Wow Your Readers at the Beginning

 

Our quote for today tells us that 'The Beginning is the most important part of the work'. It's also one of the most difficult to get right! 

Consider what you must accomplish with the beginning of any works, be it fiction, flash fiction, essay, article, or poem. Your job here is to capture the attention and interest of the reader. 

Have you ever picked up a book and read pages before anything 'happened'? I find myself silently saying 'Get on with it.' Some who write novels choose to write many pages to set the scene. That may help the reader fix the place and time and more in their mind, but does it hold their interest? Are they wondering who the characters will be and what is happening to them? Quite possibly. It's alright to incorporate bits and pieces about the place, time etc as you move the story along. Once again, this is the writer's choice.

Starting out with a bang is going to make your reader want to turn the page to see what happens next. Make something happen in that first paragraph, something to pique the reader's interest.

When you begin a personal essay, you might pose a question, relate a vivid anecdote, introduce a character, or plant the seeds of an idea. But do it with gusto. 

That first paragraph or two, or first line of a poem, is your chance to hook your reader. Bore them then is to lose their interest quickly. 

Do a search for famous openings and see if you can find a common denominator. One we all know is the first sentence of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." The many children's stories that start with 'Once upon a time...' tells children this story happened long ago and there is a tale to be told. 

As an exercise for today, go through your files of stories and essays. Look at the beginnings or the opening lines. What do you think? Can you revise it to something better? Or do you like the way you started your story? 

A reference book I often recommend for fiction writers is Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress. It was published in 2011, but her advice is still pertinent. 

Writers--Can You-Step Outside the Lines?

 Do you remember learning to color when you were a child? A coloring book and a box of crayons, and you were off and running.  The aim, we were told, was to stay inside the lines. With small children's muscle coordination, that was not always easy. Still, we persisted until we colored inside those lines every time. Success!

How does that relate to writing? We're given 'lines' to follow when we attend workshops, read reference books on writing, receive critiques from fellow writers, and writers' guidelines on market listings. It's how we learn about this game of writing. The more we stay within the lines, the better writer we will be. Right? 

Maybe yes, but perhaps no. I read a lot of market listings, and recently, I've noticed something that several publications state in the guidelines. They say things like: surprise us, step out of the box, we want to see something new and different, make us stand up and cheer for you, show us something unusual, be quirky. In other words, they want to see writing that doesn't necessarily fit into those lines we've had drawn for us in the past. 

Wow! Here's your chance to spread your wings and fly into the unknown. You'll need an adventurous spirit and perhaps a personality that doesn't fit within those provided lines. Some writers wouldn't dare try to be so different. Others would relish the opportunity. 

Ask yourself if you would be comfortable stepping outside the provided guidelines you've followed for many years. Do you prefer to be safe or adventurous? What would happen if you do try something new and different? The same thing that occurs when you submit anything you've written. It will be accepted or rejected. 

Take note of what the guidelines of a publication ask for. If they don't mention looking for something new and different, quirky or way out, then you'd be better off staying within the old guidelines. But there are plenty of publications that are looking for adventurous writers.

So go ahead and color outside the lines a time or two. Perhaps you'll find a whole new world of writing. Our quote for today says 'Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons.' We all know that flame pink flamingo is going to stand out brilliantly.  Are you ready to try?

Show Emotion in Your Writing

 

Emotion is part of our make-up as a living human being. We experience different emotions throughout our daily lives. Writers must make use of emotions to bring their stories to life. 

Robert Frost said, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprises in the writer, no surprises in the reader." 

If you're a writer who writes without emotion, it will show in your finished product. If there is little to no emotion in your writing, it ends up appearing like a speaker who speaks in a complete monotone. We once took a city tour on a bus in Prague. They advertised that the tour would be given in several languages. It turned out the guide could not actually speak those several languages. Instead, he had memorized the complete tour in English, Japanese and a couple other languages. Because he did not actually know the language, there was no inflection on words, no emotion in his voice. It came over as a total monotone. Yes, we learned something about Prague, but it became almost laughable. It was a perfect example for me about the importance of emotion in speaking and writing. 

Writers need emotion in what they write to connect with their readers. The writer must feel something in order to make the reader feel it, too. One of the best ways to do that is to show, not tell. If you write, Greta cried. I know what she did, but I don't feel much for her. If you write, The lump in Greta's throat gave way to tears and great sobs. She wiped her cheeks but could not stem the flow.  Maybe then I will think Oh, the poor girl.   

At certain times, we've been taught to keep our emotions in check, whether by parents or teachers. As a writer, you can let the emotions flow without worrying about what someone will think. If I write a scene about a pioneer woman encountering a rattlesnake in her garden as she is picking beans, I need to use emotion. Saying Ellen saw a rattlesnake at the end of the row of beans. alerts the reader, but there is no emotion. Write something like When she spotted the rattlesnake at the end of the row of beans, Ellen stopped, started to shake. She could not pick up her feet, only stared and prayed the viper would not move closer. Finally, she turned and ran to the barn to find Jesse, a scream trapped in her throat. 

Showing how the character felt and reacted reaches out to the reader with emotion, invoking emotion in them in return. 

Even when writing an essay, let your feelings come through. Do it when writing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction. About the only thing I can think of where you might not use it is in a technical article. Even then, a few technical writers might conclude with their own feelings about the topic. Not always but a possibility. 

Don't keep those emotions trapped inside, Use them in your writing, and you'll be a better writer.                                       

Write With Clarity

 

Look at the glass of water in the photo. You see right through it. Nothing obscures it. It's plain for all to see.

How nice it would be if our writing had the same kind of clarity. As writers, we know what we're attempting to convey, but the reader doesn't always get it because of the way we write.

In our head, it's perfectly clear, but once we write the words, it might be just plain cloudy.

If I'm writing about my great-aunt's farmhouse, I know exactly what it looks like. I've been there. I can see it in my mind's eye. To convey the picture of that house to you, the reader, I need to be quite explicit. To tell you about the time Aunt Jane killed a rattler by the cellar door, I need to let you know that the door was outside and only inches from the ground on a slant. Once opened, you needed to go down a flight of steps to reach the cellar itself. If I didn't explain, the reader might consider a door in her kitchen leading to the cellar. A strange place to kill a rattlesnake. I can see it, but my job is to make sure you, the reader visualizes it, as well.

Using too many pronouns leads to confusion, as well. It may not be clear which him, her, they the writer is referring to. One way to fix that is to use the person's name and the pronoun when writing in the same paragraph. It's boring to constantly use the actual name, and it's confusing and also repetitive to use the same pronoun over and over. Intersperse them and make sure your pronouns are clear in which noun they are replacing or referring to.

One of the problems with readers getting confused is that many writers tend to write overly long sentences. The reader is then left to sort it out. Sometimes they do, and other times, it's a muddle. A simple fix is to put the same information into two or three shorter ones. The reader's brain can absorb those three short sentences more easily than an exorbitantly long one.

I was recently critiquing a submission in my online writing group. The paragraph opened with two sentences both using the word 'man.' But t was not referring to the same man. I read it twice feeling confused, then realized what the writer was saying. A simple fix was to use 'artist' in the first sentence and 'man' in the second one which showed she was referring to two different men.

When you edit your drafts, ask yourself if you have made things clear to the reader. Or are you taking too much for granted that they know what you're talking about? If you have let your draft sit and rest for several days, then read through it, you are more likely to see places where clarity is a problem.

Clarity is every bit as important as grammar and description and sensory detail and all the other things that go into our writing. Yet, clarity is not an issue I see addressed very often. Be aware of it.   

An Exercise to Set Your Writer's Voice Free

 The members of my online writing group are offered a freewriting exercise each week. A word is chosen at random, sometimes by opening a book and pointing at a word on the page. Other times, someone selects a series of connecting words for the month, such as the four seasons. 

What do we do with 'the word'? The exercise calls for the writer to start writing without stopping. Anything that comes to mind for ten minutes. It can also be done using fifteen-or- twenty-minute time slots. The important thing is to keep writing, no stopping to think, just let the words flow as your fingers fly over the keyboard (or pencil on paper). Nothing has to connect, and sometimes it ends up mere drivel. Other times, we find a golden nugget.

Many of us have ended up with the bones of an essay or story through this exercise. It's a good way to warm-up before you begin whatever project you're working on. Today's poster tells us that a freewriting exercise will 'set your writer's voice free.'

There are many writers who shun writing exercises. The thinking is that they don't do anyone any good and waste good writing time. After reading so many of my fellow writers results of the freewriting exercise, I can see the benefit that can result. I also note it in the ones I have written. Our subconscious kicks in, and it's sometimes amazing what results. 

Give the exercise a try using the words listed below:

A. reminiscent

B. brother

C. school

D. storm

E. baby

F. train

G. circus

There are seven words listed above, one for each day of your week. As an alternative, you can open a book or magazine, close your eyes and point to a word. If the word is something like 'is or the' take the one before or after. 

One of the best essays I've written emerged from a freewriting exercise. 

Adverbs Are Far Too Easy to Use

 

In school, we learn the parts of speech. Each one, we were told, has a job to do in the sentences we write. That's a pretty simplified version of learning a piece of grammar. But it will serve as an introduction to what I want to talk about today. 

Writers toss adjectives around a sentence to describe a person, place or thing--in other words, a noun. They also sprinkle adverbs into their dialogue tags with glee. They, too, are descriptive. How easy is it to have a character speak and then add an adverb in the tag line to let the reader know how the dialogue was spoken. Did John Doe speak his line harshly, happily, sadly, glumly, gleefully, angrily or some other ly word that describes a verb? Or sometimes writers use the one word adverb when a character does something. The writer wants us to know how the character performed whatever it might be. Easy enough to add one simple word. Maybe.

Using adverbs in this way speaks of a lazy writer. It tells us how the subject feels. It's far better to show what the speaker is feeling or doing. Dump the adverb and add something to show the same thing. If you do, you have a far more visual image. Adverbs can modify adjectives and other adverbs and not all end in ly, although a great many do so. 

Examples:

A. OK:   John shut the door slowly.

   BETTER:  John inched the door until it closed.

B. OK:  Sally ran to school quickly.

    BETTER:  Sally ran to school faster than a jackrabbit in the desert.

C. OK:  Sam turned suddenly.

    BETTER:  Sam slid to a stop and turned the corner.

D. OK:  "I want to go home," Joanie said loudly.

    BETTER:  Joanie shrieked, "I want to go home"

E. OK: "I don't know," Buddy whispered softly.

    BETTER:  Buddy's voice softened to a bare whisper. "I don't know." 

Do you see that the second sentence in each example is more visual? Tells the reader more? Is more interesting? 

If you want to learn more about using adverbs or replacing them, use a search engine like google to find more detailed articles. 

Writers--Don't Give Up!

 

A couple weeks ago, I noticed a sign stuck in the grass outside a preschool, and an identical one across the street in front of a house. A white sign, with large black letters on it. Nothing else. No curlicues, no flowers in the corners, no zig-zag lines. Just three words.

The two identical signs said Never Give Up. They're on a street I drive down frequently, and I've taken note of them over and over again. The first time, I thought that it was some good advice. After a while, I started thinking a lot about those words. Being me, I thought about that advice being something writers could benefit from. 

Writers get discouraged at times. New writers, seasoned writers, writers of all ages and backgrounds. When things don't work out with a new story idea, some feel ready to quit, give it up, find something new to write about. When rejections pile up, they feel despondent. When publications are at a standstill, they become depressed. A whole lot of writers wend their way through this emotional maze. 

What should you do when you're in a funk like that? Well, those three little words are a good place to start. I've noticed that every time I drive by those signs, that bit of advice speaks louder and louder to me. How about taking a sheet of white printer paper and writing those three words with a black marker in big letters? Then, place it somewhere in your writing area. You can't help but look at it every day. Black on white, three words of encouragement. 

Be determined to use those three words of advice in your writing life. Even when good things happen, like a great response from an editor, or comments from readers who loved a piece you wrote, or a story idea seems to almost write itself, keep those three words where you see them every day. 

I don't know who put those two signs in the ground in my town, but I think they will speak to a great many people who drive by on a regular basis. Three little words that make you think, pep you up, and give you a reason to keep going. Put those three words in your writing space and see what happens.