Darwin's Paradox

“The Fiction Writer is at the top of the required reading list for my students. With its engagingly direct, conversational style and easily accessible format, it is a veritable cornucopia of hands-on help for aspiring writers of any age…the quintessential book for the soon-to-be published.”—Susan H. McLemore, Director of Glynn Academy Language Arts Department

Nina’s fiction writing guide, “The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now!” is currently on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca (in Canada) and Amazon.uk (in England). Go see it there and give it a review and/or tick off tags to help others find this very useful writing guide.

Nina drew from her many years experience in writing and publishing and includes personal examples of queries and synopses that worked, actual rejection letters and hilarious but educational stories about her publishing misadventures.

Nina borrowed from the wisdom of many experts in writing and publishing, notably Robert J. Sawyer, Elizabeth Lyon, Jack Bickham, Sol Stein, Janet Fitch, Tobias Bucknell, Ansen Dibell, Margot Finke, Marg Gilks, Crawford Killian, Ralph Keyes, Victor Frankl, among others. She mixes their erudite advice with her own educational experiences to produce a guidebook that fills a rare niche: a guidebook that seriously educates but is entertaining and fun to read.

We are delighted to report that The Fiction Writer and its associated course materials have been adopted by schools, colleges and universities throughout North America. Here’s what writing instructors, published authors and writing students had to say about The Fiction Writer so far:

 “I’m very impressed…Nina shares the hard-won knowledge she’s accumulated…I’m thoroughly enjoying the book!”—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Wake.

 “Nina is…lively and knowledgeable…approachable, relevant and humorous.”—Pamela Richardson, Professor at University of British Columbia

 “Although aimed at the writing student, this is a handy book for the emerging or mature writer as well…a great resource to refresh one’s mind on every aspect of the writing process…I am keeping this book at my desk as I plunge into the writing of my next chapter.”—Shane Joseph, author of After the Flood

“Thanks, Nina! My songs, stories, and screenplays…can all benefit.”—Colin Wiebe, musician/writer

“We use this book weekly in my Writer’s Workshop class, and it gives us all the right tips to write like a professional author. It is written with a direct, clear style that enhances our understanding and helps us to truly grasp the concepts presented. The chapters are brief and concise, and really help us write both fiction and nonfiction. We have learned how to properly use dialogue, create characters, and find our “muse.” I would highly recommend this book for anyone hoping to enhance their writing.”—Mark J. Bujold, writing student

“Great writing lessons! They are practical and simple for any budding writer.”—Graham Seager, writer

“Nina Munteanu’s The Fiction Writer is the book I wish I had 15 years ago. Writers young and old can find ways to improve their work, with the book’s fun, easy to read format.”—Theresa Vinson, bookseller

“Nina Munteanu’s book, The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now is a terrific resource in my professional library. I started reading it almost as soon as I got home after purchasing it. Nina shares tips and techniques from many great writers and I loved soaking all that up. I highly recommend it.”— Zoe M. Hicks, author of The Women’s Estate Planning Guide and Dream Catcher, the Power of Faith

“The Fiction Writer improves with each read. it reminds me of those ‘For Dummies’ books, back when they first were great – except without the ‘you are a dummy’ humor, which I greatly appreciate”—David Merchant, Instructor at Louisiana Tech University

The Fiction Writer packs twenty-six chapters of relevant, well-researched and easy to read instruction that encompasses virtually all the topics one needs to get published: beginnings and endings; characterization; dialogue; exposition; setting; plot; scene; metaphor & language; grammar; voice and point of view; research; query letters; rejection letters; synopses and outlines; showing vs. telling; writer’s block; attitude, inspiration and passion in writing.

You can purchase The Fiction Writer at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, or at www.ThePassionateWriter.com.

In my last post, I concentrated on characters. Moving on to language, here are five things that I guarantee will improve your story:  

1.      Voice: This is the feel, tone that applies to the overall book (narrative voice) and to each character. The overall voice is dictated by your audience, who you’re writing for: youth, adults, etc. It’s important to give each character a distinctive “voice” (including use of distinct vernacular, use of specific expressions or phrases, etc.). This is one way a reader can identify a character and find them likeable—or not. In a manuscript I recently reviewed, I noticed that the characters spoke in a mixture of formal and casual speech. This confuses the reader and bumps them out of the “fictive dream”. Consistency is very important for readers. They will abandon a story whose writing is not consistent. So, my advice to this writer was to pick one style for each character and stick to it. Voice includes what a character says. It incorporates language (both speech and body movements), philosophy, humor. How a character looks, walks, talks, laughs, is all part of this. Do any of your characters have conflicts with one another? Either through differences in opinions, agendas, fears, ambitions… etc. One learns so much from the kind of interaction a character has with his/her surroundings (whether it’s another character or a scene)

2.      Point of View (POV): Many beginner’s novels are often told through no particular POV. It can be described as being in the omniscient POV (that of the narrator) and ever so often may lapse into one of the character’s POV briefly. This makes for very “telling vs showing” type of writing (not to mention being inconsistent again). 90% of writers do not write this way because it tends to be off-putting, it distances the reader from the characters, and is very difficult to achieve and be consistent with. Most writers prefer to use limited third person POV (told from one or a few key characters; that is, you get into the head and thoughts of only a few people: all the observations are told through their observations, what they see, feel and think). This bonds the reader to your characters and makes for much more compelling reading. I would highly suggest you adopt this style. That’s not to say that you can’t use several POVs… just not at the same time; it is the norm to use chapter or section breaks to change a POV.

3.      Passive vs. Active Verbs: most beginners use a lot of passive verbs (e.g., were, was, being, etc.). Some use too may modifiers. Try to find more active verbs. Many writers fall into the pattern of using verbs that are weak and passive (and then adding a modifier to strengthen it…it doesn’t). Actively look for strong, vivid verbs. This is a key to good writing. I can’t emphasize this enough.

4.      Show, don’t tell: this is partly a function of POV. Once you change to third person, much of this will naturally resolve itself. An example of telling vs. showing is this: [He was in a rage and felt betrayed. “You lied, Clara,” he said angrily, grabbing her hand.] instead, you could show it: [His face smoldered. “You lied, Clara,” he roared, lunging for her.] Telling also includes large sections of exposition, either in dialogue or in narrative. This happens a lot in beginning writer’s stories. It takes courage and confidence to say less and let the reader figure it out. Exposition needs to be broken up and appear in the right place as part of the story. Story is paramount. “Telling” is one of the things beginning writers do most and editors will know you for one right away.  Think of the story as a journey for both writer and reader. The writer makes a promise to the reader that s/he will provide a rip-roaring story and the reader comes on side, all excited. This is done through a confident tease in the beginning and slow revelation throughout the story to keep it compelling.

5.      Unclutter your writing: There is a Mennonite adage that applies to writing: “less is more”. Sentences in early works tend to be full of extra words (e.g., using “ing” verbs, add-ons like “he started to think” instead of simply “he thought”). Cut down the words in your paragraphs (often in the intro chapters) by at least 20%. Be merciless; you won’t miss them, believe me, and you will add others later in your second round of edits.

So, I’d like to share what I’ve learned over the years. This will come to you in three parts: 1) characters; 2) language; and 3) structure.

Let’s start with characters, since they are, in my opinion, the most important part of the novel. Characters carry the theme of the book. Each characters needs to have a role in advancing the plot and/or overall theme; each character needs a reason to be there. A character therefore needs to be distinctive and usually shows some character development or story arc (i.e., they change) from beginning to end of story. Your characters are the most important part of your book (more so than the plot or premise). Through them your book lives and breathes. Through them your premise, your plot (which is essentially just a way to create problems for your characters to live out their development) and story come alive. Through them you achieve empathy and commitment from the reader and his/her willingness to keep reading to find out what’s going to happen next.  And this is equally important in any genre and style of book, whether it is a thriller, action adventure, romance, detective story or literary fiction. If the reader doesn’t invest in the characters, they won’t really care what happens next.

Characters need to be real. They come to life by giving them individual traits and real weaknesses and heroic qualities that are consistent and which readers can recognize and empathize with. Weaknesses or “bad” traits are most important to give to your “good” characters. Not only does this make them more well-rounded and compelling but it heightens tension and investment of the reader (hoping they will overcome them). Something many authors do with their main characters (particularly in action adventure and thriller stories) is to give their main character a weakness that actually ends up being a strength in the situation they have created in the book (e.g., a misfit whose proclivity to be an individualist helps him become a leader in a calamity). You play these traits against each other to achieve drama. For instance, a man who is afraid of heights but who must scale a mountain to save his love is far more compelling than one who is not; a military man who fears responsiblity but must lead his team into battle; a scientist who is afraid of success, discovers a cure to a disease, etc.

Often, characters of beginning writers suffer from lack of distinction, purpose and often simply clutter up a story. For a character to “come alive” their “voice” must be unique. Give them distinctive body movements, dress, facial features and expressions that reveal character, inner feelings, emotions, fears, motivations, etc. Then keep them consistent. There are several techniques writers use to increase empathy for a character and make them stand out from the rest. This includes use of third person POV, keeping the story with focus on fewer rather than many characters, creating character dossiers and keeping them consistent, providing each character a distinctive “voice” (figuratively) as in how they behave, react, walk, etc. Another way to make your characters distinct (and works to also tie into plot and theme) is to make your characters not get along. Make them argue, disagree (at least!), have suspicions, betray one another, laugh and ridicule. By doing this, you increase tension, conflict (two things every book requires) and you enlighten the reader into each of the characters involved. Make them fight or argue over what they believe in — or not. You need to describe your characters in effective brief but vivid language as the reader encounters them.

Here are some questions you need to ask about your characters:

 1. if I can remove the character, will the book fall apart? (if not, you don’t need that character; they aren’t fulfilling a role in the book);

2. how does the character portray the major or minor theme of the book? (that’s what characters are there for);

3. what is the role of the character? (e.g., protagonist, antagonist, mentor, catalyst, etc.);

4. what is the story arc of the character? Does he or she develop, change, do they learn something by the end? If not, they will be two-dimensional and less interesting;

5. what major obstacle(s) must the character overcome?

6. who are your major protagonist(s)– the main character who changes the most?

7. who are your major antagonist(s) — those who provide the most trouble for your protagonist, the source of conflict, tension, the obstacle(s);

8. what’s at stake: for the world (plot); for each individual (theme) and how do these tie together? Every character has a hole to fulfill in the plot and to other characters. Don’t be afraid to remove characters if they do not fulfill a role.

To summarize, each character is there for a purpose and this needs to be made apparent to the reader (intuitively through characterization, pointing out their failings, weaknesses, what they need to overcome, etc.). Make them bleed, hurt, cry, feel. This needs to be clear to the reader, who wants to empathise with some and hate others. How characters interact with their surroundings and with each other creates tension, a key element to good storytelling. Tension, of course, builds further into the additional conflict of protagonist with antagonists. In truth, it’s more fun to read about the tension from within a group that’s supposed to be together than those they are fighting against.  Think of Harry Potter and what was juicy there… It wasn’t really Voldemort… it was what went on at Hogwards between Harry and his friends and not-so-friends. That is what makes a story memorable; that is what makes a story something you can’t put down until you’ve finished it.

Hope this was useful to you. My next post on the beginning writer will be on language.

One of the most important devices to spice up narrative and increase pace is the use of dialogue. There’s a reason for this: we read dialogue more quickly; it’s written in more fluid, conversational English; it tends to create more white space on a page with less dense text, more pleasing to the reader’s eye. Dialogue is action. It gets readers involved.

Good dialogue neither exactly mimics actual speech (e.g., it’s not usually mundane, repetitive or broken with words like “uh”) nor on the other extreme does it proselytize or educate the reader through long discourse (unless the character is that kind of person). Good dialogue in a story should be somewhere in the middle. While it should read as fluid conversation, dialogue remains a device to propel the plot or enlighten us to the character of the speaker). No conversation follows a perfect linear progression. People interrupt one another, talk over one another, often don’t answer questions posed to them or avoid them by not answering them directly. These can all be used by the writer to establish character, tension, and relationship.

Below, I provide a few tips when using dialogue in your story.

• Show, don’t tell: a common error of beginning writers is to use dialogue to explain something that both participants should already know but the reader doesn’t. It is both awkward and unrealistic and immediately exposes you as a novice. For instance, avoid the use of “As you know…” It’s better to keep the reader in the dark for a while than to use dialogue to explain something. Which brings us to the next point…

• Have your characters talk to each other, not to the reader: for instance, “Hello, John, you loser drunk and wayward son of the most feared gangster in town!” could be improved to, “You stink like a distillery, John! Wait ‘til papa’s thugs find you!”

• Avoid adverbs: e.g., he said dramatically, she said pleadingly; instead look for better ways to express the way they said it with actual dialogue. That’s not to say you can’t use adverbs (I believe J.K. Rowling is notorious for this), just use them sparingly and judiciously.

• Avoid tag lines that repeat what the dialogue already tells the reader: e.g., “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Do you have a dog?” she asked.

• He said, she said: reduce tag lines where possible and keep them simple by using “said”; another sign of a novice is the overuse of words other than said (e.g., snarled, hissed, purred, etc.). While these can add spice, keep them for special places as they are noticed by the reader and will distract otherwise.

• Pay consistent attention to a character’s “voice”: each character has a way of speaking that identifies them as a certain type of person. This can be used to identify class, education, culture, ethnicity, proclivities, etc. For instance one character might use Oxford English and another might swear every third word.

• Use speech signatures: pick out particular word phrases for characters that can be their own and can be identified with them. If they have additional metaphoric meaning to the story, even better. For instance, I know a person who always adds “Don’t you think?” to almost everything they say. This says a lot about that person.

• Intersperse dialogue with good descriptive narrative: don’t forget to keep the reader plugged into the setting. Many beginning writers forget to “ground” the reader with sufficient cues as to where the characters are and what they’re doing while they are having this great conversation. This phenomenon is so common, it even has a name. It’s called “talking heads.”

• Contradict dialogue with narrative: when dialogue contradicts body language or other narrative cues about the speaker, this adds an element of compelling tension and heightens reader excitement while telling them something important. Here are a few examples:

“How’d it go?”
“Great,” he lied.

“I feel so much better now,” she said, jaw clenched.
“It’s okay; I believe you.” His heart slammed.

Apart from having a compelling story to tell, the next important thing you need to do is tell it well. While the first part of this equation is up to your imaginative powers, the second part is easily learned and skills easily acquired. Quite simply, this is done using powerful words. What I mean by that is that every single word counts and has a potential role to play, so make each one “sing”.
In an inspirational lecture some years ago, Ray Bradbury told me that everything, EVERYTHING you write is metaphor. He meant every word. Think of it. Think of how every element of your writing illuminates your story. How does your setting help illuminate your characters or their conflicts? How does a character’s speech illuminate his/her background or lifestyle? How does a description create mood or affect pace?
So, how do you do that? Make every word count?
This is accomplished in many ways. Here are ten tips on word wizarding that will help:
1. Use “power verbs”—I don’t just mean active vs. passive (e.g., stay away from was, am, is, were, being, have; is believed, was seen)…I’m talking about finding a verb that scintillates and compels, a verb that captures exactly the mood, scene, action (e.g., instead of “he put his hand in his pocket, you could say his hand dove into his pocket or dug into his pocket or slid or fumbled or…get it? This tells us so much more about HOW he felt in his action). Verbs best convey the mood and the action. Using a power verb also prevents the need for superlative modifiers (e.g., adverbs or adjectives, can almost always be replaced with a powerful verb).
2. Try to remove as many adverbs and adjectives as you can and replace with powerful verbs, particularly where you want the pace and tension to heighten.
3. Avoid weak sentence starts (e.g., nothing is going on: “He walked into the room” instead of, say, “Leisha stormed into the lounge, eyes searching for a victim”) and end each sentence with a strength (i.e., the important thing you are conveying should appear at the end of the sentence as opposed to some added on detail that often “dangles” at the end; this weakens the whole sentence).
4. Be aware of cadence and vary it and sentence length within a paragraph (reading your stuff out loud often helps).
5. Remove filler words…e.g. Jimmy paid more for (the) rent (that he accrued) because Sam hated him. Avoid unnecessary modifiers and additions (e.g., “in the case of”, “of…something”, “degree of”, “of the fact that”, etc. Less is more, people.
6. Watch for and remove redundancies (e.g., general consensus, on first entering, totally devoid of, first introduced, flawless perfection, etc.). Use repetition sparingly, only to make a point (when used this way it can be very effective). Check for two sentences saying the same thing (even if in a different way) in a paragraph.
7. Take out “in” phrases (e.g. “in colour”, “in size”, “in shape”, etc.).
8. Look for and remove clichés.
9. Use lots of dialogue and remember to break up your text into fairly short paragraphs for reader ease.
10. Use metaphors, similes and alliteration. These help to give description a double purpose by describing something but also ascribing it a mood and quality in keeping with the POV character.

If you use any of these techniques, I guarantee that your writing will improve and start to sing.