like he did. And when they get their first big professional fight in front of a giant audience...they need a gimmick to hype up the crowd and get them on Atom’s side. So you’ve got the robot knowing how toge and weave, and a dancing boy who now knows a little bit about boxing himself. All of these elements come together in a badass introduction the immediately gets the people cheering and on Atom’s side. They’ve both evolved significantly since that first scene, and combined both levels of character development to create something truly special here. The callback? Wildly successful! By putting this callback in the story, you’ve accomplished a lot more than you may think you have. Either scene can probably stand on its own, but when you mirror the two scenes against one another...you change the effect and the impact that both scenes have on your project. Like I said, that first scene could have existed as a fun moment in a cool movie. And the second scene, by itself, could have made for a grin worthy surprises to suddenly see them come out dancing in front of the crowd, even without any build up to it. But as a callback...you instantly create a sense of history and connection. The first scene has now become a starting point for future events, and the second scene now has its own origin story, explaining where all of that came from. It adds another layer of depth to your writing that readers can ‘feel’ as they’re bearing witness to it. And we all know that layers are a good thing, right? Right! Hehehe! There’s a brief sense of nostalgia that comes along with it. Or perhaps it could be used for comedic effect. And sometimes it can be a part of a burn that is used in your story to point out a certain hypocrisy. It has quite a number of applications if needed as a part of your storytelling. For example...I have a series called “Untouchable” where the callback was meant to express a moment of pain and unfairness between a twenty three year old, Eric, and an underage teen. Earlier on in the series, Eric accidentally loses his driver’s license and has to go and apply for another one. Unfortunately, I speak from experience when I say that this can be one of the most frustrating experiences you’re ever likely to have on this planet. Because you’re trying to get a new ID, and the first thing they ask you is to let them see your ID! Hehehe, ummm...if I had an ID, I wouldn’t need an ID. Which isn’t an answer for them because they’re like, it’s hard to prove who you are without an ID. Yeah...tell me about it. However, in a future chapter, when he is fighting the shared feelings he has with this teenager...there are a ton excuses being tossed around as to why this shouldn’t happen and why they shouldn’t be together...one of which is that he has no idea what he’s doing and he can’t really process the matter of being in a relationship at his age because he’s never had one before. To which the boy shoots back at him with, “Oh, I get it. How can I get an ID unless I already have an ID.” Or something to that effect. I’m paraphrasing. But the idea is the same. The story is using a callback to an earlier moment, and it is now using that moment as a point of reference to connected to a progressive part of the story later on. Similar, but different. For anyone who was paying attention to the fun and playful vibe of their earlier interaction will see those words in a different context and will see how they relate to one another. You see where the comment came from, and you see how it’s applicable here. That’s how callbacks work. They can be challenging when it comes to using them effectively, but they’re far from being difficult to adopt into your writing style if you ever find a use for them. They work considerably well when you change the context or the emotion wrapped around them. From anger to sadness, from despair to silliness and joy, or from heartbreak to romance. This is another technique that I’ve used in plenty of my stories as well. I like to call back to past events or lines of dialogue for readers to think about and say, “Hey! I remember that!” I like the idea that my characters have this sense of history that connects them and creates a fully fleshed out collection of shared memories and events that binds them together. Even if it’s just a short story, it can be just as effective. Use them to give your audience the same opportunity to be a part of that connection in the same way that your characters are. You’ll be surprised how well it works when you add them in at just the right time. Consider it an added piece of flair. Take it to heart. And if you haven’t tried it out, I suggest giving it a shot. Another movie you might want to watch is the animated “Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse”. Now, that movie has a ton of callbacks in it (almost TOO many), and they are all expertly done by the end of the movie. That is a masterclass in how to do it right. If my explanation here doesn’t make any sense...maybe that movie will help. Hehehe! Alright folks! I send you back to your keyboards to start writing again! There are always a million ways to approach the art of crafting a story of your very own. Why not try them all, right? Enjoy! And stay beautiful!
  2. The Switch Up While I definitely have a great deal of fun writing short, one time, stories whenever I can, and they’ll always have a very special place in my heart...I think I still prefer to write stories that are a little bit longer even more. I like having the room to breathe, you know? To explore my own characters and develop them a bit more so they end up becoming a bit more three-dimensional in my mind, and they’re a lot easier to work with once I get a chance to know them a little bit better. The unfortunate part of my personal process is that I end up getting to know them a little TOO well, hehehe, and then I don’t ever want to let them go. So the journey gets longer and longer and before I know it, I’m fifty chapters deep in a story that was only supposed a fraction of that size. What can I say? I love my characters! Even when they’re being brats and giving me a headache. So sue me... However, one of the worst things that you can do to your own series is allow it to become a one note journey and stretch it out longer than its welcome deserves. You readers can very easily burn out over time if you keep using the same scenarios again and again with similar outcomes. Especially since I write mostly teenage protagonists and love interests...there are only so many alleys that I can have them travel down before it becomes monotonous. Only so many jealous feelings, so many worries about coming out, so many parties or trips to the movies, or private conversations in those high school hallways. Every now and then, depending on how long your story is and how many chapters you’ve got ahead of you...you’ve got to switch things up a little bit. Reinvent the feeling of the story and restore a certain level of freshness to it, while still having it be familiar and connected to the audience that jumped in and got all invested in you work in the first place. That switch up can be really helpful when continuing forward with new storylines, characters, and events, in future chapters. It breaks the monotony, without shattering the blueprint. So adopt this technique into your repertoire. It comes in super handy when you can’t stop snuggling your fictional people, chapter after chapter. Hehehe! When I first began writing “The Secret Life Of Billy Chase” (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/), I never thought that I’d one day be heading towards my 500th chapter! They just kept coming, and I kept growing closer to all of the characters involved, so I continued to find new parts of their personalities to explore and bring alive to all of the readers out there who were looking for reasons to stick around and find out how much there was for them to discover too. However...this is where ‘switching things up’ first became apparent to me while I was writing. In shorter stories, I had an end goal to reach, and the events included within simply escalated towards that goal. It was a straight shot that I could follow. But I couldn’t do that with “Billy Chase”. Not for THIS many chapters! Hehehe, I mean, where am I escalating to? “Billy Chase Goes To Space”??? But I still had so much more left to do with that character and the steps that he’s taking towards slowly getting older and wiser with every conquest and heartbreak he has to navigate his way through. But how can I do that if most of his life is dedicated to school and homework and hanging out with his friends, all while drooling over all over the cute boys that he wish he had the courage to talk to? That set up can only last for so long before it get stale and becomes so predictable that my audience begins to drift off, and eventually tune the story out completely. Naturally...I don’t want that. Not when some of my best ideas are still yet to come! So...switch it up, Comsie! Read the title of the article! Geez! When I say that, I’m talking about setting up new challenges, new problems, sometimes new characters, and new goals for my main protagonist to reach for, all while having a connect effect on all of the other characters surrounding him. It keeps readers engaged and glued to the story as it moves into new territory that hasn’t been introduced to them yet...all while being familiar enough where they can remain invested in the characters that they’ve come to know and love without abandoning any of the treats that came with starting the story off in the first place. It’s an all around win. But the most important part of using this technique is to make the changes in your extended series match up with everything that came before it. You’re not writing a whole new story here. You’re simply altering the aspects of your current work to keep things fresh and relevant. You’re basically adding a bit more salt or a pinch of garlic to a sauce that’s already hot and bubbling. You want to ‘enhance’, not completely revolutionize. I say this because there are writers who try to invigorate their long running stories by pretty much tearing them down and starting all over from scratch for the sake of re-inventing them...thinking that readers will appreciate this brand new take, or reboot, of their beloved saga. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a coin flip in that sense, and if you get it wrong or stray too far from the original ‘feel’ of the series...you could end up derailing the whole effort and ruin the appeal. Again...that’s not what you want. You want to maintain the emotional connection between your fiction and your readers. That counts more than anything. You want to expand the boundaries of what you were writing before, but still let your audience know that you plan to keep your unspoken promise to deliver them the story that you told them you would. The way that you accomplish this is by being fully aware of all of the events that came before, which ones went over well with your readers, and continuing on that path while merely changing the situations surrounding them. If you’re writing a heavily character driven series, that familiarity needs to be present. Even if they change over time as a part of their personal character arc...those changes should be a building experience for both you as a writer and to others as readers. Why the change? What’s going on? Why is this character not the same person that they were when I started reading? These are all questions that should be gradually explained ahead of time. Let it rise and escalate naturally. Nobody just changes overnight like flicking a light switch. They may try...but there’s a story in that need for a change as well. Build up to it in previous chapters...so when it happens, it’s not like slamming your readers into a brick wall. So...how do you pull off a big ‘switch up’ in your story? I would narrow it down to three big methods... All using “Billy Chase” as my example, but I’ll try to avoid spoilers as best as I can if you haven’t read it yet. 1- New characters. This is a technique that I would advise you use sparingly, but it does work. Obviously, you can’t introduce a new character to your story every single time you want to make things a little different. That would be ridiculous, and after a while...it would just become repetitive and predictable. So use it only if you really think that it’s necessary. When is it necessary? For me...it’s when I want a new part of my main character to be shown to the readers that was lacking before. It answers questions like...how would this person deal with possible temptation? How do they deal with heartbreak and loss? How do they deal with bullying? What is their home life like? How secure are they in their sexuality? Adding a new character that is dealing with something similar, or maybe even something completely opposite, can help to present a new dimension of your protagonist’s heart and mind to themselves...thus presenting it to the audience. It adds another layer that wasn’t there before. With “Billy Chase”...what if had a shot at a boyfriend for the first time? What if he had a rival in love? What if he found a girl that was interested in him? What if he had a friend dealing with alcohol addiction? How does he process these things and react in general. New characters can bring out new facets of your main character and put them front and center in your storyline. Create a character that embodies a new part of your protagonist’s journey, and have them sort of play off of one another to revive some of that energy that your readers felt when the story was brand new. 2- New environment. With “Billy Chase”, I knew that the whole thing couldn’t take place in high school forever. (Even in his weird ‘time warped’ version of it all! Hehehe!) So sometimes I changed up the rules with his environment or in the life that he was leading. He’s still the same old Billy, but I might take him out of the high school setting for a while and change the environment around him to let people see how that affects him and his behavior. Let’s see what Billy does when he’s on Summer break. How does he react to having his very first job? What happens if he really does go into space? LOL! Kidding aside though, changing up the environment changes the rules, but keeps the main characters familiar and relatable to the people who are already invested in them. Remember, you want to stick to your framework, but you want to elevate it to the next level. Put your protagonist in a new environment, have them interact with new people, show your readers how they use the lessons they’ve learned thus far to adapt. Subtle but different, re-invented but familiar. That’s the mantra to keep going on in your head. Listen to that inner voice. It knows more than we do. 3- New Perspectives. This method is dependent, mostly, on the build up and the personal ‘history’ of the character that you’ve been nurturing from the very beginning. This is when you use a major event to alter the current flow of the story, and force your protagonist to deal with it in ways that they probably never had to deal with anything prior to it. A death, a heartbreak, a betrayal, being outed at school, or at work, a virgin experience with sex, a sudden windfall of money, a divorce, a painful break up...all of these situations that might change your main character’s outlook and approach to what’s going on around them. So Billy may get his heart broken, or might become suspicious that he’s being cheated on, or he might have to sacrifice something dear to him in order to fight for the greater good. All of these situations will affect him in different ways. How will he navigate his way through it, and what will it do to him emotionally? How will he see it? With sadness and depression? With anger and envy? Will he head down a darker path? Will he fight to head for the high ground? Will he fly or will he fall? All of these things add a new dimension to what’s going on in your narrative and will keep your fanbase highly involved as new questions, challenges, and possible outcomes, are introduced into your story. This is a method that you can use for almost anything that you’re writing, and you can continue to use it over and over again as long as it doesn’t move into the realm of being overkill. And it’s always a breath of fresh air in a long running series. Just remember to give it time to breathe, k? Otherwise, the storytelling comes off as cluttered and clumsy. Take your time. Your natural instincts will guide you in the right direction. You just have to trust yourselves. Alright, folks! That’s it for now! Remember...switching things up can make even the longest running series stay fun and interesting until you finally reach the end. You know those movies like “Avengers: Endgame” or “Avatar: The Way Of Water” or a number of others that have a runtime of three whole HOURS or more? And you doubt that you’re going to be able to sit through the whole thing at the beginning...but when you watch them, it hardly seems like it was that long at all? That’s the ‘switch up’ technique at work! Just when you think that you’ve had enough and need a break...the characters, environments, or perspectives, change...and then you find yourself all invested again. It’s the same reason that people can binge watch an entire series on Netflix in a single night, or spend three hours on Tik Tok! Your extended story follows the same principles. Same rules. Remember that...and write to your heart’s content! Take care, folks! I love you lots! And I’ll seezya soon!
  3. Comicality

    Vocabulary

    Vocabulary I think that a truly important part of being a good and effective writer comes from having a decent and flowing vocabulary at your disposal for all occasions. Now, I have mentioned this briefly before in other articles before, but I never really went into depth about what this means and how to develop and expand it in ways that will be useful to you in some way. You see, what you want is to allow your word usage to grow and change and evolve over time...all while still sounding natural when you type it out on the page. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but it’s not as difficult as it sounds either. It’s something that simply grows in its potency the more you get used to it. So that’s why we’re here today. Vocabulary is that special added flavor that enriches the whole project, and you’ll keep getting better at it once it becomes more of an involuntary part of your process. I do peek in from time to time at Myr’s “Word Of The Day” in the Writing World section, and occasionally find a few words here and there that I might decide to pick up along the way. Hehehe, where he finds so many useful pieces for the kind of writing that I do, I’ll never know. But they’re out there, and they come in handy when I’m staring off into space...looking for just the right way to phrase something for one of my stories. And once I make that a part of my vocabulary, then it just gives me a big palette to work from when working on my digital canvas. It always feels good to have a decent number of choices at my fingertips when it comes to stuff like that. Now, you might realize that I said the word ‘useful’ here. Let me explain... While I get a real kick out of words in general, knowing what they mean, and how to put them in a sentence...that doesn’t mean that I can us them all. Many, I might never use at all. When I put a story together, I write the way that I speak. I want it to feel as though I’m telling you guys the stories out loud, unscripted, with my usual speaking voice shining through. Now, I write all the time, so I’d like to think that I have a rather ‘expanded’ way of expressing myself in my everyday conversation...and for the sake of my fiction, I certainly don’t mind ‘flowering’ it up a little bit to make it sound a bit more poetic...but I, mostly, just make it sound like me. And that means that there are many words that I know for a fact I would never use in casual conversation. And if that’s the case, chances are...it will feel awkward if I tried to use it in my stories. If it feels awkward in my heart, it’ll feel awkward on the page. And sometimes, simplicity is better. For example...whenever my characters laugh, I have a ton of synonyms that I can use to describe them. And I can vary them up depending on how hard their laughing. I might bring it up to laughing or cackling...or bring it down to giggles and snickering. When used in context, the words you use can change the overall image and emotional impact of the scene. You would think that they would all have an identical ‘feel’ to them, but they really don’t. Not to me, they don’t. However, other synonyms could be used like ‘guffaw’, ‘chortle’, ‘snigger’, or ‘tittle’...which are synonymous, yes...but I would never be talking to somebody and use any one of those expressions to tell somebody a story in real life. I’m happy to know that they’re there and that I know what they mean...but the chances of me ever writing them into my fiction is very low. Probably never. So to me, personally...they’re not really useful when searching my vocabulary to create a scene. Those words are just more tools for the toolbox. If you find yourself looking for the right words, and you don’t want to keep using the same ones over and over...searching for other synonyms can be very helpful to you. I used to actually use an old thesaurus that my grandmother got for me when I was a teenager to look up other methods of delivering the same message. An actual book that was super thick and almost too heavy to hold in my lap. Hehehe! But, even though I’ve gotten in the habit of doing it online now for the sake of speed and maintaining my current mood for as long as currently possible...I still go back and do it the old fashioned way from time to time to this day. “But, Comsie...why on Earth would you do that???” I’m glad you asked! Hehehe, either that or I’m hearing phantom voices in my head again. Either way, it’s easy enough to explain... With an actual book, turning physical pages and looking for the word that I was originally searching for...I would sometimes come across a word that was even better than the one I was originally seeking out. It’s something that always stuck with me, and I use it when I’m online too. If you use a word from your vocabulary and realize that you may have already used it before...maybe even many times before...and the synonyms aren’t giving you many useful options to help you say it another way...take a moment to see if maybe you can find another word or phrase that might give your structure a little more variety. Say that I want one of my characters to blush...and I’m turning pages in that giant book, looking for it...before I get to ‘blush’, I might accidentally come across the word ‘bashful’. Hmmm, ok... If a synonym for ‘blush’, and phrases like ‘turning red in the face’, are seriously limited, or maybe just sound a bit weird...I might go back to see what I can find for ‘bashful’. Words like shy, reserved, timid, insecure, sheepish, or nervous. Now, do these words actually explain or be used to replace the word blush? Not really. But with a little clever rewording, you can change the way that you’ve written that part of the scene and use one of those vocabulary choices instead...where the blush is pretty much implied. Do you know what I mean? And if you really really just want to use the word blush in that particular sentence at that particular time...thn you can go back in your writing to the last few times where you used that word as a description and maybe rearrange one of them instead. Either way, it will keep you from sounding repetitive, and it can help to get you out of a jam when you’re working with a part of your vocabulary that can only really stretch so far before you have to phrase things in another way entirely. There are times when I worry about repeating myself too. And I’ll go back and try to see if I can change things up a little bit so it doesn’t stand out like a deep bloodstain in the center of my living room carpet. (The voices told me to do it...so it’s fine) But while some words and phrases can be explained a million different ways...there are only so many ways for me to use the word ‘kiss’. ‘Laugh’. ‘Cute’. And when I was trying to expand my vocabulary to be a bit more secure with my stories...those are the ones that I tried to work on first. Adopting whatever I could find and trying them out to see how thy looked and hear how they sounded to me. The ones I found useful, I held onto. The ones where I was like meh, I keep them in the back of my mind somewhere, but if I’m really struggling for a new way to say an old thing...I know those words will be there to save me in the end. Hehehe! Basically, as authors...your vocabulary is your best friend from a structural standpoint. It gives you space and freedom that you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t built it up over time. The next time you get a chance...type out a few random sentences on a blank screen without really thinking about them. It doesn’t matter what it’s about, it could be about anything. Even better, go back to one of your older stories and pick a small passage or paragraph at random. Pay attention to the words you used to describe the scene, the characters, the fantasy, or the action, or the emotions involved. And then...go through and see if you can find other words to replace the ones that you have written there. You don’t want to change up the feel or the vibe of the passage...you want it to basically read the same way for a new audience as it would for your original audience, just with a more experienced vocabulary. Try it out. You just might surprise yourself. While re-editing and rewriting most of my ebooks, I look back and I’m like, “I could have made this soooo much better the first time around if I knew then what I know now.” But in a very short amount of time, you’ll feel everything become more natural, and you’ll have a lot of new words that you can use, pretty much, on autopilot without worrying too much about repeating the same expressions or descriptions multiple times in your project. Hehehe, Myr’s Word Of The Day does help a lot too. You might find whole new expressions entirely that you didn’t even know were out there before. Give those a try! An online thesaurus also helps (just Google the word you’re looking for and add ‘synonym’ behind it), or use a paperback/hardback thesaurus like I do sometimes. Keep the words that feel and sound natural to you...tuck some others away for later if you really need them...and get rid of the rest. Voila! You’ll be a scholar in no time. The idea is to always keep growing and evolving. It never has to stop unless you let it stop. As always, I hope that this little tidbit helps you guys out when you need it. The rest is up to you! Take care! And stay beautiful!
  4. Comicality

    Adding Humor

    You know...there′s often a ′complaint′ that goes around about a lot of the Marvel Comic Book movies that I never really understood. That is the introduction of humor into their storylines. Now, there are some people that I know that could, quite literally, find something wrong with everything in existence. If God Almighty showed up tomorrow in white robes, 400 feet tall, with an entire symphony of angels singing His praises behind him, all surrounded with the brightest light ever seen by human eyes...there are people who would still shrug their shoulders and think, ″That′s it? I expected more.″ So sometimes people complain for the sake of complaining. But the same argument kept coming up over and over again. I hear friends say it, and family members, and people on youtube...I can′t help but to wonder... What the heck is so wrong about having a sense of humor? Why is that a bad thing? Have we reached a point where we all prefer to be depressed, angry, or somber all the time? I would, personally, like for my audience to have some fun with my stories the same way that I do. That′s not to say that I have to write a full-blown comedy, where there′s a joke every two or three paragraphs. But, even the darkest themed stories on my site have a touch of humor added to brighten the mood every now and then. Otherwise, they might come off as dreary and frustrating to many of the people reading. The key is to find clever ways to pick your moments, and deliver the appropriate wink and a smile when it will be most effective. So, I′d like to talk about adding humor to our stories today, and hopefully it′ll spark a few ideas to make your stories even more enjoyable than they were before. Going back to the big blockbuster movie idea, superhero movies did not invent the habit of injecting jokes and humor into their scripts. ::Gasp:: Shocker! I know, right? ″Die Hard″ had humor in it. ″Predator″ had humor in it. Everything from ″The Matrix″ to ″Aliens″ to ″Nightmare On Elm St″ had humor in them! It′s ok to SMILE! Even when Jason Vorhees is hacking camping teenagers to bits in the woods...that doesn′t mean you can′t add a slight giggle here and there. The whole idea behind humor is to have fun! So that your readers can smile and think to themselves, ″I really had a good time reading that.″ We′re all human beings. Flawed human beings. And that means that we do some silly shit from time to time. We occasionally stumble over our words and say something goofy when we don′t mean it. We sometimes walk right into a glass door while looking at that really cute boy across the street. Sometimes we go to a job interview with spinach in our teeth and our zipper down. Hehehe, I don′t know! Whatever you want. It doesn′t have to be all knock knock jokes and witty one-liners. Sometimes it′s just a coping mechanism to deal with a potentially humiliating situation. Have some fun with your characters, and allow them a few golden moments of levity away from the misery of life so they can recharge their batteries and emotionally prepare themselves for what′s to come next. When you really think about your life in general, I′m sure that you can find some times when something happened to you that, at the time, might have seemed like the end of the world. Times when you were mortified, or where you did something that you regretted...that you can now look back and laugh at. Not because it′s ′funny′, but because it′s life. Hehehe! I could write an entire novel full of those moments alone. I once joined the soccer team for a girl that I liked. I once had a crush on a girl and ended up sleeping with her brother! I used to dash out of class and practically RUN to the gym locker room because I wanted to see a cute boy from the class before me half naked and getting dressed! LOL! I′ve done some pretty ridiculous things in my life. Harmless, and perfectly logical at the time. But I can find the humor in it now, and a lot of those moments have found their way into my stories. Humor doesn′t have to make anybody double over with laughter, it just has to display some of the more ridiculous sides of life. It′s reality, reflected in a circus mirror. Use that as a tool. Stories can′t be all sex and drama. Keep it fun. There are different kinds of humor that can be injected into a situation. For example, I have a character, ′Cody′, in the ″New Kid In School″ series who has a very sarcastic, almost abrasive, sense of humor. When used at just the right moment, that razor sharp tongue of his can make some pretty deep cuts. But I also offset that ′meanstreak′ by demonstrating that he has a good heart and is willing to stand up for his friends. So readers can forgive him for verbally ripping people apart from time to time. Hehehe! In the story, ″Shelter″, I have a young character named ′Preston′, who′s comical presence comes from his innocence and naivete. It′s offbeat and weird, but he′s too adorable to do much more than shake your head and think, ″Ok...whatever, kid.″ Having characters that you can put in charge of bringing some light to a dark situation can sometimes make them a crowd favorite. As long as you don′t overdo it. You don′t want to make them into a total cartoon. The need to feel like real people, just with a comic side to them. If you′re adding humor to a story, and don′t have that comic relief character to work with, sometimes the situation itself is funny enough. Ever had your mom walk in on you while you were masturbating? Hehehe, NOT so funny when it′s happening to you! But having it happen to a fictional character in your story? There′s some comedic gold in there somewhere. Ever slip up and something stupid to someone you were head over heels in love with? Ever get a cramp in your leg during sex? Ever trip over your own feet and have a complete spill right in front of the object of your affections? Love makes us do crazy things sometimes. And if you′re able to view it from the outside, you can find the humor in some of our biggest romance failures...and bring them to your story in ways that are just as entertaining as they are refreshing. The one thing you don′t want to do is have the humor take away from the dramatic moments and serious situations that you might be writing about. Like I said, you have to pick your moments. If you have a suicidal teen, crying his eyes out, and holding a razor blade to his wrist...that′s obviously not a place for a joke. Don′t try to inject humor when two best friends are locked in a terrible shouting match, or in the center of an abusive relationship. I mean, this seems self explanatory, but you have to be careful and make sure that you′re paying attention to what′s going on in the story at that particular moment. When you use humor, it takes center stage. Every time. So don′t use it during a scene when some other emotion or situation is supposed to be the focus. The humor will undercut everything and you will lose the tone that you created for that particular scene. So it CAN work against you if you try to force it. Only do it when it feels natural. Now, I get it...not everybody thinks of themselves as being ′funny′. But you really don′t have to be a comedian to add humor to your stories. It can be very subtle. It can come from insecurity or awkwardness or outbursts of unexpected joy. Express yourself in the best way that you know how. Those awkward moments are something that we can all laugh at, because we can all relate. We remember. And looking back...hehehe, I wouldn′t change a thing. So never feel pressured to take the fun and humor out of your projects. Choose your moments wisely. And have some fun. Your readers will appreciate it. Even the ones looking for something darker. The dark side can be funny too.
  5. So, you've done it! You put in the time and the energy and the effort, you've drained yourself creatively, and you've put together a story that you can be proud of. One that can touch and inspire as well as excite and arouse. Awesome! Now, all you have to do is put it out where people can read it so they can be thrilled by your genius. Just find a place to post your work...and wait. And wait... And wait some more... Ok, so what's going on here? Where's the praise? Where are the great reviews? You poured your heart and soul into a story that you think is really impressive and well put together. So what happened? Well, while writing the actual story is a fun a passionate experience for a writer who's searching for an audience...it's not enough. That's not to say that your story isn't great literature. It might be a truly engaging story, filled with heart and wit and written with immaculate skill. But merely putting it in a place where people can see it doesn't mean that it'll get seen. That takes extra. Hehehe, don't groan! This part can be a lot of fun too! So let's talk about getting yourself out there, and getting some readers to notice your talent. The first thing that I want to tell you, before we move any further...may sound a bit discouraging, but don't let that bother you. Ready? Here goes... Chances are...I'd say that 85% of all the people who read your story online...will never send you any feedback on it. That sounds pessimistic, but I'm actually being optimistic by keeping it at only 85%. It's something that I've learned after many many years of doing this, and at first, it's going to be really disheartening. A part of you is going to think that if people liked they story, they'd tell you so. So the deepest cut of all for any writer is silence, because they immediately assume that you didn't like it or weren't interested. That's a mentality that you've got to break before anything else. Get past that. The internet is full of so many distractions that it would be impossible to even begin to appreciate it all. Think of all the Youtube videos you didn't like or share, or all the articles you've read, or the meme images that you laughed at and moved on. It's not that you didn't 'like' it, you've just got a lot more going on. So lose the idea that a lack of response is a comment on your talent or the quality of your work. That's not always the case. That kind of thinking will only demoralize you and keep you from moving forward. Got it? Good. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get into the meat of it... It takes more than simply putting your work in a public place to get noticed. You spent all this time on getting your story just right, so why not market it a little bit? Let people know how to find you among the thousands of other people who are doing the same thing. We can look at this in three layers. The first layer is on the surface. You want people to check out your story? You want to draw them in? You're going to need to catch their eye. You need to be the shiny object on the table in order to grab their attention. We start with a 'catchy' title. Something interesting, something different, but uncomplicated enough for a potential reader to commit to memory. If you title your story, "Gabe's Story"...well, there's nothing wrong with that, but will that grab your attention when somebody is scrolling down a page of 150 other story titles? Also, if you call your story, "The Unbelievably Annoying Chortle Of My Best Friend"...that's going to scream 'skip' to people who have never read your work before. Those titles can come off as wordy and a little offbeat to the point of turning some readers away. Once you establish a fanbase, that can change. But just starting out and building a name for yourself takes mass appeal. You want the average reader to take a random chance on you so you can show them what you're capable of. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover...but people do. And in cases of online fiction, a lot of times you don't even GET a cover! So the title is everything. The second layer? WRITE!!! Write until your fingers hurt! Write until your back aches and your butt is flat from sitting in your computer chair for so long! If you can get up from your seat and not ache and feel stiff and worn out...you haven't written enough. Take a break and come back to it. A great way to get yourself noticed is through short, one time, stories. A story told from beginning to end, maybe somewhere between 3000 to 5000 words max. Something that will give you enough room to build character and a decent plot, but won't get too involved to the point where it takes half a novel to make your point. Think of it as a collection of 'extended examples'. And experiment with different genres and ideas. Keep a pocket sized notebook on you at all times, you'll need it for jotting down spontaneous ideas. The idea is not only to practice and hone your craft, but to have a variety of stories out there for people to find. If you have only 'one' story out there, no matter how amazing it may be, getting it noticed will be harder for you. Maybe you have a title that doesn't grab the reader's eye. Maybe you have a theme that a percentage of your readers aren't instantly enthralled with. Or maybe you just got passed over for no reason at all. BUT...if you have five stories on that list, somebody is about to find ONE of them. And when they read it, and discover that they LOVE what you have to offer...they'll immediately look for other stuff that you've written. By that time, you'll have a wealth of material that will prove to them that, "Hey, that story you liked wasn't a fluke! I've got more!" You want them to love 'you' as a writer, even more than your individual stories. Stand up and prove you're up to the challenge of impressing them with almost everything you put out. Build a 'brand' for yourself, one that people can believe in. If you've written a high school love story...try a college story. If you've written a modern story...try something with a sci fi twist. Every time you try a new genre, you grab a new audience. And those audiences will all follow the breadcrumbs you leave behind to see what else you've created to give it a chance as well. This is how you build multiple fanbases. Except, since you're at the center of it all, all your fanbases combine into one entity. You may only write one story, but some people might enjoy it, and some may not. Write two stories? Some people might like one, and not like the other. Write five? You might get three stories they love, and they'll give the other two a try, even if it's not really their thing. The more you write, the more material you put out there, the better chance you have of getting your work noticed by new readers. Simple mathematics. The third layer? Get involved with your readers! This is probably the most fun part, at least it is for me. You get to meet and talk to a lot of really great people, and get some feedback on your work at the same time. The first thing you want to do is have an email account where people can reach you. Make yourself readily available for comment and review. Even if you get criticism, that part is important too, because it'll give you a different perspective on your writing in general. Get a Twitter account! Get a blog! Get a mailing list! Find a way to build your own forum, and keep a constant presence in ALL of these places at all times! Be there. Get to know your audience personally. If they can take the time to say, "I liked your story", then you can take the time to say, "Thank you!" Let them know what you're working on next, listen to what they have to say and use it to get an even better idea of how your writing is being seen by other people. Adjust accordingly. Also, make sure to add your contact and social media info on everything you write. Put it at the top of your manuscript, so people can see it before they read a single word of your story. And then add it again at the bottom of your story, so when they finish, and they have that big smile on their face and that sugary sweet feeling in their heart, they can look at it and go, "Oh yeah, I can actually 'talk' to the person who wrote this! Let me send them a quick message." Invite some sort of interaction between you and your audience. They are really COOL people! I've made some of my best friends ever through the stories I've written, so allow them to get to know you, and then you'll get to know them in return. Like I said, this is the FUN part! So, a short recap... Step 1 - Grab their attention with an interesting title and a well-written story. Step 2 - WRITE! Get as much quality material out there as you possibly can! Let me put emphasis on the word 'quality'. Don't just put a bunch of mediocre fluff out there for the sake of having a bunch of stories online. That will only hurt you in the end. Don't rush. Do it right. Your potential fans will appreciate the extra effort. Step 3 - Be social! Start by giving people a way to contact you directly, and then set up public ways to let everyone know when you have something new in the works and when it's getting released. Do this on your own. There are sites with automatic announcements and daily updates and the like, which is great...but that works best for the 'website' you're on. You want to actively connect with your personal fanbase on your own. Your direct involvement should be your main priority, and all other websites should be a very cool bonus in helping you get attention. Not the other way around. Try out a few of these techniques, and I can guarantee you that you'll start increasing your fanbase within a matter of weeks. It takes time and effort, but anything that's worth it always does, right? It's not a 'trick' or a 'strategy'...it's simply a matter of you taking the passion that you put into your stories and extending that to the people who enjoy them. So don't take the self-promotion step for granted. Remember, a work of art loses its value if there's no one around to see it. Don't let your hard work fall into that category.
  6. Are any of us perfect? I mean, I'm sure that a lot of us realize that we're not actually perfect...and the few that do believe they're perfect are often blind narcissists...hehehe, and therefore NOT perfect! Honestly, that's not even something that I would ever want to shoot for. If perfection is determined by some sort of direct formula or standard, if it's a bunch of little boxes that all have to be checkmarked to be considered a part of that group...then that would mean it's our imperfections that make us different. Unique. Hell, even mildly interesting. Who would want to toss that aside from a life free from stress, worry, and pain? Am I right? Hehehe! We're not perfect...our characters shouldn't be perfect either. Today...we talk character flaws. Now, when I say the word 'flaw', I don't you guys to start cringing and worrying and shouting out, "But I don't WANT my main characters to become unlovable douchebags!!!" Shhhh, calm down. It doesn't have to go that far. Ok? Character flaws can be minor. They can be human. And if you plan ahead and play your cards right, you can use those flaws and the flaws of your love interest, to build a wonderful story arc where your characters learn to battle those demons and overcome those flaws for an amazing story that can get your readers to think, evolve, and maybe even change themselves. It's all in the way you put it together in your story. So, what are flaws? What are we talking about here? That's the big question, right? Well, I happen to be a very flawed individual myself, and I'm fully aware of what those flaws are. That's what helps me maintain a conscience about them and try to fix them when they get in the way of me being a decent human being. Naturally, as a writer's creation is always a reflection of the writer, those flaws trickle down to my characters, and I use them as chess pieces to tell a bigger story and to hopefully have a deeper theme. Even if it's done in a slightly exaggerated way. It's easy to want your protagonist to be a good soul and a true angel, through and through. Even easier for your main love interest to shine even brighter and be even more magnificent, to the point where the entire choir of Heaven shouts down at you from the clouds above at his mere appearance. Ohhhhhhhhh, Hallelujah! But as tempting as it is to do that, you're going to end up running out of things to say VERY quickly. There would be no conflict. No adversity. No challenge. What would you do for the rest of the story? "I love you." "I love you more." "No, I love YOU more!" "Unh unh...I love YOU more, times infinity!" Yeahhhh...don't spend ten pages doing that to your readers. That's just plain mean. Hehehe! When I speak about character flaws, I'm talking about typical human traits that could somehow be used to add a touch of literary color to what you're writing. Maybe your main character is a great guy, but he has a bit of a jealous streak. He's involved in his first gay relationship ever, and his brand new boyfriend is talking to the star quarterback of the football team? How would you feel? I have written stories where one of the boys was 'out and proud', but his boyfriend wasn't. There's a slight friction there. I wrote a story where the main character was the victim of physical abuse from his father, and finds it hard to even believe in himself enough to approach his own boyfriend without being suspicious. I've written about people who have had their hearts broken before and are afraid to love again, boys who feel inadequate because of their financial status, or boys who think the person they're in love with is so far out of their league that even trying to ask them out seems like a waste of time. These are all HUMAN traits. They're situations that we've all dealt with in one way or another. Some people are painfully shy, some have a mean streak in them, some have religious constraints, some have age restrictions, some have problems with alcohol, or drugs, or just an unhealthy connection to their ex-boyfriend. These things can be used to enrich your characters and give them a added level of depth, they're not meant to ruin them or make them unlikable. Not at all. In fact, the very concept of dealing with these personality flaws can become the backbone of your story and make it an exciting read for everyone who's reading it. While the loving relationship, the breathless kisses, and of course...the mind-blowing SEX...is the centerpiece of most erotic stories, how much cooler would it be to also touch on a partner dealing with substance abuse? Or maybe cheating on their significant other? Or maybe keeping people at arm's length because he's scared of commitment? Everything from the insecurity of being with an online 'celebrity', to the aggravation and agony of a long distance relationship, can become an enthralling part of your project, and it might just touch people in a deeper way than you ever thought possible. To me? A super hot, super perfect, person...falling for another super hot, super perfect, person...doesn't hold much entertainment value. It's GREAT for a ten minute session of 'cocking the shotgun', hehehe! But once you clean up, who really remembers that? It's not that I don't understand the true intention of erotica, but if it doesn't feel like a real experience to your readers...then it becomes less about your writing and more about their fantasies. Which would mean...they could get the same thing anywhere. From anyone. If you want to stand out, never be afraid to add a little extra layer to your stories and have an impact. I'm not saying that you have to turn it into a soap opera about something else entirely, but drawing attention to little flaws and having them deal with it between marathons of naked sex-scapades will only help you to stand out even more. And it'll keep people coming back for the next story you write. And the next. and the next. I'm thinking that's a goal a lot of us are working towards.
  7. Comicality

    First Kiss

    No matter how hot and steamy the sex may get between your main character and his love interest later on in your story...sometimes the sweetest and most explosive moment of all comes from that very first kiss. Even if your characters are older and it's not their first kiss ever...it's that first delicate connection with the guy you're passing off as his perfect counterpart. If done right, a first kiss between characters can be just as erotic as every other part of your story, if not more so. So how do you make someone's awkward attempt at pressing their lips together for the first time seem like such a grand experience? Read on, and let's talk about writing that first kiss. One thing that always makes a scene for me, as well as the rest of the story, is the love and care put into the characters. That's rule number one. If people care about the characters, then they will care about what the characters are doing. Who they are and how they interact with one another is all a major part of the actual build up to a first kiss. Have them trade glances, talk to each other, flirt with one another...maybe even have them get nervous and back out of a previous attempt or two. The anticipation of a first kiss should be both adorable and maddening at the same time. I've written a bunch of stories where the emails and reviews were like, "Arrgggghhh!!! I hate you! I HATE YOU!!! When's the next chapter coming out???" Hehehe, but that's what we as writers WANT, right? We want the readers to get excited like our main characters get excited! That's a big piece of what makes telling a quality erotic story so much fun. It's not this kiss itself, but the events surrounding the kiss that give it its flare and true magic. It should be a blissful 'reward' for all of the fear and angst and confusion you put your protagonist through to earn it. Once you've successfully built the tension and you're ready for the big moment to happen...let that moment represent your character's personality just as much as any other part of your story. A kiss is basically a silent dialogue, continuing on from everything you know about these boys so far. A previously bashful guy isn't going to ram his tongue down someone's throat. And a stronger, more dominant character, wouldn't deliver a kiss on the cheek and shy away from him with a giggle. Depending on your characters, try to have it match the tone of the story. Have it match their personas as you created them. For example, if you're writing a really sweet dramatic fiction...maybe you have them stare into each other's eyes as they go silent. Then they lean in slowly, close their eyes, and experience something truly amazing. Soft and tender and special. Or, if you're writing a story that's super lighthearted with a lot of humor added to it, you might enjoy making their first kiss clumsy, with bumped noses and smashed lips and possibly a fall back into the bushes. Maybe that's not the story you're trying to tell...maybe you want the first kiss to come off as some repulsive, and you want to describe it in a different way. Maybe they're actually fighting with one another when it happens, and the kiss comes off as angry, but erotic, as their 'oil and water' emotions collide. Think about the overall tone of your story and the people involved, and write something that will reflect who they are. It works wonders. 'Surprise' kisses can also come off as being incredibly sweet. Whether it comes from the protagonist or the love interest. The idea that they're close to one another, and despite holding back originally, they simply can't take it anymore. Lunging forward spontaneously without warning can, physically, cause your reader's jaws to drop. And that's always a good thing! Hehehe! You could go a million different ways with it, but if you listen to your characters speaking to you within the context of the world you built for them...they'll tell you how it should all go down in the end. My own characters NEVER shut up! Hehehe, trust me! Now, once that magical moment happens...make sure you milk it for all it's worth! This is a monumental achievement happening here. This is that first dip in the roller coaster that will lead toward the exciting ride to follow it. So, make sure to get in your character's head and really use this opportunity to paint a pretty picture. What's he feeling? What's he thinking? Put yourself in his place, really visualize it, and describe it to the readers who are taking this journey with you. Let them feel the racing heartbeat, the heavy breathing, the jittery stomach, the slight rise in body temperature. Let them experience the softness of his lips, the fabric of his shirt as you gently hold onto his hips...let them read about the taste of the grape flavored popsicle he was sucking on just moments before. What do you do with your hands? What do you do about the obvious erection digging into his hip? How do you react to the feel of his tongue entering your mouth? What do you first hear a moan fill the room and you don't know if it came from him or from you? All of these little details can grab a few seconds of kissing and make it soar into orbit, making your fanbase just as dizzy and delirious as your protagonist. Make it last. Because, just as in real life...your story only gets one first kiss. Now, one last thing that I've learned over the years about the first kiss...let it breathe. Allow it to be it's own grand event in your fairy tale. I used to have a habit of letting the first kiss happen somewhere private, and then letting it transition, immediately, into that first sexual experience. If that's a part of the story that you want to tell, then so be it. But I find it more effective to just let my characters have that one special moment, truly let the readers appreciate it, and then allow them a period of time to glow and grin and smile up at the sky for a while before they come back to escalate to a naughtier level. I like it when first kisses stand alone in a story. There's nothing more endearing than having a character get just a taste of the possibilities, and watch him float home...enjoying the overwhelming 'wow' of it all. Give it a shot. These are the moments that really define a story as a whole. You don't want to 'blow your load' all at once, do you? As always...pun intended. I hope this helps. Just keep in mind that the first kiss in a well written erotic story is like those first rays of light breaking over the horizon at sunrise. It is, basically, the end of your 'first act' in a lot of cases, and you want it to have some power to it. By the time you get to anything more graphic, your readers will already be so in love with your two main characters that you'll be beyond the point of doing any wrong by them. So pucker up, and give your audience the magic they deserve.
  8. Imagine if you were watching a movie or a play for the first time. You've never heard of it before, you've never seen any advertisements about it, and you don't even know what it's going to be about. Now...imagine if you could hear the dialogue and everything that's going on...but the stage or the screen is shrouded in complete darkness for the first fifteen minutes. You can't see anything at all. You just have to sort of listen to the words and use your imagination to figure out what's going on. Well, the problem with that is...once you bring the house lights up, once the movie visuals actually kick in...the people watching may have your vision all wrong. And that can be a huge stumbling block. Writing is no different. In fact, putting out certain details as early as possible in your story is even more important. Because your readers' imagination is three-fourths of the whole experience, and the last thing you want is for them to spend too much time in the dark before you give them the basics. That's why it's so essential to 'set the stage' before getting into anything that will push your story forward. When someone clicks on your story, most of them are going into it blind. What will it be about? Who are the characters? When does it take place? For example, imagine if you read a story about a guy who's out in the park with his dog, and they're playing fetch, then he sees a guy that he thinks is absolutely gorgeous, and after a brief conversation they decide to go out to a local café for a drink. Seems simple enough, right? Now...imagine that your story has gone on for a few pages, and you don't start giving some basic details to your reader until they're already sitting down to dinner. Out of nowhere, you mention that both characters are high school juniors. Wait...what? Oh, maybe your readers were picturing them as being a bit older. Ok, well, they can deal with that. They keep reading, and you mention the dog was this giant Great Dane. Whoah! You might have pictured a dog that was a lot smaller, but...no big problem. Then maybe you mention that it's Winter time and there's snow on the ground, but your readers were imagining it being a nice Summer day. Then you mention that it's 8 PM at night, and the guy has a full beard and glasses and looks older than he really is...oh, and did I mention this story takes place in 1975? What could have been a very sweet beginning to a story has now baffled and confused your readers, because every time you add some major detail that they weren't told from the get go...they're forced to stumble, erase their previous ideas, and readjust their imagination to fit the details you're giving them. Which can sometimes be frustrating and it can give the story a clumsy start. Always remember, this is the internet. There are WAY too many options out there for you to have a clumsy start. The 'back button' is not your friend. Whenever I start a story, I try to use descriptions of that particular moment so anyone reading can get a real sense of where they are, who they're looking at, and when it's taking place. Now you don't have to spend paragraph after paragraph spilling every last detail at your reader's feet all at once, but you want to give them a sense that they can see what's going on. Because once your audience has dreamed up a solid idea of what everything looks like...that's the vision they're going to be instantly invested in. If you throw them a curveball after they've already made up their minds that the main character is a modern-day teenager from the suburbs, and you tell them, "No, he's really a gritty, chain-smoking, detective from 30 years in the future"...hehehe, we'll that's going to be a problem. If you're writing about a teenager, maybe have your opening scene start out in a classroom, or next to his locker, or at his best friend's sweet 16 birthday party. Maybe have his mother or father call him down to breakfast. These little cues will put the idea in your reader's minds that, "Ok, we're dealing with a high school kid here. Got it." And then they can continue reading, while emotionally attaching themselves to your vision instead of creating one of their own, and later having the two conflict with one another. In a future setting, maybe have someone fiddling with some sort of futuristic gadget, or describe some giant metropolis with floating holograms and hovering cars. If it takes place in the old West, maybe mention dirt roads and people riding past a saloon on horseback. Whether you describe a corporate office full adult businessmen, or a couple of kids sword fighting playfully with a couple of sticks in a Medieval castle, or walking through an apocalyptic wasteland...try to find creative ways to let your readers immediately know who, where, and when, before you get too involved with any other part of your story. That way you can be on the same page...pun intended. Hope this helps. Just remember that the faster and easier it is for your readers to get involved in the world you're trying to build, the more powerful your story will be. Set the stage first and then start building momentum from there. The last thing you want to do is trip them up right out of the gate.
  9. Welcome, everyone! Starting early in 2018, we will be posting weekly articles by Comicality and other authors every Saturday morning. I wanted to get this kicked off so between now and then we'll be posting links to previous Writing Tips, which can currently be found in our Stories Archive in the Non-Fiction -> Writing Tips category. Please be sure to check them out. Read and review! The three for this week are from Lugh:
  10. Comicality

    Plot Holes

    There are five words that always make me laugh whenever I watch one of the videos from the Youtube series below, hehehe! Because it's SO true for every story and every TV show and every movie that I've ever seen! And it's true for your work too. Can't help but to get a few chuckles out of it! Those five words? "Super easy! Barely an inconvenience!" Don't worry, an explanation is coming. One thing that I hope many of you will take from this week's discussion is the idea that any story...literally, ANY story...can be picked apart and scrutinized to the point where it simply might not work as an effective story anymore. Sad, but true. I don't say this to discourage you guys. I say this to 'free' you. I say this to make you guys aware of the reality of the situation when it comes to writing a story of your very own. Especially if it's your first time. Please keep in mind that you are writing a fictional story. Let me repeat that before moving forward...you are writing a FICTIONAL story! You are creating something out of nothing. Your goal is to entertain an audience by getting your fictional main character from a fictional point A to a fictional point B, by whatever means you can use to advantage while keeping your readers locked in while you're doing it. You are creating a dramatic series of events to provide opportunities for your story to move forward. It's not real. NONE of this is real. It's a story. And it's meant to get your readers to enjoy the ride that you have planned for them. (Unless, of course, it's autobiographical...in which case, that's real! LOL! But even then, who's to say that your memory is as accurate as t should be.) I wanted to start this discussion with this statement, because I feel that it's really important for every writer to remember this when they go into writing their next project. PLEASE, keep in mind that you will never ever EVER be able to avoid or find your way around the "Why doesn't he just...?" crowd! Never! Not EVER! Hehehe! Trust me, I've spent 20 YEARS trying to write stories that the nitpickers couldn't possibly dismantle and make my main characters look hopelessly stupid, frustratingly clueless, and unforgivably fake! And those aren't MY words...that's from my fans who claim to actually love the stories I write. Anyway, when writing a story and plotting it out, putting all of the pieces together to reach the desired effect that you're looking for...you have to construct a certain formula in order for your story to work in your head. You have to build a foundation and keep adding bricks until you reach the top and are able to put a roof on your project. It takes practice, but you learn to connect dots, bond events, set chain reactions in motion. But that doesn't mean that you won't miss something or slip up every now and then. It happens, and people will catch it and call you out on it. Sometimes, it's a plot hole that you can fill in and make your story better. And other times...just let it go. Hehehe, sometimes it's just a part of the story. Let readers know, 'This is something that we built, exclusively, for you to enjoy', right? Just...hopefully they'll enjoy it for what it is. It's all a matter of telling the best story that you can, and concentrating on what you feel is most important. This can...and will...lead to plot holes in your story. Don't feel bad about it. This is inevitable. No writer is out there looking at ten thousand different alternative solutions for your main character's every thought and action in any given story. And even if you could, there would be ONE reader out there that saw ten thousand and two possibilities, and will bring it up anyway. You can't beat them, don't try. This weekend, we talk about plot holes! Figuring out what you can fix, and what you should leave alone. And those unavoidable literary speedbumps in the road that we TRY to avoid...but still hit, despite our attempts to swerve around them at the last minute! Before I start, take a look at some of the videos below. I really love these, as they always make me think about things I never thought of before and laugh! We're all potential suckers for a good (or bad) story sometimes. But, yes! There are plot holes in every movie you see! And if you sit there and make a sincere effort to pick everything apart...then yeah, I doubt any story/movie/TV show would make much sense at all. But...that's only if you work at stripping down every element of it. And where's the fun in that? LOL! These are all parody versions of what these movies would be if broken down to their core. Many SPOILERS are involved! So, if you haven't seen the movies listed, then you may want to skip over that particular video. But, for those who have seen them all... ...Take note of the plot holes and conveniences included in this as the jokes fly by... - - -- - - Hehehe, are you beginning to see what I'm talking about here? No story is exempt from contrivances or cliches. Plot holes pop up because we don't all see the world with the same eyes. That's something that you really have to keep in mind when you're trying to get around this problem in your writing. Something might be wrong with my car, and an experienced mechanic might tell me, "Well, why didn't you just move this wire to that wire and reroute the electric charge? Hehehe, or whatever. Ummm...ok, well I didn't think of that. Thanks, I guess? And you guys know how I struggle with programming and computer stuff that, I'm sure, makes me look like a full blown idiot to people who know computers much better than I do. But, hey...sorry. I didn't think of that either. Shame on me. The point is, if you're going to share your art with a wide audience, they may see blindspots that you can't. And this is where having a Beta reader, or even multiple Betas, read your story (I suggest 'chapter by chapter', just in case you spin off in a direction that you can't come back from later) ahead of time. Maybe your friends and fans can pick out a few inconsistencies in your writing, and let you know before you get too far ahead of yourself. They can be extremely helpful in that regard. I've made many mistakes in my stories in the past that I didn't really think about until someone pointed it out to me. I've had someone in a wheelchair show up on the roof of an abandoned building without thinking about how he was able to get up all of those flights of steps without assistance. I've overlooked obvious answers to story conflicts, I've mixed up continuity issues, I've dropped the ball in potentially major scenes...but that's all a part of honing your craft. Live and learn, I suppose. I was trying to tell a story that would be excting and memorable to everyone who took a look at it, and I was definitely trying to guide it in a certain direction so I could achieve that. A young artist, Ruel, said about creating his own music, "Writing is exaggeration." And I really couldn't agree more. It's not so unrealistic, you know? Any honest portrayal of our own lives might come off as convenient and contrived as well when seen through the eyes of an observer. Take a look at your own experiences, good times and bad. How closely does it play out to the stories you read online? Is it really all that complex? Sometimes, you meet your best friend by chance. Sometimes you fall in love with someone you didn't expect to care for. It happens. It almost feels like 'fate', when it does because...how the hell could I have been so lucky/unlucky on my own? Should our stories not reflect that in some way? Sure, we add a little flair here and there, but truth be told...a majority of the greatest moments of my life happened by 'accident'. Spontaneous reactions to unexpected opportunities. Falling for my best friend, losing my virginity, coming out to a few trusted friends, lucky breaks, and hilarious failures. Even writing my first story for Nifty. "What's the story behind that, Comsie???" I found Nifty by accident online one night, read a bunch of stories, wanted to write one of my own...so I sat down and wrote it. "Oh." Exactly! Not exactly a page turner, is it? Hehehe, but it's life! Exaggerated life, sure, but life just the same. That's what I write about. And that's been my personal experience. I want flawed characters. I want spur of the moment mishaps and bumbled conversations and knee jerk reactions. As a writer, we all get the chance to plan and plot things out in order to create the story we're trying to tell. Stories that take place in the 'moment'. Readers, however..have a bit of an advantage. They have time to detach emotionally, take time, pause, back away from the situation, and crate a variety of alternate scenarios in their heads to poke giant holes in what you've written. Which makes sense, it's what readers do. But it's not always fair. Hehehe! Keep that in mind. Have you ever had a heated argument with somebody, walked away angry, and spent the next few hours thinking, "I SHOULD have said this!" Or, "I should have pointed out how much they SUCK when they said that!" And hey...if you had time to think and analyze and push your emotions aside for a biting zinger that would knock your opponent to the floor in the heat of the moment...that would have been great. But, the truth is...we don't get a do-over. We don't get to remove ourselves from the situation and pick it apart from a distance until the moment is already over. I say this because I believe that an author's passion is important, and writing should feel natural and fun to you guys. Create your vision, and have it play out the best way that you know how. You shouldn't be stressing yourself out, trying to outsmart the world's greatest detectives with every plot point and word of dialogue that you add to your project. You'll never get anything finished that way. Have confidence in your ability to craft a series of events that will get your characters where they need to go. Create your story line, write it out, go back and self edit to see if your plot is missing anything or if there's anything that doesn't add up...and then give it to your Beta readers to see if maybe they can find some of the errors that you can't see for yourself. The big thing here is to get the story finished! If you need to add something or change something later to keep from confusing your audience or spoiling the suspension of disbelief...then so be it. But while I challenge you all to write the best story that you can at all times...please don't give yourselves brain aneurysms trying to fill in every plot hole and make your story 'critic proof'. It won't happen. There's no such thing as 'critic proof'. They're critics. Criticism is what they do. Hehehe! It's like trying to make a kite 'wind proof'. It's pointless. And you need that wind to make the kite fly, so why try? A few more of these... - - -- - - Plot holes occur...these things happen from time to time. Don't stress yourself out about it. I definitely challenge all writers to do their best to write as airtight a story as possible...but I'd be lying if I said I thought it was possible. Plot holes exist. Hehehe! If 'The Terminator' had a time machine...why not go back and kill Sarah Connor as a baby? Or her mom? Or her MOM'S mom? When the weaponry that could stop him didn't exist yet? Instead of becoming Batman...Bruce Wayne was a massively rich, highly influential, member of society? Why not create a giant, non-corrupt, police force to take care of all the crime in Gotham City, and take out all the crime at once, 'Elliott Ness' style? And how did the elderly farm couple in 'Superman' suddenly explain to everybody in their rural town that they have a new BABY living with them? How did they enroll him in school with no prints, no birth certificate, no previous history of him existing at all? Sometimes...you just can't address a million questions in one story. Every story you write can't be 'War & Peace' length. Every story can't have a 'Lord Of The Rings' foreword with history lessons and languages and world building bonuses. I definitely think that we, as writers, should always cover as many bases as we possibly can when we're working on a project...but, sometimes, you've just got to get your story to work the way you want it to work. Period. The answer to a lot of question that readers may ask when it comes to plot holes is, quite simply..."Because the story would be OVER if I did it your way. And that wouldn't be satisfying at all." Hehehe! I cant imagine how boring my life would have been if I could go back and 'fix' everything to make it perfect. I'd be so dead inside. LOL! However, don't take this to mean that you should ignore all of the comments you get when it comes to potential plot holes in your stories. Some of them CAN be fixed, and probably should be. Especially if you're getting the same questions fro a variety of different people. As always, hear your critics out, and then see if they're making a decent point. Is this plot hole big enough to cause your whole story to fall apart without addressing it? Or can you sneak it by with a few tricks and puffs of smoke? If you find something that needs fixing, you might be surprised to know that you could probably correct the problem with a few sentences and get your story right back on course again. It may just be that simple. However...if you want to go the 'smoke and mirrors' route...hehehe, I can give away a few secrets on how you do that too. - Focus on the moment. Bring the emotions on and put your readers in the moment with your protagonist if you can. Really dig deep into what they're thinking. What they're feeling. I will admit to being a full blown savant when it comes to teen angst in my stories. Hehehe! And it's easy for someone older and wiser to scream, "Why doesn't he just walk up and ask the other boy out already??? Jesus!" Take that argument and make it a part of the moment. Make that a part of your protagonist's inner monologue. Of COURSE he thought of that too, but, ummm..."I'm 15, I'm deep in the closet, and I'm being asked to approach the cutest boy I've ever seen for the first time ever while my body and emotions are working against me all at once!" Sometimes it helps to actually address the obvious (and probably more boring) solution to the problem, and use that confusing fluster of emotions to further explain why he may be taking a different option instead. - Re-read your story from beginning to end, and try to ask yourselves the questions that readers might be asking later. How specific are they? Visualize them in your head. If you were to fix certain details, would it derail the events and special moments you had planned for future chapters? SOMETIMES...(probably bad advice, but...) you can let these things slide by for the sake of the story. I know that sounds lazy, but honestly, many readers will be along for the ride. They want to follow the roller coaster and just have fun. Whereas...if you were to sit on a roller coaster and concentrate on the physics of how it works and the probability of a tragic accident...um, it would be TERRIFYING! If you need your characters to suddenly run out into the street for some reason...have a fire alarm go off. Hehehe, because...'story'! Ugh, I hate to say that, and don't overuse that technique...but I'm being serious when I say that just has to be the answer sometimes. 'Because...'story'. Why hasn't Marty McFly's trip back to the past screwed up the entire time continuum, creating paradoxes that threaten the existence of everything that he's ever known when he gets back to the future? 'Because...'movie'. Why are Morpheus and Neo constantly jumping into the Matrix to free people when they can just go out and free them in real life and destroy the machines power supply in the process? 'Because...'movie'. Or, as one of the videos called it, "A scene called 'shut the hell up, everybody!'" LOL! I hate to say it, but sometimes it's the only way to keep you from painting yourself into a corner. So embrace it. - And, last but not least...the things you don't think you can fully explain without turning your plot on its head and messing things up? Don't. Keep those scenes short and sweet, allow the scene to serve its purpose, and hopefully you'll be able to move on to something else before readers start thinking twice about what just happened. Take a scene and follow it up with something with some emotional weight. A different focal point. If you're lucky, it'll act as the shiny object to keep readers progressing forward instead of slamming on the breaks and trying to figure things out. This is where pacing will be important for your story. If you provide too much lag time after a scene that might act as a plot hole in your story...you're dead in the water. Hehehe, so, before they can ask...just shout..."Look! Elephant!" And then run away. Alright, just a few more before I wrap this up! - - -- - - Now...as I said before, PLEASE don't take this as a Comsie license to be lazy or cut corners when you're writing. You should give every story you create the heart and soul that it deserves. One hundred percent of your best effort. And then get your Betas to help you find all the little blindspots that you might have missed. Take pride in what you do, and always give it a champion effort. No excuses. However...I wrote this article so you all realize that plot holes can, and probably WILL, happen. Know them for what they are, try to see if you can fix them without bringing your story to a screeching halt and having it fall to pieces...and if you occasionally run into a brick wall, where no other option is available to you, well...'Because...story.' Sometimes you've just got to go with your gut and hope it works for the best. That sounds pretty difficult, choosing when to grind harder and when to let things slide...but I guarantee you... ...It's "Super easy! Barely an inconvenience!" I hope this helps! And I'll seezya soon with more! ((Hugz))
  11. I have such fond memories of working in a big music store in the heart of downtown Chicago for a number of years. Easily, the best job that I've ever had in my life! No other job has ever been more fun, more meaningful, more beneficial to me in my growth as a person. No contest. Hehehe! Just a bunch of high school and college kids with a love and passion for music and art and film, to the point where we appreciated the 'misfit' in one another and embraced as being something to be proud of, instead of judged. It was one of the most tight knit families that I've ever been a part of that wasn't blood related. And I miss them terribly. I really do. One thing that I remember, distinctly, however...are a few of my co-workers who could sing, or rap, or play guitar, or were going to school for film...and they were all really GOOD at their individual crafts, too! But, there was always this idea among them that, "I'm just a regular person. I don't do this to get famous or anything. I just do it for free...just to do it. You know?" And then we'd feel compelled to ask one simple question... WHY? Understand...I am well aware of the fact that 'art and commerce' very rarely make for good bedfellows, because each one thinks they know what's best and are constantly fighting for control. I've seen it happen more times than you can imagine. They're just thinking from two different sides of the brain, so it can't be all about artistic expression that a wide audience might not understand...but everybody can't just sell out for money and cheering crowds either. Without some sort of balance, both parties are bound to fail eventually. But...if you really believe in your writing, and you happen to be good at what you do...what's stopping you from taking a shot at something bigger than a non-profit 'hobby'? You'd be surprised how incredibly EASY it is to edit, format, and publish, your own story as an online ebook these days. One that you can actually sell and make some extra pocket change off of, month after month, for as long as you keep it posted. Setting up an account is absolutely free in most places. You can set one up right here on GayAuthors, as a matter of fact, and sell your books to people who are already big fans of your work, or people who may become fans once they see what it is that you have to offer. Today, we're talking about possible ebook publishing...and why you guys should get in on this right away! Before we get started...let me sweep the rumors and BS right out of the back door, k? You will NOT get rich off of ebook sales! Hehehe! Put that idea right out of your mind. If you go looking on Youtube or Google for tutorials on how to get started, sell more books, or quit your day job so you can stay home and make six figures a year just typing away at a keyboard...you will have been misled. I never once bought into that idea, myself, and you shouldn't either. In fact, the truth is...if you're able to make gas money for your car and grab some extra groceries every now and then for the first six months to a year of you having your work published...you'll be doing GREAT! Don't dive in expecting much more than that. The good news is...you've got something to build on once you've reached that six month mark. When I say six month mark, I don't mean just publishing your story and coming back six months later to see what your profits look like. I mean six months of a true (and DAILY) dedicated effort to promote your work! Promote to the point of exhaustion if you have to. If you need eight hours of sleep before getting up at 9 AM for work...and it's 1 O'clock in the morning...spend an extra 15 minutes getting your name out there. Lose some sleep. You're going to have to really work at making this happen. Because, if you thought it was tough getting your stories noticed on GayAuthors or Nifty or on some other story site online...you're going to get absolutely CRUSHED by the lack of attention you will experience on sites like Amazon.com where people have to actually pay to read what you have to say! So promote, promote, promote! And don't ever stop. Making some extra cash for your art, and reaping the rewards of the hours of hard work that you put into getting your voice heard, is awesome! It's a great feeling to know that your words are worth a few dollars here and there. But it takes time and a lot of effort to get noticed. So why not get started today, right? Stop reading this right now, and take a moment to think of the possibilities..." Are you smiling? No? Hehehe, ah well...maybe by the time I finish this article. The thing about ebooks is that they are, essentially, a goldfish in an ocean when it comes to getting your name out there. You will be competing with millions of other authors, from all walks of life, of all ages, from all genres. And, make no mistake...some of them will be BETTER than you. Hehehe, that's just the honest truth. But, in life, we don't get what we want...we get what we work for. And if you're willing to stay up late, and keep typing, and promote your work...you can outsell any writer who's got their ego telling them that they can relax. No matter how skillful they are, or how huge their fanbase. Your hard work will always win in the end. Just stay focused. Stay disciplined. And keep going. You'd be surprised how quickly the word of mouth can spread once you've 'seduced' a few people into reading your work. As writers, you all have something to say. You all have a story to tell. And even if you've posted it already on GayAuthors or elsewhere...go back and see if you can improve on it. Re-edit it, give it some extra polish, and put it out as an ebook. Why not? Do you have any IDEA how many people there are out there who are looking to read exactly what it is that you have to say? Take a shot. At the end of the day, it's no different than posting your stories here or on Nifty for free. Except...maybe you get a little extra income on the side. If you only make five dollars, it's five more than you HAD, right? So...score! Hehehe! That being said, I want to give you guys seven quick tips on how to get your ebooks noticed, and make some extra income every month that you can use to spend on making life a bit easier, and being able to have a little fun every now and then. K? There are plenty of places online that offer free accounts for self-publishing ebooks. Like I said before, there is an ebook section right here on GayAuthors. Feel free to look up the guidelines and find out how to get in contact with the right people to make that happen. Also, Amazon.com has the KDP program which is excellent and available to a wide variety of readers from all over the world. So that's a great place to start once you get comfortable with everything. Signing up is also free. Another good place is Smashwords, although, their submission standards for formatting is a bit 'precise' for my tastes. Hehehe, if you don't format it EXACTLY the way they want you to...your book will get rejected until you fix it. And the system doesn't even tell you what's wrong with it...so you can spend weeks trying to figure out WTF is going on before you get your books published. So, it's a rough 'audition', but if you can get in...Smashwords probably has the widest reach of any site that I've been associated with so far. So, it's worth a shot. Again, it's a one in a million chance that you'll make enough money to actually retire and become a writer, full time...but if that's your eventual goal, it's not a bad place to start. So consider these seven rules as a 'ground floor' tutorial. #1 - Editing and formatting! This is important. Before you submit anything to a 'professional' ebook site...do your best to be 'professional'. Every ebook that I've put out, I've gon through and read every single word and edited it from beginning to end. Every open tag, every misspelled word, every plot hole...I tried to make a champion effort to find every last one of them and fix them up so that it reads like a book that I would, personally, pay money for. This isn't little league anymore. If you're going to put a book out on the actual market, and it's riddled with spelling errors, misused punctuation marks, and character flaws? Then you're wasting your time. Remember, you're basically starting from scratch all over again as far as a fanbase is concerned. These people have no idea who you are. So you need to make a good first impression. Otherwise, you can kiss their support goodbye. So get it right! You've only got one chance to grab their attention. Make it count. #2 - Keep your prices LOW!!! At least in the very beginning (Meaning for the first year or two. Or until you have a loyal group of followers who believe in you enough to pay a little more for your work after a few successful outings). Now, in my case...I already had a pretty big catalog of stories finished and an established fanbase before I started publishing ebooks. So I never charged much, because I would rather have ten true fans buy every ebook that I put out there, then just one or two curious customers who might splurge on one or two ebooks a year. That's counterproductive in the worst way. Again, nobody knows who you are yet. Your goal is to get people to take a chance on you. You want them to think, "It's only a couple of bucks. I'm already here. Let me make a little impulse buy and see what he/she has to offer." Don't go trying to make ten dollar sales on your first book. It won't work. If you have a story that's 100,000 words or more? Save it for later. Try a few short stories first. Something you don't mind putting out there as an appetizer to get people interested in something more substantial from you. You're more liable to make a ten dollar novel/novella sell from someone who has enjoyed four or five of your shorter stories than you will from a new shopper who doesn't have any idea what would make you any more special than other authors who are charging half the price. Even if you wrote a ten dollar novel, and you put forth a ten dollar effort...hehehe, try giving it away for five. Tops. Remember, it's better to have fans than 'customers'. Fans come back for more. And they won't do that if you tax them too heavily on what you're writing. On Amazon, my ebooks are almost all $2.99 (Let me shamelessly promote them while I'm here! Hehehe! https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/! That's another rule! ALWAYS be in promotion mode!). The only reason they're even that much is because anything cheaper gives Amazon 70% of the profits. Even though I set up the account, wrote the story, did the formatting and editing and all of the hard work...your ebook has to be at least three dollars for you to get a decent percentage of the profits from it. So keep that in mind. It's as cheap as I can possibly make it...but I also have over 30 books available. So it's a much better deal to gain a fanbase that wants to collect them all...like Pokemon! Hehehe! #3 - Free shit!!! Hehehe, tell me...if you saw that on a sign on the side of the street...wouldn't you look over there to investigate? LOL! Yes, the best promotion you can possibly put out there is gathering the interest of new readers. Readers who have WAY too much quality stuff to read online for free to want to grab their credit cards and pay for someone to give them more of the same. So, I can't stress enough how important it is to keep writing and putting stories out there online. Let people see your talent. Let people wander by and stumble across the amazing stories that you have to tell. Then, once they've built up their faith in you to be consistently awesome...let them know about your ebooks. Let your free stories be the trail of breadcrumbs that lead to the stuff that might put some extra pennies in your pocket once a month. It's not a 'trick'. Think of it as a kick ass party that's taking place in a club, and everything is free...but there's more in the V.I.P. area upstairs if you want to check it out! Hehehe! Also, ALWAYS allow a review of your story to be available on Amazon if that's the route you want to take! There is an option where readers can see what your writing style is like, and they can read the first...ummm...I think it's 20% of your story, before making a purchase. I ALWAYS allow that for all of my ebooks. If you want to gain new readers, but you tell them they have to 'buy' before they 'sample'...you just cut your readership in half. Not a good strategy. Let them see what you've got. Grab them in the first few pages, and seduce them into wanting to read more. Even drug dealers know that if you give the first taste for free...you've got a customer for life! Annnndd....now i'm using drug references. Don't do drugs, kids! Stay in school! Moving on... #4 - Bring your online fanbase with you! If you have people that have been reading your stories from the very beginning, or have been corresponding with you through email or chat or whatever...let them know that you have ebooks available. Give them the address, and ask them to leave comments and ratings when they get a chance. This will only help your ebooks to sell better. You may not think that people look at these comments and ratings...but I can assure you...they do! I have to admit that I look at them myself. So ask your biggest supporters to get involved in making your ebooks a success. However...remind them to be HONEST with their reviews. That's just as important. If your best friend, 'Billy Bob', shows up on six of your online ebooks, and he's giving every single one of them a five-star rating and saying, "This is the greatest book I've ever read!" On every single one of them...that's obviously going to look suspicious. Especially if it isn't true. Inspire commentary, and tell folks to be sincere about it. It's not going to hurt if you get a two or three-star rating, once in a while. THAT review will get more attention from new readers than marks giving you all aces all the time. Because they'll be curious as to why one person thought it was great and the other one thought it was awful. Either way...another sale for you. So go for it. Don't try to cheat the system. Play the game like everybody else and let the cards fall where they may. Amazon is set up to know when folks are being fake in their reviews. They can even tell when someone left a review without purchasing the ebook. So if you think you're going to fool anyone...hehehe, you won't. It's better to be confident and let your ebooks succeed or fail based on the merit of your writing. #5 - Set up a home base! I'm sure that I've mentioned this before a few times, but it really is more essential than ever when dealing with ebooks online. Find a place that you're comfortable with, and STAY there! Keep a reliable email address, a website, a Twitter account...whatever. You have no IDEA how many people I've tried to answer their emails or send thanks for their feedback, and had the email bounce back to me. It's frustrating as HELL!!! LOL! STOP friggin' changing your email and contact info every 60 days! It comes off as flaky and unpredictable to new readers. They're trying to get in touch with you, and they can't because you decided you don't like Gmail anymore or whatever. Sit still. If fans can't reach you, then they won't be fans for much longer. My email is Comicality@webtv.net right now, and it has been the same since 1998! Webtv doesn't even exist anymore, but I was given the option to keep the email and I definitely wanted to do that. I don't change my screen name, I don't change my Twitter, and i don't change my website address. So if you want a stable fanbase...then stay stable! Give them a place to go where they can talk to you. Where they can get updates and teasers and release dates from you. Stop moving around so much. It's not good for business. Hehehe! #6 - Get your synopsis and keywords together! People may not always judge a book by its cover, but they WILL judge it by the brief description that put underneath it. I wrote an article on story blurbs a few weeks ago, just before the holidays, if you guys want to check it out. Make your story sound interesting to anyone who's looking for something to jump into. it's all about getting them to ask the question, "Well, this is what you told me...but what happens next?" If you've got an intriguing story blurb, an 'impulse buy' type of price, and an honest review or two for your ebook...then congrats! You just made another sale, and possibly made a new fan of your work! Make sure that your synopsis makes people curious, and that your 'keywords' are specific. If one of your keywords is 'gay'...hehehe, well, congratulations...you just put your story in a GIANT cauldron with a million other stories that will probably get noticed before yours will. Try 'gay TEEN', or 'gay COLLEGE', or 'gay VAMPIRE'...whatever it is that you're writing, don't be too vague with your keywords. A lot of people out there are looking for the exact story that it is that you want to tell. But they can't find it if it''s just un the gay or erotica or coming of age tags. Think of a few tags that will separate you from the horde of other stories out there, and narrow their search down a bit where finding your particular tale isn't so difficult. #7 - Make a few exclusives! Now, if you're writing stuff for free, but you want to draw attention to the fact that you have ebooks available as well...write one or two stories that are exclusive ONLY to your ebooks sales! Hehehe, I feel like I'm being a big con man by filling you guys in on this part, but I swear, that wasn't my intention. Er...not entirely. Now, you guys know that I've always often my stories for free online 99% of the time, and I love doing that. But the ebooks that I put out have added material and a much more polished execution than the stuff that's on my site. The "Gone From Daylight" and "Savage Moon" books have a LOT of added stuff that can't be found anywhere else online. And then there's "The Boys Of Widow Lake", books 1 and 2, which are only available as ebooks and nowhere else. (Book 3: "Depths Of Devotion", coming soon!) So...is that a mean spirited trick to get people to spend money? Hehehe, maaaaaybe! But I do occasionally lure people into that special V.I.P. section when I can. And if people don't want to go, there's still plenty of freebies for them to enjoy. No harm, no foul. But...eventually...many of them is going to want to know what's behind that magic curtain. And while it won't make me rich, a few diehard fans might end up inadvertently buying me a lunch or two. And that's alright with me! LOL! SO...that's my secret reveal on ebooks! if any of you are interested, get online and do some research on where you want to go and what the standards are. You can start right here on GA, and it doesn't take long to figure things out. If *i* can figure out how to do it, you guys can probably learn it in half the time. Just remember, you put a LOT of work into your art! As authors, you pour your heart and soul into every project that you put out there. And while we may not be overly obsessed with material gain, and would rather just enjoy the prestige of being appreciated by an audience that we built on our own... ...A few dollars in the pocket wouldn't hurt. Hehehe! if you don't want them, feel free to donate them to Comicality! I've got a link for that too! LOL! Take care! And I wish you all the best of luck! Seezya soon!
  12. I can't imagine anything feeling better than finding some level of pride in one of my projects. (Well, there might be a few things that feel better, but I can keep my clothes on for this one! Hehehe!) And that pride doesn't just come from favorable responses and good ratings. In fact, it comes from finishing a new chapter or project before anybody ever even sees it. It's like the planets and stars align, and everything is finally fitting together the way that I pictured it...or at least as close as I can get to that ideal presentation. I honestly get excited about releasing new stuff on the site. More than the readers do, believe it or not. But one thing that I always pressure myself to remember is...'I need to get this right first'! That's the most important part of the process for me. The wording, the emotion, the structure...that final 'spit and polish' that's going to make the whole medley truly sing. That takes patience. Getting that part done right takes time, and it can be frustrating when my muse is being stubborn, but once I get it to sparkle the way I want it to...I'm practically beaming with a grin for the rest of the week! Now...not everything that I write is going to be a big hit with my audience. Everything that I release is not going to have some huge, dramatic, event take place that will leave readers angry, overjoyed, or sobbing uncontrollably at the end. I don't expect it to. Sometimes, writing a story feels more like drawing a detailed picture, or building something out of old school Legos. In my mind...I know exactly how I want the final picture to look when it's finished. So being certain about where the lines, the colors, the building blocks, go in order to make that happen, is just as important as the major events that they're either building up to, or coming down from. You can't skip to building an awesome attic in a house without building the basement first, right? It's something that I've learned to appreciate, and pay more attention to since I first started. In my earliest days of writing stories at Nifty, I had four points that I wanted to hit with every short story and every additional chapter that I added to my list. Introduce the cute boy characters, find a way to get them together, find a way to express their feelings for one another, and then...let's get some mattresses squeaking! Hehehe! I figured that, as long as I got those four main parts of the plot right, then a lot of readers would probably just skip over most of the other stuff anyway. Why concentrate on the details? At best, they'll 'skim' through it and keep scrolling down the page until somebody gets naked. The same idea was applied to my sci fi stuff when it was still in the planning stages. People want to see the alien, the vampire, the spooky ghost...get to the point already before you lose their attention and ruin the story! I feel like that was a novice mistake on my part, looking back on it. One that I've learned to correct over time, and with a lot of practice. Details, depth of character, backstory, clearly defined motivations...these are not meant to be seen as boring parts of a story. They're not meant to slow down the pacing or to merely act as 'filler' for readers who are immediately looking for something juicier to jump out at them with every few thousand words. In fact, when done with the right amount of flair and a hint of mystery...it can become the most intriguing part of your project. This time around...I'm going to try to express the importance of 'connective tissue' in our stories, and how we can use them to enhance a story, rather than flatten it out. (If that makes sense) My older stories and chapters were often a lot shorter than they are nowadays. In fact, many of them are only half the size of the chapters I try to put out every week or two. And while those stories were straight to the point, and said what they needed to say...I felt my love for details and connective tissue spreading out as I got more relaxed with my own voice in terms of writing. Reading feedback and emails from the people absorbing it all...I found that they weren't skipping over the so-called 'boring' parts at all. I mean, sure...I know that there are readers that are in a big rush to have certain issues resolved and certain events to finally take place...but I refuse to rush it. I absolutely refuse. And it's because I can see the finished work in my head. Even if the readers can't. And those tiny little intricate details and casual mentions of past or future events are all needed to build the design that I want my stories to have. I think that, with writer maturity, you learn that it's more about telling the story you want to tell, and less about trying to simply 'entertain' with the words you put together. And as authors...isn't that the whole point? One quote that I live by is, "Some people write because they want to say something...and others write because they have something to say." And if any of us are having trouble figuring out the difference...then that's the first journey that we should all be taking to be a better writer. Hehehe, it's something to meditate on when you have some free time. There are times when fans will politely (or not so politely) push you to turn tricks in your story without fleshing it out properly. But you have to train yourself to resist the urge to 'perform' instead of 'create'. If you have a plan in place...stick to it. And mold it into what you want it to be. This is when I get to truly be selfish and tell everybody, "WAIT! I'm getting to the good stuff! Just hold your friggin' horses!" Hehehe! And that may lead to some folks feeling aggravated and impatient...but if they rush back to read the next chapter? Then I've already done my job as a writer. And, here we both are...back in the saddle again. I want to show you a few fun videos. It's basically cartoon rabbits re-enacting some of your favorite movies, but rushing through them in 60 seconds or less. Now, even though this is an exaggeration for comedic purposes...THIS is what your story looks like with no connective tissue! With so-called 'filler'. This is what you have when a rabid 'event oriented' fanbase pushes you to skip the boring stuff in order to hurry up and get to what they say they want to see. - - Entertaining? Sure. But will it be your best work? Will people remember these a day later? Can you shove the depth and meaning that you wanted your story to have in these few short moments? You're an author. Have confidence in your art. And don''t let anybody force you off the road when you're pursuing your passion. Is this your story, or their story? Take control and be proud of your creative choices, cheers or jeers be damned. One thing to remember is to constantly build upon the foundation that you created from the very beginning, and to remember the essentials every step of the way. When I say that, I mean that every chapter of your story should be an evolution of the chapter before it in some way. Now, that doesn't mean that your protagonist has to go from a painfully shy bookworm to a full blown gigolo within a chapter or two, or from a farm boy to a powerful Jedi knight in a week's time. The growth can be gradual, steady, and in sync with who your protagonist is as a character. Give them time to learn, and bring your audience in to the learning process with them. If you've got a big action scene coming up, or a dramatic character death, or an explosive first kiss...then that's awesome! These things are the benchmarks of a great story, and those will be the scenes that most people will remember when they're finished and think back on your story later on. BUT...that connective tissue can add a few extra sparks to those bigger scenes that you're so anxious to get to. They are meant to give those bigger moments meaning. I've discovered SO many missed opportunities in my older stories as I was going back through them to re-edit and fix them up to release as ebooks. Moments that I skipped over, dialogue that ended too abruptly for my tastes, opportunities for character development that were ignored...if I were to rewrite those stories all over again, I would definitely do things differently. However, since I write and release my stories, chapter to chapter...there are some scenes, or even whole chapters, that some may see as 'filler'. But I can assure you...they're not. I'm always thinking ahead, and whenn those future chapters come around, readers will be able to look back at those old boring chapters and say, "Omigod...NOW I see where that came from." That's the whole point. Connective tissue in a story can have a variety of effects on your plot. It can display the aftermath of a recent event, and explain how your main characters are dealing with it...and how they plan to progress from there. It can also drop hints and clues and create a trail of breadcrumbs for your readers to follow towards the next big event. Creating speculation, foreshadowing soon to be revealed secrets, or increasing tension for a building conflict. Connective tissue can bring two unlikely friends or lovers together through a seemingly mundane situation or conversation, or it can shift the focus of your main story to concentrate on a few supporting characters or a related subplot while giving the main plot a rest. Think of it as an opportunity to take all of your best ideas, your most memorable moments...and gluing them together with something interesting enough to hold it all together. Connective tissue is all about answering your reader's questions before they're asked. That's all. "Why did this happen?" "Who is the woman in black?" "How is this kid going to come out to his homophobic stepdad?" "Where is this thing with the college roommate going, and is he flirting or not?" See...without a series of scenes to ask, and then provide possible answers, to questions like these between the big moments in your story...then all you have is a bunch of dramatic 'dun dun dun!' moments with no reason or meaning to your audience. Always remember...'show', don't 'tell'. You can't just convince your readers that a gay teen coming out to his stepfather is scary by simply writing, "I'm scared to come out to him because he's a homophobe." Well...I mean, technically, you can...but it won't have the same impact. It's just words on a page. It conveys a message, but not the emotion behind the message. Instead...why not try having a few short (but effective) scenes where you demonstrate that this stepfather doesn't care for gay people? Maybe he hears something on the news and makes some off colored remarks about it. Maybe he's trying to get his stepson involved in sports to keep him from being a 'sissy'. Or maybe there's a TV show with a gay character on it, and he swiftly changes the channel to display his distaste for the subject matter. This might seem like boring filler dialogue to some, but what you're actually doing is building a history of behavior for this side character in your story, and explaining why his stepson is afraid to come out to him as being gay. You're providing actual reasons for your protagonist to feel the way he does. This is necessary when telling a good story, even if your audience is in some big hurry to skip over it because they don't see where it's leading the way you do. Now, let's say your main character finds a love interest, and decides to come out in order for them to be together. But...in a rage, the stepfather ends up kicking him out of the house and screaming that he can never come back. Not ever. This is (finally) where you can see why the connective tissue was needed. You can see the last domino fall, and trace it back to where the chain reaction happened in the first place. If you skip around...and write, "I'm scared of my stepdad, but I'm in love now. I'm going to do it. I'm going to tell him tonight." And then you have a short dialogue and have him kicked out of the house? Well...it's functional. Not bad. I would have written it the same way when I was still finding my way around a keyboard. Hehehe! But now? I want that connective tissue there to bring color and understanding to what's going on here. I want readers to see the stepdad for who he is ahead of time, anticipate his negative reaction, feel the tension when coming out becomes a necessity for the gay teen, and then be shocked and appalled when the explosive conflict happens at last. There's a build up. An arc. Your readers are already entrenched in the situation before they even read it. Then they experience the emotional impact, first hand. They're given a clue as to what built up to this moment, and how the main character is planning to press forward towards the next big event. They're a part of that journey. I wish I could stress how much these chapters mean to building a better project when you're writing. A few missing bricks in a wall can cause it to collapse. DON'T RUSH! Take your time, and craft your story your way! K? People will either like it, or they won't. You don't have any control over that. The goal is to give birth to a project that you can be proud of, and that went exactly the way you wanted it to go. Much like sex...sometimes it's better to slow down and take your time so your 'partners' can enjoy it. As always, I hope this helps! Happy writing to you all! And it's good to be back! Hehehe! Sorry about disappearing for the holidays! But, you know...'family' and stuff! Seezya soon!
  13. Ensemble In one of my stories, "Savage Moon", I write about a teenage boy who gets drawn in with a bad crowd of misfits...who later turn out to be a pack of werewolves. (Don't worry, that's not a spoiler. It's, literally, the plot of the story. And it's practically given away in the title. So I didn't ruin any surprises with that one! Hehehe!) However, the 'alpha' tells their potential recruit about what it takes to build a strong pack. A family unit. And the key is in the personality traits of everyone in their circle. Every member of the pack has something unique to bring to the table. Something that none of the others can do without them there. Having any two of them exactly alike isn't efficient for the pack to thrive. Every character is filling in a hole that couldn't be filled by anyone else...and therefore, they are given purpose and a direct reason for being there. They strengthen the whole by covering certain blind spots within the group. I've learned that, if you're going to populate your story with a broad cast of characters...the same rules apply. While it's realistic to have people in your life that you recognize and, maybe, speak to on a daily basis...but don't really have any major impact on your life...allowing that to exist in your fiction can actually detract from the focus of the overall story. Obviously, we all have family members, coworkers, classmates in school, etc...but if you were to take out a piece of paper and try to list them all right now...you'd end up with a LOT of 'characters' that probably jump in and out of your life all the time. But your story can't be about all of them, now can it? It's a fun experience to work with a variety of different characters in a single story. I feel the interaction between characters, whether a positive interaction or a negative one, adds depth to the whole cast. You get to let them show the readers who they are by how they approach, engage, and respond, to one another, as opposed to just telling your audience who they are through narration. However...it can be really easy to get carried away when doing so. Any story can quickly spin out of control if you try to divide your focus among too many characters. It dilutes the potency after a while, and can make all of your characters suffer from a lack of proper development in the long run. SO...this weekend, we're talking about building and 'tightening up' an ensemble cast in your stories! Let's get to it! I, personally, use ensemble casts a lot in my writing. Not always, but quite often. Especially in my sci-fi or horror laced fiction. Definitely with stories like "Gone From Daylight", "Savage Moon", "Agenda 21", "Shelter", and "Skylight"...but also with stories like "Billy Chase", "New Kid In School", and "A Class By Himself". The idea is to have each side character bring something 'out' of the protagonist that the others usually don't. It allows you to see your main character from a different angle, existing in a different element as he or she bounces from interaction to interaction. It's like...in real life, I have a certain relationship with my mother. We talk, we laugh, we spend quality time together. But the relationship that I have with my very best friends that I've known since high school is completely different. The relationship that I have with the people I work with is different from both of those examples. It's not like I'm suffering with some sort of personality disorder...our interactions are just based on a variety of relationships to one another. So, when creating an ensemble cast of characters for your story, this is something that you might want to keep in mind. Why is this particular character there? What are they bringing to the table? What meaning will they have in terms of furthering the plot? And, most importantly...if you cut this character out of your story completely...would it have any real impact at all? If you have to even think about that last question for longer than a few seconds...take that character out of your story. Do it right away, before you get attached to them. You won't miss them. And neither will your readers. Trust me. I think my love for ensemble casts comes mostly from the works of Stephen King. More so in his writing than in the movies or TV mini-series, but he has a really cool way of putting ensemble casts together and using the technique to its full effect, in my opinion. It's as if he can take a group of friends, or just random strangers...toss them into a serious situation, and somehow weave them all together into a story where every single person has a role to play, and a seemingly predestined reason to be included in the story. Whether you've read the books or watched the movie versions, this is evident in stories like "The Stand", "IT", "The Langoliers", and others. Each character is contributing something to the plot. Maybe someone is a detective and has a keen eye for detail. Maybe another character has some sort of psychic ability. And another might end up being a traitor in their midst. But you bring them all together and put them in the same space? And, much like the wolf pack in "Savage Moon"...the whole becomes stronger by focusing on the attributes of its many parts. The key to creating a strong ensemble comes from being able to define who each character is and what each character does. You can start with a vague idea in your head at first, and narrow it down as you go along during your planning process. Think about what 'elements' you want to have in your story beforehand...and then create characters that will embody those elements in their attitudes and through their actions. I've found that to be the best way to go about it. Maybe you need a bashfully beautiful love interest. Maybe you need a character to lighten things up and act as the 'comic relief', even in dire situations. Maybe you need some muscle. A rebel who can bring the pain and provide protection when the plot calls for it. Maybe you need someone to be the asshole, or a best friend to act as the voice of reason, or a mysterious wildcard to keep the other characters on edge, or perhaps a sacrificial lamb who will end up saving the day when the time comes. Whatever elements you want your story to have? Create them in your mind first. Then craft your cast of characters around them and assign roles that will help you breathe life into those elements and carry the plot forward however you see fit. So...the big question becomes how to determine who belongs in the story and who doesn't. Well, I feel that ensemble casts should connect to your story in one of three ways. Whether the play a major role in the main story, or are just there for the blink of an eye, the reason for their inclusion should be attached to something in order to give them purpose. Connected to the other characters. This is something that I initially think about when putting my characters together in my head. I write gay teen romance, so I begin with my protagonist and then create his love interest. That goes without saying. So...how do I go about creating the world around these people? Maybe I'll give my protagonist a best friend. Someone to comfort them when they're down, lift them up, or maybe just someone to vent to when they're upset. It allows me to get outside of the main character's head and turn his thoughts into dialogue with another person, which is often more entertaining. What else? Maybe I'll add a bully at school, or a love rival, or a particularly nosey neighbor. Adding characters like this can offer challenges to our protagonist and can create some very interesting obstacles for our main character to skate around. In some of my stories, the parents are in the background. Present, but not really important. They don't enhance the story in any way, so they're not the focus. However, in a story like "A Class By Himself", the main character's mother plays a much larger role. A hard working, single, mom who's just struggling to get by so her son can succeed and have a future is an important part of the plot, so having her fleshed out and involved in what's going on is important. So...if you have characters that are directly connected to the main character, whether it be a friend, an enemy, a relative or sibling, or even a nasty teacher or school principal or boss at work...then you can figure out whether or not you really need them there pretty easily. Just remember that they should have some sort of impact on your main character's journey. They should greatly affect their moods and their actions. That's how you know they belong there. Connected to the plot. Sometimes there are plot elements that you want to express, or a series of events that you either want to set into motion or eventually resolve, and you can use a few side characters to accomplish that. Now, this isn't to say that you shouldn't flesh these characters out or push them into the background fog of your storytelling...but they are here to carry the plot. That's their purpose. In the story, "Never Again", I had a side character that makes a brief appearance in the beginning of the story, shows up for a few seconds in the middle, and then makes one last appearance, I think, in the last chapter. However, his role in the story ends up delivering the 'punch' that the story needed to reach the ending that I had in mind. Now, was he a major character in the grand scheme of things? No. But his inclusion was plot related. He had a role to play, and he played it well! Hehehe! When creating plot related characters, they don't have to be as deep or as layered as your main characters, but they still need to have an effect on the story that is significant and ultimately understood by your audience. They have something to do. This is less about how they interact with your characters, and more about what your readers can learn from them within the context of the story. Think of them as mail carriers. They're there to deliver a message. They can piss your protagonist off, or they can enlighten them, or they can destroy a romantic moment, or they can bring certain emotions to the surface. So concentrate on the moment that you're trying to create. You want the story to take a sad and dark turn? You want to fire your main character up and inspire him to give it his all? You want to create a sense of danger or dread? These are where your plot themed characters come into play. They don't have to be a big part of the story, they just need to provide the catalyst for the emotional ups and downs that you're trying to weave into your project. Connected to the theme. These characters can be 'temporary' in your story. This doesn't make them unimportant, though. When thinking of a theme for your story, you are creating a certain feel or tone for what you're writing. So ensemble characters that are connected to the theme are basically used as examples of the mood you're trying to express to your audience. Hmmm...how to explain? Let's say that you're writing a story about war veterans who are dealing with post traumatic stress syndrome. If your main character is going to meetings to deal with his issues, a 'theme connected' character or two might bring more depth to what's going on with him. They may not play a major role in the story, but may show up on occasion to offer some advice or possibly display what could happen if the protagonist goes down the wrong path. Maybe you have a story where the main character is dealing with drug addiction, or is a part of a Gay/Straight alliance club at their local rec center, or a group of runaway kids who happen to settle in the same abandoned building. Basically, you can tell as much or as little about them as you want...but their main purpose is to flesh out the world you've built for your characters to inhabit. They don't have to necessarily have to be connected to any of your main characters in any significant way, and they don't really have to further the plot. They're there to 'show' your readers the world in which they live. If you've got a homeless teen on the streets, you might want to have somebody he wanted to think was a friend...but ends up ripping him off. Or maybe you have some random kid beat him up for his shoes. Or maybe you have a truant officer constantly breathing down his neck and searching the streets for him. These people can come and go, only having short interactions with the other members of your cast...but they're there to demonstrate the theme of your story in a very visual and engaging way. So whether your main character lives in a Utopian paradise or a dystopian shithole...having a few meetings with other people who exist in that world to demonstrate exactly what it's like to live there, can be a huge bonus for a writer, and can make their story all the more immersive in the long run. So, bottom line, ensemble casts can be a useful tool in creating a more three-dimensional view of your characters and your story as a whole. It's all about how relevant they are to the plot, and that can be determined by how you view their contribution to the big picture. Always make sure that the characters you create are there to do something. To have some impact. Even if it's a little thing, make sure they know their role in the grand scheme of things. If they're just there for the sake of giving your audience another name to remember...let them go. Don't be afraid to cut a character that isn't going to work out for the best interest of your story. It's not always an easy decision to make, but unless you want that person to drag the rest of your story down into the mud, give them a hug and say goodbye. I hope this helps! Take care! And I'll seezya soon!
  14. One thing that I have always loved about writing stories is the idea that I can finally allow my mind and my emotions to exist in a world that I, alone, can actually control! Hehehe, and that probably sounds pretty narcissistic, but it's the truth. In the worlds that I create, the shy guy can get their first kiss from the prettiest boy on the block. The lovable 'friend zone' kid can get the boy of his dreams to finally see him for the perfect mate that he is. Justice is always served where needed, bullies and evildoers always get their comeuppance, and fate is always conspiring in the favor of my main character. Naturally...spoiler alert...real life doesn't always work that way. To be honest, it's a coin flip decision, figuring out whether you're going to be treated fairly or unfairly by life itself. Sad, but true. But a guy can dream, right? Being able to write fiction and fantasize about what a perfect world might be like if it followed our individual ideas of love and romance and beauty were at our very core is an exciting and satisfying release for any creative mind that decides to take it head on. However...I, personally, believe that there has to be a little bit of room left for the readers to enjoy their fantasies too. Them being engaged in the stories we write is half the battle. Maybe even more so. And I'd like to talk about that a bit more this week. Feel free to join me if you like. Hehehe! You see, one thing that can be hard for me to do sometimes is to take 'myself' out of the equation when I'm writing. I cling to every emotion, every expression...my stories are SO personal, and so closely connected to who I am as a person. I can see and feel and almost touch every last part of my story as if it were real. I think it's a good thing, and I love being able to bring my personality, thoughts, dreams, sense of humor, and fears, to my readers. But I also try to remember that this is their experience too. The idea for me as an author is for us to share that experience. I can't create a sense of perfection for my audience, because we all have drastically different ideas about what 'perfection' is. How can I possibly 'tell' somebody what they want? That's just not the way to go. So...how do I get around that and still bring that heart and that extremely personal touch to my stories that a wide audience can relate to and identify with. The answer is...leave room for their input. Hehehe, don't look so confused. I'll explain. LOL! When has 'Comsie' ever NOT run off at the mouth? I always enjoy reading your comments on these weekly entries, and I love to hear about how you guys handle all of these writing tactics on your own. I can remember a few times in the past where some of you were talking about 'sex scenes' in your stories, and how sometimes you just allude to a sexual encounter and then get back to the story. You don't have to graphically describe every thrust, every kiss, every heavy breath and droplet of sweat, involved. The sex is simply suggested, and the audience understands what happened when the story 'faded to black', right? This is a perfect example of leaving room for your audience. Because, even though we don't write out some lengthy description of what was going on in that scene, in the minds of your readers...they're probably picturing the most erotically charged sex scene they've ever seen! LOL! It's true! Tell me you haven't done it yourselves. Wherever the author leaves off...your personal fantasies fill in the details. And nobody is ever going to write something hotter than your own sexual desires. Those desires are tailor made to you and you alone. Giving you an opportunity to explore and enjoy those fantasies during the story, makes them a part of it. They personalize it, and therefore...become much more involved. That's the secret! It's the 'eye of the beholder' theory at work. If everybody reading this were to post a picture here of who they think is the most beautiful boy on planet Earth...chances are, despite some similarities here and there, no two pictures would be alike. So, when I describe my characters in my stories, you may notice that the details lay out a 'guideline', but I don't go out of my way to make them overly specific unless I feel it's needed for the story. I may describe hair color, eye color, vague body type...but other than that, I use words like 'beautiful', or 'gentle', or 'delicate features'. I describe them as being bashful, or intimidating, or merely cute. And that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Instad of trying to force my version of 'cute' on my readers, I try to explain that my protagonists finds them to be stunningly gorgeous...and I give them room to interpret what their idea of 'stunningly gorgeous' means to them. Maybe they're picturing the typical, soft bodied, boy next door. Maybe they're picturing the sexy track star with the rock hard abs. Maybe they think back to that very first crush they had in the tenth grade, or they might think back to that first boyfriend they nabbed in college. Hell, maybe they're thinking of a singer or actor that they're currently obsessed with. The point is...when you give you readers room to create some of the details with their own vivid imagination, they become more attracted to the story itself. The perfection in their own minds becomes an overlay for the story you're giving them...and that symbiotic reader/writer relationship gets enhanced tenfold. The way to accomplish this is to simply allow certain specifics about your characters or events in the story to be vague and malleable, according to who might be reading. That doesn't mean that you should purposely exclude details. You still want to paint a picture that will bring your readers into the world that you wanted to create...but there are ways to finesse your wordplay in ways that gives a description without intruding on your reader's imagination. For example... If you write, "I thought he was so beautiful! He was about 5' 7", and rail thin...150 pounds, tops. He had a few pimples, but nothing major. And a lip ring on the right side of his bottom lip. An emo boy with reddish brown hair and spiked bracelets on each wrist." there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. This is a detailed description of a character that you wanted to create, and it's perfectly normal for you to do so. So if that's the picture you want to paint, then go for it! However, in most cases, I would personally write it a bit differently... "I thought he was so beautiful! Slender, with longish reddish-brown hair. I liked his bracelets too. I just couldn't get over how cute he was. Scattered pimples and all." So what's the difference? I left more room for the reader to put the picture of this boy together. I don't mention how tall he is. What if my readers want to picture him as being really tall and lanky? Or what if they want someone shorter? What if the term 'rail thin' turns them off? They might like someone with a bit more meat on their bones. What if the term 'emo boy' puts a certain vision of what that means...and they decide they're not into it? What if they don't like lip rings? All of these things come into play when writing a story. ESPECIALLY when it's a romantic or erotic story. So it's something to think about. This is why it can be difficult to write fanfics sometimes. What happens if you pick a fictional character or a celebrity that other people don't find sexy? They skip it, immediately. You want to avoid that. Let your readers define the characters for themselves. Give them an outline, sure...but unless a super detailed description is needed for that particular character...leave the window open for them to do some creative world building of their own. I learned this after years of having readers give me ideas or pictures or drawings of how they imagine my characters would look. They're all so different! But I LIKE that. When they read the stories, they have the best cast, the best score of music, the most erotic and visually appealing love interests, imaginable! The story that they're building in the back of their minds is FAR superior than anything that I could ever hope to type out on this screen. So it's almost like we're developing this project together as a team. And I find that to be a bonding experience, personally. Sometimes they have hotter sex scenes in mind, sometimes they have more action packed fight scenes in mind, sometimes they're imagining the saddest song ever made during a heartbreak scene...and I won't even try to match that. Hehehe, let them build it their way. It's a big part of the process when it comes to building and maintaining a loyal fanbase and increasing their personal connection to the characters in your story. So...set the stage, pick the costumes, and flesh out your characters and scenes however you want...but always remember that the reader is a big part of this creative effort. Whether you know them or not. Detail is essential in literature, but sometimes...less is more. If someone is beautiful...let you readers figure out what beautiful is. If someone has longish blond hair...let your readers determine how long 'longish' is. If your characters made love all night long...sometimes it's sexier to just say "We made love all night long. Over and over again. And every orgasm was better than the one before it." Trust me, your audience will imagine what that must have been like, and it will be everything they ever dreamed of! "Wow! You're story was awesome (enter writer's name here)!" Hehehe, well THANKS! You did half the work! ::Giggles:: Junk food for thought! I hope this helps! Seezya soon, you guys! And happy writing!
  15. Comicality

    Story Arcs

    Beginning. Middle. End. Setup. Conflict. Resolution. All stories have a certain formula to them. That formula can be played with, rearranged, and altered, in a variety of different ways...but even that has some form of structure, when you sit down and think about it. Straying from a conventional method of telling a story doesn't mean that the original blueprint doesn't exist. We just choose to find a way of subverting expectations concerning the norm. A norm that set the standard for us in the first place. The most interesting stories and character revelations aren't drawn as a straight line. Most memorable stories have an 'arc' to them. The beginning, middle, and end, are bent into a shape that gives our readers somewhere to go. A journey. An adventure. And I know that we hear about story arcs all the time, but do we really take a moment to think about what that term actually means? Let's discuss... Many people may be familiar with the depiction of the theater masks, 'comedy' and 'tragedy'. One mask is smiling, and the other one is frowning. But what many not be aware of is the fact that these two masks aren't just grins and frowns, but the visual representation of two true story arcs. It describes how the story is going to begin and how it ultimately ends. Look at the smile on the comedy mask. That's how comedies or 'feel good' stories work, isn't it? It starts at a high point, then it dips down to a low point where things look dark and hopeless for our main character...but then the smile slopes up again, and with the dodging of a myriad of obstacles and hardships, the story ends up on a high note again. This is the natural story arc of a comedy. (Not always a 'Ha Ha' comedy, but a story with a happy ending.) Now...take a look at the frown on the tragedy mask. This is the exact opposite. Things start out being dreary and miserable. A serious low point. Then...it slowly rises up to give the main character feelings of hope and salvation. Things begin to turn around for the better. However, to complete the frown, the high point is short lived, and then it's a downward slide back into misery again. The character ends up back where he started, and that brief glimpse of joy and promise makes the tragedy all the more unbearable in the end. It's a crushing blow to the protagonist, and there are no pots of gold at the end of this particular rainbow. Whichever way you go, the story arc is what keeps things interesting for your readers. You want your characters to have somewhere to go, whether it be to their benefit or to their ultimate demise. It is that journey that creates the feeling of purpose when it comes to people reading your story. They're looking for a reason as to why they read your book from beginning to end in the first place, right? You've got to give them one. Imagine if your story was traveling along a straight line instead of an arc. What if the protagonist started off miserable...ended up miserable in the end...and was miserable every moment in between. I mean, would YOU want to read that story? I wouldn't. There are no moments of hope. No promise of rescue or happiness...no shining light at the end of the tunnel. Just...more tunnel. And a depressing journey that never gets any better than it was when you started. In the same respect...imagine that your character was soooo perfect and soooo beautiful and happy at the beginning of your story...ended up getting everything he wanted in the end without any struggle or sacrifice...and had nothing but good fortune and heartfelt giggles every moment in between. That would be equally boring. I wouldn't want to read that story either. There's got to be a FEW pitfalls and missteps along the way, right? Otherwise...I'd know how the story ends just from seeing how it begins. That's not entertaining, in my opinion. Even a baseball pitcher knows to throw a few change ups in there every now and then to keep people guessing. Why should your art be any different? Remember...people scream on a roller coaster...but they fall asleep on a train. Take that any way you want to take it. Have you ever been on a long road trip? Driving down a straight road with no scenery, no turns, no buildings....just an endless road? Yeah, that would be your story without an arc. When you create an idea for a story...think of your plot as a yin yang symbol. Think about all of the wonderful parts that you want to add to it, but also keep in mind that there have to be a few challenges and obstacles in the way as well. Whether you're writing a comedy or a tragedy, these same rules apply. A happy story needs moments of misery to create a sense of joy for your readers. And a tragic story needs moments of levity in order to keep your audience from being so depressed that they stop reading. If you can master a sense of balance on either side, then you will attract an audience willing to laugh and cry along with the characters that you create no matter what. But it takes some finesse. And finesse takes practice. Now, I'll admit...I've never been the bravest soldier in the battle of growing up as a kid. Hehehe! I was the shy guy. I had secrets, I was scared to reveal a lot of the feelings I had for other boys, and well...hindsight is always 20/20. So I do include a lot of teen angst in my stories. Silly mistakes and bad decisions. That was my life back when I was trying to navigate through life for the first time ever. And believe me...I get HAMMERED for it sometimes in my comments and emails. LOL! My characters are 'stupid' and 'ignorant' and 'GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!!!' But that's not how I remember it. Not when I was a teenager myself. There were peaks, and there were valleys. I remember being scared out of my mind sometimes, and being brave to the point of being downright reckless other times. But that's life. We all go through it. And we all don't have the wisdom and experience of a full grown adult when we shuffle our way through it for the first time. But, that aside...when folks ask me, "Why can't this character just throw caution to the wind and tell the whole world he's gay and get it over with?" Or, "Why doesn't he just profess his undying love already for the most beautiful by EVER in chapter TWO of the series?" Hehehe...well, because I wouldn't have a STORY to tell then, now would I? There's no arc to constant misery or constant perfection. My teen years weren't like that, neither were yours. Be honest! So why would my characters' teen years be like that? I don't WANT my stories to read like, "I saw this boy. He was cute. I asked him out within the first ten minutes of meeting him. He said yes. We had hot sex. The end." I mean...how entertaining is that? Where's the meat of the story? Where's the fear and the folly and the reward for going for broke? That's 'porn without plot'! And there's an audience for that, but it's not what I write. That's not why I started creating my stories and sharing them online. Am I crazy? If I wrote that story, none of my 'romantic' fans would read it. None of them would connect in the same way, or relate to the situation at hand. What would be the point? Can't writers just paint a decent picture from their hearts without being 'jumped' on all the time? Hehehe! Let me give my characters somewhere to go, something to learn, something to deal with and wrestle their way through to a satisfying end. The 'arc' is everything in a story. No matter how short or how long it may be. Give your characters something to triumph over. Some kind of opportunity for redemption. Or even an unfair hardship that eventually leads to them crashing and burning at the end. Either way, the idea is to have your character start somewhere...end somewhere...and have a change in mood and tone and experience significant challenges along the way. That's the fuel that makes writing fiction fun. And if the writer is having fun, then the readers should be having fun too. And if they're not...because they desperately want the story to go a different way? Then...sorry...but they should be spending time writing their own story instead of wasting time telling you how to write yours. As I've said many times in the past...you don't write for your readers. You write for yourself. Then you SHARE it with your readers when you're finished. Don't get those two things confused. I've learned that 'all' readers will never be happy with anything you write. Hehehe! Not ever. Don't try to sacrifice your voice to please them, it won't work. If you're going to write a story, at least make yourself happy with it. And if others jump on the bandwagon, then that's a bonus. But if they get mad and complain...at least you know that you put out a good project. Your best work. And those readers have the entirety of the internet to go find what they're looking for. So don't you dare feel guilty for one second about being true to your own voice. K? Alright...had to say that, because...'tangent'... Anyway, an arc is created when you visualize where your character begins, and figure out where you want him/her to end. Then you try to find an interesting way of getting them there. Think about the lessons that you've learned in your own life growing up. Think about what defines your thoughts and beliefs surrounding everything that you do. It may seem mundane now...but those beliefs might have come from somewhere. Maybe you have a policy to never date a musician. Hehehe, ok...well, why? Do you have a history with someone who was a musician? Maybe you fell in love with him, the had some good times...then saw some pitfalls in the relationship, then it ultimately ended in tragedy. Well, that's you're story arc. You learned something. Experience was achieved through good or bad fortune. You traveled from your starting point to where you are now. It's hard for me to put into words, but if you keep writing and drawing from your past experiences...the grand design will present itself to you naturally. And you'll adopt that same practice to all of your characters when writing your stories in the future. You just have to be able to visualize the arc in the planning stages. Think of Scrooge. How he progresses from one attitude about life to another. But only when being shown the truth, and making an attempt to take that journey to see what's on the other side. That journey...the struggle...that creates the arc. The need to succeed or to fail is what pushes the main character forward within the storyline. So the key is to create the 'opposite' of where the character started from...and then bring them back 'home' in the end. That's the secret. If they're happy...put them through the ringer and give them some significant obstacles to maintain that happiness. There ya go! Character arc! If they're miserable, then their obstacle is being confronted with glimpses of joy and hope. They 'overcome' that obstacle by screwing it all up and letting everything go to shit. And the end up back where they started. Miserable. Either way, changing emotions is the hidden key to creating interesting character arcs in your stories. So play around with a few ideas, and see if you can find a comfortable way of creating story arcs of your own. Remember, you want to give your character somewhere to go...therefore, giving your readers somewhere to go. Everything you write should be a journey. And that comes with both good and bad times for the characters you use to tell your story. Give them something to do. K? I hope this gets a few brain cells sparked up, and it helps with your next story. Take care! And I'll seezya next week!
  16. Comicality

    Tone

    It was 1997, around this time of year, when James Cameron's big blockbuster movie, 'Titanic', was bout to hit movie screens around the world. I remember it vividly! Hehehe, mostly because my best friend and I were like, "We'll put that off until later! We're not missing 'Tomorrow Never Dies'! It's James Bond, dammit!" Anyway, as they began advertising 'Titanic'...I noticed something different about the way the commercials were doing it. This was actually a sneaky little trend for a short time in the late 90's. You'd see one commercial, and it would be full of emotionally stirring music, and fancy costumes, and dancing and giggles...like, "Come see the romantic movie of a lifetime!" But then...during prime time, you'd see a commercial for the exact same movie, but this one was practically using the heart-pounding action theme from Cameron's 'ALIENS' movie instead! With this trailer, they showed the ship sinking (Yeah...spoiler alert! The ship sinks! Hehehe!), and it was all about people running and screaming and gunshots and people getting punched in the face! "Don't miss out on the action packed movie experience of the year!" Okaaaayyyy...are those commercials advertising the same movie? The answer is...YES! All they did was change the focus, thus changing the tone. And it worked. It got the dramatic Oscar thirsty romantics to come see it, as well as the action oriented disaster movie fans, and it became one of the biggest money making films of all time. Can't argue with success, I guess. Now, when people talk about tone, I think there's a basic understanding of what that is...but not exactly how it can be used to create the overall feel of their story. Nor do they think much about how conflicting tones can actually work against a story's ability to keep the readers locked in. Some may ask, "Well, who's going to nitpick my story for its tone? I mean, what does tone even mean when it comes to writing my own stuff?" Tone means everything! Just a few sentences can drastically change the tone of a scene and throw your audience off in a major way. Tone can affect the way that your readers look at a certain situation, the characters involved, and create an entirely different interpretation of what's being said and done. Hmmm...here, let me give you an example... These are the opening credits to an old sitcom, 'Diff'rent Strokes'! Hehehe, even if you've seen this before, make sure that you watch the original again, for comparison's sake! Now, this was a weekly half hour comedy about a rich guy in a condo that adopted his maid's two children after she passed away. It was all jokes and laugh tracks, etc. Watching the first video, you can see how it fits that old TV sitcom tone and represents what the show was like before you see a single episode. Very happy and upbeat, right? You see a sweet older guy in a limo, grinning from ear to ear, giving a better life to a couple of kids. Playful shenanigans ensue from there. Now...click on the video next to it... NOTHING has been changed about the opening itself, except for the music. Everything else is the same, but the 'tone' is different. This time, when you're looking at the same happy, feel good, events that you saw in the first opening credits scene...you can see how drastically different your mind interprets what's going on here? Hehehe, it doesn't seem so 'innocent' now, does it? See for yourself... - - That...is the power of 'tone'. It can make you see things that aren't really there, feel emotions in ways you didn't expect. And it's being done to you all the time. In commercials, in movie trailers, in politics, on consumer packaging, etc. The idea is to create a certain feeling within you, and use that to emotionally alter your perception of everything else that goes along with it, whether it's the truth or not. It all depends on your focus and the tone you apply to it. Last week, I talked about writing story blurbs and creating a summary that provokes a certain 'feeling' about your story that will draw readers in to see what happens. This can be created by tone alone, and it can be done in a very short amount of time if you practice figuring out how a wide audience responds to the words you use and the way you use them. Going back to 'Titanic'...if you're looking for a big, action packed, tragedy with Summer blockbuster special effects and gruesome deaths? They've got you. If you're looking for a lighthearted romance where the female main character finds the man of her dreams and is whisked away from her unhappy life, only to discover the true power of love? They've got you too. The advertisers can't lose. You get the rugged action hero AND the Disney princess. This is how the concept of tone can be used to persuade you to feel one way or another, and to any author that's skilled in this part of their craft, they can accomplish anything...from making their readers laugh, to making them mad enough to punch a hole in the wall, to sobbing uncontrollably on cue. So beware...'tone' is a loaded gun. Use it responsibly. Now, one thing that I want to say right away...is don't confuse 'tone' with 'theme'. They're not the same. Theme is determined by the feeling of your story as a whole. It's a broad blanket statement about your entire project from beginning to end. Tone, however...can change from scene to scene. It's not meant to be as vague. You can set a different tone from moment to moment, depending on what you want that scene to accomplish for your story. For example, a really dark themed story can have moments of levity. Or even full blown comedy. That's fine. In the same respect, a romantic comedy can suddenly descend into a few dark moments that totally blindside your characters (And readers) in a really effective way. Sometimes, changing the tone in your story can keep things interesting, provided you make a smooth transition from one tone to another. I find that switching tones in my writing is best achieved in short bursts. If there's something dramatic going on, something with significant emotional weight...a character might try to, unsuccessfully, inject some humor to avoid the situation. But, if I want the current tone to be one of heartbreak and tears...I might add one joke or two, but I'll make it feel awkward and out of place as it should be, and then I'll get right back to the drama of the scene. Nobody wants to be pulled out of the moment by an entire Laurel and Hardy comedy bit that goes on for a page and a half. That can come off as jarring and unnatural to your audience. Not only that, but if you want to finish the dramatic part of the scene...you'll have to work to ease them back into the intended mood all over again. It's like driving on the highway. You've taken the comedy off ramp from 'Dramatic Way'...and now you've got to find a way to get back on at the next exit and merge back into traffic. I think a few changes in tone can be effective, but always remember the point and purpose of the scene first...and then see if you can play around with the formula a bit for a change-up. Is there an exception to the rule? Of course! Plenty. But, if you're going to suddenly change tones in your writing...make sure that you're doing it deliberately. Like, for shock value, for example. Imagine if you have two best friends hanging out and they're having a hilarious conversation, playfully teasing one another, fighting over a video game controller...and then, one of them reveals, "I've only got a few weeks to live." ::Slams On The Brakes:: Wait...WHAT??? "That's why I came over here today. I wasn't sure how to tell you, but...yeah." Now this is one HELL of a sudden change in tone! But...when used correctly, it can be an extremely dramatic moment that will have even MORE impact, due to the festive and jovial moments preceding it. If that was your intention, then AWESOME! Well done! However, if it was unintentional...then that might end up confusing and leading your readers astray. If your tones clash from scene to scene, it ends up diluting the emotion that you were going for. It's key to stay consistent when it comes to this kind of thing. Also, try not to 'combine' tone and theme in a way where you stray from what the story was built up to be from the beginning. Meaning...stick to your theme. Tone can change up from time to time, but when you change the entire theme and your story goes a different way? That can also be damaging to your story. No spoilers...but there have been a bunch of movies that have made this mistake in the past (Well...'mistake' in my opinion), where the theme of the movie did a 180* in tone...and never got back to the theme it started with. I remember watching some movies like "A Walk To Remember", "Regarding Henry", or "Million Dollar Baby"...which are all good films in their own right, but the tone COMPLETELY changed at one point, and never came back. It was like, "Wait! What happened to...? Jesus...i wasn't prepared to sign up for this! Gah!" So, if you're going to change the tone, my suggestion would be to adhere to the original theme. And if you have a certain theme? Figure that out in the beginning and stick with it, even if you deviate from the original tone from time to time. Like I said, consistency is the key. Ok, before I bring this to an end, I wanted to give you guys a personal example of how I feel about tone. I'm writing these out quickly, but I think they'll get my point across. I hope. Hehehe! Plus, I'm giving you guys some more video examples of what I mean. Because they're FUN! Take a movie that is in NO way the kind of flick that is portrayed in this trailer...but, technically, they ARE scenes from the movie! So, you can't say that it's false advertising. You've just been tricked by the tone monster! This first example? Imagine that I had a scene where I had one boy breaking up with someone he had just started dating. They're not producing any magic together, and he just wants to move on, even though his date evidently had other plans in mind for them. I'm going to keep the characters and dialogue exactly the same for each of the four examples, but I'll be changing some of the details, the tone, and the vocabulary that I use, to try to give each short its own feel and create a different experience for you guys as readers. See if you can tell the difference. #1 - Romantic Comedy He just kept giving me the goofiest smile ever! And, yeah...maybe I felt like saying the words out loud would be the equivalent of kicking a baby kitten with a steel tipped boot, but...I swear, if I didn't get the courage to tell him now, I was going to try to swallow my wad of gum and hopefully choke to death before being forced to deal with the horrible confession. "I'm sorry, George. This just...this isn't working out for me." I said. Talk about having a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders! I couldn't believe that I had waited this long to say it. After trips to the carnival, and the movies, and hanging out at the beach...I was happy to break free from his goofy antics and just...move on. You know? Before he started saving strands of my hair and toenail clippings for the voodoo altar of me that I'm sure he had in a closet in his mom's basement somewhere! He looked a little surprised by this revelation, and I tried to soften the blow a bit by saying, "You weren't happy either, were you? Wouldn't it be better if we just...stopped wasting each other's time." It was true! Talking to him was like trying to make friendly conversation during a hostage negotiation sometimes. We didn't have anything in common, we didn't share a sense of humor...and we just... Oh F#$%! Why is he crying??? "What makes you think I would want this?" He said. "I thought we'd be together forever." Geez, pump your brakes, 'Cinderella'! We went out two times. We had ONE kiss. We're hardly soul mates at this point. Then, he says, "How could you do this to me? HOW???" Ok, this is getting weird. I, suddenly, wanted to strap a jet pack to my shoulders and simply fly away from this situation, but had to settle for saying, "Maybe I should go. I'm really sorry, k?" Might as well make my escape before I make things any worse, right? That's when George looks at me, and he says, "Don't. I'm not ready to let you go just yet." #2 - Drama It was time. I feel like I had been dragging this out for much longer than I ever should have. I wasn't just hiding from my true feelings anymore. I was actually going to end up really hurting him if I didn't come clean and tell him the truth. So...I took a deep breath, and I said, "I'm sorry, George. This just...this isn't working out for me." The words seemed to cause his infatuated smile to completely vanish from his face. It was like his emotions had suddenly blown a fuse, gone dark, and he was left with the pain of finding his way around in pitch black darkness...trying to find his way towards whatever had happened to cause this. The silence was deafening. I felt like garbage almost immediately. Trying to walk back my disgusting comment, I said, "You weren't happy either, were you? Wouldn't it be better if we just...stopped wasting each other's time." Was I really trying to make this seem like a mutual break up? I didn't expect him to buy that. He was in love with me. Or at least, he had convinced himself that he was. I was being a coward, hoping to get out of this dating thing clean. "What makes you think I would want this?" He said, tears now rolling out of his eyes as he sniffled quietly to himself. "I thought we'd be together forever. How could you do this to me? HOW???" I began to tremble inside. I had really hurt him. It wasn't my intention, I just...I wasn't sharing the same feelings that he was. I'm doing the right thing, aren't I? Better now than later? I don't know. I've just...I've got to give myself some time to think. Maybe we both need some time to think. Hopefully, it will lessen the impact of a blindsided heartbreak. "Maybe I should go." I said. "I'm really sorry, k?" "Don't. I'm not ready to let you go just yet." He sobbed. Ugh! I never felt like such a bastard. #3 - Thriller/Horror I remember feeling a serious chill crawl over my shoulders as I fought to find the words to tell him that we were through. Nothing harsh. Nothing confrontational. I just knew that I needed to get away from him before something went wrong. Terribly wrong. "I'm sorry, George. This just...this isn't working out for me." I said, keeping my distance from him. There was a sudden change in his demeanor. It was as if a dark storm cloud had rolled in overhead to darken his mood considerably. The chill within me got worse, and I found myself getting increasingly nervous as his intense gaze lifted to stare coldly into my frightened eyes. Trying to cover up my growing fear, I stumbled to say, "You weren't happy either, were you? Wouldn't it be better if we just...stopped wasting each other's time?" He didn't answer. He just stared at me...a single tear falling from his eye while the rest of his face remained void of emotion. Finally...he spoke. "What makes you think I would want this? I thought we'd be together forever." He balled up his fists, now allowing more tears to roll down his cheeks. "How could you do this to me?" He said. Then, loudly shouting, "HOW???" I flinched in horror, unsure of what he might do to me if I remained within reach of him. With a shaky voice, I said, "Maybe I should go. I'm really sorry, k?" But...as I took a step forward, George stepped in front of me. His eyes red with anger, his bottom lip, quivering, as he sneered, "Don't. I'm not ready to let you go just yet." #4 - Action Even with the armed soldiers approaching our position, George and I...clearly outnumbered here...I couldn't help but to use this panicked moment to tell him my true feelings about...well, about 'us'. With bullets whizzing over our heads as we maintained cover behind the shipping crates on the dock, I said, "I'm sorry, George. This just...this isn't working out for me." Causing him to stop reloading his firearm and give me a look of total disbelief. As if...it was SO inappropriate to do this right NOW! As the army approached our position, George hopped up and shot a few rounds into one of the explosive cans behind our attackers, causing them to fall forward and remain stunned for a moment while he took cover again and looked me in the eye, a shocked expression on his face. "You weren't happy either, were you? Wouldn't it be better if we just...stopped wasting each other's time?" Hearing our enemies regaining their footing, I popped to lay down some cover fire and then slide back down to keep them at bay for a few minutes longer. Hopefully giving the calvary enough time to figure out our location and rush in for immediate evac! "What makes you think I would want this? I thought we'd be together forever." George said, quickly rolling over to deliver a head shot to another approaching soldier. "How could you do this to me? HOW???" The gunfire began to race over our head again, and I had obviously picked the wrong time to bear my soul like this. First we get to safety, THEN discuss our break up! "Maybe I should go." I said, and then got ready to run to the other side of the shipping dock. But not before telling him, "I'm really sorry, k?" He grabbed me by the wrist, shoving another pistol into my hand. "Don't. I'm not ready to let you go just yet." So there ya go! The same small scene, told four different ways. Hopefully, it'll demonstrate how the tone of a scene can cause an audience to feel different ways about what's going on in the story at that moment. It can cause readers to look at things differently, it can cause them to choose sides for or against the main character...it can change the whole feel of a story. So if your tone is inconsistent with what you're trying to do...it won't be as effective. Even if it's beautifully written and edited flawlessly, evoking emotion is a HUGE part of the writing process. If you're lacking on that part of it...the rest begins to fall apart. So pay attention to the tone of your story, scene by scene, and make sure that it's doing exactly what you want it to do as you continue to move forward. K? Yikes, this one was long! Hehehe! I'll shut up now! I hope this helps! Happy writing! And I'll seezya soon!
  17. Comicality

    Story Blurbs

    So...readers have decided to sit down and go to a quality archive full of some really well written, really hot, stories online. They get comfortable, open their laptops, head on over to GayAuthors.org because we've obviously got the best game in town when it comes to this sort of thing, hehehe...and BAM! They're looking at hundreds upon hundreds of stories all at once. Whether readers feel overwhelmed by that, or they take the happy 'kid in a candy store' approach, it can be a daunting task to figure out where to begin. Tags and keywords help to narrow things down, sure, but your story might still be thrown onto a list with a hundred others with a similar theme. So the question is, how do you get readers to buy your particular doggie in the window over somebody else's? Welcome to this week's topic! We're talking about writing a story synopsis for your project, and hopefully grabbing the reader's attention before they've even read a single sentence of your work. However, before getting to that, I think authors need to remember that you really can't judge a book by its cover...but the same can't be said about a title. So the rules of a good story title definitely apply. Otherwise, readers won't even get to the story synopsis and they'll end up missing out on your genius. So always try to think of something that's intriguing, easy to remember, and is relevant to the plot but doesn't give too much away, when you're giving your story a title. If it's too simple and non descriptive (Like "Jake Gets A Blowjob"), readers might skip right over it. if it's too long and unnecessarily descriptive (Like "The Cosmic Adventures Of Johnny The Detective On The Gangster Planet Of Neptune")...yeah, skip. There's a huge middle ground in between the two extremes, so you've got tons of creative space, just remember that title is the bait on your end of the fishing hook. That doesn't mean the hook can't be successful at catching fish...but most fish are going to pass up the chance to just suck on a random hook. Hehehe! So keep that in mind. I like to think of story blurbs as being mini movie trailers for the story to follow. You're giving readers a 'hint' about what to expect, but you want to leave out enough detail and context to keep them from figuring out the whole story from the blurb alone. Never underestimate a reader's ability to guess his or her way through your entire story from the synopsis you've given them. As I've said in the past...readers are very savvy these days. They've read hundreds, maybe thousands, of stories before they got to yours. They know the themes. They know what 'beats' a story hits, how narratives work, how plot twists are foreshadowed early on. They know romantic tropes, science fiction cliches, horror contrivances, and dramatic cues. Keep this in mind when you're trying to put a story blurb together. One or two sentences can end up giving away the entire plot of your story. And...even if the reader is making the wrong assumption from what they've read...they may skip your story anyway. Simply because they THINK, "I've read this before. I know how it ends." It's nearly impossible to avoid, but it is a factor. Think of it as reading an old mystery and assuming 'the butler did it'. That may not be how the story ends at all, but if your story blurb describes a murder, a grieving widow, and the victim's only friend was his loyal and true butler, Edmund? Some people will think, "Yeah. That guy's SO guilty! Hehehe!" I think story synopsis blocks should serve one, very important, purpose. It's asking your audience a question. Better yet, it is planting the seeds necessary to get them to ask the question. What is this story about? What can I look forward to? What kind of feeling am I going to get from this? Can I relate to these characters? Will I have any emotional connection to the plot? Etc. Your answer, as a writer, should be... ...Read it and find out! Your story blurb should take on the easy task of drawing someone in to read something that they've already been searching for. Always remember that they are trying to find your work and hear what you have to say. You've just got to wave your hands and shout out, "Over here!"And they'll come running. So, whether your story is finished or a work in progress, try to see if you can capture the overall theme of the project as a whole. Ask yourself what 'kind' of story it is, and try to project that feeling in your synopsis. It's like a microfiction project of its own. You only have a paragraph to do everything that you hope to accomplish with 10 to 20 chapters of a short novel, so use the same rules that you would when writing your story. Interesting characters, intriguing plot, emotional involvement. If you're writing apocalyptic stories where the stakes are high, use a vocabulary and a put forth a vibe of possible danger and dire circumstances. If you're writing a tragedy, your tone should be more somber. Feel free to pull a few heartstrings when giving readers a glimpse of what's to come. No matter what genre you're writing in, push that 'feeling' forward in your synopsis. Grand adventure, or sweeping romance, or spine-chilling horror...give your synopsis that will match the story you want them to dive into. You can't go wrong. Now, that sounds like a lot to accomplish in a very small space, but it can be done. Just remember, this is a 'movie trailer' for your story, not the story itself. You only need to capture the appropriate emotion and basic idea of what's going on. It's ok to be vague. Again, you want readers to leave your story blurb with more questions than answers. Be careful not to ramble. I know what it's like to want to cram a bunch of complex info into a few paragraphs to really sell your idea, but it might end up hurting you in the end. Even if you're telling a story that covers a bunch of different genres and has a lot of twists and turns...DON'T try to squeeze all of that into your synopsis! "And then the archaeologist finds the magic medallion, but the medallion is not what it appears to be, and when the aliens show up, it's up to Frank to save the love of his life from their evil plot to steal the world's supply of a mysterious mineral that was buried in the Earth over a thousand years ago. Did I mention that Frank's father was a Van Helsing?" Ok...stop. Take a breath. Erase ALL of that...and start over! Hehehe! There's WAY too much going on in that mess. A story blurb only has to be a summary. Instead, try, "On an archaeological dig, Frank finds a mysterious medallion that seems to be of interest to a group of hunters that lie in the shadows. Who are they? What do they want? And can Frank keep his love safe when they come looking for them?" There. Done. As always, your planting the seeds of multiple questions in the minds of potential readers. What mysterious medallion? What's so important about it? Shadowy figures? Are they dangerous? What's going to happen next? And...your writer's answer is? Say it with me... 'Read it and find out!' Don't worry about being too specific with details. You got the 'feeling' right. Mystery, intrigue, a touch of romance...done. Assume that the readers who are interested will read the story and discover the rest on their own. Hey, more surprises for them to find, right? That can only help you in the long run. As they say, sometimes less is more. Anyway, I'm sure that there is a LOT more that I could say about writing story blurbs, but I'll avoid that rabbit hole for now! Hehehe! It might be better for a group discussion, anyway. Still, I hope this helps. Just remember...the 'question' is everything when grabbing a reader's attention. If you can get that part right, it'll gnaw on their brain until they surrender to it and give your story a try. You guys are on your own from there! Hehehe! Best of luck! And check back next week for my article on 'Tone'! It applies to story blurbs too! Seezya!
  18. The thing about having a dialogue with someone in real life, versus having a dialogue in written prose...is that, more times than not, prose demands a sense of purpose from its characters' interaction. There's very little room for fluff and small talk. The words being spoken have to actually 'say' something about the current situation and add to the story. It doesn't have to be forced, but I think it helps to know what your intentions are as a writer when adding dialogue to the scenes you have in your project. Now, there are writers and critics that will tell you that every single spoken word by your characters should have some significant impact on the overall story, and if not, it should be erased. I, personally, am not that strict on the characters in my own stories. Sometimes my characters just like to shoot the shit for a while. I think that's fine. But that doesn't mean that they're conversations are completely purposeless. They are necessary for the story, they just aren't directly used to move the plot forward in any certain direction. Those conversations serve another purpose. A purpose that I think is important when it comes to telling a good tale. So this week, we're not just talking about dialogue...but engaging dialogue. Dialogue that accompanies your story and plot and characters in such a way that it can elevate your project as a whole, and keep readers glued to the screen. I truly believe that dialogue should feel natural and spontaneous in a story. It should sound like the kind of conversation that two average strangers could be having on a bus, or on any random street corner. And depending on who's having that conversation, there might be a few jokes told, some witty back and forth, maybe some wisdom passed from one character to another. That's normal enough. But every conversation doesn't have to have some sort of great meaning, emotional weight, or some deep sense of gravitas, in order to work in your writing. In fact, if every sentence spoken between your characters did that...it would come off as stiff and unrealistic. People don't talk like that. Sometimes, you just see a familiar face and say, "Hey, what's up? How are you?" And the answer is, "Fine! How about you?" And that's all there is to it. The problem with adding this natural dialogue to your writing is that it can sometimes slow the pace of your story way down if you let it linger on for too long without giving your readers a reason to care about this casual chit chat. Nobody wants to read about two people discussing the weather for a page and a half. Not if it doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the story. Does that mean you can't discuss the weather in your story? No. You just have to give it purpose. Why is this happening? Let your audience know the subtext of this conversation and why they need to keep paying attention. Using the 'weather' example... If two, well established, characters are on a mission to steal a car from a mob boss...WHY in the name of all that is holy are they talking about whether or not it's going to rain??? Nooooo! What am I reading? SKIP! However...if the tools they're using to steal said car depend on whether or not it rains when the heist goes down...that's a factor. It's a part of the story. Let the readers know that. NOW that conversation has meaning. Or...let's say that you have a really shy, closeted, teenager talking to the boy of his dreams for the first time. Maybe they're in an elevator together, and the weather forecast is the only thing he can come up with to talk to this stunning beauty next to him. Again...it's a mundane conversation, but it's given depth and meaning through the character interaction and the situation at hand. If done right, you can make the most boring dialogue engaging to your audience through the subtext alone. Basically, meaningful dialogue can have one of three main objectives. To set the tone of the scene, to introduce certain personality traits of your characters, or to advance the plot of the story by delivering information that will be needed later. So...let's talk about that first one. Setting the tone for your scene through dialogue is all about how you word it. Maybe there's some flirtatious tension going on. Maybe there's some serious conflict happening. Maybe it's a scene of all out chaos, or maybe it's a scene of total indifference. The way your characters relate to one another speaks volumes beyond the actual dialogue. Two people who are hostile toward one another may throw a few passive aggressive comments in each other's direction. Two people nervous around one another may stutter or pause, or say something that they immediately regret once the sound has left their mouths. Characters who are the best of friends may joke around and give each other shit in a playful way. The thing is...you can create an atmosphere for the scene through the dialogue being shared by the characters at your disposal. You can let the reader know whether this is going to be a lighthearted scene, or a dramatic scene. You can give them cues about an instant rivalry and play up the animosity between the two people speaking. While the conversation itself may be simple and plain, the 'feel' of it can draw your readers into the scene and give them a sense of presence within the scene itself. What should they be feeling right now? Why did they say what they just said? And why did they say it that way? Your readers are smart, and they're emotionally involved in what's going on. So set the stage, give them some details, and let them know how light or how dark the scene is by the dialogue that you give them to work with and the context flowing behind it. The second method involves displaying the personality traits of the characters involved. You guys might remember my article on "Show, Don't Tell". This is exactly what I mean by that. Who is your character (whichever character you're focusing on at the moment)? Are they extroverted and optimistic? A simple block of dialogue with them talking about sunny days and double rainbows can paint that picture for your readers. It might not have anything to do with the main plot or advance the story any further from where it is, currently...but it clearly expresses the attitudes and motivations of one of your main characters, which...in my opinion..is just as important, if not more so. Use your dialogue as a tool to allow your characters to show the audience who they are as a person. Maybe they're a hopeless romantic. Maybe they're a standoffish rebel. Maybe they're an insecure jerk, or a lovable shy guy. The words they use and the things they say can convey a clear message to your readers and give them a sense of who you characters are without you having to explain it to them later. The third method? Moving the plot forward. Now...with this one, I would warn all writers that it's difficult to do this without losing site of the 'tone' and 'character trait' parts of the equation. I believe that moving the plot forward comes from a combination of all three sides of this. You definitely want to provide new information and progress towards the finale that you're looking to reach by the end of your project...but if you lose sight of tone and character in the meanwhile? The story can easily fall apart. Try to keep having your protagonist or love interest 'break character' by suddenly saying something that they would never say normally, just for the sake of advancing the plot. Don't change the tone of your story from something happy and comical to something dark and disturbing, simply because you want to jump into the tragic parts of your story. Keep things smooth. Flow. Being a good writer, I think, is all about the choices you make. And how readers react to those choices as the story unfolds. The idea is to have your audience follow you on a journey. Not for you to push an emotional 'agenda'. I know you have an idea in mind for how the story is going to go and how you want it to end...but use some finesse. Hehehe! Have patience. Any driver knows what happens when you take a sharp curve too quickly. Ease into it. Have faith in your readers. They're with you. Lead them in the right direction, but don't suddenly sucker punch them with dialogue that doesn't fit, simply because you want to jump to the next step. Keep things consistent. I've learned that it reads better in the long run. Remember...engaging dialogue comes from engaging people, and engaging situations. If you're writing, and there's a voice in the back of your mind that says, "I should probably add some dialogue to this scene"...ask yourself why? If you can't come up with a better answer than 'because...' then don't do it. Why are they talking? Who are they talking to? What will this add to the story, plot, character, tone, or theme, of the story? Don't just have people talk when they have nothing to say. If this becomes a part of your story, readers won't be able to decide what conversations are important to think about or remember for later...and which ones are just fluff for the sake of fictional mumbling. Pick your moments wisely, and make sure that every conversation is actually 'saying' something...even when it appears to be saying nothing. Hehehe, easier said than done. I know. But nothing can teach you the difference like practice. So, you know...PRACTICE! Alrighty then, I know this was a short one this week, but there isn't really a whole lot that I can say in terms of advice for this topic! Every author is different. We all have our own methods, ideas, and our own experiences with writing in the past to draw from when it comes to getting the desired effect. I can't guide anybody in the right direction, because there IS no right direction! I can only tell you what I've encountered so far, and what feels comfortable for me. So find your own version of these little lessons while writing your own stuff. And if you find little tidbits of your own along the way? Share it with me! Hehehe! I'm still learning too! Take care! I hope this helps! And I'll seezya soon with more!
  19. Most of the time, when I'm writing stories or new chapters to existing stories, it's spawned by some sort of inspiration or emotion that I'm feeling. That's just something my personal creativity feeds off of, and sometimes the muse for one particular story or another can be a 'feast or famine' adventure. What can I say? When the time is right, the stars and planet align and they let me know when it's time. Once that happens, the words just seem to flow naturally as if they came from somewhere else entirely. I'm sure that many writers can say what a glorious experience that is. The feeling is amazing! However, while the creative side of writing can be sudden and effortless in moments of inspiration...there's still a process that we all have to go through in order to get the words from our hearts...to our brains...and out on a screen for other people to see. And I believe that the easier that process is for an author, the easier it will be for that author to blast out their best work. That's not always something that's easy to achieve. 'Life' is a great big attention whore! Hehehe! And so is creativity! So, there are going to be times when it feels like you're being torn apart by two narcissists at a dinner party. You're going to have to choose one. Sad, but true. And when it's time to write...life gets put on hold. It takes focus, and quiet, and a certain degree of isolation, to effectively pour your heart out on the page. But, if you can find a few hours to sit at your laptop and give your writing process your all? The end result will be SO worth it! This week...I'm talking about eight things that I did to help my own writing process a little easier to deal with. Not the actual writing itself, but the process of translating my thoughts and emotions for my readers to absorb, with as few obstacles and interruptions as humanly possible. It may make a 'recluse' out of me from time to time...but if I'm going to claim to be a writer, even unprofessionally, then I'm going to give it my all and do it right. And with a little preparation and a touch of writer discipline...I can smooth out the writing process itself, and pour all of my energy into my work instead of stumbling every five minutes and disturbing my train of thought. Let's get started... Eat something first! I know that I probably sound like you mom and dad when I say this, but it's true. Feeding yourself will give your brain the nourishment and your body the energy to sit down and create your masterpiece. Have dinner, have a snack, keep a bag of chips nearby...whatever. Your body is burning through a lot of mental and emotional energy when you write. Give your body what it needs to function, and your mind won't wander off while you're writing. Not only will you be fed, but you won't have to worry about stopping mid sentence later to make yourself a sandwich when you, inevitably, get hungry later on. Also...keep a drink within reaching distance. Whether it's an ice cold bottle of water, a warm cup of coffee or tea, or a few beers and a glass of whiskey...whatever your flavor is, have it handy. There's nothing worse than getting on a creative streak, typing out words as fast as your fingers will allow...while struggling to ignore hunger pains or a deep thirst. Keep it close. Have these things ready, or taken care of ahead of time. So once you get 'in the zone'...you can stay there. Work in a clean space. Clutter, whether we realize it or not, hinders creativity. I know it sounds weird, but it's true. Clutter in your work space leads to clutter in your thoughts. Get rid of it. If you feel cramped or like the messy clothes on the floor, or dirty dishes, are closing in on you...take a moment, and clean your space so you can feel free and comfortable to operate without having to look at it. Even if it's just in your peripheral vision...lose it. If you've got a bunch of notes scribbled on pieces of scrap paper and grocery store receipts and candy wrappers (As I often do), just stack the ones you need at your side, and put the other ones elsewhere. Set a positive atmosphere for yourself. Give yourself some room and feel good about the atmosphere that you set for yourself. You'd be surprised how much it helps to clear the mind. Again...the goal is to make your writing the ONLY thing on your mind while you're pouring your heart out. I always feel that I write much better and much faster when the clutter is gone. Give it a try. Turn all of your distractions...OFF! Every last one of them. We live in an era where everybody seems to treat everything as though it was a dire emergency and they NEED an instantaneous reply fro you. It's not. And they don't. "I texted you and you didn't get back to me within the first 12 seconds of me sending it! I know you're online! I'm stalking you!" Hehehe, really? Come on. Nope! Cell phone? Off. Television? Off. Radio? Off. Skype, Facebook, Twitter...anything that will 'alert' you to a new message within seconds of you receiving it, and will cause you to agonize over what it says and who it's from? Lose it! If you want to concentrate...then concentrate. The world can wait for a few minutes while you follow your passion and say what you need to say with your art. Now, obviously, if you have to look out for actual emergency situations for work, or for kids/family, and you need a line of communication open 'just in case', then that's fine. But unless you're an on call paramedic or heart surgeon or something...don't let people treat you as one. It may sound harsh, but please don't interrupt my flawless writing streak because you were bored at home and just wanted to say hi. Send me a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm finished. Promise. Also, there's no such thing as effective multitasking when it comes to your writing. Don't write two or three sentences and then look back over your shoulder at the TV. Turn it off. Don't divide your attention. It's sooooo easy to do these days, but if you want to write...then write. Either save TV for later, or watch TV first and then write. You can't do both. Trust me. Millions of dollars are paid to psychologists and social analysts every year to make every last commercial on TV as eye catching and distracting and loud and obnoxious as humanly possible. It's their JOB to take your attention away from whatever it is that you're doing at the moment. So cut that influence out of your writing time, and focus. Learn to say 'no'. Now, this is one of the most difficult parts of clearing the runway for your writing process. At least it is for me. When it comes to your family and your friends and your job...it can be difficult to stand up and simply say 'no' when they come looking for attention. I don't mean that in a bad way. They want to spend time with you, and you want to spend time with them in return. I get it. I definitely advise us all to crawl out from our holes and get some sunshine every now and again. It's good for us. BUT...if your muse is jumping and you want to sit down and really express your current feelings while the juices are flowing through you...it's OK to tell your friends no every once in a while. Don't feel bad about it. Maybe you don't want to go to the movies tonight. Maybe you don't want to go out partying on a Saturday night, or have company, or get into a two hour phone conversation. Say no. "Hey, I've really got something that I want to do right now, and maybe I'll catch up with you guys on another night." That's all you have to say. No long list of excuses are necessary. Sometimes, you just want to write. So do it. What's wrong with saying no to a distraction from what you really want to be doing tonight? You know?You see, I think that a lot of people work at daily jobs...and at the end of the day, they punch out, and they're done with it for the rest of the evening. They can't imagine wanting to be there all day and night and sacrificing a good time out on the town for more 'work' if they didn't have to. Makes perfect sense to me. But I think creativity and passion works differently. I like to go out and have fun just like everybody else. And yet, writing 'frees' me. It's something that I truly LOVE to do, as often as possible. There is no punching in and punching out. I can do it all day and never get antsy or bored with it. So...there are going to be times when I don't WANT to stop writing my new story to go to a party. I don't want to gab on the phone, I don't want to go shopping, I don't want to go out to lunch. I want to sit right here in front of this laptop and spill my heart and soul out on the page for the next few hours. That's my idea of fun for the evening, and I hope my loved ones will be able to understand, or at least respect, that. Sometimes you just don't want to miss your creative moment. Sometimes...you just have to tell them 'no'. There's no love lost, I love my friends and family dearly. But...for right now...LEAVE ME ALONE!!! Hehehe!(Seriously...don't be a dick about it. Just say, "Hey, I've got other plans." I haven't creatively 'clocked out' yet, and I want to finish this thought before it fades away. I'll get together with you guys later.) Simple. Right? Create a playlist for yourself. A BIG part of my personal writing process is music. It always has been. I can guarantee you all that I have a personal playlist for almost all of the stories that I write on my website. They range from happy, 'mall friendly', boy pop...to dark and moody, instrumental, movie scores and ambient horror. Music is a part of me setting the mood for what I'm writing in whatever scene I happen to be tackling at the moment. If I need something sad and dramatic? I have a playlist for that. If it's for something comical and playful/flirtatious? I have a playlist for that too. And when I need something 'sexy'...hehehe, well, let's just say that I've got songs for that as well. Find songs on your computer that give you a certain feel or inspire a certain emotion inside of you. Some songs might make you want to get up and dance. Some might remind you of an action scene where your main characters walks into a room and kicks ass. Find songs that fit a certain mood, and put them all together in a single playlist, so you can play them while writing. We all have 'anger' music. We all have 'heartbreak' lullabyes. We all have confident anthems of triumph and achievement. Find yours, and put them into a single folder so you can out them all on repeat when writing certain moments in your story. Sometimes, having song lyrics helps. Other times, I find them a bit distracting, and go for instrumental scores instead. It all depends on what it is that you're trying to say. Get on Youtube! Think of movies that really got you revved up, or moved you to tears at one time or another. Then look up music from that movie in the search! If you're looking for a song by a particular artist or band, with lyrics and all...look up (Movie title) + soundtrack! If you want an instrumental part of that same movie...look up (Movie title) + score! Chances are you can find anything you want, and that musical backdrop will help to keep you in the same frame of mind while you write or edit your work. Give it a shot! It works wonders! Always have your notes within reach! If you guys keep handwritten notes like me on multiple scraps of paper...get ALL of them together before you start writing, and keep them in a nice little pile next to your laptop or PC. I can honestly say that there is nothing worse than trying to write, getting some nice momentum and flow going...and having to stop to go searching for notes and details at the last minute because you forgot how you pictured the scene going! Arrrghhh! It sucks! It totally takes you out of the moment. I'm constantly writing stuff down as I think about it, and any time that I have to stop writing to go searching for those scribblings...I end up losing some of the fire that I got burning bright for the next few paragraphs I had planned. So keep them close. Also, I've found it really convenient to keep 'character profiles' in my online files for each story. These are very short descriptions that I line up under each story title and can bring up and look at any time that I need to. Basically, I can look up "New Kid In School" and look to see if Ryan's eyes are brown or hazel. I can see how old "Billy Chase" is, or what side of "Jesse-101's" forehead has that tiny scar on. Just make a short list of details that you can pull up if you're drawing a blank on anything. Is this character blond or brunette? Are they right handed or left handed? Do they live with both parents or just one? Whatever details that you may need to jot down for continuity's sake...put them in the profile. That will save you the time of going back through earlier chapters of your own story to find any details that you may have forgotten over time. Take breaks! Psychological studies have shown that concentration and focus is actually MORE effective when we indulge in a few breaks every now and then. Even if you're trying to rush through and reach a deadline or get something finished...always remember to take a moment to breathe. I know that we all get in the mode of, "I'm going to sit right here, and just pour six hours of HARD work into getting this done tonight!" every once in a while. Ummm...don't do that. LOL! I don't know how YOU guys might look at that, but it never ever works for me. Forcing myself to completely 'mad dog' my computer screen for endless hours on end without a break just leads to burn out and mental/emotional fatigue. That's not to say that you shouldn't be determined about what you want to accomplish. Just...write for an hour, maybe two, and then take a short break. Ten to fifteen minutes. Go on Youtube and find something fun to watch. Lean back and listen to some good music. Play a few video games or go for a short walk or drop by a chatroom for a bit. Just 'disengage' from your main focus for a little bit so you can recharge your creative battery, and then jump back in with even more tenacity than you had before. Seriously...if you're on a roll and don't want to stop writing, then that's cool. Follow your instincts. But I wouldn't advise writing for more than an hour or two straight without at least giving yourself a chance to relax for a little bit. Otherwise, you know what happens? You get drained...your butt hurts, your shoulders hurt, your fingers get tired, carpal tunnel settles into your wrists...and you might get a lot done for that one day...but then you're sore and miserable and don't want to type another word for a WEEK! Hehehe, that's counterproductive. Do a little bit every day, and you'll make better progress that way. Just don't get distracted to the point where you forget what you were supposed to be doing in the first place. Ten minutes here, twenty minutes there...then get back to work. I've learned that this works wonders when it comes to me getting stuff done. Know when to fold 'em! Yes, ladies and gentlemen...the old gambling anthem works here as well. Believe me when I say that I completely understand the desire to chase your muse and keep writing until the sun rises and the letters on your keyboard have been rubbed away from overuse! LOL! You should see the first WebTv keyboard I had (And still have! Because I'm sentimental)! The letters have been scrubbed off of the keys, and there is an actual groove in the spacebar. I definitely abused that thing when the site was young! BUT...you've got to know when to stop. When to pack it up for the night, shut it down, and have faith in your ability to pick up where you left off 'tomorrow'. Don't force it. Sometimes, the mind is willing, but the body can't keep up. If you're falling asleep at your computer? If your face is pressed against the keyboard and you wake up to 75 lines of the letter 'Z' because you just couldn't TAKE anymore? Then you're doing too much. Let it go. Pushing yourself too hard can lead to the same burnout and fatigue that I mentioned above. It's good to be ambitious and to give it your all...but you're only human. You need rest. You need food. You need to practice proper hygiene rituals. Hehehe! There comes a point when you need to call it quits, save what you have, and shut it all down for the night. That's just the way it goes sometimes. There have been countless times where I've actually gotten soooo MAD at myself for literally nodding off in my chair when I desperately wanted to get something done. Even now, I treat sleep the way bulimics treat food. I HATE it! I wish I didn't need sleep at all! I have WAY too much to do to waste hours and HOURS of my time sleeping. Grrrrr! But...nobody wants to read the half-baked ramblings of an author who's barely conscious while writing the next chapter of his/her story. Hang it up for the night. Go to bed, and come back when you have the brain power to put your best foot forward. K? It'll be there when you're ready to tackle it again. Besides, chances are you're just going to have to spend twice as much time editing the story when you finish. So you're not really saving yourself any time at all in the long run. So you might as well keep a healthy sleep schedule and get it right the first time. Right? Alright! So those are eight little tips that I've learned that will help to make my writing process a little bit easier on the body, mind, and emotions. Give these a look whenever you're having a bit of difficulty with getting that new work started or finished. I hope this will help! And happy writing, you guys! I wish you the best! Take care!
  20. Every now and then, when writing one of my stories, I find myself trying to demonstrate a point that might not be recognized fully without a specific example or short dialogue surrounding it. As I always say, it's better to 'show' than to 'tell' in your stories. Sometimes, the point being made is just for the sake of a scene or two, or for the development of a certain character arc. And other times, that one point might be the sobering moment of my entire project. The true theme of it all, and the reason I wrote the story in the first place. While many of these moments may seem spontaneous and off the cuff in a story, it actually takes a little bit of planning, some foreshadowing, and a well delivered 'punch' at just the right time to make the impact of it work effectively for whatever it is that you're trying to say. Now, when I talk about making a point in your stories, please don't take that to mean that I'm suggesting you get all preachy about your story, or attempting to force some agenda on your readers. I'm really not. It's your story. You thought it up. You wrote it down (Or typed it out, as the case may be), and there's nothing more repellent than an awkward or overly aggressive delivery of a message in a story. Sometimes, it takes effort and subtlety to keep your audience from feeling like they're being manipulated. Whether they agree with you or not is beside the point. Very few people want something crammed down their throat. (Hehehe, wait...that came out wrong! LOL!) So, ask yourself...what was it that you were trying to express with your story? If it's just, "I was super horny and wanted to watch two people doing the nasty!"...then that's cool. Go for it! Hehehe, five minutes and a dirty thought can go a long way, believe me. But, if you took the time to create an elaborate, erotic, or romantic scenario, develop characters, write engaging dialogue, etc...then I would assume that you had more to say than that. A message to convey to your audience. Nothing major or life changing. Just a little piece of 'you' as an author. So, what was it? I'm curious to know. And I'm sure your readers would like to know too. Stories are the original forms of virtual reality. Your audience is caught in this incredibly immersive experience that you've built out of nothing but your imagination and the vocabulary that you have at your disposal. You're running the show. You have an opportunity to inspire, educate, emotionally stimulate, or 'warn', your audience by giving them an experience that they can take with them even after the story ends. So...if you have a point to make, then use your writer's voice while you have the audience's attention. Let them know what's in your heart. That's one of the perks of being an author, in my opinion. It's a chance to both discover and explain myself to the world. Maybe everybody gets it and they agree, and maybe they don't and I get sucker punched in the gut for it...but a piece of me is still out there for others to find, and to at least begin a conversation within themselves or with others to define what their own thoughts and memories about the subject matter at hand may be. A part of my writing is a personal commentary on how I see the world. Positive and negative, and how the extremes can quickly shift from one side to the other. I enjoy doing it. And if you're one of those writers that likes to insert a bit of your own knowledge, wisdom, and life experience, into your stories...then this weekend's topic is just for you! How to effectively get your point across, and figuring out how to present that little life lesson beforehand. Let's dive in! Now, before I start babbling...I realize that there are many writers who really have NO interest in having a deeper message in their stories. I get that. Totally acceptable. Sometimes, a story is just a story. It's written for entertainment purposes, and that's all it has to be. Nothing else. Equally as enjoyable. However, there's a little 'after school special' part of me that kind of wants to send out a touch of insight within the text of the stories that I write and share with the public. My stories try to give subtle (sometimes, not-so-subtle) hints to readers about issues like how to deal with heartache. How to keep from being exploited or abused by another person. How to resist cheating on someone you love despite the temptation. How to deal with coming out of the closet, or finding the courage to take a chance on talking to the boy you really like, or how you might regret not taking that risk when you had the chance later on. Theses are all things that I've dealt with in the past, and I now have a platform where I can not only let other people know that they're not alone in feeling the way they feel, but I can, maybe, show them the stupid mistakes that I've made and the consequences that followed...hopefully, preventing my readers from going down that same road when it's their turn to tackle these things for themselves. It's what I focus on, and what I ultimately hope to accomplish by putting certain messages out there for people to relate to and, hopefully, learn from. Now...how do we do that? I think, if you're going to do this with your writing...then you have to know what your point is going to be ahead of time, and then spend time defining and fleshing your point out, little by little, before you give your readers the 'punchline'. Think about it. And find some sort of relatable metaphor that will allow you to demonstrate your point throughout the plot so it can truly be understood by your audience as they experience it through the eyes of your main character. I've had a few stories where I tried to demonstrate a point or two, and it was something that I always had to carefully weave into the story being told. I couldn't just drop the mic all of a sudden out of nowhere. I had to work from the point I was trying to make...backwards. "How do I get people to maybe look past what they are already dead set on believing, and maybe open up their minds enough to possibly see things from a different angle?" It's the literary version of using a teaspoon of sugar to help the medicine go down. It's the realization that, "Oh! This story actually has a point to it." Find your main theme, and make sure that it remains a symbiotic part of your story from beginning to end. The trick is to keep it 'undercover'...but still visible. So when you decide to pull the covers off, your readers are right in step with you. "Ohhhh! I totally get it now!" That's the reaction you're looking for. I've written stories about the lingering damage that parental abuse has on a child, and on how money and class status can make for a hostile atmosphere. I've written about the difference between being in the closet, but suppressed and ashamed of who you are...mirrored by being out of the closet, and being bullied and made fun of because of it. I've written about trying to find love again after having your heart torn apart, I've written about falling for someone who was totally straight, or maybe way out of your league. I've even written about love between people of different ages...and had to shield myself from the backlash of it all. But for those few moments, where I have the reader's focus and attention, I get to put them in someone else's shoes...and I do all I can to get them to understand WHY my characters feel the way they feel. I give them a glimpse of what it's like to see life through the eyes of someone that they'd probably be angered and annoyed by, otherwise. I want readers to be pulled in to the story in a way where they can discover and (hopefully) understand the main character's motivations. I want them to say, "Well...if it was ME, would I act all that differently? I mean, I think I can see where he/she is coming from in this situation." And if you can involve your audience in a way where they can put themselves in the story...then your point has been made. Even if they disagree with the message itself. At least you touched a nerve. Hehehe, and as writers...touching nerves is what we do best. Now, this doesn't ALWAYS work. I mean, there are readers who hate and despise and are angered and annoyed by everything that "Billy Chase" does when I put out a new chapter. LOL! I honestly don't know why they keep reading. I feel bad for stressing them out and taking years off of their lifespan with my awful plot points. BUT...every now and then...I work myself up to a learned lesson that readers can understand, appreciate, and even applaud, once he's gone through hell to get there. Again, that's all becaue of extensive planning and laying the groundwork ahead of time so the audience can follow my character through his journey, pitfalls and all, and learn the lesson WITH him. As opposed to me just trying to spit it in their faces with no rhyme or reason. Again...'show'...don't 'tell'. Very important. So if you have a point to get across, make it an organic part of the story itself. Demonstrate its importance by threading it into your narrative and into the behavior of your protagonist. Don't force your message on the reader. Let your story create the fantasy, and through a series of rewards and consequences, allow your readers to reach the conclusion and discover the lesson for themselves. There's a big difference there. When people read your story...for some it will open up a window and let the light shine in. For others? It holds up a mirror. Either way, you made your point, you've explained why the point has value, and you've left a lasting impression on the people who have invested time and energy into the work that you've produced for them. Congrats, writers! That's a total WIN for you all! Hehehe! Anyway, that's all for today! I hope it gives you guys something to think about when writing your next story. This weekend topic is, in itself, a story with a point. I had an idea, I thought about how to best express that idea, and then I worked backwards from there to make sure this whole discussions was centered around bringing that point home for you guys to understand and take to heart. Writing a story is no different. Find your focus, weave it into your project, and then deliver the punchline. Voila! That's all there is to it! Thanks for reading, you guys! And I'll see you next week with more!
  21. Have you ever completed a story that you were truly proud of writing, that got a standing ovation from your readers and fans, and became one of the shining gems in your body of work? If so, let me add to the giant round of applause and congratulate you on creating something truly special for everyone to absorb and keep close to their hearts for years to come. It's not an easy task, believe me. So take pride in the moment. Sometimes the success of something that you've previously written, along with the rabid cravings of fans wishing that they had more to read, can lead you to a strong desire to continue on with the story that your muse once gave birth to. I mean, you know these characters like the back of your hand, right? You've lived with them long enough to build an entire world around their personal story and people reacted favorably to them. Creating another story with these same characters would be like revisiting an old friend, right? Can't go wrong with the idea of jumping back into the story to give the people more of what they want! Well…that's not always the case. There are some things that you've got to think about before returning to a story that has already been told. Sure, you have some advantages in place...but there are also some pitfalls involved. No matter how well a story does, no matter how beloved the characters are, we all have to be able to ask ourselves..."Does anything really need to be added to this?" And we have to be able to give ourselves an open and honest answer. Because, truth be told, if you add to a story that doesn't need adding to...not only can it come off as weak without depending on the original text...but it can actually end up ruining the power and the impact of its predecessor in a way where both get dragged down into the mud. Obviously, we don't want that. So, today we're going to talk about sequels, prequels, and spinoffs! Something I definitely have dabbled in enough times to figure out some of the flaws and fortunes in the process! Hehehe! Because 'trial and error' ROCKS! Let's start by thinking about what these three expansions really mean in terms of your original story. When writing one of these extra ideas on your original project, it's important to keep in mind that you are trying to give the reader something NEW. Perhaps even unexpected. Sure, you want it to be familiar enough to draw them back into the world that they cherished so much from the original, but this should be a new angle, a new perspective...it provides information that could not have been provided in the first story. The last thing that you want to do is go back and repeat old information that the audience could have easily gotten in the first story without any more description needed. Otherwise, you're just telling the exact same story over again. The problem with that is the readers already know how the story ends. One of the big mistakes that many Star Wars fans site for the release of "Solo" in theaters dealt with that exact concept. No matter how dangerous the mission, or how risky the mission...nothing is going to happen to Han Solo or Chewbacca, because they obviously show up in later chapters. So putting them in mortal danger during a prequel kind of loses its effect. It goes from 'Can they get out of this???' to the much more mild question of, "What do they do to triumph and come out clean on the other side?" It's not a boring or unimportant question...but it doesn't have the same punch. These are the things that we, as writers, need to think about beforehand. The elements of each idea are slightly different from one another, so let's go into the difference between a sequel, a prequel, and a spinoff, in terms of the stories that you've written so far. I've done all three, and I've enjoyed them immensely, but I still have much to learn. Let me split them up and tell you what I've discovered so far... Sequels The very first question that a writer should ask themselves before attempting a sequel to a story that they've previously completed should be, "What is it about this story that was left unsaid?" When you finished your tale and wrapped it all up in a neat and tidy manner...what is it that is motivating you to keep going? It can't just be the readers asking for more. I mean, that's extremely flattering and all...but if you said everything that you had to say with your first story, and have nowhere else to go...then why write a sequel? I totally understand that telling a story and giving it that 'happily ever after' ending is sweet, but it doesn't often work like that in real life. Hehehe, happily ever after? That's a pretty optimistic stance to take on the characters that you've built through multiple chapters of struggle and strife and had to fight to be together at all. I'm sure that they had a few other problems and conflicts in the future, some significant, some...not so much. But a life free of drama and obstacles from that point forward, in my opinion, is not only unrealistic, but it would be downright boring after a while. Hehehe! However, if you are looking to add a new chapter in your characters' lives and continue the story...there are some questions that need to be addressed in the planning stages. What's changed since the end of the last story? How have the characters grown since their happy or unhappy ending? And how will that affect their decisions in the future? Is the threat of new challenges in this relationship enough to carry an entire story? What will the impact be on the readers to follow these characters on their next big adventure? And will that impact be significant enough to tell that story and update your readers on what they're doing since the last story ended? If you're iffy on that last question, I suggest you abort that plan immediately and go back to the drawing board. Don't retell the same story you did before. If you said what needed to be said, no matter how long or how short the story was, don't be tempted into continuing it unless you feel it's really necessary. Like I said, you might just end up sapping strength away from your first story by doing so. Have you guys seen the new trailer for the "Halloween" movie reboot recently? Hehehe! Perfect example! It's basically saying, "Let's pretend that we had the original 1978 "Halloween" movie, and everything that took place after that NEVER happened! LOL! If that's not the definition of a true sequel, then I don't know what is! I have one or two sequels in the works at the moment, and I am taking everything that I've written here in this topic into account. Believe me. I've put a lot of thought into it, and I want to make sure that I do it right. One of those stories is a hidden secret for now! But, I will tell you that a sequel for the story "Gone From Daylight: Nightfall" has been in the works for quite some time now. It was a story that I have wanted to continue since the original was finished, and it takes place a number of years after the first one. "GFD: Nightfall" is on the site and the "Blood Bank" for free, but the ebook version has been redone from scratch, and it is a MUCH better version of the story that I was trying to tell, in my opinion! Consider that the 'director's cut'! Feel free to check it out when you get a chance, and look for an explosive sequel in the near future, with much higher stakes and a different dynamic that I think will enhance the characters and the storyline as a whole! Coming soon! Prequels Now, with prequels...you have to ask yourself some of the same questions as you do with sequels...but with a few slight changes in your perspective of it all. The most important, of course, being...'what story is it that I need to tell that couldn't have been (or hasn't been) explained in the original text?' If you're writing a prequel, then it is assumed that there are secrets and revelations that can explain and further demonstrate the thoughts and future actions of your main characters. The cool part about writing a prequel is that you get a chance to look at your original story, choose certain moments or character behaviors, and then go back in time to explain why those things took place, or why a character feels a certain way about themselves or why they reacted a certain way to a certain situation. It gives you the chance to say why a certain trinket might have some significance to your main character. Or why they have a particular phobia, or why a few situations might trigger a nasty response from them. Prequels give you an opportunity to go back and look at those first few dominoes that you set up before your main character became who they are. It can be a lot of fun! Especially when you get to draw from your original story and look at the questions and speculations that other readers had concerning the writing. Again, the goal is to answer questions without an answer. Otherwise, there's no reason to write it. I've written a few prequels on the Shack, and they have always been projects that I made sure were necessary and enjoyable, as well as informative, adding another level of insight into what was previously going on with the characters that my readers had come to know and love. Stories like "Ryan's Heart" repackages the very first chapter of "New Kid In School", but from Ryan's point of view. Not only that, but it reaches back to events that happened before meeting his future sweetheart, Randy, for the first time. And I even got to play around with a few special cameos that fans of the original weren't expecting. Hehehe, which is also fun. But that's the whole point! Can you give your readers something new and involve them on a deeper level with a prequel? If not...don't write it. I know that it's fun to rewind the clock and add a bit more information, but it can backfire on you if you're not careful. You can end up spoiling the untold motivations of a character that was better off being 'mysterious'. Or you can end up giving away secrets to people who haven't read the original text yet. Which is why, even though I don't really give any big secrets away in the "Gone From Daylight" prequel, "Taryn's Song"...I always advise everyone to read "GFD" first! These are things to think about before you begin, and if you still think your characters can benefit with a bit of detailed backstory, then go for it! Again, just make sure that you have a legitimate reason for diving into the background of your original story. If you didn't feel the need to do so the first time...why do it now? You can give backstory on your characters in a few paragraphs if you feel it's important to the telling of your story. That can be done in the original. Only tackle a prequel if there are multiple unanswered questions about the actual origin of the characters that you're focusing on. Questions that need an entire story to explain and bring to light for your audience. If the material seems thin? Don't do it. Let your original stand on its own merit. I think a lot of stories work better that way. Spinoffs Now, as most of you guys know...I'm an 80's kid! Hehehe, I grew up with comic books, and those comics taught me everything that I know about storylines, character arcs, plot twists, triumph and tragedy, etc. I can't tell you how AWESOME it is to see those same comic book characters being brought to life in the movies, and watching those movies make billions of dollars at the box office every year! Because of that, crossovers and cinematic universes are now seen as the Holy Grail of blockbuster movies these days. But stories have always done that in the past, not just in comic books. There's an isolated story that may exist in one book, surrounding a few characters and their journey through life...but there's still a whole world out there beyond that. The idea behind an effective spinoff is taking the opportunity to tell your readers what was happening outside of your original story. You may be focused on one or two characters in the main story, but what else was happening at the same time? If your main character falls in love and gets obsessed with his new boyfriend...what is going on in his best friend's life? How does HE see this new relationship? What does the character's mother or father think? Maybe he has a brother or sister. How do things look from their perspective? The world doesn't revolve around one or two people in a single story. If you want to do a spinoff, then it's important to make sure that you have strong, three dimensional, characters that can carry that spinoff on their own, and that their perspective is a welcome change to what readers can easily get from the original story. Nearly everything that I've written for the "GFD: Blood Bank" has been a spinoff that, in some small way, builds upon the world of vampires that exists in the original story. This is the peek behind the scenes for readers who enjoy the main series. This is what is going on before, after, and during, the story being told. It's assumed that this is all information that will be alluded to or mentioned later, and will have some impact on the main story. Spinoffs can be fun, as they let you explore different characters and flesh them out individually, while still having them be a part of the main project. I truly enjoy doing that. But it takes time. And you have to be sure that your focus is placed on a character that your readers want to know more about. One that is interesting enough to inspire readers to follow them on a journey of their own. Anyway, either of these three exercises can be an enlightening experience, for both the writer and the readers alike. Just make sure that it's necessary. Don't just do it for the sake of doing it. Provide another level of effort, some new revelations, and maybe even a few big plot twists that further enhance the appeal of the original story. It's a lot of fun...just be careful. You've got a 50/50 chance of making a great addition to an already popular story, or possibly dulling the applause you got for a project that might have been better off being left alone. I hope this helps out and gets you guys thinking of new ideas for your own projects! Take care! And I'll see ya next weekend!
  22. Now, while many readers that get truly involved with the stories we write online are mostly involved in the sometimes exaggerated drama of the situations we put our main characters through...I feel that it is often the tension delivered in a few key scenes, sprinkled here and there throughout, that truly captivates a reader's attention and brings them to the edge of their seats. It's this grinding on the nerves, along with a few tugs on the heart strings, that can really allow your audience to lose themselves in your writing and become fully engaged in every word of text in front of them, craving to read more as soon as possible. If you can pull this off as a writer, then you have developed a very persuasive gift that you can use to carry you through many more stories in the future. Writing is a gift, but the stories you create and the way you build them up have a specific 'science' to them. It's just a matter of learning to apply an instinctual formula to fit the context of your story in a variety of different ways. Tension in a story can make your work unbelievably addictive if done right! Once you learn the literary 'mathematics' of it all, you can write hundreds of new and amazing chapters and change things up enough to avoid becoming repetitive or predictable. That being said, hehehe...my apologies to any of you who ever lost sleep trying to burn through any of my previously available chapters when you had other, more productive, things that you could have been doing with your evenings instead. It's flattering, believe me. But I hope it's not keeping you from work or school or family or anything else meaningful. That wouldn't be a good thing. Before I jump right into it all, let me start by sharing this particular scene with you guys. This is from the 1996 movie, "The Rock". To this day, I still regard this particular few minutes of film to be some of the most intense moments in any movie that I've ever seen before. (There are others, sure. But I didn't want to post anything that might have spoilers involved. If you haven't seen 'Seven' with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman? Yeah, the end of that movie is INSANE as well! WATCH IT!!!) When viewing this scene, the tension starts off being pretty 'action movie accurate' from the get go, simply because of the ordeal itself. But notice how, minute by minute, things are elevated to some serious 'Holy SHIT' levels while watching everything unfold! The flawless acting, the motion of the camera angles, the swell of the music in tone and volume, the heated dialogue...soon being shouted at full volume, in what seems to be a no-win situation. To me, this is the perfect example of what creating and escalating tension is all about! Give it a look! One thing that I really love about this scene is the fact that the tension is being pulled SO damned tight before a single bullet is fired! It's not the action that creates the tension, but the build up to it. By the time the actual fighting begins, your audience is already wound up and ready to explode! Giving your scene the kind of power that you need it to have to set off the bomb that you've got planned to go off at any moment. Like..."JESUS! Where is this going??? This can't be good!" This is what I like to call 'punchline tension'. It's designed to build up to a major turning point in your story, and the tension created is all about the 'payoff'. VERY effective, because your readers can see it coming, but they hold on, regardless. Listen to the dialogue. It's a chess game, basically. Both the General and the team leader begin by trying to reason with one another and inject a few logical points to get their opponent to consider changing their mind. When that doesn't work, the team leader (Played by Michael Biehn) attempts a different approach by talking to the other soldiers in the room instead. However, the general (Played by Ed Harris), counters by reminding them all of their elevated and advantageous position. This is when people start yelling to force their point home. However, neither side is willing to back down, and once things have reached their most volatile moment...it doesn't take much at all to set acts of extreme violence into motion! When the scene finally drops the hammer on the audience, the impact of it is crazy!!! You almost want to cringe and shout, "NO NO NO!!!! Ahhhh!!! Shit! This is BAD!!! SO BAD!!!" Congrats! You now have yourself a captive audience! Just keep in mind that the build up to a major moment in your story is just as important, if not MORE important, than the moment itself. This is how you lock your readers in. Think of it this way... If your readers are sleepy and need to get up for work or school the next morning? If they have to go to the bathroom? If they're due to perform open heart surgery in a few minutes...but they choose to finish your recent chapter instead? Then...SUCCESS!!! As it should be! (By the way...don't EVER delay open heart surgery for a story! LOL! That's IMPORTANT! Jesus, what kind of monster are you? ::Giggles::) To visualize...tension in your fiction is the ability to place two opposing forces at an equal distance of a line drawn in the sand. At first...they're far enough away to possibly solve their conflict without losing control of the situation. However, as each side takes another step forward, pressure is applied, and things get more intense. They eventually end up in one another's faces, and they keep inching forward until one side or the other eventually crosses the line. And that's when all hell breaks loose. This particular building tension is all about the eventual payoff. That's the focus. Draw your readers in and keep 'tightening the screws' until they're ready to snap. And then...Boom! There are other slight variations on the idea of creating high tension, however. So, while I have your attention, let's touch on the majors. Another scene that I would like to share with you all is from the 1989 movie, "Aliens"! I wish I had a clip that includes more of the build up to this moment, as I have always felt that it was truly brilliant. But, you know...Youtube! To this day, the sound of that 'Aliens' motion detector thingy creeps me the fuck out! GAH!!! Hehehe! Basically, there are alien creatures that are overrunning this deep space facility, and even though an entire team of well trained, heavily armed, soldiers, have been deployed to handle the situation...it is immediately clear that their enemy has been underestimated, and they find themselves completely overwhelmed by what's going on! The tension, like every other part of the story, has an arc to it. It builds, it reaches its peak, and then shit hits the fan and it's all a roller coaster ride downhill from there. Take a look... Now, unlike the scene in "The Rock", where all of the tension comes before the big action set piece...THIS scene takes the action and places it, center stage. When writing a hardcore action scene like this, the tension is built through pure chaos, instead of suspense. There's a difference. What begins as a very quiet, anticipatory, moment...suddenly gets boosted up to level 100 once they realize what's really going on! Figuring out that the 'animals' they expected to outwit are smarter than they seem? That escalates tension. Having a young child now put in harm's way? Escalated even more. Having a 'traitor' in their midst that they can't trust with Burke? Another level of tension. And then, (R.I.P. Bill Paxton) when one of the main characters actually DIES during one of his most heroic, and totally badass, moments in the entire film...well that just shoots the tension through the ROOF! Because it lets the audience know that the stakes are so high that not everybody is guaranteed to make it out of this alive. Beloved main character or not! Increasing tension rule? Take the plot armor off! TV shows like "Game Of Thrones", "24", and "The Walking Dead", have used this technique to perfection. Yeah...that favorite character that you loved so much? They might not survive this episode! So keep biting your nails until you know they're safe for sure! Give your characters multiple problems to handle all at once! HARD problems! And put a timer on them as an added bonus! They've only got a few seconds to do...'whatever'! Hehehe! It'll be awesome, trust me! Action scenes like this one demonstrate the value and serious 'gut punch' that tension can deliver to your audience when you need to give your story a powerful boost, and let your readers know that outcomes can be a bit more unpredictable than they think. For heavy action scenes, I find that creating many different levels of uncontrolled chaos works wonders. There is a scene in "Gone From Daylight", where the main character has gone to save a friend of his from a drug induced stupor on the edge of town...and he finds him, barely conscious, with the love of his life helping him out. As well as two of his friends, who are experts at fighting off enemies. The scene begins with people trying to stop the main character from taking his friend home, and a giant battle ensues. But it's not just that one fight that is the focus of the scene. There's an overwhelming series of events that all begin to take place at once. A dangerous fall, a rickety fire escape, a deadly battle between his best friends and an enemy of great strength, the need to protect his love interest...all of these things are going on simultaneously. With the focus, rapidly, shifting back and forth from one major emergency to another to keep the readers as wild and frantic as the characters in the scene. Putting your readers into the same panic that your main character is going through can also make an exciting scene so tense that they won't be able to look away until they see how it ends! Watch the "Aliens" clip again! See how they bounce and back and forth from one big problem to another. Quickly! Zoom, zoom, zoom! So, for action scenes, use a flurry of different dilemmas in unison, and switch between them to keep the tension party going strong! So...what if you're not writing some kind of 'punch in the face' action scene in your story? Well, I believe that all conflict, whether argumentative or displayed through a physical confrontation, is simply a harsh dispute and an even more harsh defense of differing ideologies. That always makes for the BEST conflicts, and the greatest moments of tension in whatever story it is that you're trying to tell. (More on 'Conflict' in a future post, and how it differs from tension, as I explain it here.) This type of tension is created mostly through dialogue, and may not result in some massive shootout or hand to hand combat scenario...but biting and well delivered dialogue can have the exact same effect if done correctly. As we all know, words can hurt more than any kick or punch delivered physically. Again, the same rules apply. You have two people approaching a line that's been drawn in the sand, and one of them is eventually going to CROSS that line in an attempt to bully their opponent out of their opinion, and give up. This can be accomplished by giving some real thought to how both sides of an argument feel that they're in the right, and are desperately trying to convince someone else to see the light. These kind of conflicts start off as an attempt to reason with the person standing in their way, and tension rises as the different ideologies begin to clash in a frustrating manner. The idea of "WHY can't you see my point of view???" Builds to a crescendo, and...of course...a line is crossed. A writer can do amazing things when their readers can see and possibly sympathize with both points of view. By creating tension in this way, you force readers to tackle the conflict within themselves, and they may not know who to root for right away. Which can only make your story and it's main conflict all the more engaging in the long run. This scene is taken from season 2 of the Netflix show, "Daredevil"! It displays the clash of ideologies perfectly, in my opinion. You have two men that are, basically, vigilantes. They both work outside of the law in order to bring justice to their city. However, has one of them gone too far in killing the 'scum' that he sees no redemption in? Or is the main character deluded by the 'good' he thinks he's doing, while allowing the crime and the murder to continue? Listen to the conversation they have, how it builds, and see if you can see the point in both sides of the equation? Now...99% of that entire scene is just a conversation on a rooftop. With two determined characters trying hard to make their point. There's a desire to feel vindicated. They feel that there is something to 'win' by shouting it out. But when neither side seems to be making any leeway with the other, tension builds, and drastic measures have to be taken to end the argument. Because logic and reason isn't working anymore, and the line was crossed when one of the parties has given up on a diplomatic solution. They'll never see eye-to-eye, and attempts to reach any common ground are over and done with. A slight variation of escalating tension, but it still works wonders, depending on the story you want to tell. Now...ONE more, before I stop blabbing! Hehehe! This method involves two sides that seem to be equally matched, but when pressure is applied and the heat gets turned up...a great truth is revealed. Creation of tension in this way comes from your audience siding with your protagonist, and truly ENJOYING the badgering and bulldozing of another character until they get the answers they're looking for. This can range from beating a criminal suspect up for information, to a heated courtroom confession...as is brilliantly displayed in the infamous scene below... Now, this might sound a bit weird to you, but it's true. Words in a story have a 'speed' to them! Weird, right? If you want to have a calm, romantic, moment between characters after sex...where they're just laying in bed and enjoying the afterglow? Then make your sentences long, and poetic, and highly descriptive. Draw the out, and capture the nuance and detail of the moment. But...when it comes to tense situations, heated arguments, or immediate threats? Keep it short! The shorter the sentence, the faster your audience will read it. Keep them dodging back and forth from one hyped up scene to another. Like ducking to dodge a bullet fired in their direction. It may sound silly, but it's true. A 'period' in a sentence during a tense scene is like an editor's cut during an action scene in a movie. When action happens, the cuts become quicker. More frantic. They create 'energy'. That's what you want to do with your words. So shorten your sentences. It helps in creating a feeling of tension. It seems like such a small thing, but it works. People who argue interrupt one another. They SHOUT! They make insults and offensive comments. They say things to regain the upper hand at any cost. The 'back and forth' between characters is a weapon that you have at your disposal when trying to bring the stress and fury that your readers are looking for in the most crucial of moments. Shorter sentences, description, dialogue, creates a faster feeling of momentum in your writing. This is you, turning the volume up on the stereo and making this scene stand out as something to pay attention to. Just don't drag it out for TOO long! Anxiety can be exhausting. And it gets tiresome if you wait too long to give the audience what it's looking for. Anyway, that's my take on creating and escalating tension in your work. As with everything else, it takes time and practice and a lot of 'trial and error'. But once you get it down...it's going to add some spice and flavor to everything you write from that point forward! So consider it a skill that you want to study and keep close to the hip for later use! Cool? As always, I hope these little self-learned lessons over the years will help you guys out in some way! Good luck! And I'll seezya soon!
  23. While an extended story with multiple chapters and layers of depth may give a writer enough breathing room to truly build and explore the lives and personalities of the characters they′ve brought to life, I think it′s still a good practice to occasionally go back to writing short, self contained, stories to keep that particular part of their creative muscle strong. Short stories and flash fiction can teach you things than the ′wide open canvas′ style of writing can′t. It can help you to focus your talents, work on self editing, and keep your storytelling less complicated than your average epic saga. Over the past year, I′ve been trying to write more, one-shot, short stories and smaller mini-series, myself, in order to do exactly that. Strengthen my ability to condense and control my writing skills in order to quickly and effectively get to the point without making any grand plans for an entire ensemble cast of characters and any big dramatic plot twists and turns that won′t happen until much much later in the story. Sometimes...keeping things simple is a good thing. And with just the right words and just the right characters, you can create something truly sweet and inspiring without having to make a 72 chapter blowout! Hehehe! So, let′s talk about short stories, shall we? The skill involved in creating a straightforward, one time, story is all about selecting a single situation and describing it in a way where only that single moment matters. Maybe you′re writing about a boy′s first kiss, and that′s great. It can be a moving story that gives your readers a really warm and fuzzy feeling inside when they read it. But (at least for me), my gut instinct is to create a relatable main character, then flesh him out through his actions and dialogue, then introduce the love interest, and then allow the readers to peek in to see how they got to know one another. How they relate to one another. How they get along and ultimately build up to that first kiss...giving it meaning and value and a giddy sense of relief. But, with a short story, you don′t have the time and space for all of that. Find the ′punchline′, and zero in on what′s most important. And only what′s most important. If you decide you want to give some background details about what led up to this miraculous kiss... that′s great! But do it in just a few sentences or perhaps a few, well worded, paragraphs. And tell it, almost, as if it was a flashback. This is who he is, this is how we met, and now we′re ′here′. Done. The idea is to concentrate on the kiss. That′s what the short story is about, right? That′s the punchline! Awesome! Keep it that way. Start your story ten minutes before the kiss happens, and end the story FIVE minutes after the kiss happens. Any bonus details that you add about what led to this moment and what hope there is for future events down the road are welcome, but mostly unnecessary. Practice restricting yourself from getting too far into details that will ultimately lead to ′other′ story elements that aren′t related to that one particular moment in time. For example...if the two characters sharing this kiss grew up together and have been best friends since they were in Kindergarten, and are now celebrating their seventeenth birthday together alone with a movie marathon in their bedroom...cool. All relevant information. However, if you mention parental divorce, or an illness, or ex-boyfriends, sexual confusion, religious constraints, or anything like that...those are details that have more ′story′ behind them. Those are elements that may need extra explanation for them to be considered important to the plot itself. And if you just mention it and then don′t do anything more with that info...then it isn′t important to the plot itself...in which case...why bring it up? Eliminate it from your narrative. Get rid of it. Keep things tightly wound around the special moment in question. It′s a first kiss. Focus on the kiss and nothing else. Don′t add, ″By the way, the boy I′m kissing happens to be a contract killer for the mob!″ Hehehe, that is a detail that will take at LEAST five to ten more pages to fully explain! Five to ten pages that have absolutely nothing to do with this kiss itself. So...stay focused. K? Hehehe! Short stories follow the same basic rules as the longer ones do. The situation at hand is just much more grounded and isolated in nature. The shorter the story, the more precise you have to be with choosing your moment. The story has to have a beginning, a middle, and (hopefully) a satisfying end. Just like any other. But you have to find ways to effectively narrow your vision as much as you can without sacrificing the essential details you need to get our point across. Some stories don′t lead to grand adventure and heartbreaking drama. Sometimes, I write short stories about a guy going to a gay bar for the very first time, or two boys that practice kissing on each other so they can be ready for ′girls′ later on, or about stalking a really cute classmate through his photos online. Those stories are short and to the point, without the need for much explanation beforehand, or much promise for anything afterward. It′s just a golden moment in time. A single snapshot of someone′s life, detailed in words, and then the rest is left up to the reader to figure out for themselves. If you ask me, that can be even more endearing to a section of your audience, sometimes. They can finish building the rest of the story on their own, and they can make it whatever they want it to be. Hehehe, see? You get to deliver the epic romance feel without having to do all the hard work yourself. Awesome, right? Anyway, the point is to occasionally return to your roots and try putting out a short story every now and then. Remember when the thought of writing 3000 to 5000 words in one story seemed like such an impossible chore? LOL! ″I can′t write that much! I don′t have that much to say!″ That was my feeling, at least. But, over time, I started adding details, expanding on my visuals, getting more comfortable with my dialogue and plot structure...and now it′s actually more of a challenge to hold back and keep things simple than it is to elaborate. I′ve learned that it′s best to find your particular niche and find a decent balance between being too broad and being too brief with my ideas. A taste of both is fun, but too much of one or the other can taint the ′broth′, you know? So try it out! When you get the inspiration for a scene or a short story that doesn′t really lend itself to a much bigger project, try writing it out and posting it for your readers to see every now and then. I think it′s FUN, myself! Hehehe! But I′m a psycho, so don′t take my example as anything made of sound mind! But, not only does the practice keep your perspective clear and fresh from time to time, but you get the chance to experiment with new and unique ideas whenever you feel inspired. Different styles of writing...and it helps you to truly learn how to paint a crisp and clear vision in a single scene without losing sight of what that scene is all about. A skill that will definitely help you out when you′re writing your epic ′War And Peace′ sized novel...and want one major scene or another to stand out as the centerpiece of that part of the book! Get it? Good! As always, I hope this helps spark a few ideas, and I wish you guys the best of luck! Seezya soon!
  24. Whether you are using an auto correct program on your laptop or PC, or whether you have readers constantly pointing out some of the same errors in your stories, chapter after chapter...there comes a time when you need to take an honest look at your writing and your bad habits...and make yourself a ′low-light′ reel for yourself. This is the opposite of a highlight reel, where you look at what you′re really good at and examine the best parts of what it is you do. That′s a good thing to do, and it keeps you inspired and pushing yourself towards excellence. But sometimes, a low-light reel helps a LOT more when it comes to reaching that higher goal of being a better writer. When you′re putting a story together, I always stress comfort and natural flow over everything else. Follow your heart, let the words flow through you, and whatever mistakes you make along the way...fix them in editing after you′ve poured your emotion out on the screen in its most potent form. Get the emotion out first, while you′re still in the moment. That′s the most important part. The mechanics? You can fix and tweak those later, and hopefully give your story the shine and gloss that it deserves. However, if you look at your project, and you′re constantly misspelling the word ′privilege′ or ′separate′? You should make that a part of your low-light reel. It′s not a typo or a random error. There′s a problem there. The sooner you get a hold on it, focus on it, and work to correct it...the sooner you can break that habit. And the sooner it will cease to be a problem, slowing your writing process down. We′re on the internet! We have access to every spelling, definition, tense usage, known to mankind. If you′re writing off the top of your head, and you feel like you′re in a particular groove at the moment and don′t want to stop...write it the way you think is correct, and make sure that you come back later to look for it when you start the editing process. As I′ve said in a previous writer′s article, I don′t think any author should just type out a story and then hand it over to an editor to ′fix it′ without going over it and doing some self editing for themselves first. Not ever. This isn′t your editor′s story. This is YOUR story. Own it. Go through it. What mistakes have you made? Have you made them before? Will you make them again? Keep track of your mistakes, and do two or three minutes worth of research to correct your flaws so you can take them off the table as obstacles on the road to you being the best writer that you can be. Google it. Commit certain spellings and punctuation use and turns of phrase to memory. Copy and paste them into an email if you have to, so you can easily bring them up and remember, ″Oh yeah...I always spell the word ′occasionally′ with too many C′s or S′s or L′s, and I need to keep that in mind when I′m writing from now on. Don′t depend on your writing programs or your editors to catch your consistent mistakes. You′ll only make their jobs harder, and you won′t end up learning anything in the process. So those weaknesses will remain until you work to fix them yourselves. In a lot of my earlier stories, I would often use the phrase, ″All of the sudden″. Or I used to write ′outloud′ as one word instead of two. And I thought that was perfectly normal. But I learned after a while and after some constructive comments that I was doing it wrong. So, I looked it up. I had a few minutes to spare, right? And, lo and behold, I had been doing it wrong all that time. Out loud is two words, and it′s ″All of A sudden″. So I had to try to add that to my loooooong list of grammatical errors that have repeatedly appeared in my stories from the very beginning. After creating a low-light reel for myself, I now keep a conscious and watchful eye out for those same mistakes. And even when my muse is on fire and I′m in a writing frenzy...when I get to one of those areas, I stop and think, ″Wait...let me make sure that I get this right on the first try.″ And eventually, I create new habits. Corrected habits. And everything becomes natural, to where I don′t have to look out for making that error anymore. THAT...is how you step your game up to the next level, one baby step at a time. Something else to look for on your low-light reel? Cliché phrases that you may use over and over again, and don′t even realize it. Now, I have seen this in a lot of other writers′ work, and I′ve seen it in my own, so it can be difficult to notice unless you′re actively searching for it. When I say cliché phrases, I′m talking about those easy to rattle off ′connecting′ phrases that we may all use in casual conversation, but come off as unimaginative and unimpressive when you see it written in a story on the screen more than once. Some of these phrases are: ″As a matter of fact...″ ″If I had to be honest...″ ″Well, before long...″ ″On one hand...On the other hand...″ ″I′m not going to lie...″ ″You know what I mean?″ ″If I had to guess...″ And of course...″All of a sudden...″ Now, I′m not saying that a writer shouldn′t ever USE any of these phrases. Just realize that it has become such a part of starting or ending a sentence in everyday conversation...that we may end up using it multiple times in our stories as well. And with the written word, it is MUCH more noticeable! If you often use the term, ″As a matter of fact...″ to start a sentence or to make a statement in your everyday speak? Go to your story, use the ′find′ function, and see how many times it shows up in your project. If it′s more than twice...then that may be a habit that you want to break. It might not be a full fledged crutch...but you′re definitely walking with a ′limp′ there. Hehehe! Make yourself aware of it, and try to find other ways to say the same thing, or find a way around saying it at all. If your audience keeps reading the same phrases over and over, it becomes tiresome. Get rid of anything and everything that makes you come off as anything less than AWESOME! K? Another thing to look out for? The themes and plot directions for the stories you write. I wrote a ′One Life To Live′ article not long ago, and depending on who you are and what you′ve experienced in your life...you should take that into consideration as a writer. You′ve only lived one life, so you only have so many experiences to draw from. Some of you have been rejected in love before. Some of you have been cheated on in a relationship, or have been abused, or have had to make difficult discussions about whether or not you should come out of the closet, in the past. Now...this pertains mostly to writers who write multiple stories, either at once or one after another...but if the themes in your stories seem to be recurring or repetitive, try to change that up as well. This is something that I occasionally struggle with, myself. So if any of you guys have any advice on how to effectively accomplish this, please respond below and let me know! Hehehe! There are themes in my stories that repeat constantly, and I have made an attempt to avoid most of the blatant tropes that I′m known for, but there are some more passive elements of my stories that pop up again and again from time to time. The fear of coming out, the single mother, the feeling that the boy you like is out of your league, etc. Just like the cliché phrases I mentioned above...these things are hard to spot until you deliberately go looking for them. Something that I′m doing more often these days. (Wish me luck!) So, take some time to make a mental note of all the places where you may stumble as a writer. What words do you have trouble spelling, what phrases do you use more than is necessary, what common themes do you have running through every story you write. Self analyze, figure them out, and then make an effort to correct those bad habits when you′re writing. If you have to make a physical notebook or webpage dedicated to the things that you feel you need to keep in mind...do it! No harm in that. Keep it close to you, and practice until you have it drilled into your brain where it′ll stay as a practical part of your writing process. It won′t take long. Promise. And you can knock these constant errors down one at a time. Hope this helps! And happy writing! ((Hugz))
  25. Anyone who has ever read any of my personal story reviews of another author's story will almost always find a common theme popping up in my critique. Whether it's said in a positive or negative way, I am constantly pushing for people to give more and more detail in their work. (As a suggestion, of course.) Not in every single scene that they write about, but in a few choice scenes that I find myself wanting to dive deeper into as a reader. Now, that's just my opinion, and writers can take it or leave it as they see fit. But I can't help but feel like there are some events in the stories that I read where an entire chapter could be built around the scenes or plot points that writers sometimes choose to skip over. So, please feel free to absorb or dismiss this article if you want. Hehehe, no hard feelings. Promise. But as a reader and a lover of online fiction myself, this is what I see, and what I look for. And I'm hoping that I can give other writers something to think about while putting out new projects. Imagine that you were watching a movie about the Titanic, or 9/11, or...hell...the life of Jesus Christ, as told by the Bible. And you're totally invested in the story being told...but, at the last minute...you got robbed of the (Sorry to say it this way...but...) the dramatic 'punchline' of the whole story? What if the Titanic hit the iceberg, and the screen faded to black, and then came back up to show a few people in a lifeboat saying, ″Man...that sure was a tragic experience!″ What the…? There was SO much that happened in the previous moments that, conveniently, got skipped over without any detail at all! You can't just 'skip' that shit! Hehehe! You can't skip the falling of the Twin Towers, or the Crucifixion. These are major parts of the story that you're trying to tell, and where your most potent descriptions will become the payoff for every person who had traveled this far on the journey with your characters and your writing in general. Choose those moments. Flesh them out. Don't build up to fake promises, if you can help it. There's SO much more of a story to tell in the small places that you might ignore or shrug off in order to get back to other parts of the story that you're more comfortable with, or may feel are more interesting. That can be damaging your storytelling ability as a whole in the long run. So...let's talk details... Read the stories that you've written so far. Go back, skim over them, reminisce over how awesome it was to finish those projects and put them out for a beloved audience to read. I don't want to suggest that there's anything wrong with them! Not at all. This isn′t about criticism. It′s about ′enhancement′. These stories might be truly incredible as they are...but is there a scene or two that you might have wanted to elaborate on? I know that I am notorious for being extremely 'wordy' and repetitive in my stories in many people′s eyes, especially the older ones that I wrote years ago. But even now, I regret not going into more detail about certain key scenes in some of my projects. I didn't know how to pick my moments back then. I was always racing to hurry up and get to the end of the story without really filling in the gaps that, ultimately, proved to really matter and stand out as some of the most memorable scenes that readers took to heart and ended up remembering in vivid detail. I didn't have the patience back then that I do now. I think lots of practice makes a difference. When you're writing a story, it's easy to overlook a lot of details because the characters and storyline exist in your head before ′putting it on paper′. You see it so clearly. You know where it came from and where it's going, so moving from point A to point B is as easy as building a simple bridge between the two sides. 'This' happened, and then 'that' happened...and all I have to do is write some fluff in the middle to connect one big event to another. That'll work, right? No. It won't. Not the way you think it will. Your readers don′t have access to the full picture the same way that you do. The translation of your ideas to an audience is where the true talent lies. You have to be able to get readers to see your vision. That′s the whole point, right? I can't speak for everyone on this, but I can always tell when a writer is trying to rush from one major scene to another, and not really taking the time to focus on the cohesive situations that bind one moment to another. I can 'feel' it. I think that it's important to look at our own projects and find those 'passover' sentences that we use to progress the story forward, but don't really give the readers an idea of what those few sentences really mean. Example... ″I haven't been the same since my parents' messy divorce. The way that it happened...it just ruined my idea of love, trust, and loyalty, in general. And that's why I feel hesitant to give my heart to Michael. Even though he's offered me a promising way out of my predicament.″ Nothing wrong with that short collection of sentences. It conveys emotion, and it progresses the story forward, where a lot is implied, but never said. Understandable. Sometimes, 'less is more'. I get it. However...when I read something like that, I immediately start asking myself questions. What's a 'messy divorce' in his eyes? The way what happened? What did he go through? How did he feel about it? What did Michael offer him as a way out, and why did it work? There's an entire CHAPTER worth of flashback information in there with the amount of questions that I have about what was just said. You know? It doesn′t take a 1500 word essay to explain it...it can be done in just a few sentences. But I kind of want to know what happened there. A ′messy divorce′? Did one of his parents cheat? Did they just not get along? Was there a lot of fighting in the house? Was it abusive or just a scary experience from the main character′s point of view? Just a few sentences can give us a whole new perspective on his outlook on love and relationships and a whole lot more. It explains his discomfort in giving his heart away. It provides another layer to what he′s feeling, and how those feelings affect his behavior. So, if I personally read that in a story, this would be one of those moments that I′d be commenting on, and asking questions about. What happened there? If I keep reading...will this come up again later? Am I missing some important information? Will I find out more later on in the story? Hehehe, I have a ′noisy′ imagination! Sorry. But I know that some other people do too, and they′ve called me out on some of the scenes that I′ve skipped over as well. And they were totally right to do so. I just didn′t see it until later. I think the key is rereading the stuff you′ve written, and actively searching for places where you might ′hint′ at something exciting and important happening in your stories, but don′t really go into detail about it. Ask yourself...is there a ′scene′ in there somewhere? Something that will actually add something to your story? Don′t get me wrong...if your characters are standing in a room...you don′t have to mention the temperature on the thermostat or describe the wallpaper. That′s not what I mean. It′s more like... ″My boyfriend and I had a fight earlier today. It just left me in a bad mood when I went to work.″ Raise your hand if you′d like to know what that fight was about! Or, if you′re ambitious...to even create a scene with dialogue and all to let your readers be a part of that argument! Sometimes, that tiny bit of detail can really draw your audience into the lives of your characters, even if it′s not the main drive of your story. Take a few moments and create a full experience, you know? I hope this doesn′t sound like I want people to be more wordy when they don′t have to be! LOL! I swear that it′s not my intention. Just look at your work and see if you can pick out sentences here and there that target certain scenes that could use a bit more fleshing out. Be aware of your opportunities. Funny story...one of my best friends was telling me a story that he saw on the news afew years ago, and I hadn′t heard about it yet at the time...and he was like, ″Yeah, there were these two naked homeless guys on a bridge, and one of them was doing this bath salts drug, and he was actually EATING the other guy′s face! The cops showed up, and he didn′t go down when they shot him, and they thought it was some ′zombie apocalypse′ type of stuff″ (That′s a true story, by the way!) But I just broke out, laughing hysterically! Like...WTF??? There is SO much more of that story that I′m not getting! You STARTED with two naked homeless guys on drugs on a bridge! There are like...25 steps missing before I reach the ″How the fuck did we get HERE???″ stage! LOL! That′s what I′m talking about. Some statements made in your storytelling might just need a ′touch′ of finesse to paint a full picture for your readers to jump into. Something to depict a more layered vision of what′s going on, and bring your readers in to peek behind the curtain and become involved in it. That′s all. Keep asking yourself questions during the self editing process. If something was sad...why was it sad? If something tragic happened...what was it? Describe it for us so we can feel the weight of it all. If the main character finds someone super beautiful, or super annoying, or hilariously silly...show us why! Add a short scene to demonstrate that. Put yourself in the moment, and then expand on it so your audience can be right there with you. It takes practice to recognize these moments, and nothing in art is perfect...that′s what makes it art. But if you′re looking to make a few baby steps towards making your stories a little more involving...give this a try. You might just enjoy it! As always, I hope this helps! And I wish you guys the best!
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