From the Editor's Desk
Hi and
welcome once again to Fiction Factor! And, as always,
welcome to our new subscribers.
Have you ever tried to
figure out what you love so much about your favorite
books? Think about your favorite novel, the one that you
could happily read again and again, even though you know
what's coming next. What is it about that book that draws
you in and keeps you turning those pages?
Sure, the story sticks in your mind and the points of
conflict might be memorable. You might even be thinking
about a particular setting in the story that draws you
back between the pages time and again.
Aside from the story or setting or conflict within the
covers, the real reason people are drawn into a story is
the characters.
It makes no difference which genre you read, there's just
something about the characters inside your personal
favorite book that makes you want to take their journey
with them through whatever they're going through. No
matter whether it's the protagonist or the antagonist who
draws you in, the lure of that fictional person brought
to life between the pages by a writer somewhere that you
can't resist.
The characters aren't perfect. In fact, it's often their
flaws or weaknesses that make them seem more real, more
likeable or more identifiable.
Creating characters that readers will want to cheer for
and follow along with throughout your plot goes a lot
deeper than just putting together some physical features
and a date of birth. In most cases, it's the way a
character acts and reacts to certain situations that
brings about that sense of resonance within readers,
rather than how good looking they might be (or not, as
the case may be).
Too many newer writers spend a lot of time creating the
perfect physical description to show readers just how
gorgeous their protagonist is. What these writers are
forgetting is that every person on the planet has
different tastes and perceptions. What you view as
attractive might actually repel another person.
In fact, it is possible to create a completely
unappealing, unattractive character physically, yet still
make readers like him just because of a heart-warming
personality and a sense of humor that readers can't help
but like. I'm thinking about two different characters
here from two writers: Miles Vorkosigan from Lois
McMaster Bujold's novels and Aiken Drum from Julian May's
novels. Both characters are not attractive physically and
yet they become the perfect anti-hero in each of their
respective stories simply because the writer took time to
develop a three-dimensional character that you can't help
but like.
So when it comes to crafting the characters in your own
novel, forget about the physical descriptions and work on
the inner aspects of that character's personality. What
traits have you given them that will really add depth?
What mannerisms do they have that make them likeable or
downright despicable? What perceptions do they have of
the world that color their personalities?
Let's get into this issue's writing articles.
This issue Lee Masterson looks at adding character depth
through perception. Bonnie Way looks at creating
realistic dialogue and Vicki Hinze uncovers some common
mechanical pitfalls.
It's time now to grab a beverage of choice, sit back, and
enjoy this issue of Fiction Factor!
Lee Masterson
Editor-in-Chief
http://www.fictionfactor.com
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Adding Character Depth Through Perception
by
Lee Masterson
How do
you describe your character's physical appearance? It's
not always easy to describing your characters without
resorting to the cliched "She looked in the mirror
and saw..."
Likewise, setting the scene for each part of your story
is an important element of building your fictional world.
In fact, some authors go to great lengths to describe the
weather patterns, the scenery and the passing traffic in
detail so that the reader has a sense of the world around
the characters.
This kind of descriptive narrative can sometimes be long
and cumbersome. It can also bog down the pace of your
story if not done right - especially when all the experts
are saying Show - don't tell!
Many authors are careful to explain exactly what is going
on in their fictional worlds. What people look like, what
objects around them look like, what characters are
thinking about, how the weather is behaving, the precise
color of an object, what characters are seeing around
them... This means the author is telling the reader what
to see.
But not many authors actually take the time to write HOW
their characters are seeing the things that are going on
around them. This is where the author should be showing
the reader what's happening. Your own characters are a
perfect tool to use when you need to show events or
appearances or even moods.
Let me explain...
Every person on the planet sees life through their own
personal perceptions. How they choose to interpret those
perceptions is largely up to that person and can be
affected by a multitude of factors.
These differing perceptions are what make us unique as
human beings. What excites one person may repel another.
What one person sees as attractive, another may find
repulsive. What one character yearns for may send another
character into panic attacks.
For example: A sunny day might brighten
the mood of one character and seriously frighten a person
with a phobia of skin cancer. The same sunny day would
therefore have a completely different effect on the
latter character and would skew many of his other
perceptions, too.
The same is true for personal relationship preferences.
Some people are attracted to curvaceous women, while
others are repelled by them. Still others prefer the
gorgeous occidental features of Asian people while others
veer toward the svelte, slinky blonde types.
Because we all have such different tastes and opinions,
these perceptions of what we find appealing and
unappealing will color your descriptions of those things.
Remembering to use these differences in character
perspective can add depth to your characters by showing
your readers much about their personalities - all without
actually using narrative to TELL your readers what's
going on.
Show, Don't Tell
So how does a writer show things happening, or describe
another character, without resorting to large chunks of
descriptive narrative AND remember to add the unique
perspective of the character at the same time?
The simple answer is: Dialogue.
When your characters talk to each other, you should be
using the opportunity to express much more than simply
words. Dialogue can propel your plotline, it can
highlight the importance of conflicts, it can show
character perspective and it can show the reader many
other things - all at once.
"I hate this miserable rain. All I can do is sit
around and mope in the house until it stops," Fred
said.
"If we run, we can get to the stream and catch
some frogs. The rain always brings out the frogs!"
Jack called.
In just two sentences within the dialogue tags, I have
(hopefully) conveyed something about the weather, given a
sense of the character's mood, described what the
character is doing, and given each character a unique
perspective on what is happening.
Both characters are viewing the rain in a completely
different way - and neither of the above examples
required lengthy blocks of narrative to achieve the same
effect.
Describing Physical Traits
"Jane tossed her long golden tresses over her
shoulder to flow down her slender back. Running the tip
of her tongue over wide, full lips, her emerald green
eyes glinted with a hint of promise to come and she
crossed her long, supple legs slowly."
"John ran a perfectly manicured hand through his
raven black hair, his sparkling blue eyes taking in every
inch of her..."
Have you ever read a book in which the characters are
described in unwieldy chunks of narrative as though they
were no more than cardboard cut-outs of a Barbie and Ken
promotional poster?
In over-exaggerated examples like the ones above, it is
obvious that the 'narrator' has stopped the story and
interrupted you - the reader! - to remind you how
fabulous the author wants you to think these people look.
The problem with this approach is the author has
forgotten that all readers have different opinions on
what's attractive. More importantly, her characters
should be the ones voicing their thoughts and
preferences.
So is it necessary to include these bland descriptions in
your narrative at all?
You can read the rest of this article here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/perception.html
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Crafting Realistic Dialogue
by Bonnie Way
Dialogue is one of the hardest parts of fiction to write,
because it needs to sound real while also performing its
job within the story. One task given to dialogue is to
reveal more about the personality of each character in
the story, by showing how they talk and how they interact
with other characters.
Studying examples of fictional dialogue that works can
help you develop an ear for how dialogue reveals more
about the characters.
Dialect
In the past, writers used phonetic representations of
words to convey that a character was speaking with a
dialect. However, this made the story very hard to read,
because the reader had to go slowly, sounding out each
word, and the effect of the dialect got lost.
A much better way to convey dialect is by word choice and
order.
Passing by Samaria by Sharon Ewell Foster tells
the story of a young black American woman just after
World War II. Foster’s dialogue is what makes this
novel happen; it is easy to hear the conversations of the
black characters, who have a unique lilt that the white
characters lack. Foster achieves this without using any
phonetic devices.
In the first chapter of the novel, JC is on his way to
war and tells his best friend Alena, “You visit my
mamma... She’s gonna be lonely for me. She might try
to act like she all right, but she gonna be lonely.”
Later he boasts, “This’ll be the war to end all
wars. Once we able to prove ourselves, prove the coloured
man, the Race, is willing to fight and die for our
country, I know things gone change.”
Read those sentences out loud to get the full value of
what Foster does with the dialogue. Then look at how the
grammar creates the dialect (e.g.., “she all
right” instead of “she’s all right,”
“things gone change” instead of “things
are going to change”).
It’s very easy to picture a confident young black
man saying those words. Even if we didn’t know
JC’s background, we’d be able to guess it from
the way that he talks.
Banter
Everyday conversations contain a lot of useless
information, chit chat, and banter that is often
meaningless. In fiction, however, that same banter can
convey information about our characters and their
relationship.
In Robert Whitlow’s legal thriller Higher Hope, the
banter between two law students shows the differences in
their values and beliefs:
“’Tami prays before she eats,’ Julie said.
‘I told her if she stayed away from pork and
shellfish, the blessing is automatic..’
“’Is the pastrami on your sandwich
pork-free?’ I asked.
“’Go ahead and pray,’ Julie said.”
From the girl’s banter, we see that Julie is a
rather modern, independent woman while Tami is a very
conservative Christian. However, we also see that they
like each other and enjoy working together, despite their
differences. The banter also helps lighten up otherwise
serious scenes.
Be wary of using banter for its own sake, however.
You can
read the rest of this article here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/realistic-dialogue.html
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Antagonists
(an excerpt from The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose
and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great
by Donald Maass)
Villains are some of the worst characters I met in
manuscripts, and not in a good way. What I mean is that
they frequently are cardboard. Most are presented as
purely evil: Mwoo-ha-ha villains, as we call them around
the office.
To make an antagonist three-dimensional is to give that
character the power to sway our hearts in directions we
would not expect them to be swayed. To get us to see,
even accept, the antagonist’s point of view.
Now, you may not want your story to feel ambiguous. You
may embrace right and wrong and write an outcome that
makes your values obvious. That is your choice.
At the same time, a wholly black-and-white story cannot
engage us very deeply. The deck is too stacked, the
players too shallow to stir or scare us in memorable
ways. Whatever your intension, it’s worth investing
time in your antagonist, opening up their unexpected
sides, justifying their actions and even making them
right.
That only adds to the drama.
Description: In his new book, New
York literary agent Donald Maass illuminates the
techniques of master contemporary novelists. Some authors
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shows you how you can right away use the techniques of
greatness in your current manuscript.
Author bio: A literary agent in New York
, Donald Maass’s agency sells more than 150 novels
every year to major publishers in the U.S. and overseas.
He is the author of The Career Novelist (1996), Writing
the Breakout Novel (2001), Writing the Breakout Novel
Workbook (2004) and The Fire in Fiction (2009). He is a
past president of the Association of Authors’
Representatives, Inc.
You can read the online version of this
excerpt here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/antagonists.html
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Common Mechanical Pitfalls
by Dr. Vicki Hinze
When asked, a group of editors from top
publishing houses, responded that the following are the
most often seen mechanical errors in works submitted by
authors.
By removing these errors from our works, we greatly
enhance our potential for publication—and strengthen
our writing skills.
* Author Intrusion, Filtering, Passive Voice.
Use the active voice in writing. Avoid weak verbs:
"to be" and its variants: was, are, is. This
puts the reader on-scene, makes what’s happening,
happen now. Author intrusion reminds the reader
she’s reading, hence you lose immediacy, empathy
between reader/character.
Show, don’t tell applies. Watchwords: thought,
wondered, considered, realized, and the like.
Example:
Filtered: She realized she’d
breached the point of no return.
She had to kill him.
Unfiltered, no intrusion: The point
of no return. She had to kill him.
* Autonomous Body Parts.
Parts of a character’s body cannot act alone. The
character must lift her hands, dart her gaze, tiptoe.
Otherwise, the visual images created in the reader’s
mind are horror. Disconnected body parts shouldn’t
move without the character’s body being attached.
Example: Her eyes roamed around the room.
Corrected: She let her gaze roam around
the room.
(Eyes shouldn’t roam. Use gaze. Note that she caused
this roaming. In this corrected version, her eyes
didn’t act autonomously or independent of her.)
* Cause before Effect, Reaction before Action,
Syntax Error.
Whatever the reader reads first on the page, happens
first in the readers mind. This error occurs when the
reaction to something, say fear, is written down before
the action causing the fear, say a hissing snake. Or when
the effect is shown before the cause prompting that
effect.
Watchwords are: when, as, before, during, while, until,
after, and since.
To correct this error, simply flip-flop the phrases to be
sure you list cause then effect, action then reaction.
* Use of names in dialogue.
When conversing, people don’t often use names. To be
clear about who’s speaking, give the character a
distinct voice, an outstanding feature, and use action
tags. Have character do something with an object and use
it to make it clear to the reader who’s talking.
This writer’s tool does double duty: tags the
speaker and creates an illusion of action. Body language
is an extremely effective method.
You can
read the rest of this article here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/mechanical.html
~ "Words
are, of course, the most powerful drug used by
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Paying Market Listings
You can find the complete
Market Index here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/markets.html
Happy Market Hunting!
(Disclaimer: Mention of a market/ contest in Fiction
Factor is not necessarily an endorsement. Check all
guidelines in full before submitting)
Destination: Future
http://www.hadleyrillebooks.com/DestinationFutureSubs.html
Destination: Future is an anthology seeking science
fiction short stories, particularly Hard SF, Space
Operas, Alient Worlds, Exploration and Quest stories.
Editors prefer no submissions of alternative fiction,
steampunk, fantasy or horror. Word counts should be
between 3,000 and 6,000 words. Payment is 3 cents per
word plus royalties if anthology earns out expenses. No
reprints.
Deadline: 30th June 2009
Submission Guidelines: http://www.hadleyrillebooks.com/DestinationFutureSubs.html
Skulls and Crossbones
http://mindancerpress.wordpress.com/books/skulls-and-crossbones/
'Skulls and Crossbones' is a collection of short stories
that feature women pirates in any setting and any time
period. All stories should be between 4,000 and 7,000
words. Editors may consider reprints. Stories should NOT
focus on romantic hook-ups or erotica - rather the
editors prefer stories that feature adventure, intrigue,
battles, trickery, thievery and/or assorted banditry and
outlaw behavior.
Pay is $35 plus one contributor copy of anthology.
Deadline is 1st September 2009
Submission Guidelines: http://mindancerpress.wordpress.com/books/skulls-and-crossbones/
Shadows of the Emerald City
http://jwschnarr.webs.com/submissions.htm
Shadows of the Emerald City and The Terrible Wizard of Oz
is a new anthology featuring short HORROR stories based
in the world of Oz. Deconstruct the 'Wizard of Oz' and
the world it's based within however you choose. Include
blood and gore. Scare us. Disgust us. Be sure your
stories are under 10,000 words. Payment is $20US plus one
contributor copy. Anthology is purchasing one-time
rights. Rights will revert back to the author upon
publication.
Deadline: 31t July 2009
Submission Guidelines: http://jwschnarr.webs.com/submissions.htm
Silly Western Anthology
http://residentialaliens.blogspot.com/2008/10/silly-western-antho-call-for.html
CyberAliens Press are looking for short stories from
500 to 3500 words in length, as well as poems, jokes,
puns, limericks, artwork, and general silliness. All
submissions must express one of the following themes:
+ American Wild West
+ Steampunk
+ Prairie Romance
or some mixture of the above.
Submission Guidelines: http://residentialaliens.blogspot.com/2008/10/silly-western-antho-call-for.html
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