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The Mysterious Entity Called Inspiration

June 7, 2016/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Larry Peterson

Someone asked me once about where my inspiration to write something originates. I had never really thought about it, so the following is what I came up with:

First of all, I really do not think that I was inspired to write or to be a writer. As a kid, I just liked to write “stuff.” I believe the inspiration comes after the fact. For example, two six-year-olds might simultaneously begin taking piano lessons. One has no interest and just goes through the motions. The other is intrigued and plods forward. The first falls by the wayside. The second begins to play and understand the music and the instrument. Lo and behold, here comes the inspiration to help him create his own music, to tap those keys, making his own sound in his own way.

The way I see it, inspiration is triggered by the people, places and things that we encounter and experience. Then inspiration takes on a life of its own as its owner (you or I) lets it journey forward, creating “something” different and unique to us.

A friend of mine might introduce me to a friend of theirs and my mind will begin a journey, intrigued by the way that person said, “Hello,” or by the manner in which they looked at me or the clothes they were wearing or whether or not their shoulders were slouched. They will be placed in my memory bank for future reference as a possible character, and I do not even know it at that moment in time. Someone else would never give that person a second thought. But the red shoes my friend was wearing may give the guy he introduced me to an idea for a different type of shoe.

So, for me as a writer, the inspiration to write about different things and say things in my own way came about because I liked to write to begin with. I scribbled this and I scribbled that and kept on scribbling. For me, there were long pauses between the scribbles but I never lost the desire to scribble and kept at it. It took me almost fifty years after my first scribbles to actually begin scribbling most every day.

In the final analysis we are all different, all unique, and I guess we all have inspiration that fits who we are. Some of us join forces with our inspiration (some call it the muse), others may talk about it for a while, and others ignore it completely. We certainly are interesting creatures.

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

April 22, 2014/4 Comments/in Catholic Fiction, Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Novel, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

The 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!

Books, and Toned Middles

March 25, 2014/1 Comment/in Catholic Fiction, Catholic Theme, Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Novel, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

Last month, I talked about beginnings and how important they are to drawing the reader in to your book. It seems appropriate to continue on to story middles today.

Middles ought to be pretty simple. After all, it’s the stuff that happens between the beginning and the end. Many authors, however, struggle with middles. There’s a term for middles that lose their direction and energy: the dreaded Sagging Middle.

How do we keep our middles on task, doing the unsung but necessary work of getting the reader to the end of the story? How do we keep the energy high? Most important, how do we keep the reader engaged?

It’s best to step back and look at the big picture first. What is the underlying theme of your story? Is it clear and evident in every scene, though it’s likely never stated outright? Theme should be the basis for every action that takes place, every decision a character makes, and even descriptions of setting. Every word you use can and should further the development of the theme you’ve chosen. For more on THEME, click here.

Next, what about story structure? If you’ve built even a rudimentary five-sentence outline of turning points for a particular story, it is much easier to keep the individual scenes pointed in the right direction. No ambling about aimlessly in the rose garden and boring the readers—unless, of course, the rose garden is critical to both the theme and structure of this story! In that case, amble all you want, as long as there is purpose. For more on STRUCTURE, click here.

Now we get down to the nitty-gritty. Each scene in a story must have tension. This is sometimes referred to as conflict, and always results in suspense. Suspense isn’t defined as horror movie scary stuff; it’s simply a reader asking the question “What happens next” and turning the page to find out.

This is the key to toning up the middle of your book: Every scene and each chapter must have higher and higher stakes for the main characters. Each character has more to lose as the story progresses, and each character is forced into increasingly difficult choices. As situations evolve, and as the characters slog their way through their troubles, they reveal their increasingly deeper secrets to the reader. The characters struggle, and they grow. The reader identifies in some way, roots for them, and is willing to be swept along. For more on ROOTING FACTORS, click here.

One caution: Watch for filler, and ruthlessly cut it. It’s easy to rationalize that since this is the middle of the book, the reader is already caught up in it and won’t put it down, so you don’t have to work quite as hard, and nobody will notice that this whole scene/chapter doesn’t really advance the story; it’s just there because you, the author, like it. Nope. Readers are smart. Cut the scene if it doesn’t advance the story. Cut the details if they don’t advance the story. I know. It’s hard. If it’s too hard, create a file for deleted scenes and put the cuts there so they’re accessible if you want them later. I find that’s sometimes a necessary intermediate step, even though those end up fully deleted later. Human nature is pretty funny!

Once you approach the end of the book (or even at the end of chapters!), resist the urge to tie up loose ends too soon. I admit to that failing as a new author. My first attempts at chapters all had tidy endings. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Every chapter should end with an unanswered question. Analyze your favorite I-couldn’t-put-it-down book. What created that quality? I’m willing to bet it was ever more crucial unanswered questions, and lots of loose ends. For more on TENSION, click here, and for more on HOOKS, click here.

What tips do you have to share regarding middles? I’d love to hear a new take on the subject!

In the Beginning…

February 25, 2014/6 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Novel, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

"The Beginning" Road Sign with dramatic blue sky and clouds. The most important part of your novel, short story, or even nonfiction piece is the beginning.

What compels the reader to keep reading? How do you craft a beginning that doesn’t bog down, one that keeps the reader engaged?

There are several schools of thought regarding beginnings. Depending on the genre, the beginning can create a normal world (think of the movies Star Wars or The Wizard of Oz), and let the reader get to know the characters in their natural habitat. Women’s fiction and literary fiction tend to follow this style. Caution: Choose the details of the everyday life carefully, to the point of foreshadowing what’s going to come next—namely conflict. What’s at stake for the main character? In Star Wars, Han Solo saw his family facing the loss of their way of life, and peace. Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, engaged in a life or death battle to keep Toto.

What we tend to remember in these stories is the outrageous intergalactic characters and battle scenes of Star Wars or the Technicolor adventures on the way to Oz. Yet when one analyzes the story structure, the “black and white” ordinary life is where the story begins—and presages the main conflict in a way that amplifies the conflict when it arrives.

A different way to begin a story, common especially in suspenses, is in media res, which throws the reader into the deep end of the swimming pool along with the main character. Picture a book beginning with a young woman being snatched from a sidewalk and shoved into a van. The van speeds off—and of course the reader is going to turn the page to find out who, why, where, and what happens next??? This technique can be very effective. The author gives concise clues to setting (city or suburb, day or night, good neighborhood vs bad, etc.), characterization (she fights back or is paralyzed with fear, the snatcher and snatchee know each other and have shared history, etc.), and motivation (kidnapping vs bodyguards collecting an errant charge vs fraternity joke, etc.) without much else in the way of detail to ground the reader. It’s not for every story, though; imagine Dorothy opening the door of the house after setting down in Oz, with the story beginning in Technicolor. The event would lose much of its impact, and the subsequent conflict would lose its sizzle.

One of the most common mistakes new writers make is starting the story in the wrong place. My advice is to write it the way that makes sense to you, then come back when you’ve finished the whole thing and re-read the beginning. Chances are you’ll hit a certain paragraph where everything springs to life. That’s where your story really begins. One common suggestion is to dump the first chapter and start with the second. Personal experience: I had to dump the first three chapters of my first novel—they were that boring, even to me! But I had to write them in order to discover where the story really began. You may have to cut words, but they are never wasted; you always learn something important about your characters, even if it doesn’t end up as words in the book.

Another common mistake is to explain the characters and back story (what happened before the book started). This is called an information dump. Resist. Draw your characters clearly through their internal and present thoughts; let the reader get to know them deeply, layer by layer. What brought them to this point will be revealed in good time. Another wise bit of advice I’ve come across is to get about thirty pages into a story before disclosing back story.

Dialogue is a great way to tell a story, and the beginning is no exception. If you can incorporate dialogue at that point, do so, and make it unforgettable.

For a fun exercise, go to the library or a bookstore, or even your own shelf of well-worn favorites. Open to the first page and read the first line. Is it compelling? Intriguing? Why did you want to read more? How much information about the character, setting, motivations and tone did the author convey in those few words?

When it comes down to it, the story begins when there is a change in the main character’s life. The change can be subtle or cataclysmic, but that is the point at which you, as author, commence weaving a tale that will hold readers in thrall until the words The End.

How do you know where your book begins? Do you have a strategy for determining what the opening scene is, or who inhabits it? Please share!

Dismantling Writer’s Block

May 28, 2013/16 Comments/in Blogging, Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Inspirational, Self-Publishing, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

Writer’s block.

I don’t believe in it.

Okay, I’ll hedge that a bit.

All writers have moments when the words don’t come, or they have to be pried out of our brains like candy out of a three-year-old’s grasp. I do acknowledge that fact. Those moments are not fun.

Those moments are always uncomfortable, even anxiety-provoking.

“Writer’s block” is a great excuse when you need one.

But I’ve learned that when I run up against the dreaded blank-page-combined-with-blank-brain syndrome, rather than “try harder,” I need to dig deeper.

For me, writer’s block is a symptom, not a disease. It almost always shows up when something else is wrong.

I’ve run up against it twice in the past couple of weeks. The first time, I was working on revisions to a book length manuscript. The rut began to form when I tried to revise in accordance with a critique partner’s suggestions. Mind you, there was nothing at all wrong with her suggestions; I understood and agreed with them. And yet the more I tried to comply, the deeper the rut became, until I was stuck.

When I finally stepped back and reevaluated, I decided to trust my own instincts and disregard the advice. The floodgates opened. Ta-da! No more writer’s block.

The other instance was when I was trying to write a post for a guest blog appearance. I got so tied up in how awesome all the other guest-bloggers were (and how hard it was going to be to compete with them) that I couldn’t think of a subject to write about. Fear of the unknown kept my fingers off the keyboard, with that blasted cursor mocking me.

And then I recognized what I put in parentheses in that paragraph.

I know better than that! At a simple decent-human-being level, or at the level of maturity befitting the color of my hair, I know better than to compare myself to others. And at the level it matters most, as a Catholic Christian believer, I know that we are all given the exact gifts God wants us to have. I can entertain exactly zero envy over the other bloggers’ humorous or clever or passionate posts. Once that flash of insight came, I was able to write.

Here are some of the tools for dealing with writer’s block I’ve discovered over the years, none of them my own, by the way. I credit the many authors who traveled ahead of me with these ideas!

1. Give yourself permission to write badly – and then write. The words you tap out on your computer are not etched in stone. You can delete what doesn’t work later, so just start putting words on paper, so to speak. I’ve often started out with “I have no idea what to write next, but I have a sense that such-and-such character might do/say this, or that plot idea might happen.” Within a few sentences, it usually morphs into something I can work with. The unanticipated gift of this method is that I often discover a gem that livens up the story.

2. Get out of your own way. Figure out what’s wrong. If there are underlying issues, acknowledge and face them. If fear has you paralyzed, stare it in the face and then stomp over it. We are all insecure. We all fear failure, success, taking a risk, criticism, making a commitment. Deal with what ails you, and then write anyway. If there’s something wrong with the manuscript, try writing the scene from a different character’s perspective or go a different direction for a while.

3. Change your scenery. Get up and walk away from the computer. (I can’t tell you how many times a solution came to me as soon as I shut down the laptop and stood up!) Even better, go outside. Smell the flowers. Let the sunshine warm your face. Listen to the raindrops on the street, the leaves, the roof. Go to a museum, or a movie. Go to the zoo and watch people watching animals. Go to the mall and make up outrageous stories about the people walking by.

4. Get physical. Go for a walk or a hike. Dance. Play a game of tennis or hopscotch or go for a bicycle ride. Anything to get the blood flowing in your muscles—and in your brain.

5. Write something else. Write a thank you note or an email or an honest-to-gosh real live, old-fashioned letter! Free write, or use a writing prompt. Write fiction if you’re stuck on a nonfiction piece, and vice versa. Interview your characters; ask them what they want you to know.

6. Do something creative with your hands. Draw or paint a picture. Do it with your non-dominant hand. Make a quilt square or embroider the beginning of a pillowcase design, if you like fabric arts. Cook something really yummy from scratch, and enjoy the aromas and textures along the way. Garden, whether it’s indoor or outdoor. Write something longhand. Try that with your non-dominant hand!

7. Engage with another human being. Hey, we’re writers. It’s a solitary activity. Sometimes we forget how much we need to connect with others. Take a break and play with a child. Talk with your spouse and make eye contact. Volunteer, officially, or just lend a helping hand. Go out for coffee with a friend, or invite another family over for dinner.

Rather than a curse, writer’s block can be a blessing. Listen to it. Let it tell you what you need to do, or not do.

Just don’t let it be an excuse to keep you from your passion.

How do you identify writer’s block? What strategies do you employ to get past it? What have you learned from it?

Gotcha! Hooks: What They Are and How to Create Page-Turning Fiction

October 23, 2012/10 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Self-Publishing, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

What’s a hook??? I admit to scratching my head over that term, and for a much-too-long time. I would hear it when people were discussing top-selling novels; I’d see it in articles about the craft of writing. It was a frequent comment from my critique partners. “Not much of hook there, Leslie.” (Insert visual of me scratching my head. Again.) They tried to explain it to me: Leave the reader hanging at the end of the chapter. An unanswered question. A cliffhanger.

Well, that was all fine and dandy, except I didn’t get the concept. Until our critique group got down to business and I began to evaluate other people’s unfinished work. Over time, I began to recognize when the end of a chapter or scene felt flat. I began to see how they worked through the process. And then when I saw what my fellow writers did to spice up the work, it finally began to make sense. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place for me when I read James Scott Bell’s Elements of Fiction Writing – Conflict & Suspense.

The basic idea is to end a chapter with the character facing peril of some sort, whether an internal conflict or an external plot development. The higher the stakes for the character, the better. In fact, Bell suggests the character must face death in some form – physical, psychological or professional. Of course your story isn’t filled with melodramatic, overblown situations, but each character must have something crucial at stake in each scene. By setting it up so someone is forced to face failure at some level, and then leaving the conflict unresolved, you create a hook.

Hooks come from disaster (Bell’s death) looming, occurring, or simply being implied. The hook can be expressed through dialogue, as a plot twist, as emotion, or via action. The hook can be an actual question, although I’d caution you to use that technique sparingly. I read a book once that ended every chapter with a question, and it felt like old-fashioned middle grade fiction. It didn’t work so well in an adult novel. Whatever method you chose to create a hook, take care to do it in a way that doesn’t leave the reader feeling manipulated. That usually has the opposite effect from what you intend!

One of the most common errors is the form that many of us learned in school: To write each chapter with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This works for nonfiction, but if you want a fiction reader to say “I couldn’t put it down!”, try ending the chapter a paragraph or two early. You’ll be surprised at how well this simple technique works. Then use that bit as the beginning of the next scene.

Go to your personal library of favorite books, or to the library or bookstore. Page through your favorite authors’ work and read the last paragraph of each chapter. You’ll get a solid sense of what creates a hook in short order.

It’s always a question that leaves the reader wanting—no, needing to know what happens next??? Whatever you do, don’t answer the question until the end of the book! Well, you can answer bits of it as you go along, but don’t answer the main question of the book until the end.

Hopefully, the result will be an ocean full of readers happily chasing the hook you’ve dangled – and saying, “That book was so good, I couldn’t put it down!”

How do you define a hook? What’s your approach to creating one? Share your favorite technique!

Tag! You’re It! Writing Dialogue in Fiction

September 25, 2012/7 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Humour, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

“Hi, Beth,” waved Justin.

“Why, Justin, I haven’t seen you since our high school prom six years ago, the one where our mutual friend, Erik, got suspended for spiking the punch,” gushed Beth.

“Ho, ho,” chortled Justin. “Those were the days! He went on to become a successful, if whacky and innovative executive with an online social network. What have you been doing since then?” he queried.

“As you know, my family life was difficult and I had many obstacles to overcome, but I triumphed by speeding through college in record time, completing my undergraduate, double major degree in only two years, and am graduating from medical school next week,” Beth elaborated.

Are you bored yet? Grinding your teeth and wanting to throw this story across the room? I am; it was painful writing it!

Good dialogue can carry a story; conversely, badly written dialogue can sink one faster than the Titanic’s spectacular and ignominious end. Many resources are available, from Renni Browne and Dave King’s Self Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition to Write Great Fiction: Dialogue by Gloria Kempton, and more. If a good book on the craft of writing dialogue doesn’t reside on your shelf, I strongly suggest you consider acquiring one.

Let’s examine this fragment to see why it’s so grating. There are four issues here: dialogue tags, stilted language, indistinct voice, and information dump.

Dialogue tags are the words we use to indicate that a character is speaking. When I wrote the first draft of my first novel, I spent hours dreamily staring into space while trying to conjure the cleverest dialogue tags ever. My characters retorted, snorted, coughed, shivered and quivered their lines. After reading the above example, you can see how awful it was!

In reality, you only need a few simple guidelines.

1. Use the word ‘said’ whenever necessary. It’s an almost invisible word to the reader, whereas all the chortles, queries, etc. do nothing but draw attention to the author—not the story. The author should be entirely invisible, and your goal is to keep the reader engrossed in the story, not yanked out by strange word choices.

2. Keep in mind that physical actions are not involved in uttering speech. Rather than succumb to the temptation of using the action as a tag, use it in a separate sentence as a ‘beat’ that reveals body language and moves the story forward. For example: Justin pulled up short when he recognized the woman approaching him. A spurt of pleasure shot through him, and he waved. “Hi, Beth!” (Note how this example could go any number of directions. Maybe he wanted to avoid her, but couldn’t; maybe his response is anger over an unresolved conflict. Whatever the case, the greeting becomes much more complex and compelling.)

3. If only two persons are involved in a stream of dialogue, omit tags entirely. This works especially well when the characters’ voices are so different that it is obvious who is speaking by their speech patterns. But don’t be afraid to add an occasional beat to keep it clear for the reader.

Which leads us to stilted language and indistinct voice.

The best way to avoid stilted language is to read your dialogue out loud. If it feels or sounds awkward, change it. Each character should have distinctive speech patterns, too; make sure the words and delivery you choose remains authentic to the individual character. As you read the dialogue out loud, it should be obvious which character is speaking at any given time. Let’s make Justin a Texas cowboy and Beth a California Valley girl (yes, I know I’m dating myself, but it’s an easy ‘dialect’ to show for our purposes).

Now we have: A spurt of pleasure shot through Justin when he recognized the woman approaching him on the sidewalk. He whipped off his ten-gallon hat and waved. “Howdy, Beth! I ain’t seen you for a coon’s age.”

Beth, preoccupied with her Smartphone, lifted her gaze. A smile wreathed her face and she squealed. “Ohmygosh! Justin! It’s been, like, too-too long! Since high school?” As you can see, these two wildly different styles will never overlap in dialogue. Not all characters will be such polar opposites, but if you give each character a distinctive voice, whether through style (i.e., women tend to use longer sentences, while men tend more toward brief statements) or specific verbal traits, it will strengthen both their characterization and their dialogue.

A word about foreign words and idioms: a little goes a long way. If your character is fluent in French and sprinkles French phrases into her speech, limit those to one every few pages. If a character’s speech is very back-woodsy and old fashioned, pick one word to highlight that pattern and write the rest in ‘regular’ English. For a southern drawl or an Irish brogue, use that as a descriptor outside of the dialogue and use word choice and placement to reinforce the pattern. Trust your reader to catch on. They will.

Last: information dumps. This is where characters bring in information that the author wants the reader to know but doesn’t have an organic way to get it across. Hence, awkward dialogue that no one in real life would use, such as: He went on to become a successful, if whacky and innovative executive with an online social network.

When you find those in your writing, ask yourself if the information is truly important. If so, is it crucial at this point in the story? If yes, then find a more relaxed way to get it into the story, either as internal dialogue (Beth’s mind went back to the last time she’d seen Justin. The high school prom. The one where Erik had been suspended for spiking the punch. “Justin! It’s been years!”), or in more natural sounding dialogue (“Justin! It’s been years!” Beth’s face heated at the memory of their high school prom. “I’m still embarrassed at how I acted after—“ She broke off her sentence, and Justin, grinning, finished it for her. “After Erik spiked the punch.”

Dialogue can make your story sing, and those who can do it well often do well on other aspects of the craft. As a plus, the more of your story you can tell via dialogue, the better the structure will be, so it’s worth the effort to improve your skills in this area.

What are your tricks or tenets about writing dialogue? This has been a quick and dirty, and by no means comprehensive look at writing dialogue. Please share your experience!

Art and Faith, as They Intersect in Writing

July 26, 2012/5 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Inspirational, Marketing Your Work, Religious Liberty, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

We recently observed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fortnight of Freedom, and this might be a good time to look at writing as an expression of our journey and expression of faith.

Regular readers of this blog are most likely members of Catholic Writers Guild – which means we are Catholic, and we love to write. For many of us, these two passions intersect in what we write, as in blogs, articles, or books about being Catholic in today’s world. In nonfiction, this is straightforward. The audience and purpose of such works provide a framework for sharing both the writer’s journey and/or expression of a specific aspect of faith.

Fiction, my personal love, can be a bit trickier. How does an author express their faith within the conventions of their chosen genre? We’ve all read books where it’s done poorly, usually resulting in a preachy tone as grating as fingernails on chalkboard. I’m reminded of Barbara Nicolosi’s comment from the 2012 Catholic Writers Conference Online: My theory is that the secular world is not anti-Catholic as much as it is anti-bad art.

When viewed through that lens, our priority as writers or artists is to learn and hone our craft. It doesn’t matter how important our message is if it is badly executed. Read books on the craft of writing. Take classes. Ask for feedback – and listen to it. The most successful writers recognize that they need to continually strive to improve.

We also have a responsibility to learn and understand our religion. I’m preaching to the choir here, but there is always something deeper, more sublime, more elemental to discover about the challenges (and rewards) of being Catholic. We have to be well-catechized in order to articulate what we need or want to convey in written format.

The great news is, that in fiction, who you are will come out in your writing, even if you don’t spell out your beliefs in the imaginary world inhabited by your characters. Think of St. Francis of Assisi. Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. Well, we can’t write without words, but we can write great fiction without being overbearing about our faith. Readers will accept just about anything in a character, as long as the character is authentic, has depth and complexity, and is true to his or her motivations, flaws and all.

We’ve all read stories where the characters act in ways that make us cringe or gasp or squirm, but we keep reading because the author has done such a good job. We are eager to accompany the character on his or her journey. That’s our calling. To write so well that readers are willing to follow a character they don’t necessarily agree with because they want to better understand them.

I suspect most of CWG’s members pray before they write (or draw or make music or however we choose to create) and that’s where we all need to begin. Pray. Discern. Perhaps education or beauty is more important than exhortation. Keep in mind that your readers will not be in the same place you are on their spiritual journey – and we are all on a spiritual journey, whether we realize it or not. On a personal level, God has touched me through works of fiction in which I least expected to hear His voice. Never underestimate what He can (and will) do through us, whether or not we are aware.

Take courage, pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and use the gift of talent with which God has graced you. Create art that illuminates a vision of God. None of us can see God, but we can express our experience, and the light we reflect may aid a fellow traveler in life.

Now. Words matter. Go forth, write and create, and bear fruit in a world that hungers for it.

How do you approach your craft in a way that changes our world? How does faith inform your art? Do you think of those concepts as you toil over the keyboard, searching for just the right word to express the idea in your mind’s eye? What gives you joy as you create?

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh, my! Tension, Conflict, and Suspense – Creating Compelling Stories

April 24, 2012/8 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Fiction, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

One of the most fundamental techniques of fiction writing is skillful creation of tension, sometimes referred to as conflict. Our favorite authors hook us on page one with a character so compelling that we read further to find out what happens. The character is engaging, with likeable traits that endear them to us, even if they have rough edges or find themselves in untenable situations that force a choice, a decision they wouldn’t normally make.

Therein lies a clue to a story that draws a reader in. Tension. Conflict. A mystery, a question, something out of the ordinary, an event that pushes the character out of their ordinariness. Suspense. What happens next? And why does the reader care?

Tension can be internal or external. Events that influence a character’s life are external (think plot). What goes on inside the character’s mind is internal – and don’t we all identify with (and love) characters who struggle with their own doubts yet persevere and triumph in the end? Stories have more depth if the character must face both types of conflict. Literary fiction often focuses more heavily on the internal, while suspense and thrillers lean toward the external, but the very best of any genre incorporates both.

Take some time – ten minutes or an hour – to think about your characters. What drives them? What are their core beliefs? What do they want (both their conscious goals but also their unconscious, deepest desires)? What obstacles exist to their attaining those goals? Can you come up with a Goal-Motivation-Conflict statement for each character? (Below, based on Debra Dixon’s book, Goal, Motivation and Conflict) How about doing this for an internal GMC as well as an external GMC? The best GMC statements pit the main characters against each other on all levels, with a worthy adversary throwing even more wrenches into the works. An extremely successful author friend (Katie McGarry) adds one more twist: in order for the hero/ine to achieve their highest goal (usually the internal, unconscious goal) they must sacrifice the thing that they initially thought meant the most to them.

Fill in the blanks: Sally wants ____ because ____, but ____. John wants ____ because, but ____.

Notice, this looks like the back copy of a book – and it can also serve as the basis for a pitch, either verbal or written. It also serves as a down-and-dirty template for your book, if you write without an outline.

Once you’ve come up with a general idea for your story, you can use this technique for each scene in the book. In each scene, make sure you know what’s at stake for the Point-of-View character. What does the character have to gain or lose? Make it a crucial goal (James Scott Bell refers to it as ‘death’, a risk of personal or professional failure of grand magnitude), then get right to it, using dialogue, action, reaction. Add obstacles, and let the character go to battle.

But the secret to end-of-scene suspense is…to cut away, to leave the scene before ‘the answer’ is revealed. Leave the character in a quandary, the question unanswered. Or introduce a new complication, complete with a hefty cost to the character.

These questions, both at the beginning of a scene and the end, are called ‘hooks’ for an obvious reason. Like fish, we are lured into the story, and get ‘hooked’ so it becomes difficult to put the book down. (As I glance at the bedside clock and mutter Just one more page…, then look up again a half hour and thirty pages later, realize how short on sleep I am going to be, and mutter Just one more page again! Don’t tell me you’ve never done that!)

Other strategies for managing tension include word choice and sentence structure. Choose each word carefully, to reflect the exact mood you’re trying to create. Smooth, languid words setting the stage, perhaps, then more active words leading up to an explosive eruption of emotion or action. Stretched-out, descriptive sentences for the set up; short, fast ones for the pay off.

As with all great writing techniques, there are caveats. Don’t ‘make stuff happen’ just to make stuff happen. The plot needs to unfold in a way that is authentic for the book and for your voice. Resist the urge to overdo. Hooks, suspense, tension, conflict – these can all be very subtle. Trust your reader to understand without spelling it out or hitting them over the head with it.

Tension boils down to posing a question, grappling to find an answer, then ending with another question. Do it enough times, and you have a book – a gripping book that the reader stays up way past bedtime to finish.

And that’s the kind of book you want to write!