The Xs of Fiction - Guest Editor Beth Hill

We’re getting close to the end of our A-Z Challenge! Unless we want to discuss xylophones or x-rays or x-rated books, we needed to cheat a bit on the letter and make an eXception. Our guest today is one of our blog favorites, editor eXtraordinaire, Beth Hill, to talk about the “Xs” of writing fiction. ~Kat

Fiction writers face many rules, some detailing what to do, others detailing prohibitions, maybe even exclusions.

Some rules come from the wider world of writing, proven rules that make all communication easier. Some rules come specifically from the world of fiction. And many rules come from the experience gained by the long chain of writers who wrote before us, shared so we can call on the know-how of those who’ve already made the mistakes and learned how to correct them.

I don’t want to lay out rigid rules today, certainly not all the do’s and don’ts of fiction. Let’s instead look at options to strengthen both story and story-writing skills. Consider these the Xs of fiction.

Gain experience

Write often. Write more than you’ve written in the past. Read in the genre you want to write. Read in genres you have no familiarity with. Study successful fiction.

Become an expert

Master an area or a topic that you like and then master an area or topic that gives you fits. And then master a topic you know nothing about. These areas can be writing related—dialogue, pacing, subtext—or simply topics that appeal—landscaping, the Boer Wars, space travel. Expand your knowledge.

Explore
Follow links from one topic you study to the next. Don’t always be content with surface knowledge, though that may be all you need for a writing project. Give yourself the opportunity to delve deep into topics and follow even the most tenuous of links between topics.

Don’t explain

When you write, don’t insist that characters explain why they do a particular action. Simply show them in action and allow the reader to draw her own conclusions. Keep readers actively involved by giving them just enough so they don’t get lost and enough that they’re tempted to figure out what’s going on before revelations are uncovered.

Go easy on the expletives

No, not the cussing kind, the grammatical kind. There or it followed by forms of the verb to be can leach power from a sentence, especially when used again and again or to open new scenes or chapters. They can also add unnecessary words. Example: There was a boy racing down the lane vs. A boy raced down the lane.

Expose character weaknesses

Show characters’ limitations in action. Make fictional people real by giving them weaknesses that work for the story, that add to the story.

Express emotion

Show characters as emotional people touched by what happens around them. Show that actions have impact, that they change characters. Show that actions and the words of others touch characters’ hearts and drive them to respond and maybe even retaliate.

Extend invitations to the reader

Hook the reader on page one, giving her a reason to read the opening pages, and then keep her hooked. Make your story opening an invitation to your fictional world. Entice and intrigue.

Create extraordinary characters

Make your main characters memorable. They don’t have to be a Superman, but they should have quirks or behaviors or emotions or desires that make them stand out from every other fictional character.

Write extraordinarily well

Learn the basics, learn more than the basics, and don’t be satisfied with being mediocre at any of the writing elements. Expand your skills.

Take some scenes to the extreme

Push events, reactions, and emotions. Surprise characters as well as readers. Be bold and not timid.

Exaggerate

Exaggerate character problems and solutions, but without falling into obvious caricature.

Exceptions

Keep in mind that there are always exceptions to every rule. Figure out how and when to break rules in ways that create memorable fiction.

 

Beth Hill is a freelance fiction editor who loves the creative power of words. You can find her online at A Novel Edit and read other writing and editing tips at The Editor’s Blog.

 

Kat's "X" Book List

 

 

 

Strapless by Deborah Davis: Biography. The story behind the famous Madame X painting by John Singer Sargent, a tale of art and celebrity, obsession and betrayal.

Three Weeks with Lady X: Eloisa James. A duke, a lady, a romance

 

Author X: The Inner Secret. Click the "author X" link to learn more about the mystery of who this author was.

 

 

Cartoon Pencil With Cross Mark Image courtesy of chanpipat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Abstract Colour Pencil Image courtesy of tigger11th / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Man Writing With His Pencil Image courtesy of Boians Cho Joo Young / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

IWSG: CONQUERING THE BITS AND PIECES

Rocking the neurotic writing world with Alex Cavanaugh and the Insecure Writing Support Group (you can check out the group and participants here) . First Wednesday of every month.

You know? I like puzzles.  I do.

I like finding the pieces and fitting them in and making a picture. It’s fun. I feel the same about creating a necklace out of a pile of multicolored beads and bits of metal pieces. It’s fun to create a pretty or even a funky design. I do the same with earrings. Bits and pieces can be fun to put into a whole and make it something else, something lovely.

Bits and pieces aren’t so much fun in editing. It’s the same premise. You have various

Victorian necklace and bracelet

pieces and it should be a matter of combining them into a whole picture. Adding bits of this and that to get a harmonious whole. Something with impact. A piece of work to take pride in.

Except…it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes the pieces develop teeth and attack you.

I wrote a trilogy back a few years ago. This was a story that stretched me. It was fun to let her rip and go for it. I challenged my writing chops for sure. Still, I was okay with it all. I knew it had good bones just as I knew it had a lot of stuff that wasn’t needed.

When I went to edit it, after the critiques, I had a path but I was new to this type of editing. It was a bit daunting but I knew I could do it and that it would be better for the hard work. There were parts of it that actually needed rewriting and that would mean changing chunks of the other two stories as well. So I took it apart. The chapters have been unstrung from the whole and even some of the chapters are in unstrung sections. It’s all in it’s own file. It has research files to compliment the design and some sparkly pieces to add impact.

So why is it still in pieces? Good question.

Cutting the extraneous wasn’t that hard. Trying to re-thread those chapters was overwhelming. I couldn’t understand why I was having such problems with clear thinking. I knew what I needed to do and it wasn’t like I was new to editing. But for some reason this project steamrolled me. Pancake flat. I had not a clue how to change that. The harder I tried the worse it became. I couldn’t understand why. It was seriously affecting my confidence and taking away the joy I’ve always felt creating and writing. Of course part of it was I was getting sick and I didn’t realize it. I was losing clarity of thought but didn’t know it at the time. I struggled on and made a mess of it. I looked at all the pieces of what had once been whole and cried over the devastating mess I had left. All those bits and pieces mocking me.

I put it away for a bit and wrote other things some good and some not. I was trying, and perhaps too hard, to recapture that flow and joy of writing. Concentration was becoming harder and my attention span shorter and there were days I swore gnats had a longer attention span. You know the thoughts that go through your mind at times like that. You’re a what? A writer? Queue maniacal derisive laughter. And no one does mocking quite as well as our inner critic.

That was a bit over two years ago. The past few months my creative mind has been sneaky and reworking things in that series again. I’ve even dreamed about it. It’s itching to tackle it. But, I still haven’t opened that file. 

Fear? Sure. A lot of not so great things happened during the initial editing phase of that series and are all tied into that file.

I’m smart enough to know you have to face your fears and that usually those fears are much bigger in our minds than in reality. I’ve fallen off horses, broken bones, and faced stupid and humiliation. There is a certain repulsion in facing that horse and all the possibilities of a repeat performance. But I also knew if I didn’t get back into the saddle I wouldn’t ride again. I can’t live that way. I’m not one to let fear of what if or possibility of pain hold me back. I’m not reckless but it’s a challenge I have to face and conquer even if I’m shaking in my boots. Always been that way.

Well, I’m again shaking in my boots but I know me. I know how my creative mind works. I know it’s giving me warning that resistance is futile because we will be opening that file.

Conquer or be conquered. 

I know which role I prefer.

 

MONDAY MUSINGS—IN AWE OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

I’m always in awe of creative people. It doesn't matter if it's a book they're writing, a room they're decorating, a new recipe, an outfit or a piece of artwork they're doing; the process is fascinating to watch, as is the end product. Especially those who see a concept and decide they can either do it better or they want to give it a try to see what they can come up with. Creative projects can refresh us. Our creativity in one area can jump start it in another.

I've been watching, with interest, a close friend of mine’s ongoing project over the past few months. Wendy’s renewing her vows next month and wanted to make it special (she tells me she’s as excited with the renewal ceremony as she was with her initial wedding).

The project, I’ve been watching with amazement, is her making her bouquet as well as all the flowers arrangements for her ceremony. Now, I have a brother-in-law who is an award winning designer—very creative and does beautiful work. He also designs floral arrangements for weddings and I’m well aware of the costs involved—even for simple arrangements. The bride’s bouquet usually averages about $150, depending upon the design. Factor in bridesmaids, boutineres, mothers’ corsages, table arrangements, and altar arrangements; you can easily spend $500 to a $1200 on flowers alone (and we won't talk about celebrity weddings). Mind boggling, isn’t it? You add some bling to the bouquets and you’re talking some major money.

Let me show you what Wendy has done.

Basic flowers and a few pieces of basic bling. Nothing remarkable. Sorta blah, but we see enough of the pieces to know where it's going. 


Much like a story we create. The scene has the basic components and then we edit. And this is where the lesson, you can't edit what doesn't exist, really comes into play.

Wendy called this a hot mess. She's editing and shading. 

Here's two of the boutineres
You can click on the pictures
and it will enlarge.

She's taken the basic flowers and bling and she's added a bit more ribbons and bows along with more interesting bling. There are some unique pieces here.

Over time she worked on various pieces of the arrangements, the corsages, boutineres, and the center bouquet. I have a lot of pictures but I'll spare you and show you what she had at the end of her first full edit:

An artist has an inner vision. Taking that vision and tweaking it through various edits until it resembles what we're seeing inside takes time and a certain amount of patience.

So long as our goal is to make our artistic project the best we can make it, we're moving forward. 

Sometimes we look at something and think, this is really nice but something's not working for me. Or something is missing. At this point we start moving or removing parts. As Wendy explained, she looked at it and thought, no, closed her eyes and started cutting. Ouch. That had to be painful. 

When you compare the two you see the work that went into the next edit of the arrangements.

Looks like a treasure chest, doesn't it? I recognize various pieces and I can see where Wendy has moved them for better effect. She's added more color, variety, and texture. The end result is fuller and richer. Not so crowded and the overall edit brought more impact to the piece. 

It's beautiful. 

What a difference between what she started out with and where she ended up.

The creative process is fascinating and reminds me that the process is a matter of stages and steps. It's also a matter of focus and an awareness of our overall vision. We can't lose sight of that or we end up with a mess.

Like Wendy says, everything has edits.

Most creative people I know are creative in more than one discipline. I think the variety adds pleasure to life. Switching from one to another refreshes and revives. Wendy is also an author but what she's created here is awesome.

• What about you? What's in your creative bucket?

FYI: There are a couple of interesting blog hops going on with some lovely prizes:

FOR INFO CLICK HERE

FOR INFO CLICK HERE