In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* A Story: “The Interview”
* Tag Line Verbs Update
* Reverse Structures
* The Writing
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“Nope,” Mama said. “You can’t talk to the earth with shoes on.” Mama Tombo explaining the facts of life to another character as she starts to pull on her shoes in K. C. Riggs’ excellent second installment of The Widow’s Circlehttps://www.amazon.com/Widows-Circle-K-C-Riggs/dp/1534807276/
“You better live every day like your last because one day you’re going to be right.” Ray Charles
A Story: “The Interview”
A new story went out yesterday. As usual, I didn’t remember until it hit my inbox. It’s another one — an eerie one if I’m remembering right — that came about as a direct result of a camping experince with Dan.
If you’d like to read it free, visit https://stanbroughwrites.substack.com/p/the-interview. If you’d like to subscribe, click the appropriate button below the story.
Tag Line Verbs Update
I have updated my Not Tag Lines document. It’s a list I’ve been compiling for years of verbs that folks use in tag lines other that “said” or some other form of utterance, like mumbled, muttered, whispered, yelled, etc.
Some very poor writing instructors who simply don’t know fiction tell their student to vary the verb to make the tag line “interesting.”
Thing is, you don’t WANT the tag line to be interesting. It’s only purpose is to let the reader know which character is speaking, and do so as unintrusively as possible.
Making the tag line “interesting” will draw the reader’s attention away from the story. That is not a good thing.
The best tag line is “s/he (or character name) said.” Nothing more.
Boring, right? Almost not noticeable.
But it should be boring and forgettable. You want the reader to practically skip over it and move on.
If any of you would like an updated copy of the compiled list, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. If you stop using these verbs in your tag lines, your writing will be immediately improved.
Reverse Structures
I’m not talking about beginning, middle and end, or rising and descending action, etc. Focus down much more tightly than that.
For one thing, if you have more than two people talking in a scene, always (yep, always) put the tag line (s/he or character name said) or the bit of introductory narrative (s/he or character name shrugged, smiled, laughed, frowned, etc.) AHEAD of that character’s line(s) of dialogue.
If you write the dialogue up front, the reader won’t know which character was talking. Then the reader has to stop reading, go back, and re-read the dialogue with the new information in mind. You never want to stop the reader from reading.
For another biggie, put actions on the page as the characters actually perform them. If you have a character saying something, then performing an action, then saying something else tied to that action, write the dialogue/action/dialogue in that sequence.
Don’t write the dialogue/dialogue and then the action. Again, the reader will stop.
Examples —
Not Good: Wes said, “Been a long trail this time, boys. In the morning, we ride for home. Here’s to you.” He raised his whiskey to toast them.
Better: Wes said, “Been a long trail this time, boys. In the morning, we ride for home.” He raised his whiskey to toast them. “Here’s to you.”
The Writing
Today I have the signing at Zearings in Benson (southeast Arizona) from noon to 3. If any of you are in the area, I hope you’ll stop by if only to chat.
I hope to write a new story or start the next novel today or tomorrow.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Wow!! What a Store!! To get ideas how you can sell from your own site. And yes, one exclamation point per occurrence will suffice.
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 650
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date…… XXXXX
Fiction for September…………………… 52650
Fiction for 2023………………………… 204959
Fiction since August 1………………… 110199
Nonfiction for September……………… 18010
Nonfiction for the year……………… 192480
Annual consumable words………… 397439
2023 Novels to Date……………………… 4
2023 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2023 Short Stories to Date……………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………… 75
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)… 232
Short story collections…………………… 31
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.