Writing Helps Series: Useful Books

I've decided to do a series on different types of tools that authors can use to hone their craft, better their writing, ease their frustrations, or are just cool.

The first in the series of Writing Helps is BOOKS.  There are so many out there on the writing craft. From outlining to character development, ect. That's not what I am focusing on.

These books are practical research or information type of books that really help to sharpen the edges of your work. 

My recent favorite is The Emotion Thesaurus by Ackerman. I follow the Facebook feed for Writers Helping Writers which is where I stumbled across this gem. I started using the blog post at first, which had links to pages of what would eventually become this book.

It lists emotions in alphabetical order, then gives a list of physical signs, internal sensations, mental responses, and symptoms if this emotion is long term. 

Very cool, right? Talk about spiced up action beats! No more simple "clenched fists" or "furrowed brows" to show anger. This book really helps you narrow what you mean to clean physical and emotional images that drive home your character's inner struggle. 

The series also offers Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurus as well as Emotion Amplifiers to help with character motivation. And at less than $5 for the Kindle version...who can beat that?

The next useful little tool in my author box is The Daredevil's Manual by Ikenson. Another book that is similar to this that I also use often is The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Piven. 

Both books have step-by-step instructions on everything from hot-wiring a car to jumping from a bridge into a river. 

I have not tested the "Doing a Stoppie on a Motorcycle" or the "Sword Swallowing" but I did use a version of the "Escaping Plastic Wrap Mummification" in a recent WIP...so there's that.

As a reader, nothing throws me from the fictional dream faster than a ill informed scene. Take the time to research lock-picking or how your heroine should really jump from that high rise.  Your story will be all the better for it.

What are some books you find indispensable while writing? Share them with us so we can check them out.

 

Until next time...Go Write!

+Raquel Byrnes 

Building and Feeling; What is Lacking Post NaNo?

So it is two weeks post NaNoWriMo and I am still reeling from the whole thing. I had my students participate and am floored at how many met and exceeded their writing goals. A couple hit 50K without breaking a sweat. My hat is off to them!

We're now entering the editing phase and one of the things I'm finding is that in the daze and craze of writing as much as you can...some things fall through the cracks.  Its evident in my students' work and also in my own.

The two biggest deficits are world building and character development...

So the kids and I all wrote either fantasy or science fiction so world building is paramount with this type of genre just to get the reader up to speed with the environment. What I'm finding is that a lot of the descriptions are either piled on too thick in huge chunks to get it out of the way or not added at all. I feel like I'm sort of in a "stock post-apocalyptic" urban scene and that takes away from what I feel are great stories.

I asked them to take out the huge paragraphs and thread them through the scene in dialogue and action beats. That seems to be working for them. I'll keep you posted.

As for character development...well it really is a lack of emotional response to the situation, I'm finding is the problem.  I think so much sweat and blood was spent this past month just getting the scenes out or the plot moving that we all forgot to anchor the character, and by extension the reader, to the moment with emotion.

We are all working on writing the character more present emotionally and to incorporate emotion and internal thoughts like doubt or worry or arrogance into the storytelling mid action sequence.  I hope this helps to cement otherwise frenetic sequences.  I will try this with my own fantasy and let you know how it goes.

What about you? What challenges are you facing now that "just getting it on paper" is crossed off your list? Are you doing massive rewrites...patches...or are you satisfied with your after-NaNo product?

By +Raquel Byrnes 

Refining My R.E.A.R.

No, I'm not detailing my gym workouts. Okay, so I made the funky acronym on purpose. The premise is valid, however. Real Emotion And Response from your reader is the key to keeping your book in their hands.  I hate it when I read a book and realize that I don't really care what happens to the characters; that their experience and responses are too out of my personal understanding to relate.  This is a very bad thing...especially for romance writers.

There are a lot of things that go into a novel. Core elements like plot, pacing, tension, organization...you name it. You're building a world for your reader, it takes sweat and planning.  We all strive to do our best and hone our craft. We all agonize over that adverb, or that sub-plot, or word count.  You know what? Its all for nothing if the emotion doesn't ring true and the reader can't relate.

Take a certain paranormal romance series for example. The plot isn't that original. The characters could use some layering. The setting is dreary and not really described much. But the angst...whew!  Talk about resonating with your demographic.

The idea that the most desirable, most dangerous of the characters would move mountains to be with you is alluring. Who wouldn't want to be so enchanting that an Adonis-like creature would defy the rules of his universe, his family, even his personal beliefs to have you?  Is it any wonder that the series broke past the target audience to their mothers? Being desired, above everyone else, is universal. Whether its for your beauty, strength, wit, or writing ability...we want to be wanted. It's a basic human need.

 

But something real lies underneath the twinkling glitter of the story dream. Something that pulls at your reader's core. Real emotion - longing, insecurity, desire for something you know is more than you deserve. Through the fog of the improbable, you reach out to that part of your reader that still smarts from that rejection or unrequited love, or lost spark -- and you elicit a response that transcends plot details and adverb over-usage.

Mechanics can be fixed and fine tuned. Word counts can be bent and plot can be tightened. That's what revisions are for, right? But that real emotion...that visceral connection with the character is powerful. Don't forget, in your quest to shine and polish your "work",  that it is a work of "art" to begin with.

So work on refining your 'rears' my friends. Until next time...Go write.

Photograph by DerrickT.   Photograph by Victor Bezrukov.  Photograph by pedrosimoes7.