Just Keep Writing

As a bunch of us start NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and others of us try to finish old projects, and others of us just try to stay afloat in all the work to be done, I have only one piece of advice.

Just keep writing.

Simple advice, right?

But it's sooooo hard, I know.

Sing it to yourself to the tune of "Just Keep Swimming" from Finding Nemo, if that helps. Visualize yourself as a dancer instead of an axe murderer, if that helps.

Remember. You can revise later. You can bemoan how awful the story is later. You can wish you'd never learned to write later.

For now, just keep writing.

I'm hoping I can take my own advice this month, as I have a bunch of projects on my plate...

Good luck and best wishes to everyone who's doing NaNo!!

The Info Dump

What it is

The info dump is when you take all that fascinating world-building, all that back story for your character, all the rules of your world... and you just drop it into the reader's lap in a big sloppy mess.

For instance

(c) Nigel Howe

Let's say this is the start of your book. This is a hypothetical example, but I have encountered several stories lately that featured a first page/chapter very similar to this:

(note--the weird subject matter is just the first thing I thought of, sorry for the randomness)


Margie stood on the pier, watching the children splash and play in the water before her. When one of the children got too close to the edge, she hurried to catch him. Her shoulders itched with the desire to grow wings, because Margie was a Lylis, a magical creature that looked human but was actually a type of fairy, but she forced herself to jog instead.

There were actually four subspecies of Lylis--lotus, rose, lily, and amaryllis. Each species had a specific color of wing and a specific duty to fulfill in the world. Margie was a Rose Lylis, which meant she had pink wings and a duty to protect all children. But right now she didn't feel like protecting children. She wanted to get married and have children, but all Lylis were barren, unable to have children of their own...


Okay, that's enough of that.  Do you see what was wrong there?

Well, there were a lot of things wrong with it...

But let's talk about that info dump.

If I was reading a book where this was the first page, I would put it right back down and not pick it up again. I want to read a story, not a textbook. Not a history lesson. Not a lecture on the various types of "Lylis fairies." This is boring. I'm not attached to the character yet. I will not slog through all this exposition if I have nothing enticing me forward.

A better way to convey the same information


Margie stood on the pier, her eyes tracking the movement of each child's flailing arms and legs as they splashed in the waves and scattered droplets through the air like diamonds. At the moment, she wanted to be anywhere else. But as a Lylis, a fairy protector of children, it was her duty to stay and watch no matter how much it pained her.

She spotted one of the children on the end of the pier, tottering towards the edge. A baby. His mother sat on the beach, her nose in a book, and Margie didn't waste time trying to get the woman's attention with a strong gust of wind. She moved swift and silent as a shadow. Her shoulders itched to grow wings, but she forced herself to jog instead. People might be watching, and not everybody was susceptible to the blinding spells that kept her veiled from human eyes.

She reached the end of the pier. The child gazed up at her with eyes as blue as the water below. Young children could always see the Lylis. "Dahh," he gurgled, stretching out one sticky hand. 

Margie scooped him up, ignoring the twinge in her chest at the way the baby fit perfectly into her arms. She wanted to have children, not just watch them. But unfortunately, it didn't work that way for fairies. 

At least not the Lylis kind.

She set the child down by the water and watched him toddle off to his mother. Her arms were suddenly too big, too empty without him. Eternal barrenness--and the ache that accompanied it--made Margie's job a unique kind of torture.


The second example certainly isn't perfect either, mind you. I just dashed it off, so it's just a rough draft and could probably benefit from some reworking. And it's still a bit too "to the point" for me, at least for a novel. (It might be just right for a short story, though, where space is limited and details do have to be tossed in quickly.)

But see how I wove some of that information in with actions and thoughts? And notice I didn't even include all of it, like the Rose and Lily category stuff. It's totally unnecessary for the reader to know every type, color, and job description of a Lylis fairy at this point. That can all be explained later, when the reader is already interested in the characters and ready to know more about the nuances of the world.

So...

In short, don't waste valuable time at the beginning of the book pontificating about the rules and details of your world and the creatures in it. And when you DO include information, blend it in gradually like you're stirring sugar into cake batter. Don't just lump it all at the front and call it a day.

A Dancer And An Axe Murderer

I love this fantastic (and hilarious) advice about learning to balance drafting and revision in this excellent article The Seven Habits of Successful Writers:

(c) liakapelke (Not Pictured: Axe Murderer)

"Nurture your inner schizophrenic. When you have written a draft of your story and it’s time to revise, you have to be able to look at it with a cold eye and take the ax to it as needed. . .You’re actually not one person, but two: a dancer and an ax murderer. Love both of these people who live in your brain, but keep them apart."

In other words, allow yourself to be unfettered and creative during your first draft. Don't get into editor mode until it's time to edit.

This is brilliant advice.

So write away, my friends--and keep those axe murderers and dancers separate!

Other news!!

I was interviewed on Kindle Author a couple of days ago and forgot to post it before now. Check it out and maybe leave me a comment? I've also added it to the reviews and interviews tab.

Hope everybody has a happy and safe Halloween!

How To Be A Good Beta Reader

Good critique partners and beta readers are a must for any writer, aspiring or professional. If you have a writer friend, or if you're a writer yourself, chances are you'll find yourself in this role sooner or later. Want to be the best you can be? Here are some tips for ways to improve your beta reading/critiquing.

Be honest

You can't help the writer if you aren't being honest with them. Don't feel like you can't be critical--that's kind of the point! If something isn't working for you, say so. If you are bored during a chapter, say so. If you find the main character unlikable, say so. 

Be kind

Don't take the "I must be critical" advice in the wrong direction. You don't need to be all "Doctor House" here. Beta reading is not an opportunity for you to get your snarkfest on--not unless you specifically know that the writer will find this funny or helpful. If you derive some sense of satisfaction from ripping someone a new one, tap that crap down when critiquing. Be professional. Be kind. Be mindful that you are trying to be helpful--and being unnecessarily hurtful is not usually helpful.

Be specific

When you're being (helpfully and kindly) critical, don't simply say "I didn't like this chapter." Vague feedback is unhelpful feedback. You could have disliked any number of things, and the writer will have a hard time fixing something when she doesn't know where to start. Instead, say "I found the pace too sluggish" or "The dialogue in this chapter was unrealistic to me" or "When the main character complains all the time, I lose sympathy for her," etc. And then expand from there--give specific examples, and perhaps suggest some changes.

Offer both positive and negative feedback

Remember, your ultimate goal should be to help the writer. If you only succeed in discouraging the writer, you probably haven't helped them. Some crit partners fall into a "negativity rut" and only talk about what is wrong with the book or short story they are evaluating.

I like to say two positive things for every negative thing when I'm critiquing--it makes the negative things more palatable, and it helps keep the writer from becoming too discouraged in the fact of all the problems I may have found.

Don't try to make the book into something it's not

Remember that this isn't your book. Your goal is helping the writer, and that means encouraging and shaping their artistic vision for their project. If the book is a young adult paranormal thriller, don't suggest that the writer turn it into a contemplative, contemporary literary novel. Don't insist on making the book something you'd write. Your goal is to help the book be the best it can be as it is, not as you might make it if you were the writer.

My 5 Tips for Writing Every Day

These are 5 tips that work for me in my quest to write at least a thousand words a day (my goal for the rest of the summer). I've been using a lot of them lately, and thought I'd share! 

1. Write before you get online (or watch TV, or whatever you do to unwind and waste time). Set a daily goal and be firm--make yourself write X number of words before you can log on to Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, etc. If you have time to be on social networking sites, you have time to be writing.

2. Read before you write. This one may not work for everybody, because I know some people don't read while they're working on a novel, but for me, it ends up being very helpful creatively if I soak myself with other people's words before producing my own. Reading reminds me of why I write--a love of stories and beautiful verbal expression--and helps me get in the right mood for handling words for a few hours. Stephen King advises that writers read 1 hour for every 2 they write, and I wholeheartedly concur.

3. Listen to music beforehand. I usually have a playlist for each WIP, and it helps me to sit with my eyes closed and just listen to a few songs that capture the mood of the scene I'm working on before I start. That way, my creative juices are flowing as soon as I start, so I don't sit there staring at a blank page.

4. Leave something for tomorrow. Don't write until you're completely drained of ideas. That's the best way I know to get writer's block. Leave something to think about and chew over creatively, so when you sit down to write again, you're mentally prepared to start. Usually for me, the story takes over from there, and I don't waste a lot of time sitting around staring at the screen.

5. Eat ice cream cake! (or whatever comfort food you prefer) I find this very helpful for difficult scenes.

What helps you write every day?