Guest Post: Celtic Traveler on 'The X Factor'



designsponge.com

 
When I say that I'm a fan of books and movies, what I really mean to say is that I'm a fan of stories.
I love stories. The whole world seems to be made up of them, they seem to be in the very air we breathe.
But why do only some stories achieve fame and others not?
I thinks it's because of The X Factor.

The X Factor is where the author/screenwriter actually cares about their story. Too many writers today are just in it for the money, which I find terrible. You should love what you write. You should enjoy it, and be interested in your own story. If you don't care, nor will your audience. Writers nowadays just seem to focus on what's "cool" at the moment. Like supernatural romances and dystopian society novels.

J.R.R. Tolkien, in his essay On Fairy-Stories, spoke on how writing should involve what you desire. We all desire to be heroes, and that's why we write about them. We desire to witness magic, ride dragons, be brave in battles, and find friendship. The X Factor means taking a piece of your soul and putting it in your story. Like Red Smith once said: "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."

Learning how stories work and how to write them are extremely important as well. But the key element is your soul; it's the spice of the story.

If you love what your doing, chances are your audience will, too.

About Celtic Traveler

An avid blogger and story connoisseur, Celtic Traveler has a passion for all things movie, music, and chocolate related. When she's not writing her own stories, she can be found at her blog, The Grey Traveler's Inn.

Read more...

Showing not Telling: Infodumps

At one point or another, you have to explain some aspects of your book. Even if the character knows exactly what’s going on, the reader might not. Put simply, an infodump is a large chunk of necessary information that bores the reader to death. I don’t know about you, but when I come across blocky paragraphs describing the scenery, my eyes tend to skim.
So how do we present crucial information by showing instead of telling?

Dialogue
One of the best ways to present facts is through characters talking to each other. But even this can be botched if the dialogue if nothing more than an infodump with quotations. Let’s compare;

Infodump
The alchemist selected a jar, filled to the brim with mercury. Mercury is a silver metal with a high density. It’s a liquid at room temperature, but exists in the solid cinnabar. Cinnabar is a powdery, red mineral that’s extremely poisonous when inhaled. Mercury was once thought to cause longevity. It is toxic and has been known to cause insanity. It was this material that the alchemist chose to work with.

Infodump with Quotations
The alchemist selected a jar, filled to the brim with mercury. He turned to his apprentice and explained, “This is mercury. Mercury is a silver metal with a high density. It’s a liquid at room temperature, but exists in the solid cinnabar. Cinnabar is a powdery, red mineral that’s extremely poisonous when inhaled. It is toxic and has been known to cause insanity.”

Face it; the second’s not much better. If you choose to do dialogue, make it a conversation;

Conversation
The alchemist selected a jar, filled to the brim with a silvery liquid. The apprentice craned his neck to see. “What’s that?”
The alchemist grunted and held the jar out for the apprentice’s inspection. “This, boy, is mercury.”
“And, uh, what exactly is it for?”
“Some believe it has the power to make you immortal.”
The apprentice’s eyes widened.
“Of course,” snapped the alchemist. “That’s utter rubbish. Far too many emperors have died because of that supposition. Everlasting life indeed. Mercury will kill you, boy. If it doesn’t drive you insane first.”
The apprentice looked warily as the sloshing metal. “Right. Well then, is there anything else we can use for the recipe…a substitute maybe?”
The alchemist laughed. “Closest thing you’ll get is cinnabar. But that’s got mercury in it anyway. Highly toxic. Take a whiff of that stuff and you’re a goner."

Thoughts
This only works if you’re using first person or third person omniscience POV. A character’s thoughts can be a powerful tool.

Before:
The day was bitterly cold. A crisp wind blew garbage across the street. Everyone was inside, enjoying the warmth of a fire. The entire sky was coated in white snow-clouds and it was only a matter of time before a blizzard hit. Even the queen’s palace was suffering from the icy weather, with servants scraping away at the frost-coated windows so the queen could enjoy looking outside.

After:
I marched down the slushy street, my woolen cloak wrapped tightly against the crisp winter wind. I was the only one outside. Every other sane person was indoors, tucked in a quilt by a blazing fire. But not me, I had a job to do. I groaned inwardly and kicked at a pile of frozen garbage. Blast this weather. I glanced up at the leaden sky blanketed with snow clouds. We’d have a blizzard before the month was out, for sure.
Another gust of wind sent me hurrying down the road again. I passed the queen’s palace and snickered at the poor, frozen guard on duty. The Queen didn’t much care about other people’s discomfort, evident by the army of servants scraping frost off the palace’s two-hundred-and-ten windows. Poor suckers. What was even the point of it? So that the queen could look outside and see the empty street?

Actions
The way characters behave can strengthen both Dialogue and Thoughts, and make a strong support on its own.

The alchemist selected a jar, filled to the brim with a silvery liquid. The apprentice craned his neck to see. [This reveals that the apprentice is curious and new to the alchemy experience] “What’s that?”
The alchemist grunted [Not the friendliest guy] and held the jar out for the apprentice’s inspection. “This, boy, is mercury.”
“And, uh, what exactly is it for?”
“Some believe it has the power to make you immortal.”
The apprentice’s eyes widened. [He’s naïve to believe such a myth]
“Of course,” snapped the alchemist. “That’s utter rubbish. Far too many emperors have died because of that supposition. Everlasting life indeed. Mercury will kill you, boy. If it doesn’t drive you insane first.”
The apprentice looked warily as the sloshing metal. [Now he’s nervous] “Right. Well then, is there anything else we can use for the recipe…a substitute maybe?”
The alchemist laughed. [He’s got a strange sense of humor] “Closest thing you’ll get is cinnabar. But that’s got mercury in it anyway. Highly toxic. Take a whiff of that stuff and you’re a goner.”

The apprentice’s reactions give us a clear definition of who he is without having to say, “The new apprentice didn’t know anything about alchemy and was incredibly gullible.”

Read more...

Writing Dialects and Accents

According to a book I recently read, if characters have accents, it's confusing to the reader. Using "atrocious" spelling to signify speech only slows the reader down by forcing them to untangle what they are saying. Speech can be implied through adding slang, but never through ungrammatical sentences.

I'm not sure that I agree.

I can think of two very popular series that ignore this "rule"; Harry Potter and Redwall.

I find it easy to make out what Hagrid is saying, even with all his "h"s left off.

And in Redwall, I found the "mole speech" endearing rather than entangling.

I'm not implying that the reason for their popularity is because they use accents. It's arguable that they're popular in spite of it.

For my own stories, I rarely change the spelling. But I have a tendency to use "gonna", "yeah", and replace some character's "h"s with apostrophes.

But for the most part I feel that if that's how they say it, then that's the way you spell it.

Accents provide diversity in speech. Having all your characters sound the same is usually dull. Accents can signify different nationalities. Rather than going to the trouble of saying that "he had a German accent" you can show us by replacing the " w" with a "v".

What do you think? Should dialect be written, or is should grammar be your main concern?

Read more...

Staying in Character Part 2: Writing in First Person

For some writers (me, for example) it's difficult to have a different voice when writing in first-person.

One of my stories is from a boy's point of view, the other is from a girl's and they sound, if not exactly the same, very similar.
They both sound like me.

So I've been trying lately to create a character completely different from myself and then slip into their skin.

Beforehand, I started writing in first-person before even figuring out who they were. That only resulted in a duplicate of myself every time.
You are looking through their eyes.

What do they think about?
Are they slow and hesitant to make decisions or headstrong and reckless?
Are they optimistic or cynical?
How do they see the world?

Read more...

Dialogue Part 2

What do you, as readers, prefer in a book; Long winded descriptions of the scenery, of every detail or Dialogue.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
(If you chose scenery you are the most patient reader around.)

Dialogue can not only convey messages about the character's relationships with each other, their background (i.e. slang). Dialogue can also tell the reader about the scenery. For example;

"...five steps, six steps. Six steps long."
"What is?"
"This cell."
"Quit splashing around in the water and sit down."
"Sit down where? Everywhere is wet."
"Well standing by that barred window won't help your health much either."

We can already see that a) they're in a cell, b)it's wet, c) it's small, and d) it has a barred window.
A little more interesting than
The room was wet and cold. It had a barred window. It was small.

Dialogue can also show things happening;

“Duck!” roared Joseph.
"Thanks.” 
“That arrow almost had your name on it.” 
“Speaking of arrows, hand me another; I’m out,” said Marcus. 
“Er, so am I.” 
“Move your backsides soldiers!” roared the captain. “Retreat! RETREAT!”

Instead of:

When Joseph told Marcus to duck, he didn't argue. He was glad he had listened because an arrow missed him. When he asked for more arrows he was dismayed to learn that there wasn't any more. The captain called a retreat.

Read more...

The Six Traits: Voice

What I think is one of the most important six traits is Voice.
I'm not talking about your character's voice (though that's still important) I'm talking about yours; the writer's voice.

Take this example from THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahme;

Never in his life had he seen a river before--this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver--glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble.

That's Kenneth Grahme's voice. I'm sure Stephanie Meyer's description, Hilari Bell's, J.K. Rowlings, and my description would be very different.
How would you describe it?

Voice: The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or of a character in a book.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Your voice won't be distinct immediately. It takes time to 'discover' it. And the only way to find it is by writing as much as you can. That's the only way to be a better writer. The more you write, the more unique your voice will become.
I can't tell you what your voice is, much as I'd like to make things easier for you. Only you can figure that out.

But according to the Arizona rubric for the six traits, the highest score would need these elements:
The writer speaks directly to the reader in a way that is individual, compelling, and engaging. The writer crafts the writing with an awareness and respect for the audience and the purpose for writing.

Read more...