In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* I’m Just Not a Paperback Guy
* Reader Taste Dictates Genre Preference
* On Grounding the Reader
* A Rule of Thumb for Description
* Of Interest
Quote of the Day
“I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning … Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” Miles Davis
I’m Just Not a Paperback Guy
I’ve been working at putting together a paperback version of Writing Better Fiction.
Because I finally had to “nuke it” (strip all formatting and start over), I also read every word of it and revised it quite a bit.
I still don’t have a viable manuscript to create a trade paperback, BUT I’ve now published the Second Edition of Writing Better Fiction as an ebook, complete with a clickable, interactive table of contents.
Also, the price at all the major retailers is only $9.99.
But if any of you want a copy, visit my online discount store and get it for a dollar less.
To entice you a little, below are a few important excerpts from the new edition:
Reader Taste Dictates Genre Preference
Some other professional writers and I disagree with what defines reader taste. Some will blame reader taste when a reader chooses not to finish reading their work.
I don’t accept that. (At some point, you have to man-up and take responsibility for your work.) I enjoy taking personal responsibility for my level of craft, so to me, the whole thing is simple:
Readers read genres that appeal to them. That much is down to reader taste.
But they continue reading stories in which they’re pulled to depth and engaged.
If the reader is reading in his favorite genre and does not feel compelled to keep reading—either by the opening or later by the cliffhanger/hook combinations—that’s the writer’s fault.
It’s up to you to pull the reader into the story with the opening, and it’s up to you, through your use of well-written cliffhangers and hooks, to propel and pull the reader through the story.” (Excerpted from the second edition of Writing Better Fiction)
On Grounding the Reader
If you ground the reader in the setting as you run through the story with the characters—and if you write the truth of what happens and write the truth of how the characters react and the truth of what happens as a result of those reactions—you cannot write a “bad” story. (Excerpted from the second edition of Writing Better Fiction)
A Rule of Thumb for Description
Finally, here’s a great rule of thumb for writing description:
Any description that comes through the POV character is essential, so take your time and get it all in.
If in your mind you just asked, “What if it isn’t important to the story?” stop. Just stop.
The story is unfolding around the characters and you as you run through it with them, so how can you possibly know whether something is or isn’t (or will or won’t be) important to the story?
Trust the POV character. If he sees, hears, smells, tastes, or feels (physically or emotionally) something in the scene, it’s important to the story.
And if he doesn’t notice something, it isn’t important to the story. That’s how you know.
Which brings us to the second part of the rule of thumb:
Any description that comes from outside the character and the story—in other words, any description that comes from the writer, a member of a critique group, or any other conscious, critical mind—is too much. Period. Don’t intrude on the story.
Just write (record) what the POV character sees, hears, smell, tastes, and feels both physically and emotionally, and you’ll be golden. Trust yourself. Seriously, you’ve got this. (Excerpted from the second edition of Writing Better Fiction)
My apologies if I sound a little grouchy. I’ve been chewing wheels and spitting nails for the past few days. Truth be told, I’d rather sandpaper a bear’s butt in a phone booth than format a book for paper publication. It puts me in a foul mood.
Also, I’ll get to the few stories I promised to read for others really soon, like maybe tomorrow.
In the meantime, I’ll talk with you again on Monday with the Bradbury Report.
Of Interest
5 Steps to a Great Author Bio When you click this link, if you ignore the stupidly weird main title at the top of the page, this is a pretty good article. I wanted to leave a comment: “You do know ‘author’ is single, right? And ‘themselves’ is plural?” But I didn’t. We live in a very strange time.