More writing advice (was Re: [buffyloveswillow] Hello all)

[Erin <erin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 16 May 2000 21:37:49 +0100, you wrote:

> Another piece of advice that certainly works fro screen writing
> but can be applicable to Fic as well is to get into scenes late
> and leave early. Don't spend too long on the build up and on the
> wind down.

This is true, and also, don't feel like you need to show every single
little thing all the characters do. If someone walks out the door, we
don't necessarily need to know that s/he is first walking *toward* the
door. As readers, we can kind of assume that. :) At the same time,
make sure all their actions flow, so that the reader isn't thinking,
"Wait a minute, how'd that character get into the room, last I saw she
was in her car..." etc. As with everything else, it takes practice.

> Consider the film SFW. We never find out what the
> kidnappers wanted to achieve, we never really find out why Babs
> (Amber Bensons character) shot Spab and Wendy just her cry of
> "Everything Matters". We don't need to know, it's superfluous to
> the story.

I saw this movie a long time ago, and I was kinda blown away to hear
that Amber Benson was the weirdo chick. I might have to force myself
to go back and watch it again.

> Stream of consciousness writing can be a good start and can work
> well for short pieces, especially if it's a mood piece. Be very
> very careful tho' as it can also lead to really bad Fic.

It's easy to go all long and rambly with SOC writing. It's not bad
for practice, but it needs to be really tight for publication.

> Writing is something you have to practice. Don't try to imitate
> someone-elses style, you either write like them or you don't.

People have different approaches to this. Some people can imitate
other people's styles, or even incorporate things that they like about
someone's style into their own writing ("Oh, I really like how the
author sets the mood right away like that..." etc.). Some people
really just need to start writing, and see if they like what results.
You're definately right when you say it takes practice. Often fiction
writer magazines will have some exercises to try; if someone is
serious about becoming a better writer, it might be a good idea to
pick up one or two of those.

> I've found using a grammer checker like the one in Word 97 or GMK
> can be helpful.

I've never found Word 97 to be particularly useful when it comes to
grammar, but YMMV. It doesn't have a half-bad spellchecker, but it's
easy to screw up and include "smart-quotes" or something else like
that which looks like crap when you post it to a text-only mailing
list, so I try to keep my stories out of Word. I just use a text
editor.

> Always read dialogue out loud. If it sounds wrong when you say
> it then it's wrong.

Good idea. It's easy to write awkward dialogue, and not even notice
it's awkward on paper. It's also easy to write dialogue that's
stilted; dialogue which _no one_ would say out loud, much less the
characters you're writing. Read it out loud, and if it doesn't sound
like something someone would actually say, rewrite.

> But try to avoid :
>
> "...", he said.
> She said, "..."
>
> type of thing. It can be difficult at times.

It's good to throw in some variation, but don't go overboard. The
nice thing about "said" is that it's pretty transparent to the reader.
When someone is reading your story, you don't want them to get hung up
on words or phrasing to the point where they're distracted by it; you
want it to flow. "Said" is useful in that regard, because it allows
the reader to mentally picture who is speaking without getting hung
up.

For example, you want to avoid the following:

"...", Brad exclaimed.
"...", Karen replied.
"...", Brad questioned.
"...", Karen answered.
"...", Brad opined.

At that point, it's even more ridiculous than saying "said" six times
in a row. As with everything else, moderation is key. Also, if you
are writing a character that has a recognizable speech pattern, you
often do not have to identify the speaker. For example:

"Geez, B, you got a problem with what I'm doing, here?"

I think we all know who is speaking, don't we? :)

> It can be useful to, when writing a scene, listen to a music that
> puts you in the mood of the scene.

Yes, anything that can put the writer completely into the scene will
help the writer describe that scene to the reader.

Here's another tidbit of advice: "Show, don't tell." That means
*show* the reader how a character is reacting, or how a scene is set,
but try not to *tell* the reader. For example:

"I can't believe you did that." Buffy was really angry at Faith.

vs.

"I can't believe you did that," Buffy snapped, her rigid posture and
clenched fists suggesting violence.

> I tend to use lists for this. Sorry guys, but like I said it's
> difficult to get people to read my stuff.

Not a problem, a lot of people use lists for beta'ing stories. I
kinda do, too.

Here's something for people who are getting really ambitious: make a
list of things that you want to check or avoid in your writing, such
as redundant "said"s, too many commas, stilted dialogue, etc. For
each item on your list, proofread your story (or get someone else to
do it for you). Proofread the story *only with that one item in
mind*, and correct the problems as you find them. Do this for each
item on your list. Obviously, depending on how many items you're
checking for, you'll have to proofread a few times, but that's never a
bad thing.

> Here's a challenge guys and gals. I've put a load of my fic on
> my web site http://www.abooth.demon.co.uk/fanfic (should give you
> a directory listing, there's no index page yet), everything
> except passionatemagic.htm is mine. Please everyone read
> something and tell me how much it sucks, how utterly crap I am at
> writing. Please. If I don't know where I'm going wrong I can't
> get any better.

You're on. :)

Erin
--
Willow: "We have to face it, you can't handle Tara being my girlfriend!"
Xander: "No, it was bad before that, since you two went off to college and 
forgot about me, left me in the basement to--Tara is your girlfriend?!"
*email: erin@xxxxxxxxxxx
*web: http://www.heckman.net/erin