Karina Teaches Worldbuilding 201 – Lesson 2

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Over this year, Karina is going to share some of her writing seminars on the blog, with the lessons and references for further study. We’ll be posting these once a month. There’s no assigned homework, but if you have questions, please ask them in the comments. Her first workshop is worldbuilding. This is Worldbuilding 201, Lesson 2.  Follow this link to Lesson 1. Here are the links to Worldbuilding 101 Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5, Lesson 6, and Lesson 7.

Karina teaches monthly webinars as well. Please check out her current schedule, or if you’d like her to teach at your writing group or class, see what courses she can offer.

We all know the adage that readers want to discover the world along with their characters. Telling them about the world can make them tune out–and if it’s early in the book, it can cost a sale. But sometimes, you need or want to get information across and without seeding it through the book. Sometimes, it might not even be especially vital information, but just something very cool you want to share or something you feel enhances the book overall. So how do you do that?

Let’s look at a couple of ways. Again, I’ll use examples, from some different genres. The one thing I want you to note, however, is that we do not leave the point of view of the book. In other words, the reader never feels like the author has stopped the story to tell him something.

Seeing it through the character’s eyes: Rachel’s Contrition by Michelle Buckman

I stare up at it stupidly. Lilly has bewitched me or something. A church doesn’t call someone, least of all me. From the outside it doesn’t even appeal to me, despite its fame. It’s old architecture, stone with twin bell towers, build up next to the road. There’s no sweeping lawn and walkway welcoming wanderers. Of course, a person can’t live here without knowing something about it. I’ve walked by it a million times and see it from distant hills. I am familiar with its massive stone structure and legendary dome roof. It’s as much a landmark to western North Carolina as Mr. Vanderbilt’s house, a statement of continuity through a hundred years, designed by Rafael Guastivino, the Biltmore architect. As he had for the mansion, Guastavino gathered bits of artwork from around the globe to edify the structure–statues, mosaics, and whatnot. I’ve heard tales of a painting of Mary damaged in the war that tears itself anew every time it’s repaired, and of miracles granted to those who enter the church. Despite the changes in people, in lifestyle, in the failure of the Vanderbilt family to dwell even the span of a single generation in the spectacular house on the hill, the church remains as the architect intended–not a moneychanger’s attraction, but a house of worship.

From God’s view, it must be an icon, but from the street, it’s just an old stone building sitting on the edge of the sidewalk…

This description is about halfway through the book, and we’ve come to know Rachel was a poor girl who married into high society and is currently estranged from her husband. Knowing that, this description does more than give us historical facts: It illustrates her struggle to prove she’s just as educated as her peers–maybe more so–and yet still holds aspects of her past (Lilly bewitched me…it doesn’t even appeal to me, despite its fame). You can even get a sense of her own struggle–the church is grand, a historical and spiritual icon–but to look at it, it doesn’t seem like much, which is really how she’s feeling.

Here’s what the author told me about this scene: “First, the basilica is famous, so I couldn’t ignore the description, but it was also the inspiration for the whole book, so it was important to include it. Because of Rachel’s attitude, I couldn’t let her have a positive view of it. She disdains everything at that point. I listened to her (mega important!) and let the description come from her, not me. Beyond that, there is symbolism in how beautiful the basilica is on the inside; even she is wowed by it. So, symbolically, she must begin to see life from inside herself, heal internally, before she can react to the outer world.

All description should come through action or emotion. In fact, if you can generate two conflicting emotions, all the better.”

Teach your character: Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia

Click. The thing in the picture had obviously once been a person, but was now a hunched and rotting pile of rags and jagged edges and pointed teeth. The creature held what appeared to be a human leg in its mostly skeletal hand. It looked as if its lunch had been rudely interrupted by the flash of the picture. “This is a ghoul. Think of it as a super zombie on crack. Much smarter, much faster, way harder to stop. Luckily, they’re rare, which is a good thing because the one in the picture soaked up about two hundred rounds before it finally quit kicking. Head shots don’t work, though they tend to slow them down. Your best bet is to hammer them until you break down their skeletal structure to the point where they just can’t fight anymore. Then burn them to be sure. They’re usually found around cemeteries, as they’re carrion feeders. PUFF for a ghoul runs around 20K.”

I like the way Larry handles the teaching method of sharing the world. Notice that even though we have a lot of information, it’s presented in character: First, the reaction of the student, who is new to the monster world, but a little sarcastic by nature (hence, the comment about the ghoul being rudely interrupted). Then, the teacher gives his spiel, with what’s important–the ghoul’s qualities as far as its being prey for the hunters, how to kill it, and how much the PUFF (bounty) is. Also, he doesn’t just tell–he shows.

There are lots of ways to teach a character–mostly with one person instructing another. Some simple rules to teaching:

–Don’t teach a character something they would already know just to tell your reader.

–Don’t teach a character something a reader already knows (or at least don’t belabor it).

–Don’t ever just teach the information. Stories are about action and reaction, introspection and emotion. Put those elements in there, or you get a stilted dialog/Q&A.

“As you know, Gerry, the discombobulator will protect us from the worst affects of time travel.”

“Like the grandfather’s syndrome?”

“You mean where you go back in time and marry your grandmother and become your own grandfather? Can’t happen. Now, moving to the quizaflextor…you can see that time moves in several streams as predicted by the Horace’s multiverse theory. Each time stream has its own coordinate, and we push the blue button to go back and the green to go forward. Red, of course, is stop.”

It’s in the documents: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling

“Oh, honestly, don’t you two read? Look–read that, there.”

She pushed the book toward them and Harry and Rob read:

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer’s Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

There have been many reports of the Sorcerer’s Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover…

The thing to keep in mind about documents is less is more. Use them sparingly and with purpose. They’re a great way to impart information the characters would not normally know or just happen to learn, or can be used (like in the beginning of a chapter) to give information and set a scene without pulling the reader out of the story.

Karina Teaches Worldbuilding 201 – Lesson 1

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Over this year, Karina is going to share some of her writing seminars on the blog, with the lessons and references for further study. We’ll be posting these once a month. There’s no assigned homework, but if you have questions, please ask them in the comments. Her first workshop is worldbuilding. This is Worldbuilding 201, Lesson 1. Here are the links to Worldbuilding 101 Lesson 1, Lesson 2,  Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5, Lesson 6 and Lesson 7.

Karina teaches monthly webinars as well. Please check out her current schedule, or if you’d like her to teach at your writing group or class, see what courses she can offer.

Lesson One: Introduce your world

No matter what your story is about, you have to start it in one of three ways: Introduce your character. Introduce your conflict. Introduce your world. No matter which you do, your world will get at least a partial introduction.

Let’s look at some examples. I am using fantasy and science fiction here only because I want to make a point about explaining a world that is massively different from ours. The temptation is to overshare up front, and that turns readers off in general.

World Introduction: The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.

Another Disc day dawned, but very gradually, and this is why.

When light encounters a strong magical field it loses all sense of urgency. It slows right down. And on the Disc-world the magic was embarrassingly strong, which meant that the soft yellow light of dawn flowed over the sleeping landscape like the caress of a gentle lover or, as some would have it, golden syrup. It paused to fill up the valleys. It piled up against the mountain ranges. When it reached Cori Celesti, the ten mile spire of gray stone and green ice that marked the hub of the Disc and was the home of its gods, it built up in heaps until it finally crashed in a great lazy tsunami as silent as velvet, across the dark landscape beyond.

It was a sight to be seen on no other world.

Of course, no other world was carried through the starry infinity on the backs of four giant elephants, who were themselves perched on the shell of a great turtle….

If you’ve not read Terry Pratchett, I highly recommend him, especially for his worldbuilding. He makes the fantastic seem completely believable and loads of fun! I wish I could have found the book in which he begins simply with the Great Turtle, then the elephants, then the Discworld and concludes blithely that in an infinite universe anything is possible, so why not? The great thing about Pratchett is that he’s so delightful in his descriptions that he can TELL you about the world and you just want to read more. You read on because you just know the punch line is coming.

Using this kind of approach works when you need to get the reader into the world right away–whether for the comedy value or because the world is vitally important. Even then, notice that he doesn’t give you a lot of information. This isn’t a State Department Brief (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35910.htm) From the introduction above, Pratchett talks a little about the turtle, who is having a great time, and about the spaceship that has been launched off the world with the mission of finding out the turtle’s gender.

Person Introduction: Out of the Dark by David Weber

“Garsul, are you watching this?”

Survey Team Leader Garsul grimaced. Just what, exactly, did Hartyr think he was doing? Of all the stupid, unnecessary, infuriating–

The team leader made himself stop and draw a deep breath. He also made himself admit the truth, which was that as effortlessly infuriating as Hartyr could be anytime he tried, there was no excuse for allowing his own temper to flare this way. And it wouldn’t have been happening if he hadn’t been watching…and if both his stomachs hadn’t been hovering on the edge of acute nausea. Then there were his elevated strokain levels, not to mention the instinctual fight-or-flight reflexes (mostly flight in his species case, in point of fact) quivering down his synapses.

So how much of the world do we get in these few paragraphs? We know there are multiple species, that they are probably in space (talking through a link is a clue, as is the SF nature of the story), and that they’ve encountered something in the world that poses a fright if not a danger. Does it tell you a lot about the world? Not really. Does it tell you enough to keep you reading? It does for me–or would, if I weren’t writing this class.

Situation Introduction: “Ghosts of Kourion” by Andrew Seddon

I awoke to the thudding of my heart and the scrabbling of a mouse somewhere in the room. Pale moonbeams threaded through cracks in the warped shutters.

I’d been sleeping! Despite my best efforts to stay awake, sometime in the dark hours of the night I’d succumbed to sleep–on this night of all nights! I threw off my thin sheet, hurried to the window and flung open the shutters.

The city of Kourion slept bathed in silver moonlight, its sand and time-worn walls standing as they had for hundreds of years. A shiver of mixed excitement and fear trembled over me.

Turning away from the window, I rummaged in a pile of clothes tossed on the floor and shrugged a tunic over my shoulders. I strapped on my sandals and clattered down the stairs into my wine shop where amphorae of choice vintages surrounded me like shapeless statues. I opened the door and dashed out, leaving it swinging behind me.

From far below came the dull roar of the surf pounding the beaches. Otherwise, the pre-dawn night seemed preternaturally quiet–no wind in the trees, no dogs barking or cats fighting, not even a drunkard singing his slurred songs to the shuttered buildings.

It was the morning of July 21, A.D. 365, and it was to be Kourion’s last morning. Were there hours left or merely minutes?

Aren’t you drawn in? Do you have to be told that Kourion is an ancient Greek city on the southwestern coast of Cyprus which was destroyed by a volcano or that our main character had traveled back in time to witness its demise? We don’t need a history lesson here; we have been promised that we will experience history along with the protagonist.

What do we get from these, then? No matter what your approach, in those first few paragraphs, you want to give enough information about your world to orient the reader–but not overwhelm them–and get them interested enough that, combined with character and situation, they want to read on. Simple in theory, not always as easy in practice.

Karina Teaches Worldbuilding – Final Lesson

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Over this year, Karina is going to share some of her writing seminars on the blog, with the lessons and references for further study. We’ll be posting these once a month. There’s no assigned homework, but if you have questions, please ask them in the comments. Her first workshop is worldbuilding. This is Lesson 7. Here are the links to Lesson 1, Lesson 2,  Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5, and Lesson 6.

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.   –Anton Chekhov

Now you’re well on your way to building your world! You’ve got–or have plans to get–all this great history, know everything about the orbital mechanics of your solar system, even know why your Grimphani part their hair on the left. Now, it’s time to tell your readers, right?

NO!

Don’t tell us about your world! Show us!

Everything we’ve done so far is background. Some of it may never come up. (Remember what I said in a previous lesson about the writer who has written an encyclopedia or game manual rather than a story?) Now you can use those elements, but don’t tell us about them!

So how do you avoid that?

Keep in mind point of view–even if you are using an omniscient narrative (i.e., the reader sees more than the character), do your best to describe things as they impact or are applied to the character or characters. For example, say I wanted to write a scene in The Miscria III: Hero Psychic, where there is a wild rainstorm that Tasmae (who controls the weather) has decided to allow to happen. I could just say it:

Joshua and Sachiko came in soaked from the storm. When Joshua saw Deryl, he asked, “What’s with the rain? Can’t Tasmae control the weather?”

 Deryl shrugged, though it was obvious he found Joshua’s soaked status funny. “The land is parched. Tasmae decided to let the storm come.”

 “She couldn’t have given us a warning?”

Or, I can show it:

 Joshua and Sachiko entered the city at a run, and the doors closed at their heels, shutting off the howling of the winds. As they stood there, shaking their heads and wringing out their clothes, Deryl strode toward them. “And where have you been?”

 Joshua gaped then pointed at the door. “Has your wife looked out the window lately?”

 Deryl shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips. “Tasmae said we need the rain.”

Of course, showing is sometimes easier said than done, so here are some tips:

  • See it through your character’s senses and experiences. Will your character know that the general is wearing the traditional (but itchy) dress of the Galvatin Space Fleet, with the braiding denoting his bravery in the Karu Nebula Encounter and the still-brass buttons that have been part of the uniform since 345 GT? Or will he just note that it’s impressive and traditional–but kind of gaudy?
  •  Use the detail that matters. If your hero is dodging a swinging blade, that may not be the time to note that it’s the Sword of Barnana, with rosewood hilt bearing the tiger-eye stones once stolen from the Kitcherie temple and which bears the curse that its wielder must kill a werewolf every full moon and how it has been highly polished yet has nicks. He may notice the crazed, possessed eyes of its bearer and how he pants, “Must killmustkillmustkill.” Once your hero defeats the swordsman, he may note some of these details–or he may be running like fun away from the scene. You decide how important the sword is at that point.
  •  The more it matters to the plot, the more detail you need. If you don’t intend to run across the Sword of Barnana again in the story, it may be enough to note that it’s a possessed sword. If it comes back later, you might want to note the odd tiger-eye jewels. If it becomes the focus of the quest (and hence the story), more background is needed.
  •  If you need to explain, let characters do it–but avoid lectures or extended Q&A.

Here’s Vern explaining his scratch marks on the local buildings to a member of the Los Lagos Beautification Committee. It’s a central point to the entire story, which is less than a thousand words.

“I understand you’ve… scratched some of the buildings in the area.”

“Yesssss….?”

“Well, you’re defacing the exterior!”

“Yesssss…..?”

“It simply won’t do!”

“Anybody complaining?”

“The Committee–”

“Anybody around here complaining?”

“No.”

“Those ‘scratches’ mark the area as under my protection. My Territory.”

“I realize it might be an instinct thing–”

I threw back my head and snorted. She jumped but didn’t back away. Score one for guts. “Do you know the crime rate around Territory?”

“Unacceptably high. That’s why the Los Lagos Beautification Committee wants to foster a more pleasant environment–”

“–Do you know the crime rate within Territory?”

“I don’t–”

“People don’t mess with places I’ve marked. They’ve got a stronger motivation than beauty. Me.”

For More Reading:

http://www.tarakharper.com/k_show.htm Great examples.

http://www.sfwriter.com/ow04.htm

Karina Teaches Worldbuilding – Lesson 5

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Over this year, Karina is going to share some of her writing seminars on the blog, with the lessons and references for further study. We’ll be posting these once a month. There’s no assigned homework, but if you have questions, please ask them in the comments. Her first workshop is worldbuilding. This is Lesson 5. Here are the links to Lesson 1, Lesson 2,  Lesson 3, and Lesson 4.

To seek out new life and new civilizations…  –Star Trek

Worlds are more than physics, and stories are more than settings. The most interesting thing about a world and the usual spot for conflict lies in the society that inhabits the world. Whether you have an intergalactic civilization with a history longer than the entire existence of the Earth or a small exploration group on an uncharted asteroid, you need to know how that society runs.

How much do you need to know? It depends on your story, your universe, and your own plans. David Weber has a complex and detailed universe for his Honor Herrington novels, and it shows. A short story, however, may only need a couple of important facts; the rest is immaterial. I once chatted with an author whose novel was unmanageably long because he was including every detail, right down to the history and construction of the blades used in a swordfight. One chatter suggested he was writing the world’s encyclopedia or an online game manual rather than a story.

Dream up as much of the background as you can and wish to, but don’t let it interfere with the story. Here are some things to consider:

 History:

  •   How did your country/world/empire come to be?
  •   Who were the major historic figures? (soldiers, statesmen, explorers, workers for peace, famous criminals, scientists, religious leaders, people not in power who do major things)
  •   What inventions changed their world?

Always start with those that affect your character, story and setting. For example, in the United States, every child grows up learning about George Washington, the Revolutionary War, and Pearl Harbor. In Colorado, however, kids will be more familiar with the explorer Zebulon Pike, while in Fredericksburg, VA, students learn about the apothecary and General Hugh Mercer.

 Military:

  • Are there a lot of wars on your world? Over what?
  • How does your society feel about war and the military? How does your character feel?
  • Does your character belong to a conquering “nation” or a conquered one? Or does his nation avoid battle, preferring negotiation or neutrality?

If needed, you can map out some of the major battles. Think not only about the ones that forged the civilization(s) you’re writing about, but also the area. In a real-world example, Fredericksburg, VA (where we used to live) was the site of several important battles in the American Civil War. Thus, you can’t walk for a block downtown without seeing something from that era – whether a statue of General Lee, a historical marker, a souvenir shop, or a Confederate Flag proudly displayed next to the Stars and Stripes. My husband has a Civil War sword that his neighbors dug out of their back yard.

 Economic:

  • How do people acquire things? Not all societies have a cash or barter system. In my world of Kanaan, people work for the joy of creating or performing a service and freely give away their wares. Lesser enjoyed duties (laundry, dishes, trash) are shared.
  • What are trade relations between systems, countries, etc. like?
  • How many resources does the average person have at their beck and call? Can they afford to throw food away? Broken or no longer wanted objects? How important is recycling?
  • What are the major industries, crops, etc? How do they affect the society and policies of your world?
  • Do you have big businesses or small conglomerates? How are they run? For example, in Rob’s and my Rescue Sisters novel, Discovery, we have a major space conglomerate, ColeCorp, which has its fingers in everything from universities to spaceship construction. It runs like a standard American business for the most part, but in the asteroid belt, it has a cooperative relationship with the small, independent mining companies.

 Political:

  • What kind of government does your world have? What are the variations? For example, you may have a monarchy, but instead of the crown passing to the firstborn son, it goes to whichever child demonstrates the strongest arcane ability at 16. Each child’s score is recorded, and when the monarch dies, the crown is passed to the most skilled.
  • Politics is more than governmental, however. How are decisions for groups made? How does this reflect society’s values?

 Inventions:

  • What inventions have transformed society? Think more than just commercially. Take the washing machine, for example. On the surface, it makes it easier to clean clothes, but look deeper, and you see it has changed our standards of clean, the amount and type of clothing the average person owns, and sparked the need for a whole slew of new industries, from detergent manufacturing to diaper services.

For More Reading:

Where do you come up with ideas for these things? Read about Earth! Read a history, political system or economics. Then ask yourself how you can adapt elements of this to your world.

Karina Teaches – Lesson 4

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Over this year, Karina is going to share some of her writing seminars on the blog, with the lessons and references for further study. We’ll be posting these once a month. There’s no assigned homework, but if you have questions, please ask them in the comments. Her first workshop is worldbuilding. This is Lesson 4. Here are the links to Lesson 1, Lesson 2, and Lesson 3.

Worldbuilding 101, Lesson 4: Your People

On the last day, God created Man (male and female), but we’re going to do it on Lesson 4.

For some of you, this won’t be too hard–you’ll have basic humanoids with some special quirk that makes them unique.

As you’ve already heard me say–and everybody join in this time–you need to think about the impact of the differences you make on the rest of your world. For example, for my novel Discovery, my husband Rob and I have postulated a race of creatures that are more patterned after starfish–radial symmetry rather than the vertical symmetry of humans. This introduced a whole slew of interesting questions:

–Do they have a sense of right/left/forward/back?

–Are certain digits devoted to walking and some to handling tools? Or are they ambidextrous?

–Where are their eyes? How do they see?

–How do they eat, sleep, procreate?

–What would their homes, vehicles, and equipment look like?

Fortunately for Rob and me, we will be dealing with humans exploring a long-dead spaceship, possibly abandoned, so we have some wiggle room for unanswered questions. We could concentrate just on the things that directly apply to the space ship, its design and especially its life craft. If we take our humans to this planet in another book, we’ll need more answers!

Even if you’re doing fantasy and are going to use some of the time-honored “aliens” like vampires, werewolves, etc., you still need to decide their biology, needs and how they are different. Is vampirism a disease, a genetic defect or a choice? Why can’t they come out into the sun? How does it really affect them–sunburn, allergic reaction or the good ol’ burst into flames? Do werewolves have to change in a full moon, or can they only change in the full moon? What happens to their clothes?

I’ve had a lot of fun playing with the usual clichés of fairy creatures in my Dragon Eye, PI universe. (www.dragoneyepi.net). For example, my elves are very long-lived. Well, when you live to be 500-600, your biology should slow down a bit, and so does your sense of time. Thus, while elves are able to interact with humans, they are also infuriatingly slow. Their language, for example, is full of prerequisites–to apologize for bumping into someone requires you recognize their social status and that of their family and tribe as compared to yours, the nature of the offense, the impact of that offense on the relationship and the relationship of their people… As my dragon detective Vern likes to complain, “It can take them half an hour to ask where the bathroom is.” (And, thanks to their changed biology, they do have half an hour before the need is urgent.)

Keep in mind, too, that the more that quirk is part of their nature, the more effect it will have on their civilization–but that’s lesson 5.

For more reading:

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Alien-Species-Star/dp/0345442202/ref=sr_1_1/104-5069618-1512745?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189371773&sr=1-1 The Essential Guide to Aliens (Star Wars) by Ann Lewis and RK Post. It’s amazing what people have come up with for creatures. Contains their history, biology and sociology. Great for ideas.

Dragon Magazine: Although out of print, each issue had a bestiary with incredible detail about certain kinds of creatures.

Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbooks or Monster Manuals: Pick a fantasy creature and these writers have thought of everything from how they react in an adventure to what they wear as pajamas. Forget the dice and the stats and just play with the ideas.

Real life creatures: Google a species that may have traits you want – like starfish or manta rays or birds. Even if you aren’t looking for a full creature, you might learn something. For example, if your alien has wings and can fly, you will want to study what else is involved – do they have feathers or skin like a bat? Do they fly or just soar like a flying squirrel? How does their anatomy support the wing structure?

 

Karina Teaches – Lesson 2

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Over this year, Karina is going to share some of her writing seminars on the blog, with the lessons and references for further study. We’ll be posting these once a month. There’s no assigned homework, but if you have questions, please ask them in the comments. Her first workshop is worldbuilding. This is Lesson 2. Find Lesson 1 here.

 

Lesson 2: Physics, Geology and Geography

HEY! Don’t open that! It’s an alien planet! Is there air? You don’t know!

–Guy Fleegman, Galaxy Quest

The more we know about the universe and what it takes to create Life, the more we realize just how amazing it is that any life–let alone sentient life–could have developed even once. The world must have a sun that is the right age, be in orbit at the right distance with an atmosphere to block out dangerous radiation and provide something to breathe. There must be carbon or some other basic building block that can combine with other elements to produce complex molecules that will work together. And of course, there must be water or a logical water-substitute. There must be time for those to evolve, societies to develop, etc…

Now, you may not have to start with quite these basics, but you should know to some degree (as determined by the need of the story) how what you’re doing will alter that delicate balance. Alter the mineral content of the world, and you might change its gravity. Change the gravity too much and you lose atmosphere. Introduce two moons and you mess with the tides. Even removing the tilt of your world (the earth sits at about a 23.5 degree tilt to the sun) and you mess with the seasons and the warming of the planet. Not that you can’t do these things, but you need to be aware of them and how they affect your world–and (if they are important to your story) what you’ll do for a work-around.

Second point for today is that planets are not homogeneous. Mars, for example, has a rep for being rather plain and desert-like, but it has fantastic topography, from huge mountains to incredible canyons, long stretches of deserts and rocky flatlands. There are polar ice caps (albeit made of carbon dioxide). Even the gas giants have regions of different climates and “topography,” or else they would not have storms. So the idea of a completely “Springlike” planet or an entirely harsh, rocky world isn’t especially believable.

Of course, there are exceptions. Arrakis (Dune) was desert from pole to pole, but Frank Herbert made it successful for several reasons: it was critical to the story, believable in its presentation, grounded in reason (the scarcity of water and the actions of the sandworms, who walled off water and kept it from rising to the surface), and he acknowledged (through the characters) its uniqueness in the galaxy, thus making it a mystery to draw you into the book rather than a distraction to pull you out.

The point, of course, is to know WHY your world is the way it is, and to make sure that its unique characteristics carry their own unique consequences. Fantasy artists can toss in another moon because it’s cool; writers have to deal with how that second moon affects the werewolves every month–or how it affects the counting of the months, for that matter.

Unless you are an astrophysicist, astrobiologist and geologist, you probably can’t readily say what will happen when you start tweaking your world. Fortunately, others have done that thinking for us. Find books, seek out professors at your local university–or call around and find an expert. And of course, remember that how deep you get into worldbuilding depends on how vital your world is to your plot–if you’re writing a fantasy tale that takes place inland, you don’t need to know how your second moon affects your tides so much as how it affects your werewolves. If you’re doing a “pirates on Xenologia” adventure, you’d better know how the oceans react to your second moon.

But my story takes place on Earth! You may not have to worry about the physics (unless you are introducing some paranormal element, in which case you might consider the “physics” of that), but your area still has geology and geography. Consider the differences between San Francisco, Chicago and Phoenix, for example. One is hilly and foggy; the other has multiple rivers; the third is flat and dry. Each has its own geography, and keep in mind that for the sake of your story “geography” includes man-made elements. Part of the geography of Los Angeles includes Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Hollywood, Beverly Hills… When I think about the geography of my hometown, Pueblo, Colorado, I think of the winding highway, I-25, with the mall at the north end, just before the big stucco welcome signs, and the rusting steel mill on the south end, where the city sort of peters out to an empty lot of the old drive-in and the greyhound race track.

 

For More Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life

http://www.humantruth.info/aliens.html A fair summary of different life possibilities–from organic to robotic

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0091886163/vexencrabtree “What does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life” by Jack Cohen

 

Transitions – How to get your character from here to there

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MC900434910[1]One area of writing craft that doesn’t get a lot of attention is that of writing transitions. You’ve gotten to the end of a scene, or maybe just to the middle, and the characters need to move to a different location, or perhaps some time must pass. How do we accomplish that in a way that moves the story forward and also keeps the reader’s interest?

I admit to hitting spots like this and getting stumped. I know what is coming up, but can’t quite figure out how to make it happen on the page. Sometimes I just skip the transition, leave a space or type “needs something” in red, and go on. When I come back, the answer is often clear and I can add, then revise and move on.

Deconstructing transitions can help. Ask questions of yourself or the characters. What needs to happen next? What is a logical way of getting there? How can I as author make the “getting there” part compelling? Can I reveal characterization? Can I set a tone? Can I use an active verb? What word choices will help me create the imaginary situation that I hope my reader pictures and feels? How can I do this in an unobtrusive way?

A simple solution for time shifts is to double space between scenes. In more complex time situations, a timing cue may be necessary, i.e., a day, date, or time as a header at the beginning of a chapter. As in any literary technique, get the most bang for your buck with each word.

For instance, in Hijacked, my first novel, the female protagonist is a pilot. I purposely used weather cues that a pilot would notice to alert the reader to the time shifts. The setting became a vehicle for those transitions: A thunderstorm to indicate that summer had arrived, the brilliant color of fall foliage as seen from the air to denote autumn, the sight of malls (again, from the air) engulfed in oceans of cars just before Christmas. I used those opportunities to deepen the heroine’s character, i.e., how she felt about what was going on in her life at each of those seasons, and to move the story forward, i.e., her musings about past events or how to proceed with relationships. Is there a unique aspect of one of your characters or your setting that might serve to assist with transitions?

In more complex time situations, a timing cue may be necessary, i.e., a day, date, or time as a header at the beginning of a chapter. I used this technique in Unholy Bonds, the sequel to Hijacked. Create a timeline outside of the book as a reference; it will help keep things straight. This idea is especially helpful in creating tension in a novel of suspense. Conversely, it can indicate the passage of long periods of time and slow the pace of a more introspective novel.

Within a chapter or scene, your goal is to move the characters around without creating a sense of plastic figures being manipulated by the author. Describe their movements in terms of their personalities and within the context of the emotion felt or displayed at that moment. Give them reasons, valid ones, for going where they need to go. Use transition words (then, next, after, etc.) if you need to, but keep them to a minimum or the story begins to read like an instruction manual.

Avoid the “grocery list” approach. Too many details getting the character from one spot to another risks losing the reader’s interest. Keep only the details that move the story forward or reveal something about the character. If they need to get out of the kitchen, into the car and down the street before the next interesting thing happens, try to get that done in a sentence or two—not six.

For instance: He dropped the milk carton on the counter and sprinted to the door, grabbing a coat on the way to his vintage Harley. A roar of noise and black exhaust carried him away from safety and into the unknown of danger. Where is Patty?

Okay, I know that’s sort of hokey, but I established a whole lot of stuff in a few sentences and got him out of the house and down the street. Our hero drinks milk and rides a vintage Harley (potentially contradictory and character revealing information.) His bike belches black smoke, so it might need some maintenance. He’s leaving a place of safety and heading into danger, which makes him brave or impetuous – or both. And as he’s moved from one place to another, he’s (hopefully) kept our interest and created a sense of urgency, both on the page and within the reader, who now needs to keep reading.

What we avoided was: He picked the carton of milk up and sniffed it, but then set it down. It wasn’t sour, but a thought crossed his mind. He hadn’t heard from Patty yet, and she had promised to call him when she arrived at work. Where was she, anyway? Concerned, he walked quickly down the hall where he picked up his keys and his coat, then checked his pocket for his wallet. Satisfied that he had everything he needed, he stepped out of the house, closed the door and locked it, then took the three steps from the porch to the sidewalk. His motorcycle was parked on the driveway, and he walked over to it, then picked up his helmet and put it on. (Are you bored yet? I am! And it’s so painful I’m not going to write any more! But I bet you get the idea!)

Many times, the transition doesn’t need to be exact.  Sometimes you can simply start the next sentence or scene with a thought in the character’s POV that indicates a change has taken place, then move on from there. Flashbacks followed by “leap forwards” can work, too, but use caution. Overuse or poor execution of flashbacks cause more problems than they solve.

This is a good time to get out your favorite novel and read a bit of it, paying close attention to how the author treated transitions. How do you handle transitions? Do you have suggestions beyond what I’ve addressed here? Please share! 

10 Steps to Indie Publishing

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Printing pressThese are the best of times for authors—and possibly the worst of times! The changes in the publishing industry over the past five years are nearly as significant as the advent of the internet. In fact, the two developments are intertwined and build on each other.

We all know traditional publishing has undergone tremendous upheaval. It’s still difficult to find an agent. Same goes for a publishing home, doubly so when entire houses fold or get bought out by another entity. Authors are taking to the waters of Amazon and related ponds by the droves, flooding the markets with their manuscripts.

What are some advantages to independently publishing your work? Total control is the one most often mentioned. You work directly with a cover artist to produce the best one for your story. You can replace it if you decide it’s not working. You can set your pricing, then change it at a moment’s notice if needed.

Total control is also the disadvantage to indie publishing. Marketing is incumbent upon you, no one else. Make no mistake: this is a big responsibility.

Given this environment, if you are interested but have yet to dip a toe into the pool, how do you go about what has become known as indie publishing?

1. Know your goals. Do you want to get something in print form for family and friends? Skip down to items 4 through 7 and ignore the rest. Do you want to reach readers who don’t personally know you? Start here and slog through every step listed.

2. Hone your craft. Write the best book possible, run it by critique groups and/or beta readers and/or enter it in contests to get unbiased feedback. Then hire an editor and revise. Yes, this will cost money. Yes, you must do it. Do not fall prey to the delusion that your book is the best one on the planet or the only one not in need of professional editing. It’s not. You can always make it better. Believe me, if your critique partners/beta readers/editors say it needs work, it does. Fix it. If you don’t, the whole world will be privy to the lashing you will get from Amazon and Goodreads reviewers. So make it the best possible book before you put it out there. At least no one will be able to say “poorly written/edited!”

3. Buy books on the process. Let’s Get Digital and Let’s Get Visible  by David Gaughran are great resources, they are cheap, and they are fairly up to date. He is a proponent of the Amazon-only model. If you are comfortable with reading advice by savvy romance writers, The Naked Truth About Self-Publishing by The Indie Voice is another great resource.  This group is a proponent of getting your work out to every venue possible; why limit yourself to one vendor? These three books come to less than $15 and lay an excellent foundation for understanding the nuts and bolts of self-publishing.

4. Explore publishing options. Amazon’s self-pub arms are KDP for ebooks, Create Space  or print on demand, and ACX for audio books. Ingram Spark is another option. Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Kobo have platforms for uploading books; I have not gotten that far and do not have information to share. I’m sure others can contribute to the conversation here!

5. Utilize the tutorials on each publishing site. They provide a wealth of information. My experience with customer service on each site has been exceptional. If your budget allows for additional services, pretty much anything you need is available .

6. Remember that nothing is set in stone. If you make a mistake, all you usually have to do is replace the file. For ebooks on KDP, the old one will still be available for sale until the new one goes live. With Create Space, the title will not be available during the changeover, typically twelve hours or so. That said, some mistakes require taking the book down and reissuing it. Call customer service if it looks like something you can’t address on your own.

7. Mistakes: You will make them. The earth will not stop rotating. You will fix them. A week later, you will probably have forgotten the details. Moral: Be nice to yourself when you demonstrate your humanity. Even better, laugh!

8. Connect with your writing community. Ask for help, share insights, cheer each other on, and promote each other’s work. There are enough readers out there for all books. Amazon gave a presentation at a conference I attended recently. Their statistics show a dramatic rise in books sold since the ebook became widely available. More titles, more sales. Readers are voracious. There is enough success to go around; it’s not a finite quantity.

9. Adapt. There is no right way or wrong way to do this. The only given is the quality of the product you put out. Beyond that, much of the process for individual books is trial and error. Try something and see if it works. If not, try something else. Be persistent. Realize that marketing is part of the authorial journey these days, whether you are traditionally or independently published.

10. Remember this is a business for the long haul. It may take years to build a following. Meanwhile, keep improving your craft and writing new content. That is the one action you can take to improve visibility of your books, and visibility translates to sales. Continue to interact with readers, either online or in person, so they remember you and look for your books as you write them.

Questions? Discussion? How about suggestions of books or other resources you’ve found? Please share!

Cheerleading! Mutually Beneficial Author Support

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Cheerleaders Doing Routine --- Image by © Royalty-Free/CorbisThere are a lot of us out there. Authors. With great books to share. Too often, though, we feel alone in our endeavors, trying to get readers to notice us in the roiling sea of other great books. This is a great time to be a writer! It’s more possible than it has ever been to publish a book. But that means that all sorts of other people are doing the same.

Whether you are independently publishing your work, under contract with a traditional publisher, or working with a small, online press, the business of marketing one’s work falls more and more upon the shoulders of the author. “But I just want to write,” you say. Hey, I’m with you. Me, too. But that’s  not our reality anymore.

How do we get “out there” where someone might notice?

First, write a quality book, no matter the genre. If you’re publishing independently, surround yourself with an expert team of editors, formatters, and cover artists. First impressions matter. Don’t give the reader a reason to skip past your book; give them a reason to stop and look at it, really look at it. Hopefully, they’ll be intrigued enough to click the ‘buy’ button.

Then, the meat of this post: Network. Before you ask people to spread the news about your book, make sure you’ve nurtured relationships with them, and have crowed about their successes. You can do this well before you are ready to publish your own work; in fact, that’s the best time to create these relationships. Have you gone to Catholic Writers Conference Live? Or participated in the online CWG conference? How about the Writing Retreat? Or any other writing focused activities? What about the CWG Facebook page? Have you interacted with other writers in any of those venues? I hope so, because that’s crucial for the next step, which is:

Celebrate with them! Post their new releases or awards on your Facebook page. Use your blog or Twitter to let your followers know there’s something available that’s worth their time. If you’re on Twitter, find and follow some entities that reflect your interests; they may reTweet for you and expand your reach.

Buy and read your friends’ books, and then review them on Amazon and Goodreads. *Caveat: Always say something nice, or don’t post a review. This does not mean you can’t be honest, but be honest in a kind manner. Personally, I never give a review with less than four stars, and even if I didn’t like everything about the book, I focus on what I loved about the book—or, if it’s in a genre that’s not  my favorite, focus on what readers of that specific type of book will enjoy about this particular one.

Here’s an example of how this might work. A few weeks ago, Erin McCole Cupp contacted me because I’d done a cover reveal on my upcoming release, Hijacked, on CWG’s Facebook page. Would I like to trade read and reviews with her? She’d recently published Don’t You Forget About Me, a cozy mystery. I said yes, and posted reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. She upped the ante and asked me to be an interviewee on her blog the week my book comes out. I said yes (!), and then tagged  her on a My Writing Process blog tour/relay. With any luck, some of my readers will be interested in her work and some of hers readers, in mine. That’s just with two authors! Imagine what can happen when more get in on the fun!

(And did you notice what I just did? I linked Erin’s website and the Amazon link to buy her book to this post. I purposely do this for everyone I mention on both my CWG and personal blogs. What goes around comes around…)

Join writing organizations and establish relationships with authors you respect. Be a cheerleader for them, and hope they’ll return the favor when it’s your turn. Yes, it’s time consuming, but it is well worth the effort—not just because they’re going to help you sell books, but because they are wonderful people and their friendships enrich your life.

Are you feeling a little less alone now? I hope so! If you’ve had success in the arena of networking, please share your story! What are the elements that contribute to that success?

 

The End: Sweet Words for an Author, Sweet Experience for a Reader

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The EndThe end.

Two of the most satisfying words a writer can tap onto a keyboard.

We’ve all dreamed of typing those six letters, and many of us have been fortunate enough to have achieved that particular success.

In my past few posts, we’ve discussed beginnings and middles. Let’s talk about endings today.

How do you craft an ending that works? You know what I mean: the ending that satisfies in a way that nothing else can. The good guys win, the couple (finally!) gets together for their happy ever after, the world is saved from certain disaster.

Yet I suspect many of us know when an ending doesn’t work. Have you ever read a book where the story had you in its grip—and then it fell flat and limped to the last page? I have. It feels like the author suddenly lost interest. Perhaps they were on a deadline and just typed a bunch of words to fulfill a contract. Or maybe they really didn’t know how the book ended, so they just threw some words on the page and hoped they would do. And that the reader wouldn’t notice.

Alternatively, I’ve read books where The End happened ten or fifteen pages before the printed pages did. It’s disconcerting to be engaged in the story, come across that emotionally satisfying ahhh that is the indisputable end…but then things keep happening and the characters keep talking, and as a reader, you’ve lost interest.

To avoid a bad ending, go back to the beginning. Is your theme still clear? Will the ending make that theme shine (even though it’s likely not stated outright)? What is the question posed at the beginning of the book? There may be an overall question, along with individual questions for each of the main characters. Are those questions answered in the last chapter?  What about the middle? Does all that suspense and tension you’ve nurtured through the book come to a climax that is addressed in the final scene(s)? If you’ve been paying attention to these elements of craft, you’ve set yourself up for a good, satisfying end.

Pacing is another issue. Keep the tension strong; don’t dilute it with throwaway words or scenes. When the end is reached, end the story; don’t belabor it.

Make sure all loose ends are tied up. This is a great task for critique partners and/or beta readers. Whatever did happen to Uncle Bert after everyone else hared off after the bad guys and left him chained to the gushing water pipe in the basement? Or Sally rescued the lost kitten in chapter two, but the kitten was never mentioned again. What happened to it??? You can bet your readers will ask these questions!

Whatever you do, please, please avoid the temptation to use a plot ploy at the end. No hand of God reaching down to set all aright, or aliens/knights in shining armor/Navy Seals (that haven’t been part of the book until now) suddenly appearing out of nowhere to solve all the problems. Or a minor character who inexplicably becomes the linchpin upon which the premise of the entire book now rests. I have read books that ended this way, and they were disappointing, to say the least. Keep your characters true to their motivations and your plot logical. That makes for authenticity, and happy readers.

The ending should have a twist that no one saw coming. No one likes to read clichés, whether within the book or at the end. Do your best to give the reader a wonderful surprise, one that delights or challenges. Don’t be afraid to brainstorm different endings; too often we pick the first idea that pops into our head. The best idea may be the fifth or eighth. Have fun with this. Readers will enjoy the result.

What about epilogues? They seem to be more effective and better received than prologues. An epilogue can be a wonderful way to tie up remaining loose ends (especially in an action-packed story). It can even set the scene for the next book, if you are writing a series. But keep it short. No more than two pages. Make it count; otherwise, it’s best to leave it out.

You want your readers to be satisfied so they will write nice reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. You want them to tell their friends about the great book they just finished. You also want them to like the end so much they’ll come back for your next book. And the next one.

So give them an ending that carries an emotional punch, the one they hope for. Your reader has invested money and, more important, their time. Make it worthwhile.

What have you learned about writing endings? Any tips to share? I’d love to hear them!

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