Creative writing – Page 89

How important are the first words of your story?

Published on February 2, 2016January 31, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

Very.

I agonize over the first paragraph more than any part of a story. Sometimes I rewrite it a dozen times and often making it worse before I make it better.

So how do you start that story?

By grabbing the reader.

death-151527_640

With a whisper and a promise. With fear or joy. You dangle temptation, and offer redemption. The trick is to not start out too big or too fast. It’s like catching a great white shark or blowing up the planet, too much momentum can leave the reader with nowhere to climb. Often a sense of let down or exhaustion hits midway through the book.

I once read that the writer needs to give the reader a reason to suspend their disbelief and they will gladly go along for the ride. No matter how far-fetched the story all they need is a reason and they will keep reading.

direction-1033278_640

That reason could be a killer opening line. A likeable character or character they love to hate.

Jacob M. Appel believes that the seeds of that triumph or defeat are sown by the end of the very first sentence. Read his post and see what he says about starting a story.

10 Ways to Start Your Story Better By: Jacob M. Appel

Darcy Pattison wrote a book START YOUR NOVEL in which she lists twelve ways to start novels and give examples of the top opening lines of all times. In the following post she looked at the Top selling books for the week ending August 9, 2013, opened their stories. One contemporary author opened her story with dialog. To read more click:

10 WINNING WAYS TO OPEN YOUR NOVEL By Darcy Pattison

You can find me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! Please remember to with a click and share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

Reading Challenge 18: A Book With a Blue Cover

Should you open with dialog or not, that is the question

Published on February 1, 2016January 31, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

If you must, keep it short and sweet.

Has it been done? Of course! Does that mean we should try it? That’s a loaded question.

The first line is how we, the writers, introduce our story to the reader. It’s how we shake hands, say hello, howdy, nice to meet you or whatever greeting we choose to grab the reader’s attention.

The first line can’t be wasted words.

When a story is opened with dialog, will the reader know who is speaking? If not, the author must backtrack, and pretty quick, to show who is talking and why. This can become confusing fast.

I’m not sure that I’m that talented of a writer.

If using dialog to open a story, it must reveal the character, and support, highlight or assist action. The dialog can be captivating, and attention grabbing, but it cannot be just for the sake of conversation. Just like any opening line, it must hook the reader and propel the story.

The reader is then thrown into a whirlwind of turbulence trying to figure out whose on first, doing what. You risk losing them before you can ground them in the story.

There are right and wrong ways to use dialogue to start your story. Merideth Storms give several tips on how to make sure the dialog serves to reveal the plot and move the story forward. Click and read her post:

Using Dialogue to Start a Short Story, a Creative Writing Technique by Merideth Storms

Everyone has heard not to start a story with a dream, staring into a mirror and yes opening with dialog. But now we know all “rules” are not steadfast when bent or broken by writers who know how to use them. There is another “no-no rule” I’d not heard about.

Too little dialog in the opening paragraphs. This can signal to an editor the story is might be boring, filled with more telling than action. Read more from Courtney Carpenter:

5 Wrong Ways to Start A Story By: Courtney Carpenter

How to avoid mistakes with your story

Published on January 28, 2016January 27, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell4 Comments

Avoiding writing mistakes is not as easy as it sounds.

oops

At least for me. So I loved finding more helpful tips.

I enjoy short stories. Especially flash fiction. Maybe it’s my imagination. I think Flash Fiction leaves a lot to imagine. Having said that, this article helped me think how I write both short stories and Flash.

In the following post:

Mistakes to avoid in Short Story Writing By Anne Leigh Parrish

Ms. Parrish explains not only what mistakes to avoid, but also what is and is not a story.

What she said really resonated with me.

The reader should leave a story, seeing something they didn’t see in the beginning.

That’s a story, it’s not a description goes how things are or were, it’s not a sensibility, or a mood. These things are elements of the story, but not the story.

I don’t know about you, but I’m guilty of getting bogged down with too much detail and description which can slow down the story.

Read the post by Anne Leigh Parrish and let me know which part of writing a story do you have difficulty with.

You can find me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! Please remember to with a click and share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

How to make your own editing rules sheet

Published on January 27, 2016February 26, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell15 Comments

Professionally known as a Style Sheet.

I’m not referring to a list of what matches what hanging in your closet.

Or the hottest trends from InStyle Magazine.

No, this is a document where you define the writing style and rules that apply to your WIP.

Is the style of your WIP American or British English?
Do you use contractions? (This is one of my problems. Sometimes I feel like a contraction sometime I don’t.)
Are you going to spell out the numbers or not?

See where I’m going? Finding these errors first is very important to presenting quality work to an editor that you’ve done some of your own redline editing.

I call mine a cheat sheet. Some writers use an electronic file folder, others like Scrivener’s templates to help with character info to keep the story uniform.

But, now that I understand the importance of an actual Style Sheet is, I’m going to streamline the process for my next project.

Why do I want to use a Style Sheet like Sue Archer shares in her blog? Because my “cheat sheet” has grown into a large folder. And as such, too big to be of much use.

This one sheet, when applied to each individual project will make polishing my stories much easier. You might want to click on Sue Archer’s blog and check out the template she provided. I did.

Robin Rivera gives 3 Reasons Authors Need Style Sheets

Take special note of #2. Amazon will soon be holding writers to a higher standard and consistency in our books will be more important than ever.

Hopefully, using this process will produce a more professional piece and prevent an editor from cringing at first glance.

What about y’all?

Do you use a Style Sheet for consistency? For editing?

If not, what do you use?

Talk to me people. My inquiring mind wants to know.