Writing

Writing Tip: Streamlining Your Scene

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , , , , ,

Writing Tip: Streamlining Your Scene

by: Ronovan

 

Kill the darlings! Kill them all!

Agents, writing coaches, and even the pros say “Kill your darlings.” It’s the truth. Kill ‘em. Every last lovely one.

Pause for the tears to fall.

Pause over.

Edited Sheet of Writing

I’ll tell you that I only learned about Flash Fiction a month or so ago, or actually learned that’s what a process was called, although I had been using it for years. You take a scene and break it down to its essentials in as few words as possible.

  • No extra adjectives
  • No extra adverbs
  • Tell the story in the dialogue what is happening
  • Do NOT get explanatory on the reader

They want the dialogue and to find out what’s going on. Yes, there are times when you have scenes with no dialogue. I’m going to give you an example of a scene without much dialogue, before and after cutting it down to the bare essentials. (I hope I didn’t copyright infringe there.)

Here is a romance scene that we’ll see if it can be cut down. I’m not a romance writer so don’t laugh too much. It is 216 words for a very brief scene.

The man looked across the shadowy room and gazed longingly at the silk covered form of what he had desired for so long. She had finally given in. After so many long and frustrating nights of games played and rejections he could tell that she wasn’t going to deny him this time.

He waited for her to come to him. The chasing had been his to do so far, now it was her turn. The moonlight shining through the window shimmered off the red form as she moved to him.

Her breathy voice was more than he had ever imagined it would be. Her red lips and whispered words tickled his ear in a way that he could feel it in his toes. A pain that was much longed for swept through his body.

“Why are you making me wait? You know I’m ready,” she said as her glossy nails slid down his chest, slowly finding their way.

He swallowed hard and slowly took a breath to gain control before speaking. “How do you know I’m rea…,” his voice was cut off.

“I know,” she said as the smile spread across her face. There was nothing more he could say. Silk slid under fingertips as the tender skin of her shoulder gave heat to his lips.

 

I don’t read romance novels, although I write them in my mind. So I don’t even know if I wrote that properly but it will give me something to go with.

Sexy woman whispering
gettyimages © Original Photo by Kent Larsson

Now here is the cut down version.

The man looked across the room at the body he had desired for so long. After so many  frustrating nights of games played and rejections he could tell that she wasn’t going to deny him this time.

The chasing had been his to do so far, now it was her turn to come to him. The moonlight shining through the window shimmered off red silk as she moved.

Her lips whispered words in his ear that sent a pain of longing sweeping down his body.

“Why are you making me wait? You know I’m ready,” she said, her nails sliding down his chest, slowly finding their way.

He slowly took a breath before speaking. “How do you know I’m rea…,” his voice was cut off.

“I know,” she said. She smiled.

Silk slid under fingertips as her skin burned his lips.

 

The word count for this scene is now 141 down from 216. I cut out a lot of unnecessary descriptions in the beginning that would be revealed along the way. I cut the description of the shadowy room, it was unimportant. I also left out the color of her lips. You tell me if the scene works now, just as well as before or better or worse.

Why all the cutting? To get to where the reader wanted to go while still giving the same mood and not wasting the readers time. Also I leave some things to the imagination of the reader. The physical descriptions of the two people are not given. This means they could be anyone and thus any woman or man can slip into the scene and imagine their fantasy lover.

I didn’t  have many opportunities at dialogue tags in this scene but in heavy dialogue scenes you need to occasionally throw in a he said or she said just to keep the reader on track.

  • Keep the paragraphs short, even if not traditionally grammatically appropriate.
  • This is not an English class.
  • Pull the reader to the next part and make them want to moved onward.

If this had been some psychological court case type thing, maybe there would have been more interior monologue, or maybe not. I tend to like the faster paced ideas when there are two or more people involved. A one person scene can get as ‘thoughty’ as they want to be. (Yes, I made up one of my new words.)

Yes, I would have done more with this scene if I were really writing it, but this was just for an exercise.

Let me know what you thought of the scene. Did either scene work? Was one better than the other? Why?

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 10, 2014.

 

Flash Fiction: A Writer’s Friend

Ronovan Blogging, Writing , , , , , , ,

Flash Fiction really helps me cut down to the meat of what I want to say.

Ronovan's avatarronovanwrites

If you’ve never written Flash Fiction then you are missing a great opportunity to learn what Literary Agents and Editors are looking for, ‘Show Don’t Tell’.

As writers we make a major mistake when we first begin writing, we look at word count and page numbers. I advise you to either turn off the word count on your program, or put something over it so you can’t see it. And also don’t format for page numbers to show. Just write.

Let the story tell the story. Your first draft is just that, a first draft, a blueprint to be build upon.

Sure the industry looks at word count often but it’s the story that sells. Writing Flash Fiction does something great for your skills. Write a scene as you normally would, then strip it down to under 600 words or 300 words. If you can do this and still convey…

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Writing Tips: Short and Sweet Keeps Them in Their Seats.

Ronovan Blogging, Writing , , , , , ,

Some writing is just too long and I won’t read it no matter how good you tell me it is!

 Man in Pain

It sounds harsh but it’s true. And it’s not because you’re not good. There are many types of audiences out there a writer is attempting to engross in their story, article, or whatever other type of writing it may be. Even a research piece needs to keep this in mind.

  • Make that first sentence engaging-If that first sentence hooks me I might keep going and give it a chance.
  • Keep the paragraphs short-Short paragraphs gives me this false sense of not committing to a long read. It also allows me to pause quickly if need be and come back to the article if I have to ‘step’ away for a moment without the idea I missed something or having or reread a long paragraph.
  • If Blogging, give me some visuals-Visuals make for a little something to keep me there and bring me back to reading. It also can help visual people click with your piece and add deceptive length without adding to reading time.
  • If Blogging keep this in mind-You may be the only reading material that some people are engaging in. I have problems reading books now. I can’t commit to it because I know after two chapters I can’t keep going. Blogs, however, give me something I can read and learn from that are quick and to the point. Break the article up into two parts if it is extremely long. That last part is just a suggestion. (But it might bring back people for a second day of viewing to your Blog. Authors keep that in mind too.)

Unless I am familiar with the work of the writer I will often bail if I see those long paragraphs. We aren’t in a Grammar or Writing class where you have to do things just so.

  • We write how people talk
  • We write short paragraphs
  • We use double negatives

If you are Blogging think of Flash Fiction in your article. Just get to the point and get out. Yes, add humor and entertain, but when it comes to the points you are making don’t draw them out.

Short and Sweet Keeps Them in Their Seat.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 03, 2014.

Writing Tip: Observation Lounge

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , ,

Writing Tip: Observation Lounge

by: Ronovan

 

Being stuck in an airport terminal without any electronic devices probably seems like sheer…bad places…to some people. For me, I see it as opportunity to hone a craft.

Aiport Terminal Waiting

Airports are crossroads of the world, culture, society. If you really think about it, the only electronic device you might even want to use is some recording device.

 

I would use a delay of say 6 hours to listen to conversations and jot down phrases that just capture a moment. Also writing down a visual scene in detail including the emotions it brings out would be great for my writing journal.

 

Writers always look for descriptions of so many things in their work; people, clothing, hair, jewelry, sounds, even smells. A six hour workshop on observation of imagery would be something we all could use.

 

In truth we could do this intentionally by going any place that has a fairly large gathering of people; a park, a mall, and even a grocery store. There are little interactions between people you can mention in writing that makes for a connection to the reader that you just take for granted in everyday life.

Inspired from a prompt from The Daily Post.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 10, 2014.

3 Things Every Writer or Blogger Should Consider

Ronovan Writing

Ronovan's avatarronovanwrites

3 Things Every Writer or Blogger Should Consider

by: Ronovan

Blogging isn’t easy. Some make it look that way, and I thoroughly despise them for it. Actually those of whom I speak know who they are and know I love them and just jealous…maybe.

I first showed up in this blogger world to share my creations, my stories. Then I discovered I had more to share than that. And I learned that the blogging world was a community and there was support among that community you couldn’t find anywhere else.

But I know from the title of this article you’re wondering about actual blogging itself. I’ll share three things today:

Cluttered Desk gettyimages © Original Photo by dumayne

COMMITMENT

“What? Of course I have a commitment to my blog,” you are saying. That’s not where I am really going with this.

Problem:

Blogging becomes addictive. You want to put out great content…

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Why Agents Pass On Material They Say They Are Looking For

Ronovan Writing

Carly Watters's avatarCarly Watters, Literary Agent

stressMany writers on Twitter know how great #MSWL is. It’s a hashtag where agents and editors can list what they’re looking for. (P.S. For those of you not on Twitter there are two blogs that post them: Agent And Editor Wishlist & MS Wishlist.)

Many agents also list on their websites what they’re actively looking for, too.

It’s exciting when writers see their manuscript align with an agent’s interest so they send off a query and…then nothing. Either no request. Or a request but no offer of representation.

What happens when agents pass on material they say they’re looking for?

  • We’re still looking for the ‘magic.’ So many things have to be perfect for us to sign up new projects. Even if the plot matches with what we’re looking for there are other parts to the equation.
  • The voice wasn’t right for us. This is the other part of the…

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Blogging/Writing Tip: Use Animated Gif’s Wisely.

Ronovan Writing

Ronovan's avatarronovanwrites

Blogging/Writing Tip: Use Animated Gif’s Wisely.

by: Ronovan

The animated Gif’s being used are hilarious at times, but sometimes too many take away from your content.

Just as you want to work on short paragraphs to encourage people to move on and keep their attention you also want to keep from distracting them from what you have worked on.

If possible place them either at the very beginning or very end to introduce a tone or leave the reader with some visual message on the way out.

Man_bowing.jpg gettyimages © Original Photo by Comstock

The other part of this is that using too many can actually make some people feel queasy or physically ill. They love your content but have to hold their hand over the Gif in order to read.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 07, 2014.

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RonovanWrites Week(in)d Review

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , ,

If you are reading this then you know I tend to write random things at random times, it’s the nature of my beast. With that in mind I thought I would make note of my offerings here, in part so I would actually know what I did and when.

This Week’s Offerings:

Blogging and or Writing Tips
Blogging/Writing Tip: Use Animated Gif’s Wisely
Writing Tips: The basic tip to improve your knowledge of genre
Writing Tips: Short and Sweet Keeps Them in Their Seats

Humor
A Mother of a Letter

Life and Non Fiction
My Teacher
A Loss of…?
My Ocean, My Lover
Non Accidental Events Lead to Intentional Good-True Story
The Soundtrack of My Life

Odds and Ends
Eggplant by Train
Friday’s Follow for Inspiration
Online Poetry Magazine Submission Alert!
Atticus Books: Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Opinion Articles
Media, Massacres, and Madness
Men, Supersize Me, and Pornography (Trust me, don’t let the title scare you away.)

Photography or Really Pictures of my Cat
Feline Fridays: Meet Spunky
Wordless Wednesday: I’m Up For It

Poetry
No Surprise Amazing Grace
At Your Risk
Love Letter Found
A Moment in a Blink
The Lost Minded Heart
It’s not Poetry to me
Asphalt and Inheritance
If Walls Could Talk

 

Writing
Holloway Part One

As I was putting this list together it occurred to me that I was actually creating something more than just a somewhat newsletter type offering. I was actually showing myself what work I had done over the week. This let me know if my focus had been where I wanted it, and also helped show me where I was in my thoughts and life.

I believe these are all of the things I published this week, minus a video or two or reblogs.

Much Respect,
Ronovan

Well this sums me up perfectly…

Ronovan Writing , , ,

Yup, what she said.

carlashirley90's avatare-Portrait

Well this sums me up perfectly...

courtesy of Pintrest

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Writing Tips: The basic tip to improve your knowledge of genre.

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , ,

Writing Tips: How to Improve your genre writing.

by: Ronovan

 

“You are what you eat from your head down to your feet,” a somewhat paraphrase of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s, who lived on both sides of the year 1800, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”

 

I was rummaging in my files here and found notes on something I used to teach. No, it wasn’t a History lesson, at least not exactly. But I suppose if you really look at it and think about it History is a big part of it, your intake History. And yes this has to do with writing.

 

There was a pastor at my church a number of years ago that influenced me in a great many ways, his name was/is Dr. Jim Burkett. He has retired from pastoring now, I believe, but he hasn’t stopped ministry. He teaches Apologetics classes and does conferences.

 

There was something that he used to say that I use in every part of my life, not just church life. Dr. Burkett had a take on that expression about being what you eat and it came from scripture about renewing your mind.

 

Mark Twain

Beavus and ButtheadI paraphrase here his idea in my own words but with the same meaning.

“What you put into your mind is what you get out of it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

For me I keep my intake as uplifting as possible. If I intake uplifting then I can give out uplifting.

“But how does this apply to writing?”

 

If you read great writing,

You know great writing,

Then you can recognize great writing in your work.

Don’t read junk!

If you want to be a science fiction writer what kind of books are you reading? Cookbooks and Romance?

 

If you want to write great science fiction then you need to read great science fiction.

 

“But I don’t want to be like everyone else.”Woman pointing finger in air.

Neither do I, but what you are doing is

learning a genre, its elements so that you

can incorporate those into your work.

 

 

If you pitch a science fiction piece of yours to an agent and they end up reading a fantasy romance, they are likely going to pass.

Why?

1)      You may have pitched to a science fiction person who doesn’t represent fantasy

2)      Because their mind was geared for one thing and you gave them another and now they think you don’t know what you are talking about.

“But I want to be writing, not reading. I don’t have the time.”

Yes you do. If you want to have your work out there for the world to see then you need to do the homework.

 

A lot of agents say read and read more of what you want to write but they don’t always say why. I wanted to give you an idea of what part the reason is.

If you want to have an output of confused junk then read confused junk. If you want an output of great writing in your genre, then intake great writing in your genre.

 

What Good Intake do you put Into your Mind?

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 03, 2014.

 

Random Blog Tip :101

Ronovan Writing

Yeah, what she said.

forgottenmeadows's avatarforgottenmeadows

Please Please Please have your blogging website listed under your gravatar…there have been many times when I have clicked on a gravatar icon from a like I have received and there was no website listed for me to follow…I usually go back the long way from my email…but a lot of people might not take the time to do that and would most likely go on to the next person…and you don’t want to lose traffic that easy do you? 😀

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Online Poetry Magazine Submission Alert!

Ronovan Writing , , ,

Poetry Alert

The Knicknackery: Now Accepting Submissions

“The Knicknackery is a new online magazine of poetry and prose, launched earlier this year. As their name suggests, The Knicknackery aims to publish an eclectic collection of misfit pieces, the kind of strange heirlooms you might keep on your shelf, the kind that might haunt you. They want off-kilter, boundary-hopping experiments. As a new magazine, their taste is still a bit unpredictable, but you can get a sense of what they like by reading past issues online.”

http://www.authorspublish.com/the-knicknackery-now-accepting-submissions/

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

Atticus Books: Accepting Manuscript Submissions

Ronovan Writing , , ,

Submissions Alert

Atticus Books: Accepting Manuscript Submissions

If you fit the picture then go for it.

“They publish unusual and ambitious works filled with ideas. They like novels that are unconventional and play with readers’ expectations. They are not interested in genre or non literary work. Do not submit a query for work that falls into either of those categories.”

http://www.authorspublish.com/atticus-books-accepting-manuscript-submissions/

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

Writing Tips: Following for Inspiration

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , , , , ,
gettyimages © Original Photo by Frederic Cirou
gettyimages © Original Photo by Frederic Cirou

Did you know I follow fashion blogs? And I don’t do it to just see the pretty women. As a writer I like to write about a lot of things and the characters in my stories have experiences and sometimes as a man I just don’t know some of the little things that I need to know about parts of society that would make a moment connect with a reader instead of  totally destroying the scene for them.

What’s popular in shoes right now?

I have no idea. To me it’s what I like at the time, but for women there is a whole other level to it. And men, isn’t that one reason we should love and appreciate those little things? How often have you noticed how her nails seem to match her shoes and how those shoes show off her ankle just right? It’s an art form.

Pants, skirt, or dress?

I have no idea what is appropriate for certain occasions. I just know when a woman looks nice and that is fine with me. Men are lucky. We just throw on about anything and no one thinks about it because we aren’t supposed to know any better. It’s an observation on society in a way but women are supposed to know what to wear. And when a woman gets it all right, every person looks at them and pauses and the skies open up and angels sing.

I follow Food blogs as well.

You want to describe something a character is eating but all your mind sees is a bacon burger at McDonald’s but they are at a nice upscale Italian restaurant. Food blogs help me see different kinds of foods as, I want a romantic dinner not burger town. When you want to have something that is edible but sensuous to see at the same time, you need to go to the blogs. And men, ribs, steaks, and nachos aren’t going to cut it. The food has to be as sexy and elegant as the woman you are with.

Do I follow certain kinds of blogs just for reference?

No, I also follow for inspiration. I follow Artists, Photographers, Poets, and some that I don’t even know what they would be categorized in. Some of my favorites are those who would fall into the category of Life Survivors. I get inspiration for characters from something they share either emotionally or visually.

Yesterday I read a blog where the woman just poured out her soul and I connected to a spirit that could drive any female character in a book to the top of the lists. We follow blogs to support each other in the blog world but we also do it because we like what we see. And no I don’t stalk anyone. I do watch for posts from everyone I follow though.

Now Follow for Inspiration.

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-May 15, 2014.

Writing Tips: Short and Sweet Keeps Them in Their Seats.

Ronovan Writing , , , , , ,

Writing Tips: Short and Sweet to Keep Them in Their Seat.

by: Ronovan

Some writing is just too long and I won’t read it no matter how good you tell me it is!

 Man in Pain

 

It sounds harsh but it’s true. And it’s not because you’re not good. There are many types of audiences out there a writer is attempting to engross in their story, article, or whatever other type of writing it may be. Even a research piece needs to keep this in mind.

 

  • Make that first sentence engaging-If that first sentence hooks me I might keep going and give it a chance.

 

  • Keep the paragraphs short-Short paragraphs gives me this false sense of not committing to a long read. It also allows me to pause quickly if need be and come back to the article if I have to ‘step’ away for a moment.

 

  • If Blogging give me some visuals-Visuals make for a little something to keep me there and bring me back to reading. It also can help visual people click with your piece.

 

  • If Blogging keep this in mind-You may be the only reading material that some people are engaging in. I have problems reading books now. I can’t commit to it because I know after two chapters I can’t keep going. Blogs, however, give me something I can read and learn from that are quick and to the point. Break the article up into two parts if it is extremely long. That last part is just a suggestion. (But it might bring back people for a second day of viewing to your Blog. Authors keep that in mind too.)

 

Unless I am really familiar with the work of the writer I will often bail if I see those long paragraphs. We aren’t in a Grammar class or Writing class where you have to do things just so.

  • We write how people talk
  • We write short paragraphs
  • We use double negatives

 

If you are Blogging think of Flash Fiction in your article. Just get to the point and get out. Yes, add humor and entertain, but when it comes to the points you are making don’t draw them out.

Short and Sweet to Keep Them in Their Seat.

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 03, 2014.

Do your best…or not at all…advice from success.

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do your best…or not at all…advice from success.

by: Ronovan

 

In my previous life I was in the business world, if only that were meant as reincarnation.

Sympathy Stuffed Bear

 

 

Yes even stuffed animals give me looks of sympathy and pats for comfort. But it wasn’t a complete waste of my life. After all you can learn from every experience, whether it is a good lesson or a bad lesson. This is a bit of a good one.

Coke Can

I attended a business luncheon in Atlanta, GA and there was a very much respected business woman there as the guest speaker. She was a self-made woman who not only had her own business but was also an executive with Coca Cola.

 

 

I’m sorry to say there were no free Coke t-shirts but a lot of free and excellent advice, as was the food, although Nuvo Mealexpensive to my company, and miniscule in size the food not the advice.

 

Now back to our program. The lady spoke of two things that day, one of which I will talk about here and the other another time.

 

Being Your Best at What You Are Doing When You Are Doing It

 

The lady had not come from a silver spoon background. She fought her way up including obtaining her education. One reason the lady said that she had become such a success, and this was not ego speaking, was that in everything she was doing at a given moment she was giving it her all, trying to be the best at it.

 

She felt she had to try harder than anyone else for two reasons; 1) she was a woman in the business world, and 2) she was African American.

Female Executive

At no one point could she be focusing on two things. If she were in school and working on a research paper, that would be the only thing she was focusing on. There was no other class in her mind at that time, no boyfriend in her mind, no TV show, nothing.

 

If you are writing an article about dogs then write the best article you can even though you might want to watch a movie instead, or be working on a manuscript. You chose to write an article and made a commitment. At that moment you are to be the best dog article writer in the world. Why do anything unless you are going to do the best? What you put out is what people see you as so why put out garbage or half attempted material? And why put out something that isn’t you?

 

This translates to editors and literary agents as well. If they see that you put everything into whatever you write then they have confidence in signing you. They know they can depend on you to get the job done, that you will not turn in a half effort or be late.

 

Use this in every job you have. It doesn’t matter what it is, do your best, and be the best.

 

Read her second piece of advice ‘Don’t ALLOW people to control you’.

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-May29, 2014.

3 Writing Tips: To Know When to Stop Writing…for the day…and how.

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3 Writing Tips: To Know When to Stop Writing…for the day…and how.

by: Ronovan

When the laptop falls off your sleeping body or maybe when your ‘other’ smashes it with a hammer? Sorry but I just can’t help but think of Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove every time I say ‘smash it with a hammer’, Eartha Kitt had an awesome voice. I think we all have our own inner Yzma at times. And Eartha Kitt’s voice was purrrfect for the role. (Yes, I just went Adam West Batman on you.)

But when to stop writing is very important and will help you in how to start the next time you sit down as ready as you were when you left off writing the previous day.

1)      Leave yourself with ideas.Man Writing in a Notebook

There is nothing worse than having worked so hard all the previous day only to sit down the next time and have nothing in your head to go with. You need to end your session with a good deal of material in your mind left. This way you will likely be thinking on it while away from your writing area and when you sit down next time you can immediately pick up where you left off and just let the creative juices flow. If you are concerned you will forget something, make a few quick notes to remind you so you have it ready to glance at when you sit down.

2)      Stop before exhaustion stops you.

Cat asleep on KeyboardToo many of us just don’t want to stop as those ideas are flowing, but the truth is some of those ideas aren’t going to be very sharp and you’ll have to fix them later, and you most likely won’t be able to really remember what all you did very well. So set time limits and stick to them. Also ending exhausted makes for a weary begin to the next day of writing.

 

3)      Set time limits and stick to them.

You need a break, you need structure. If you are working on a book, blogging, researching, submitting, and living, then you need to set some boundaries. Most people who write a book want to do it for a living. Keep it fun and creative but you need to keep it in check or it will burn you out.Timer

I have been completely wiped out writing, had writer’s block, and just really been a wreck. I’ve written a 30,000 book in 24 hours and was literally unable to function for two days. You have to set limits. For me it was a bit of a necessity at that moment, and maybe I will explain that another day, but I should have stopped, and no, there was no deadline. It was a great feeling to have accomplished something like that but it also made it so I didn’t want to look at another piece of writing for quite some time.

One part of becoming a success at writing is to keep writing, and to keep writing you need to keep it fun both mentally and physically. How do some of you keep from getting burnt out?

You may also be interested in Writing Tips: Working Through Writer’s Doubt…Just Flip it 3 Ways.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 01, 2014.

Writing Tips: Working Through Writer’s Doubt…Just Flip It 3 Ways.

Ronovan Writing , , , , , , , ,

Book with Question Mark

 

JUST GIVE UP, YOU CAN’T WRITE WELL ENOUGH TO GET PUBLISHED! Did that get your attention? It gets mine each time I face writer’s doubt when rejected either through email or get the SILENT treatment we all just love waiting for regarding my latest novel attempt. And to be honest, that give up feeling is strong and succeeds for a while…at first. It takes a few battles in the war before you realize that not every agent has the time to reply to the hundreds of people wanting to get their book signed.

But you get over it. You just have to learn to get over it quickly. What are some ways to do that?

 

 

Write Differently: I write novels so instead I writeWriting Differently

Poetry

Haiku

Flash Fiction

Blog Articles

 

 

Rewriting        Rewrite Someone Else’s Stuff

(Take your favorite book or almost favorite

and do one of the following)

                   Change the setting and time of the book.

     Turn it into a Super Hero comic.

                          Flip the leads.

  Make the good guy a bad guy.

                 Turn the Horror story into a Romance.

 

 

Take a World Event and Change the Characters or LocationColin Anderson Working Through Doubts

Change the Leaders into TV show or Cartoon characters and write how they might react in the same situation as the real leaders involved.

Make the World Event happen on an alien World or on a huge space station.

Make the Leaders have split personalities that fight themselves to control what happens.

 

After a few experiences you learn to immediately go to something to write after a rejection, doubt, or writer’s block. It just comes with the territory. But even then there will be times that it gets to you. Just remember the only way you don’t win is if you give up.

But while you doubt or get down about your project just keep writing something creative. The more you write the better you get. I know that’s old advice but it really is true. I use Flash Fiction a lot as my go to when I just can’t get going on a novel and it really trains me to be a better writer. I scale down a scene to the bare bones while still relaying it to the reader. That’s what you want to do in your regular writing anyway.

The above are just a few of my thoughts on how to overcome those moments, what are some of your ideas?

You may be interested in 3 Writing Tips: To Know When to Stop Writing…for the day…and how.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 02, 2014.

Flash Fiction: A Writer’s Friend

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If you’ve never written Flash Fiction then you are missing a great opportunity to learn what Literary Agents and Editors are looking for, ‘Show Don’t Tell’.

As writers we make a major mistake when we first begin writing, we look at word count and page numbers. I advise you to either turn off the word count on your program, or put something over it so you can’t see it. Also don’t format for page numbers to show. Just write.

Let the story tell the story. Your first draft is just that, a first draft, a blueprint to build upon.

Sure, the industry looks at word count often but it’s the story that sells. Writing Flash Fiction does something great for your skills. Write a scene as you normally would, then strip it down to under 600 words or 300 words. If you can do this and still convey everything the reader needs to know and feel, then you have accomplished your mission and saved your Agent/Editor and yourself a lot of work later on.

We think more is better but in reality, it’s what you say and not how much you say that matters. Choose your words wisely. Close your eyes and just begin to type what you see of the scene and then come back and work it.

Religion and Sex: What is an Author to do?

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Romantic Silhouette
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Sex and the Religious; what an odd assortment of words we have there. Those of the devout guild find they are walking a tightrope when it comes to what they will and will not allow themselves to write about. I tend to have a different view of it myself I suppose, but still I’m hesitant.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan to write gratuitous orgiastic scenes of origami like contortions. But I think this is one area that authors who are also The Religious are very uncomfortable with for fear of being a bad example to others or feel like they will be promoting something that is wrong according to their morals. Or perhaps they are really just afraid their friends will find out what goes on inside their imaginations. I’m being honest here.

I believe writing should be honest. If a scene in a romance or adventure, or true life story is leading toward intimacy then taking a sharp turn away without any previous reason for said turn would, to me, be dishonest to the reader, the character, and the story.

If the characters are people who are fighting against these urges because of some moral feeling then I understand, but if during the entire run up to this scene there has never been any wavering of any sort then I find it difficult to change my course of writing. And if there is that sudden swerve then there needs to be some show of an aftermath struggle with at least one character.

I know I know it could be that the situation is unique to the characters mind and morals when other things are okay to them to do, but sexuality is something that exists, and even the devoutly Religious fall into it at times. My struggle has been with wanting to show the readers that those professing Religious leanings are normal people sharing normal feelings and falling into situations just like anyone else. It’s sometimes how they deal with the aftermath that may be different or even the same.

There is a romance I’ve written that has scenes where one of the characters is experience these feelings, very intense feelings, and part of the story line is letting those feelings into the mind and having to deal with them. The body reacts and says one thing while the mind says another. You see what the body feels at times. Needless to say, if you know me, there are no words said or used that would be inappropriate but the actions are obvious and telling.

I guess I am in that area of to push through with sharing my visions or whitewashing over them, which I think weakens the entire story.

Sex sells but that’s not what the story is about or for. Sex is just a part of the bigger picture. Sex is real. Sex is not a lie. Denial of it is. So what does one do, be true to the story, or lie and paint an unrealistic character? Do you think the devoutly Religious should leave the topic alone or try to present it as a fact of life that we all face, but some maybe struggle with it in different ways?