Revisions

Oh, that dreaded step in the long process of writing. Is anything more tedious, more annoying, more painstakingly frustrating, than the process of revisiting and checking over your work? You spend hours going over work only to change two things, yet still when the moment comes to present your story, you see things that make you think, "How the hell could I have possibly missed that?"

That's one of the cons that comes with being a writer, having to deal with the hair tearing out anger of not being able to check your own work. But, hopefully, I can teach you a few of my methods for checking and revising, and that can ease the process for you!

One of the first things I do after finishing is just read the whole thing to myself, checking to make sure there aren't any holes. No sentences I left out, gaps in the story, blatantly obvious content mistakes, etc. After that, I reread one more time, instead looking at individual sentences in particular, just to try to catch any punctuation or grammar mistakes. Personally, that's the end of my step one, because I know from there that there's not much more I'm going to catch myself without wasting tons of time.

Side note; another good strategy I've heard of is reading your story backwards, from the last sentence to the first. I don't do this myself, but it's supposed to be good as far as working on sentence structure and grammar.

After that I usually take a break, one or two days off where you can clear your mind and not think about the writing. The reason for this is so that when you look at it next you have a slightly different perspective and are more prone to catch things. How I normally do it from there though is I'll find somewhere quiet and just read to myself out loud, as if I was presenting it. Again, this'll just help provide a different perspective and just make you much more prone to catching things, especially when it comes to smoothing it out and making it flow better.

The last thing I usually do then is probably the most uncommon. A lot of authors, especially quieter ones who don't exactly like publicity, will only rely on themselves for revision, as well as maybe one other trusted person. However I think for the best revisions I think you should be open with your writing! Share it with friends and family, or really anyone you know who has any kind of writing or reading interests. You'll get a lot of solid feedback, as well as get a feel for how people will receive your writing and whether or not you should change it accordingly.

Anyway guys, that's about all I got for this topic. Until next time, peace.

-Ink

B.R. of A Fine Balance

Coming into this book, I really wasn’t too excited. I knew it was about India, and that it was historical fiction, and those two combined just really didn’t peak my interest much. However when I started getting into it I had an odd feeling. Something about it was just different. The way it flowed, the dynamics of the characters, the realism and historical context; all of it just created such a surreal story, something I hardly ever experience while reading historical fiction.

It was real. A true depiction of Indian struggle that hit me much harder than I could’ve ever expected. As someone who enjoys writing their own stories, I LOVED the character development in this book. Every single one was interesting and unique with their own strengths and weaknesses. That’s what made this book so hard hitting really, that although the context and struggles make the setting seem very real, it was the good characters, the ones that felt more like real people than characters, that made it relatable and so emotional.

That being said, I really have nothing bad to say about the book. The plot is lackluster, but that can be expected when a book is shooting for realism rather than entertainment. The flow of the story was simply artful; the way it would ebb and flow between the present and the past as new characters are introduced and interesting backstories are presented. Granted, it was a bit confusing at first, because you don’t really see the relation between the characters initially, so it feels like you’re just being thrown back and forth, but once you catch the pattern it becomes really quite enjoyable.

                I’m no fan of this genre typically, but after reading it I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a good eye-opener. It really does give you a good dose of reality check, reminding you why we should be grateful and how people can be strong, even in the face of poverty and chaos.

Long story short, this was simply amazing, and I'd give this a solid nine out of ten. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

P.S.

                Might I add that I was really having some flashbacks to Pursuit of Happiness starring Will Smith? I mean seriously, it’s great and all, but every time, every single time, something good happens, we just have to get knocked right back down. Cut us a break, will you? I mean we readers can only take so much! Kind of inconsiderate, I know, but man this was such a sad story. I just wanted the characters, at least one, to get a happy ending. Sorry for the informality, but I had to throw that out there. 

B.R. of To Kill A Mockingbird

If you have never read To Kill A Mockingbird, I would advise you to stop reading this review immediately, and go and buy yourself a copy.

For any that don’t know what the book is about, I’m going to describe it briefly, because the beauty of the book is that the reader follows the story with the characters. It’s set in the 1930s, when America was hit by the Great Depression, and filled with prejudice. It’s told in the voice of Scout. Being in the voice of a young girl made a story about such brutal prejudice and discrimination different: it was youthful, it was playful, it was innocent, and to see such innocence corrupted by a genuine sense of reality throughout the novel was one of the most worthwhile parts of the book. Scout has an older brother, Jem, and they live with their father, Atticus: Atticus is a lawyer, and possibly one of my favourite characters of all time. I feel like often writers feel their characters need a defining trait, a fatal flaw: but Atticus was just genuinely a good person. He wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t this macho and masculine protagonist that some books seem to need. He was moral, he was good, he was inspirational, just because he was such a good person. His wisdom gave a sense of continuity throughout the novel, and seeing how his words impacted his children, and how subtly in awe they were of his presence was done with a skill I rarely see in fiction. Atticus Finch is wonderful. He viewed the world in a way that didn’t judge people, and this translated perfectly through the pages of the book.

I found this review almost impossible to write. I don’t want to tell you the plot, to list every character, every theme tackled in it: dive straight in, and discover it for yourself.

If you are a human being with emotions, this book will impact you, regardless of age, gender or background. This book makes you FEEL: that’s the best way to describe it. Ultimately, there’s a reason why people still read this book. It’s a reason you won’t understand until you pick up the book, and feel the words speak to you.

Until you see this for yourself, you’ll just have to trust my rating, which I give a solid nine out of ten. It really doesn’t get much better than this one. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

B.R. of The Giver

The Giver is a morally driven and interesting story about a young boy called Jonas who lives in a society free of crime and sadness. At the age of 12, children are assigned their jobs, which they will train for and do for the rest of their lives. Everything is chosen; from your parents to your partner.

Society has been kept free of all the negative aspects of life because for as long as it has been formed, there has been someone who holds all the bad and good memories of the past within them. This is both bad and good for the inhabitants because, although they are protected from harm, they are also not exposed to the wonderful aspects of life.

Throughout the book, Jonas' loss of trust in his parents is important in communicating the morals of the story. At the beginning, when Jonas is a normal child in the community, he trusts his parents completely as is expected. However, after The Giver shows Jonas the tape of his Father "releasing" a new born child, a process in which the child is killed and disposed of, Jonas ultimately loses his trust and admiration of his father. This moment is what forces Jonas to leave the community, even before The Giver has planned for him to. I enjoyed this transition in Jonas because he begins to defy the life which is set out for him. It is symbolic of the change from the innocent mind of a child into the questioning and educated mind of an adult.

The ambiguity of the ending is also another aspect which makes this book interesting to read. There are two possible meanings behind the ending; either Jonas and Gabriel freeze to death together on the sled, or they have really found "Elsewhere". Ultimately, the ending still shows us that, whatever happens, Jonas has made choices for himself rather than being told what to do. Whatever happens to him, it is still better than his life in the community would ever have been.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book because, even though it is supposed to be more of a children's book than young adult, the storyline is complex enough to hold the attention of older readers. I really enjoyed Jonas as a character because his character development from a scared boy, to someone willing to risk his future to save the community, is enjoyable to follow. This book shows the path of growing up; at first we are scared to accept that there are new responsibilities, but as we slowly get used to it we want to move more and more away from childhood.

Overall it’s a great book about a classic archetype, and I’d give it an eight out of ten. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

B.R. of Left Behind

Wow. So this book.

I know I normally do these reviews on books I like, but this one. Wow.

I’m going to try my hardest not to just be all negative on this book, but I really did not enjoy this one.

So, this is a religious fiction novel, which I feel kind of offensive saying, about the end of days. All the true followers of Christ are lifted off the Earth and disappear into heaven, leaving the non-believers and sinners behind as the Earth is ravaged by trials, as well as a reincarnated Satan. I’m not very religious myself, but I do find the plot of this book really interesting actually. Although I don’t like this authors writing, I think this idea could spawn some really amazing stories, and I’m sure there are some out there I don’t know of.

But anyway the plot follows an airline pilot who has been having faith issues, not only in God, but in his marriage, as he has been having lustful thoughts about one of his coworkers. From there he discovers the absence of his wife and quickly recommits himself to the Church, leading on down his path of redemption.

Again, the plot is interesting and has some good emotional and spiritual variables, but none of this is approached very well. The events are quite predictable, a true stereotype, in my opinion. Man loses faith, man is punished, man regains faith, and man goes for redemption. Little to no varying, all unsurprising as can be. The characters are flat with little variation or conflict. Even the main character is surprisingly stale with almost no redeeming qualities.

And lastly, and oh man is this the killer, the dialogue is seriously terrible. Have you ever been playing a video game and maybe ran into some other characters who talked but in a terrible, off putting, computer-like fashion? Cause that is this book’s dialogue. Have you ever left a piece of bread in a tub of cookies, just to take it out two weeks later and be like, ‘man, this is super stale,’? Because that is this book’s dialogue. Have you ever watched a terrible documentary and constantly wondered if this person is trying to sound boring or if it’s just natural? That is this book. I’ve talked about dialogue and how important it is, it’s often ultimately what makes or breaks a book, and does it break this book. I really don’t know how I got through it to be honest, considering I was face palming at just about every serious dialogue scene.

Overall, all though it does have a few good qualities about it, there are just too many thing in my opinion that ruin this book. For that, I give it a four out of ten. Sorry Left Behind fans. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

Balancing Action

I think one of the most important aspects of writing that determine whether we like a book or not is the pacing and balance of action; what happens, how often action occurs, how long does it last, etc. It can be pretty hard to control your pacing in a book, as often we just want to follow the original idea and write it in a way that just naturally just flows this way or that.

What we have to realize though, is that at the end of the day we really are just entertainers. You should write a story so that it appeals to not only you, but to the reader. If a part of the story is too slow or boring, then you need to revise it, and there are several ways you can do this.

First, put some new minor conflicts in. Give your protagonists some new problems to conquer and beat. It doesn't have to be anything new about the plot line or provide any new major ideas, just a little something to provide a hill to get over. It keeps your readers more interested (and can also keep you more interested while writing) and provides an opportunity to learn something new about your characters.

That leads into my second point, which would be to make sure and constantly provide new information. Often times the best, "boring parts," can teach you a lot about your characters and how they think. Also, it can often work as a time to build relationships between them. NEVER just assume the reader will understand the relationship between your characters. You have to demonstrate it through their actions, their dialogue, and their descriptions/thoughts (depending on point of view.). These down moments between events is the perfect time to show this, that way your climaxes are better and your readers get more attached to the characters.

The last thing that I would say is pretty simple. Involve humor in your piece. Although humor isn't often something that's needed in a story, it does a great job of keeping readers intrigued and more into your story. It can be used in lots of situations, can help create or show relationships, can give you insight on a character, and so many other things. It really is just great to have humor involved in your writing.

I've already talked a little about this series, but I'm gonna rave a bit more about my favorite series, the Game of Thrones franchise. It's known for having only one or two major events in the books as well as long breaks in between where not much happens, however he uses these three strategies to always keep you addicted to the books. I'm usually not to much of a stickler on how slow or fast paced a books story line is as long as it's good, but man, I felt like I read that book cover to cover without setting it down. You can't get a much better example of balancing action then those. Anyway guys, I hope you learned a little something today, until next time, peace.

-Ink

B.R. of Eragon

So, I've talked a lot now about different methods and skills when it comes to writing, so now I'm gonna do what I can to put these skills into practice by reviewing some of my favorite books for these different qualities.

The first on the list, 'Eragon.'

It's a clear fantasy tale that follows in the footsteps set by Tolkien, creating a personalized fantasy world with it's own map, people, and species, that follows the tale of farmer boy Eragon as he begins his journey. While hunting, he stumbles upon a strange and extremely smooth stone, which he brings home in hopes to pawn off. To his bewilderment, the stone cracks open, hatching a baby dragon, and from there the story takes off on a adventure as he must learn the powers that come with this new baby.

Some pros about this story; it has absolutely great tone and descriptions. Its one of those writing styles that will get you hooked just through pure description. The action scenes are crisp and clear, with little confusion or muddling, and the characters are well defined with good dialogue and personalities. If you wanna see some straight up grade A writing, I would suggest this in a heartbeat. Some more good things though, it has a really good story line and world. The whole thing really just sucks you in and holds you, with twists and turns along the way through a well thought out and differentiating environment

Now, what do I think it could improve on? Not much, to be honest, however I do think it has one of the slowest opening chapters I've ever read. The language and dialogue are great, but the first three or four chapters are pretty much uneventful besides setting up for future events and characters. Besides that, I'd say its almost a little to straight forward, although that is more of a preference. What I mean is that although the story line is entertaining and fulfilling, it is rather predictable at part. A real classic fantasy plot really.

Overall, I love the book though. The rating I'd give it is an seven and a half out of ten, pretty good, but room for improvement. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

Dialogue Tags

Dialogue is, in my opinion, one of the largest factors to making a good story. A story can be amazing, but if the dialogue doesn't flow well, then it just kills the flow of a book. It's trips up readers and sends them reeling back into reality, stumbling over your words. One of the things that can really make or break your dialogue flow are dialogue tags.

"What are dialogue tags?" the man asked. Well, they're exactly that. Words like, 'said, responded, asked, yelled, retorted, argued, whispered.' They help clarify who and how people speak. However, sometimes they can do the opposite. If you overdo you tags, perhaps using complex tags or an abundance of adverbs, it can weigh down the sentence, turning a simple sentence into an over dramatized and over complicated ordeal. If you're confused on how good and detailed tags could be bad for your dialogue, here's a little example.

"Hello, Miranda," The man said with a dry tone.
"Hello, Robert," Miranda retorted, taking a seat across from him.
"Been awhile, hasn't it?" Robert inquired, giving a stone cold smile.
"I suppose so. A good, long while." Miranda said with a hint of malice.
"Yes, very good," Robert said back with equal sarcasm.

You kinda see what I mean now? It's such a short conversation, but it seems so jumbled and clustered that you almost pay more attention to how they're saying things rather than what they're actually saying. A lot of times you can cut out those messy tags and let the readers naturally infer how they're saying things based off what they're saying and how they respond.

"Hello, Miranda."
"Hello, Robert," the woman responded, taking a seat across from him.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Robert asked.
"I suppose so. A good, long while."
"Yes, very good."

Although it's slightly less descriptive, you can still get a feel for the tone of the conversation and get a general feeling for how they're talking. Anyway guys, I hoped you learned a little something about creating dialogue, and until next time, peace.

-Ink

Playing God

One of the best parts of fiction writing is having the ability to really share your creativity and come up with amazing people, places, and things, spawning a world that you, and only you, can control. It's a great feeling, being able to bend and break the rules of our own world as you create your personal universe. But as far as story telling, how do you convey your world to the readers? How do you show it off? Even then, how do you make a world that's good for sharing?

I think if you're a creative writer, then you're always playing god in your mind. Random ideas come and go, leaving behind glimpses into new worlds and new sets of characters. Every single one brings with it an urge to write and create, to put  your glimpse on paper. Although you can make great short stories of these small ideas, it takes a grand one to really make a great novel.

This world that stews in your head will need to meet some qualifications before you write about it though. First of all, and most obviously, it's needs to be unique. Of course I'm sure you'll have many elements that we see in day by day life, but you need to bring something new to the table. Something that has never been read or even remotely heard of before, something that grabs peoples attention and doesn't let go, something that spurs the reader to not only want to read more of your book, but learn more about this world that you've created. Secondly, it needs to be expansive. The real world is humongous with millions of things to learn and explore; people, places, history, sciences, creatures. The world that you create should be similar, with hundreds of facts and interesting things to share. This way readers always have something new to read about and learn, then they will not only become hooked, but stayed hooked. This goes hand in hand with my last point I'd make, which is that your world should be well rounded. These expansive details and creations shouldn't focus around one genre of things, but should represent everything from technology to politics to biology. You should be able to talk for days about all these minute details you've envisioned for your world!

Lets take a look at some of the greatest modern fictional worlds that have some of these traits. The worlds of Eragon, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones, for example. All three series are great examples of large series's that feature amazingly large and detailed worlds. (If you haven't read any of these three, I'd highly recommend it) My favorite is Game of Thrones though. Its unique world that, as far as the reader knows, takes up literally a whole planet; it has it's own continents, oceans, seas, islands, everything. Going past the geography, the series is layered in rich history that is subtly mentioned throughout the five books. I'm pretty sure there is enough for you to learn that you could actually major in Game of Thrones history. It's seriously crazy how much time has been invested to that world and all its characters.

Anyway guys, I hope you learned at least a little something about writing from this. Until next time, peace.

-Ink

(Vague?) Descriptiveness

Be descriptive. Be descriptive. Be descriptive.

You hear it all the time. Wanna be a good writer? Be descriptive. Feel like your story is lacking? Be descriptive. Don't know what else to say? Just. Be. More. Descriptive.

But, is there such a thing as being too descriptive? Could there possibly be a metaphorical roof to your pile of literal descriptions?

Description, generally, is a great thing to have in a story. Many good writers discover their talent because of their natural ability to provide detailed and colorful descriptions of things. Also, lots of your favorite stories probably have loads of great details that introduce and get you involved with the worlds that they create. If a story is like a good cake, then description is like the frosting that covers it, making it so much more appealing and tasty.

Description can be used throughout a whole book, and pretty evenly distributed, but often times we associate it with two main things; characters and settings. Describing a scene helps suck a reader in, getting their imagination pulled in and involved with the story. Describing characters does the same, introducing people to the people of the world and getting them connected to their personalities.

However, whats one of the great things about reading about and getting to know a new character? Using not only description, but mixing in your imagination and and creating your own unique spin off while you read.

I know this can be kinda weird to think about, and that you may never have thought about how your perception of a character is any different than anyone else's, but it really is. Often times the characters that are the best are the ones with little description, characters that have a hint of vagueness to them so that instead of being force fed every detail and every trait of a character, we can get to know them over time and make our own perceptions of them.

This is one of those few times where I'm not gonna give an example, just because it would be way to long! A character should be introduced slowly over time with examples that demonstrate the persons traits, not in a single paragraph or two and then call it good. The reader should get to know the character, not just be introduced to them!

Look for that next time you begin a book. Notice that the author will leave out quite a few features for you to fill in with your own imagination. Hopefully this'll help you guys next time you write! Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

Testing The Waters

So I've talked about a few different writing strategies now, so I thought that maybe, although I'm not supposed to make this a blog about my writing, I thought I'd try posting a bit of my creative writing to just show that I can pray what I preach. Plus maybe I thought it'd give you some inspiration to do a quick write too, a writing exercise that's nice for all writers to try once in awhile.

The idea is just to think of a quick prompt, something simple; the devil walking down the street, A rose in a field of daisies, a boy looking for his dog in the woods. Quick, easy stuff that allows you too let you're imagination roam and confidence soar as you write with out worrying about critique or judgement. For my little quick write, I think I'll use the first example; the devil walking down the street, just because I prefer darker writing.

The crowds of Chicago were brutal, always moving, always pulsating, never stopping for anyone. It was the blood that powered the city, giving it life. As I walked with the group to my daily nine to five, all I could think is that if we're the blood, then this man is the virus. 

It was so perplexing to me, the contradicting normality of him. A plain black vest over a red button up, slick black pants, a cocked fedora on his head. Even his walk was normal. He kept his hands in his pockets and slouched ever so slightly, his pace not slow or fast, but a medium speed that kept him in stride with the rest of Chicago's veins and arteries. Because of this he always stayed in my sight, a set distance away.

This man was the Moses to Chicago's sea of people, splitting the crowd effortlessly with his presence. His aura was like a magnet, pushing away everyone more and more the closer they get. Especially those who dare to look at him. I could see, very discretely, people look under the brim of his hat as they pass by Him. The subtle horror that invaded their expression spoke volumes as they avoided their eyes and sped up to walk past him. What could be wrong with his face? Was he disfigured? A monster? Or did he just have a cruel pair of eyes or a terrible scowl?

I was so entranced by my imagination and the wonders of what was hidden under his brim that I was taken aback when I found myself in an tight alleyway. Still in front of me stood the man, his back to me, facing a solid brick wall.

I stared in a mix of terror of curiosity. Time seemed to stand still as I waited for him to move, speak, twitch, anything to end this moment of stillness and silence.

It was suddenly so different, the way he moved. It was like liquid, the way he turned around. Smooth and effortless, graceful like a dancer with even such a basic movement. As he faced me I realized he was closer then I had realized, a mere five feet. I could see the sly smile that sat under the rim of his hat. Slowly, ever so slowly, he looked up to meet my gaze.

I was sucked in by his bottomless, black hole eyes.

"Been following me, have you"?

B.R. of The Alchemist Series

For my second book review I wanted to not only choose a book that had different strengths than my last one, but I also thought it'd be cool to review a whole series rather than just a single novel. Also just the topic and tone of the two books are about as different as they can be!

So a brief summary of my series, the Alchemist. It takes place during modern day and is from the point of view of two twins, Sophie and Josh. The opening scene alone sets the tone for the whole book as it opens up with the two witnessing a fight between two powerful magicians in a book store. Before they know it the twins get sucked into a conflict that has been raging for thousands of years, and we get thrown into an insane mixture of gods, legends, and magic. Throughout the books we see the twins go through hard training in order to become magicians themselves. It truly is a fantasy lover's best friend!

What makes it such an enjoyable book though? Well, first of all, it's another story that demonstrates the classic archetype of loss of innocence as the twins gain more knowledge, go through training, and realize that their lives are much more complicated than they think. Secondly, the writer is fantastic at creating suspense and writing fast, in your face action scenes that are not only clear but really concise and accurate. It never seems jumbled or rushed, like many fight scenes tend to be. Lastly, the author does a great job of pacing out the book, something I really haven't talked about much yet. If you're a reader who gets impatient easily or loses interest in slow books, then this is a good one for you. The series is a constant course of up and down, like a coastal tide of action and calm. I think he does a fairly good job of disguising it though, which is nice because if the pace is too uniform then the book becomes predictable and monotonous, but if you make the ebb and flow of action seem natural then the story flows well and keeps your attention the whole time, and trust me, this book will hold your attention with ease, from cover to cover.

Overall, it's no American classic or anything, but it's a good read that keeps you interested, has a great cliff hanger, and provides good examples if you're planning on writing on lots of fight scenes. I'd definitely say it's worth looking into if you're ever looking for something new to read. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

B.R. of "Someone Named Eva"

So while I work on my book and use writing techniques that I know, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite books and review them in a Book Review type fashion. This way I can provide you guys with not only what I think our entertaining and gripping books, but books you can learn from as I talk about some of the strengths and weaknesses of the stories.

The first book that popped out as I was going through my personal library was a little historical fiction novel called, 'Someone Named Eva'. It takes place around the time of World War Two in Czechoslovakia and focuses on the story of a young girl as the Germans slowly move in to her country. The story focuses more on the psychological aspects of the war as the Germans separate the girl from her family and attempt to turn her into, "a perfect German girl." Over time we see them educate, abuse, comfort, and reconstruct her, attempting everything they can to change her and make her forget her past. It really is a brilliant book, having good themes and a touching story as we indulge ourselves with Eva's story.

But, from a purely analytical approach, what makes this story so good? One, it has a classic archetype of corrupting innocence as the young girl we first meet is transformed into Eva and forced to take part in German culture. In my opinion it's a archetype you can't go wrong with, and even though it's a pretty common one it seems to be one people are always willing to see. This leads me into my second main point; how great her character building is. Throughout the book we see lots of people come and go, and yes some of them are pretty flat, that's inevitable, but Eva herself is amazingly built up. In any book where we actually get to see someone's personality change and fluctuate is amazing, it's a real sign of life and avoids making what my favorite author would call, "another bag of bones." It really hits home the impacts of the German's attack as we see her transform from innocent, kind, and free spirited to polite, bitter, and introverted. My last point would be the realism of the book, which kinda spreads of many things. What I mean is it's a culmination of many things that give the book a sense of nonfiction instead of fiction. The first would be the great context of the story, created by the authors well done research into her topic. Secondly, it's raw, yet not over dramatic. It has that perfect balance that creates a life like feeling while reading, as you'll see in many well written nonfiction books. Lastly, the characters and dialogue are very real. The dialogue always fits the relationship between the characters, ranging from formal and stiff to colloquial and lighthearted.

All in all it really is a great book, especially if you're fascinated with World War Two like I am, or are just a history buff in general. It'll suck you in and next thing you know the story's over and you're sitting there wondering where the time went! If this isn't really up you're alley however, don't worry I'll be doing some more book reviews soon, peace!

-Ink

Good Characters

This is probably a topic you've heard a lot about from just about any L.A. class, but I think it's an important topic to talk about when it comes to your own writing as it does when discussing books in L.A. That is creating nice, round characters for your stories. A round character, by my definition, is a character that is realistic in the fact that he/she may face problems most of us face; they have good and bad sides, conflicting morals, misconceptions, ideas, hopes, dreams, etc. Everything that a normal living person would have. 

In your books it should be more then just good and bad guys, more then just, "he's like this, and she's like this, and here is how he feels." It's never simple when it comes to making characters, and you should always consider that before writing a story. Every character is a person in and of themselves. They should have back stories, history, experiences, everything. Now do you have to go in as much detail with minor characters, no, maybe not quite, but you still need some. Flat characters result in a flat story. 

So remember when creating characters, bad guys have good sides too, and visa versa. Many times the best characters are ones with conflicting morals, so that even if they're labeled a bad guy, they may have good ideas at heart. (Those are my favorite characters, personally.) Hopefully you guys create some great characters for your next story. Peace.

-Ink

Extended Motifs

If you've ever taken any language arts as a class, then you've probably heard about extended motifs; lessons or morals we're suppose to take from a story. You've heard you're teacher ask you stuff like, "what does this passage mean," or "how does this pertain to the stories meaning." Well in my humble opinion, that's bull. If you find yourself having to go back and take notes and look for metaphorical meanings in every chapter of a book then you're over doing it. You shouldn't have to force yourself to look for meanings in a book, and although there are times where I agree with L.A. teachers and their interpretations of books, often very good interpretations actually, but other times its looking for nothing. A book shouldn't have an obvious, stereotypical meaning, but should find the medium between a deep and meaningful motif that is complex and subtly introduced as well as well as clear and applicable.

You should keep that in mind when writing, that you need to find that motif balance in you're works, whether its a short story, poem, or novel. These are what define many books as classics, because they have clear motifs, but are still loose enough that they can be interpreted in different ways and be discussed. These are the types of books you'd read in you're L.A. or English classes. For example, lets look at To Kill a Mockingbird, a really great book. Possible spoiler alert by the way. It takes place during a time of great segregation and racism, a time in the country when equality is not truly recognized and African Americans are seen as less than the white population. Although this plays a large part of the story, it is very rarely addressed in the first third to half of the book. Even on top of the topic of racism and equality, a rather typical motif, we get an extra layer of specificity on it, something every story's motif should have. We learn about not only recognizing racism and social inequality, but about having the bravery to stand up to it and to speak for the unspoken, literally in the case of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's really a great meaning or motif, and the best part is that it isn't truly realized until the end of the story and when it is, it's pretty clear with a bit of consideration.

This is how your extended motifs should be; clear, opinionated, strong, and unique. This will give your readers not only quality reading, but a quality lesson to learn from your writing, something you should always strive to have in your writing. Again, a good story will have quality characters and plot, as well setting, writing style, tone, and other things. But a story must have a strong motif that the readers can take away from your writing for it to be truly considered great. I hope you guys learned something new and that you will try incorporating some of these things into your writing in the future, peace.

-Ink

Paragraphing For Tension

Just as length can affect tone, so can other writing skills, one of which being the way in which you use your paragraphs. In typical (or in other words boring) writing, paragraphs are used to separate single points from each other, so every time your focus switches you begin a new paragraph. This makes it clearer to the reader what you're talking about and emphasizes your transitions. However, this doesn't exactly apply to modern fiction writing. Don't get me wrong, that is how most authors still typically use paragraphs; to show a change of focus, change of perspective, new event, or beginning of dialogue. But the paragraph is so much more useful than that! The most common use of the paragraph is to emphasize and create drama in a scene, typically at the climax. Indenting right before the action can help create loads of tension for the reader. If you remember my length and tone post, it goes hand in hand with that. Using short sentences can create tension, but adding an indent right before that just acts as a booster to the effect of the shortened sentence. It'll make that one word sentence pop out to the reader, putting a huge amount of emphasis on whatever you have it be.

"The tension in the air was almost as palpable as the fear in that moment. The soldiers had a quiet disposition, an eerie stillness mixed with jittery, uncontrollable sense of impending death. Silent prayers were mouthed, loved ones were remembered, and old sins were confessed on that hill, in that trench. The screams from the woods below drowned out all of the soundless last thoughts, and then they appeared.

Grey was the largest color they saw, swarms and swarms of grey. Like a cold porridge mixed with the hard steel of bayonets and bullets. The sound was what reached inside you and squeezed your heart, wrenching any bravery right out and filling it, no, flooding it with terror. It was the scream of dead men as well as the shout of resilient, defiant men. All that, but the captain held, and as long as the captain held, then so did the infantry. Closer and closer the rebels came, charging up the hill, bullets flying over the heads of the entrenched. The captain raised his sword, the mob of men now only one hundred yards away. Closer and closer they came, fifty yards away, forty. The captain brought down his sword.

'Fire!'"

Here's an example of building up tension and then using the paragraphing strategy to create drama and initiate the climax. Notice how the words seem to change throughout the passage as well, not only becoming more straight forward but shortening in sentence length, like I said, adding to the emphasis on the one word paragraph. Although this is about as effective as it gets when it comes to building tension, I should say that it should be something you use rarely. Use it too often and it'll lose its effect, or even appear corny to the audience. I hope you learned something though guys, and I'll talk to you later, peace!

-Ink

Simple Dialogue

Dialogue is probably one of the biggest aspects to fiction writing that can really make or break your story. Although a good story line doesn't need good dialogue, any really well respected book should have nice flowing dialogue that adds to the story. Bad dialogue trips us up, making us think about the author and how the line is supposed to go rather than what the characters are saying. (*cough* Left Behind *cough*) However, good writing has dialogue that sounds natural and smooth, like actual everyday conversations. We should read over dialogue and think, "ya, that sounds like something they'd say," and then continue without a second thought. This good dialogue can be used to create plot or more often character development, as you can learn a lot about a character based off of how they talk and what they say. And the thing is it happens without the reader even realizing that they're getting background knowledge just by listening to them talk.

"Nathan, I'm sorry."
"What? Why are you sorry?"
"I just don't think I can be with you any longer."
"What are you saying? Do you mean to say you're breaking up with me?"
"Yes."

In this example you get some of the background knowledge, however the clunky nature of it and the unrealistic speaking patterns take away from the excerpt and interrupt the reading. It should flow like real conversation, or in this case a real break up, that way we can really get some insight to these characters and what they're like.

"Nathan, I don't know how to say this."
"Hm? Say what Natalie?"
"I just, I just don't think this is working right now."
"Natalie-"
"I'm so, so sorry, Nathan. But you've been gone so long, and you're a new person now, and I've-"
"You're dumping me cause I'm different now? That's why?"
"Nathan, I'm sorry, but yes."
"No! No there has to be another reason! Why?"
"I love someone else now, Nathan."

Sounds a bit more like an actual breakup now, doesn't it? A bit over dramatic maybe but it goes to show that the speaking should flow and seem natural so that we can learn from the dialogue rather than get confused by it. There are tons of tips and tricks to dialogue too, so that you can better clarify your dialogue and make it seem more natural or fitting to your story, but we'll talk about some of those more specific methods another day. Until next time guys.

-Ink

Length and Tone

Tone can be a pretty substantial part of a story and the style of the author, so figuring out ways to change the tone of the story can be a good skill to learn for fiction writers. Of course there are tons of ways to change the tone of your story, and I'm sure I'll talk about some of those some other time, but one such way of determining tone can be by simply changing the length of your sentences.

It may sound kinda weird to put it in words, but if you use shorter, more abrupt sentences, you can a sense of suspense, anticipation, or even the feeling of time slowing down. Replace commas with periods, use a few one word sentences, create a new paragraph where you normally wouldn't, and suddenly a short paragraph will pop and seem to stretch the readers conception of time. You'll see this most often when leading up to the climax, or sometimes in fight scenes. Here are some examples to show the difference this can make:

"I leaped from rooftop to rooftop, my old sneakers crunching on the gravel with every step and causing a shower of rocks with every landing. It felt so natural to me that I didn't even comprehend when my foot caught the ledge just before jumping, the momentum sending me into the side of the adjacent building. I could hear by ribs crack as I hit the concrete wall, and nearly blacked out when I fell down onto the closed garbage container. I couldn't see my leg, but I knew that it had shattered as soon as I hit the metal lid, and I all I could think was that it was going be a hell of a time trying to get back home."

Now, a more abbreviated version, using the shorter sentences. Notice how the passage stays nearly the same, with the only change being punctuation.

"I leaped from rooftop to rooftop. My old sneakers crunched on the gravel with every step, causing a shower of rocks with every landing. It felt so natural. I almost didn't notice when my foot caught the ledge, the momentum sending me into the side of the adjacent building. My ribs cracked against the concrete wall. I landed on the garbage container on the side of my leg.

My leg shattered.

The pain almost made me black out then and there. As I laid there, there was only one thing I could think.

How the hell was I going to get home?"

It seems pretty different, doesn't it? A lot of the wording is the same though, but the internal pauses we take when we see periods and commas gives the passage a slower, more dramatic feel. 

Well I hope that little tip helps some of you guys with your writing in the future! Although I'm sure many of you may have known of this technique, maybe you've never heard it in words before and you'll begin using it in your own writing. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink

Step Number One

Technically this blog isn't supposed to be like a diary or journal, but at the same time a lot of what I will write about will probably have something to do with what I've experienced recently while writing or reading, as is the case here.

Now, I've only ever written short stories and poems, never something as complex and long as a novel. However, (cue drum roll please) I think I'm going to give it a shot here soon. I've got a good, but still pretty basic plot in my head, and I'm ready to start the first step in the writing process: out lining.

It's a simple concept really, so there isn't that much to explain about it. Basically the idea is to create a short list or diagram for your story. Think of it as like the basic skeleton of your story. you'll wanna go through every scene that takes place in your book, writing down major points to each scene and details about the characters so that when you begin actually writing your novel you'll have a reference to keep you on track and focused. A friend of mine, who's a fair, heavy fantasy based novelist, has almost completed her second novel now and swears to me and her other writer friends that outlining is a necessary step in the process to cranking out a real story.

So that's where I'm at, step number one. I'll keep you guys updated as I go through the steps and teach you everything I can about writing, but until then, peace!

-Ink

Cliff Hanging

So I thought I'd begin with one of my favorite aspects of writing, the ever love/hated cliff hanger. To be honest, nothing hits me harder or makes me love a story more then a good cliff hanger, however, there are some limits to dropping those drama bombs on the last page of your story.

In my opinion, I would define a good cliff hanger as a sudden fact that is revealed during the resolution that changes how the reader thinks or opens up new ideas for the reader at the last moment. I have to say, nothing is better then getting to the last page of a story thinking you know exactly what that story was about, only to have your whole conception of the story changed at the end! It's personally my favorite experience as a reader, and although not every good book has one of these, many books that have a good cliff ending are automatically a win to me.

If you're still confused on what makes a cliff hanger good, let me explain in a different way; by showing what a bad cliff hanger is.

"What happened next changed his life forever."

"The man looked up, at long last seeing the horrid creature for what it is."

These endings are, well cliche for one, but that's a different topic for a different day, but very much the definition of bad endings. These authors probably believe that ending in the middle of the climax or at a random suspenseful scene creates drama and shock to the reader, but really it's just rather annoying in my opinion. If your ending has no point but to create drama, then chances are you should probably rethink your ending. Your ending should create shock and emotion in the reader, don't get me wrong, but it should be because you revealed something through your choice of timing.

Being the nerdy essayist I am, I know it's probably best to show what I mean through an example. It is kinda difficult to give an example for a good cliff ending without spoilers, so for that reason, if you haven't read the The Alchemist, you may want to stop here.

If you have, then that works as a good example for a good cliff hanger. Throughout the series we hear so much about the gods and how they settled a new world which eventually led to the creation of the modern world, and we also hear and even meet death, one of the ultimate deities who is one of the oldest gods there is. So then, when at the end the two main characters go back in time to right before the old world is destroyed and the new one is born, we are left with a cliff hanger of Sophie leading the survivors while Josh obtains great power, thus becoming death. Although its ended at a seemingly important scene of the series, we are left enough information to know what will happen next, and also the looping of the timelines answers questions posed throughout the series about fate, humanity, and death, leaving us with a new perception about the series as a whole. Although the series isn't perfect, I do think that the cliff hanger ending did a really good job of wrapping up the series in a neat little fantasy bow!

So that's all I got for now, but I may come back to this topic sometime in the future with some different insight and opinions! Hopefully you learned something or thought about cliff hangers differently than you did before, thanks for reading guys. Peace!

-Ink

More About Me

Before I started preaching about writing, giving tips on how you should do this and that, I thought I would give you a little insight on what I've done as a writer to give myself a little credibility. The condensed version is basically this; I've been writing ever since early elementary school, starting with little short stories I would write in my free time. Come middle school, I took writing classes, both through the school and outside of it. This also was a mixture, stuff from poetry, to short stories, to historical essays (ugh, those were super boring though). But I wrote all kinds of stuff and I still do! In high school I've continued in taking writing classes, joined the school's literary magazine, in which I've been published, and continued to succeed in writing essays and papers in school.

So I would consider myself a pretty accomplished writer when compared to most high school students, but, and I really can't emphasize this enough, I know I'm by no means one of the best writers out there. I've learned a lot through my classes and attempts at writing, but just as I plan to teach you guys about writing and share what I know, I also would really love to hear what you have to say; whether it's feedback on my work, a mistake that I made, an arguing opinion, or your own tips and writing strategies that you'd like to share with me. All of it is appreciated! Or, I actually do a lot of editing work for my friends, so if that's something you're interested in feel free to ask. Of course I can't really make any promises, but I'll try!

Last thing I ought to mention; although I'm open to discussing pretty much any form of writing, I do have some personal strengths that I'll stick to. Those will probably be fiction writing, poetry, and maybe, if requested or if I just really can't think of much else to talk about, essaying and more formal writing styles. Those three things are what I've always done best, and although I'd love to write scripts and talk about those, I really don't have much experience at all in that field. Same goes for nonfiction, biography style papers.

Sorry readers, I know this might be a boring first read, but I thought it'd be best to get the introductory hodgepodge out of the way before I really dug in! So the next post should be much more entertaining and actually on writing. Again though, please feel free to comment and ask questions as I talk about writing, it'll be more fun for all of us! Until next time! 

-Ink

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