The Most Common Advice I Hear for Beginning Writers and What I Have to Add

I started writing when I was young and I would obsess over the question: What advice do you give young writers. I would hunt down interviews, scour YouTube, and search blog posts to find how all types of authors would answer.Want to know what I found?A lot (and I mean a lot) say the exact same thing. It’s two basic steps.

1. Read a lot
2. Write a lot

And…This is absolutely true. 100 percent the most sound advice. But, it felt too simple for me. I’d read a lot. I’d written a lot (kind-of). And yet, I knew my writing wasn’t at the same level as a published author.So what was I doing wrong exactly? One could argue that it just takes time, that like any skill, it’s practice and practice and more practice. But I think a lot of us have been reading our whole lives and when switching to a mentality of creating our own stories, we get stuck. We treat reading and writing as a hobby instead of treating it like a skill/career/profession. This is why we don’t prioritize it.I suggest there is a third step that can take your work to the next level. We need to do more than read and write.We need to study the work of others and then analyze our own writing.Over time you can teach yourself character and world building techniques. You can improve your grammar and language. But, what’s really hard to teach for new writers is how to structure a book. And of course it’s hard.

1. It takes months to years to create
2. Not all ideas are fully formed
3. We get busy
4. There are so many elements to a good story (voice, character, plot, world-building, etc.)
5. Then after it’s done we are so close to the project we can’t identify what’s wrong

Even as I got better at the nuance of details like description and point of view, my book sagged in the middle. The idea had a structural error. The plot was wondering, the tension stagnant. Soon, after much writing, I looked back at how much I had improved and realized where my true weaknesses lay.I suffered at transitions and pacing. This moment of realization was a big step for me. It finally made sense. To become better writers we must constantly self-reflect what is working and what is not. That is what I was missing when I first started out.When I began to study the books I read, I could pay attention to not only how things were set up on a character and plot level, but on a scene-to-scene level. Slow down and analyze what feels wrong in your work and then go look at how others do it.

• How does this author use breaks to create tension and increase interest?
• How does this author summarize to move the story along?
• How does this author tie in the plots and subplots so they flow together?

These are the kinds of questions that most readers aren’t searching for and stopping to think about when reading for pleasure. Yet, they are the most important for structuring a book. We read and we get ideas like – I want to have a strong character like this. I want even scarier aliens. I want to utilize this romance trope. And we get so excited about learning from reading and creating ideas that we don’t stop and analyze the structure of the plot or the small techniques of tension and how these books work (or don’t work).Unfortunately, this post isn’t offering a magic potion. Really, what I’m suggesting is more work and practice. But for beginning writers, this change in mentality to reading, writing and editing can save you time in the long run. So, next time you open a book, take a few seconds and study its structure.Parting NoteStudying your book and analyzing your own writing is in no way easy. For some self-editors, it is an innate process. For others, we need help. This is where listening to beta readers, critique partners, and editors can be the stepping-stone for a good writer to become a great writer.Happy writing!

How Worldbuilding Should be Like Glitter

Okay, so a quick story. When I was in color guard (it’s a team sport where you dance and throwing flags as visuals for the marching band), one season we wore costumes with glitter. And no matter how many times I washed it, glitter would get everywhere. It would dust the bus seats, freckle my hands, and pepper all my other clothes. Basically, it would cover everything it came into contact with. And for months, glitter became part of my world.Which got me thinking how your fictional world should work in the same way. Worldbuilding should be everywhere in the story, to the point that your readers don’t even realize (because they are that immersed). To the point where the glitter is inside the characters themselves, messing with their point of view. Yes, their point of view should be glitterified.Example: Say your fantasy world has red tress, that may or may not be important to the plot. Your characters should not notice that the trees are red and think that’s weird. To them it’s just glitter. They are always like that. Yes, describe them, but describe them as we would the green trees. Don’t beat us over the head with it. Don’t write: “and the trees are GREEN! Like really GREEN!”Be subtle and consistent throughout. That’s how you immerse the reader. What I also like about this comparison of worldbuilding techniques to glitter is the idea of sprinkling. You never dump a gob of glitter in one spot and expect the whole artwork to shine. One must plan out where exactly the bits and pieces should go to be most aesthetically pleasing. To avoid the dreadful info dump, you must sprinkle the worldbuilding in, bit by bit.And you can do this through:Dialogue - This might be the easiest way to get wrong because you have to make sure the characters are saying these elements in a natural way. They need to have motivation and reason to talk about the world and not just as a way for you to get the information across.Details –Think about what the character would mention about the setting. The ‘how’ a character would describe something brings personality and life into the POV. It also should connect it to tone and the atmosphere of the piece.Internal thoughts – What does this character feel about the world element they are describing? This can reveal character just as well as worldbuilding. This also ties into voice. Voice is one of the most difficult writing concepts to teach, but I think it starts with character’s perspective and showcasing the glitter of the world in a way that is authentic to the story. Instead of telling us their backstory, showcase it in little hints on how they look at their surroundings. What do they love? What do they hate? What do they want?Parting note:Portal fantasy is a little different, in that your character may be coming from our known world, and thus can be surprised when all the trees are red. We learn every new concept through their eyes so you can fixate on how different it is. But, if any of your characters live in the secondary or futuristic world, they will engage with the worldbuilding naturally. Because, after living for months in glitter, even I got used to it.Happy Writing!

Being a Writer and Finding Others Out There

Can we talk about shyness for a moment? Shyness is hard. You think, well I’ll grow out of this… hopefully. But you don’t really know how that’s going to happen, especially when in your free time you like to be alone, in your room, typing on a keyboard, creating people and interactions that don’t exist. Life as a writer is seen as introverted weirdness or crippling genius where a glass of alcohol or a cup of coffee must be included in the frame for authenticity.Well, I’m going to say that life as a writer doesn’t have to be like either of those choices. In fact, in many cases it isn’t. But how is a beginner supposed to know that? How is that aspiring artist supposed to know how this thing called writing is done?Unlike learning or a musical instrument or a sport, there is no mentor guiding the fresh-faced creators out there. Sure, I had English teachers like anyone else, but writing a novel is not like writing a paper. It feels related sure, you smack the keys in the same fashion, you put each word down, one behind the other, but it’s so much more than that. Even this blog posting feels simple and easy compared to the months or years of work and confusion and doubt that is the novel.If you want to write, the mentors and experienced people of the world are not going to find you, pick you up by the bootstraps and tell you how to overcome the plot hole you have in chapter eight. No, unfortunately you have to find them.This is where the shyness comes in. You might say I’m a writer, recall paragraph one if confused by how some of us operate. Room. Alone. Typing. Remember?I say - shyness is hard.But so is putting in the time to write. So is creating worlds. So is putting yourself out there and getting rejected (a lot).So here are some avenues to finding your group:

1. Local Writer Groups

Find your group by searching local writer groups out there. If interested and in the Dallas Fort Worth area, I am part of the DFW Writers Workshop and we welcome all.Website here: http://www.dfwwritersworkshop.org/

2. Social Media

There are some great Youtube channels, interviews and blogs that talk about writing and how it’s done. There are Facebook groups designed to find critique partners like Sub It Club Critique Partner Match Up. The Internet is a beautiful thing full of advice and opportunity to ask for beta readers, partners or get questions answered.

3. Contests and Literary Journals

Enter a contest. Seek out avenues where other authors are submitting. Writers, I find, are a supportive bunch. The main goal of some contests is to connect fellow writers or writers to agents.

4. Take Classes/Go to Conferences

This is the expensive option (I know), but always worth it. My first conference taught me a lot about craft and I made connections, but it also opened a window into how the publishing industry works.Happy Writing!

3 Ways to Set Goals and Get Writing!

What better way to start a New Year than to set writing goals! This could be the year you start writing. Or the year you finish your manuscript, or the year that you get published. Whatever your ambitions, writing and editing an entire novel can be a daunting task. The best way to complete your book is breaking down your project into smaller daily goals.Here are three ways to set your goals and get writing:

1. Set a Word Count

Example: I’m going to write 1,000 words every day this month. The publishing world works in word counts. Your friends and potential beta readers may ask how many pages your book is, but agents and editors will only be interested in the word count of your manuscript. With this single number, an agent will know if a book’s length makes sense with the genre and the market. Therefore, working towards a word count goal is a good way to know where your novel stands and if it needs to be edited down or written up.May be best for writers that are numbers orientated. Also showcases the progress you are making toward a novel length work.Get out of writer’s block by reading a variety of your WIP’s genre. Beautifully written books can inspire you. Badly written books can motivate you to make something better. Reading in general gives you the tools to create your own story.     

2. Set a Timer

Example: I am going to write for one hour every morning/night. Note the time and then get writing. Put everything you have into that hour of free time. As soon as that timer rings or the clock dings you can complete the other important things on your to do list.May be best for writers that have complex schedules and have to fit in writing with their other responsibilities. Get out of writers block by changing the setting. Try to adapt to writing in new locations. Have twenty minutes before dinner? Grab your computer and type. Are you sitting in traffic? Set your phone to record you and dictate ideas for the next scene aloud. Sitting in a waiting room? Don’t surf social media for the tenth time. Jot down ideas in a small notebook.

3. Pick a Scene

Example: Today I will finish chapter 4Focus on a conversation or setting that you know happens next or will happen at some point and dive into that particular moment of your manuscript. Devote the day to finishing the novel one chapter at a time. May be best for writers that inherently imagine their work in scene segments and/or chapters. Good for editing and rewriting goals too.Get out of writer’s block by changing up the order in which you write. Always writing chronologically can be frustrating and hamper your daily goals. Switch it up and see where that leads you. It’s also good for some writers to stop their day in the middle of a scene so that you have something engaging to come back to the next day.Parting note: Maybe none of these ways will work for you. Maybe you need to find your own method. I spend some time everyday editing and rereading parts of my work to bring the voice of the piece back to life. Depending where I am in the writing stage I also use different goals. In first drafts I use word counts. Second, third and fourth drafts I pick a scene and rework it. I use the timer method on busy days where I have to squeeze in time to write. Not everyone works the same way with their craft, but that’s the glorious thing about writing – it's the creation of something new.Happy Writing!

What to do about Plotting - Plotters vs. Pantsers

You probably have heard about plotters vs. pantsers when it comes to how to plot. But in case you haven’t, let my quickly recap. Plotters are writers that outline the entire story before writing a single word. Pantsers are the opposite. They write without an outline or by the seat of their pants (hence the name).I want to suggest a hybrid of the two as the best way to write both efficiently and authentically. I don’t have a fancy name for it, and many writers may already combine the two methods, but let me explain why using both styles will benefit the story.Step one: plot out your book as much as you like: note cards, entire notebooks depicting every scene, years of research and study (what ever works for you). But once you are done with your outlines/prep work incorporate pantser methods.Step two: take time to partake in free writing exercises and pantser writing styles to allow your plot to bend, flex and explore new directions. In other terms allow your characters to rebel against the plot. It’s one thing to plot out “character will say x and then y in order to explain the fantastical story element.” But when you get down to business and start writing the dialogue, characters can find their own voice and rebel. Let them!This may sound weird to those just starting out. An author controls everything, so how can a character not cooperate with the plot?Well an author may control everything, but he/she doesn’t know everything about the world from the very beginning. And there is a lot to think about and develop. If a character's backstory/past actions don’t align with a current plot point then reevaluate the scene or the character. Don’t trudge onwards with the plot as if nothing is wrong. Always question your character's actions because your readers will.The world, the characters and the plot must all work together.I say let your characters come to life, let them have a voice and enough personality to ruin your plot. It’s happened to me countless times. Sometimes I am sad, frustrated or doubtful to see my original concept twisted and off track. But by the end it always feels more authentic to let events, feelings and reactions happen naturally instead of forcing it to turn one way or the other. It’s a bit like raising a child. Parents might have plans for their kid, might guide them towards a desired path. But in reality kids develop their own personality and find their own path in life.What’s the worst that can happen if you travel down a new and unmapped terrain in your story? You have to rewrite entire scenes later? That’s all part of the process of editing anyway! As long as it feels authentic to the characters and the world, I don’t think you will regret it.Some of my most original concepts have come out of letting my characters converse naturally without restraining them to talk about only plot or world building elements. Do most of these conversations get thrown out? Yes. But they are also highly beneficial.

1. They help me connect to the characters and find out who they are.
2. Sometimes they randomly say or do something that becomes critical to the world.
   • Example: Recently I had one of my minor characters do a unique gesture with their hand in a sign of respect. Immediately after the words materialized, I realized this is the salute everyone in this fantasy world uses instead of the standard handshake.
3. They generate nuances, character quirks, and the smaller world building elements that I had yet to think of or plan out. Thus, enriching my world further.

Later I always find these traits or elements integrate well with the rest of the world. Trust your brain or more importantly trust your ability to work out the story when you are stuck. But that means sitting down and writing. I believe this is why you should write often and keep writing. It not only helps you become better, it can lead you down unexplored paths (themes, plot points, character development) that you had not consciously thought up yet.Happy Writing!

Tips for Writing Economically

Writing economically isn’t about money. I am not about to pull you back to the depths of your high school economics class here. When I refer to writing economically it means enhancing your writing so every scene pulls its weight in more than one way. Make a sentence describe the setting and enhance character development at the same time.Gone are the days where a whole paragraph is used just for setting description or a whole scene is used only for character development. Especially in fantasy and science fiction, you need to include both in order to showcase an entire world unlike our own.Much of economical writing means combining and interconnecting all the elements of a story like character development, backstory, and world building succinctly and weaving them into the plot. This has to happen in a way that is:

• Not confusing
• Not in bulky chucks (hence the emphasize on succinctly and weaving)

Writing economically enhances stories. Your characters, world building and plot elements flow, maintain a good pace, feel integrated and don’t bog down the reader when writing this way.Character and SettingDon’t waste paragraphs of description in order to set the reader in a scene. Make your writing work by also inserting character and voice into those lines of descriptions.How, you ask?First, get a gripe of the character and learn how that particular character would see and feel about the setting your wish to place them in.Second, use that point of view to your advantage. Maybe you need to describe how the castle looks in your fantasy novel. Don’t just write about the various towers and stone like it’s a painting.

1. Interject powerful verbs to include tone (loomed over the character versus welcomed the character)
2. Bring in clear internal dialogue to showcase how the character feels about said setting (EX: Damn, the thing was huge)
3. Interlace action with the setting. A character should interact with the setting with their senses, and I mean ALL five
4. Personify the setting and make the character note it or compare it something else from their world. In this way you could bring in nostalgia, flashbacks, foreshadowing, or world building subtly. (EX: Magic rained down on us like the monsoons we have during the wet season)

Plot and WorldbuildingTo move the plot forward you need to first explain how your world works. That’s simple and also the most challenging part of world building. But also think about it the other way around and make it a rule. Tell yourself you can’t world build without something interesting happening in the plot. I find this mindset eliminates info dumps.For example, don’t stop in the middle of a combat action scene to explain how the magic system works. If we don’t already know by then you have to show the reader through the fighting. It’s too late to tell the reader this without slowing down the action/fight and therefore breaking the tension as well.Writing economically means mushing your plot and worldbuilding elements together. Does the reader need a history lesson for the plot/characters to make sense? Then include it in a relevant way. Why are they thinking about the history? Why is someone telling them the history? It can’t just be interjected randomly so the world feels real. It has to have bearing to what is happening in that particular moment of the plot.Worldbuilding and CharacterSome of the best ways to deliver world building through character is having two characters talk or reference said world element. This can be masterfully done, but there can also be glaring problems, like when those two characters already know everything they are talking about. So… yeah that can feel contrived. Another problem I’ve run into when reading is when so much space is used for these long conversations, it feels like I’m sitting through a lecture instead of an engaging exchange. And that’s what good dialogue should be, an engaging exchange.So here are some other tips besides dialogue exchanges to combine world building and character:

1. The different - If something unexpected happens that is unlike the world they know, this character will note that. Surprise and the unexpected makes one question and compare the original to new information being presented.
2. Voice – How your character talks or utilizes certain magical elements can show how this character fits in with the magical world. Things that bother him/her will run through their head and be voiced and talked about more than other elements.
3. Interaction – Making characters interact with the fantastical elements without a drawn out schematic or the logistics of the world. For instance we use cell phones daily and we don’t describe the interworking or science behind how they function (most of us don’t even know). Make your fantasy characters interact with something without them going into detail. Your reader is smart enough to understand if you show its use, especially if the magical device or concept is similar to one we use today or historically.

Parting NoteWriting economically takes practice and forward thinking. Sometimes it is best to write out the info dump for the sake of organizing your world. Then, think about how this could be woven in a way that is understandable and subtle. Think about a plot scene you need anyway and how to include this information in realistically. I find when you think about hiding your world building and descriptions into the plot, you are best able to integrate them in the story or connect them to the character.Happy writing!

How to be Original and Creative When Writing Fantasy

So you are writing fantasy, the genre of the make believe and fantastical. With the only limitations being your imagination. As fantasy writers, we should be chopping at the bit to create creatures, play with physics, or develop a magic system never before read!But how exactly does one do this? And more importantly after reading various fantasy novels how does one do something not already done a thousands times in the volumes that came before us?Don’t freak out. I’ll let you in on a secret: nothing is completely original. I say this in the best possible way. Creativity stands on other creative enterprises that have come before us. Take these quotes for instance:

If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants – Sir Isaac NewtonCreativity is knowing how to hide your sources – C.E.M. Joad

Basically, what I am trying to say is open yourself up for inspiration by paying attention to creativity around you. Surround yourself with other creative pursuits. Yes, I mean reading, but that is advice you hear left and right. Other forms of media (basically everything that has story) can inspire ideas too - a song lyric, a picture, a quote, a line of dialogue, a character flaw, a children’s movie you saw decades ago. Combine and build from enough of these ideas (some subconscious, mind you) and you will have something new.Flip a StereotypeBeing fresh and original mostly comes from surprising your audience. The human brain is a categorizer of all things. We are programmed to find patterns, learn from then and utilize them. Want to make something new? Break that pattern. Take a stereotype and flip it.

• Does the hot ex-girlfriend need to be a popular blonde bombshell?
• Does the protagonist have to be a person? Or even alive?
• Does the wizard have to be wise?
• Does the villain have to be murderous?
• Does… okay hopefully you get it.

The thing about these flips is that you might just get an interesting secondary character out of it. Or you could create a big idea that influences your entire book concept.Twist a TropeTropes like stereotypes aren’t all bad. You have your hero’s journey plot trope that is a classic configuration for a reason. You have trends like diversity that will benefit society. But in most cases tropes are overdone, frustrating and boring for a reader.Because in fantasy we use magical elements that are similar to other books like wizards. The trope of how these wizards act, dress and behave can become a lazy overplayed trope. So twist it into something new.Take the trope of wizards with a staff or wand. Sounds overdone. Now give it a twist. Why do they need this item?

1. Maybe this culture once used wands and now they don’t because x, y, or z
2. Maybe they do use them to channel they magic like many stories. But for some reason your protagonist needs a rock or has to be a modern day item like a spatula
3. Maybe the wand is connected to the tree or the source material and thus has a geographical limitation to it

In this method ‘what if’ is your best friend. Question everything and your world can slowly be built so all the new pieces and ideas fit into a new puzzle – your novel.Parting note – Audience and MarketFantasy novels do not come up with unique concepts all by themselves. We are influenced by everything we experience, including all other creative endeavors before us. And truthfully utilizing other concepts can be beneficial because people like the familiar. But, they also like the unexpected. That’s why people like fairy tale retellings and other such adaptations so much. It combines the familiar with the unexpected. Simply put, people want to re-experience a story in a different way.That’s also why those comparable titles are so important in a pitch. Agents or readers don’t want a piece of fiction to be so out there that it does not share a single connection or tie to any other piece of literature. And if you can claim your idea holds no commonality to anything else written, you might want to read more.Keep the brainstorming going by exploring your imagination. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but I don’t think it ever could hurt a writer in pursuit of a fresh idea.Happy writing!