Criticism

 

    Today's writing tip is based on accepting criticism, or more accurately, determining whether the criticism is worth accepting.  Everyone, it seems sometimes, is eager and willing to tell us what they believe is wrong with your story, poem, or blog post.  People rarely, in my experience, understand what it takes to pour your mind and heart out for examination and listen to criticism.  So, this is for any aspiring writers who are about to face or have recently faced a critique of their beloved work.

    

    First of all, let's talk about the most obvious and most overlooked aspect of criticism when it comes to writing.  Criticism, just like writing is a skill.  It's a skill that gets better with time and practice.  Lots of people think that they have the ability to write a book, a poem, or a story, but a small percentage of the human population actually does it.  Criticizing someone else's work though, no one hesitates for a second to jump into this learned field and do donuts in the mud.  Why?  Why do people hesitate to step into one area of literary art, but jump gleefully into another?  The answer is simple.  You risk nothing by criticizing another person's work.  You will not be hurt, insulted, or driven to give up on your dream after the act is done.  Writing, on the other hand, is risky.  You subject yourself to the possibility of being rejected.  You have to put yourself out there, and risk your dreams.  That's a tough thing to face, the fact that your dreams may never come true.  I'm just not good enough.  We, as writers, face it every day.  Critics, not so much.  So, when listening to criticism, you need to ask yourself a couple of questions.  First of all, is this person a skilled critic, and second, is this person trying to help me improve my craft, or are they just angry at the world and taking it out on me?  If a person tells you they've heard ten stories like yours in the last week, what does that have to do with your writing?  The movie Avatar was a retread of time-honored cliche's but it set box office records.

    Another thing to think about is the generality of the criticism.  Is the critic describing your writing in vague terms like stuffy, clunky, boring, slow, or cliched?  These are all things to pay attention to, especially if more than one person used the same type of descriptor, but these are the tools of the amateur critic.  Now, don't get me wrong, professional critics may use vague terms like this, but they won't rely on them solely.  If the entire critique is written entirely with a broad brush of generalities, it can be dismissed as amateurish and unhelpful.  By no means should you take these kinds of critiques to heart and make decisions about following your dream based on this kind of critique.

    Also, we need to ask ourselves, is the critique correct?  Is it valid?  Writing, as with all art, is a subjective thing.  One person may hate it, but ten thousand more may love it.  So, the trick to acting on criticism is to learn to detect recurring patterns.  If one person says that you have too many commas in your story, and another mentions that your story doesn't flow, there is a very good chance that the two are related.  Pay attention to how the critiques compare to each other, and whether they are related in any way.  One person may dislike your ending, but that does not mean that the ending is bad, or should be changed.  Listening to people and reworking our writing is often more difficult than the first draft, and close behind marketing on the scale of difficulty imho.

    Last, but definitely not least, we need to learn to take criticism for what it is.  As artists, we tend to have our heart and soul wrapped up in our work, and criticism of our writing often feels like criticism of personal self.  "It's boring," is often heard as "you're boring."  Step outside your work and take a look at your writing almost as if someone else did it.  The best Authors and Poets in the world have room to improve, so what makes me think that my writing should be perfect?  It takes courage and determination to pour your raw mind out onto a page, but even more is needed to face an honest review.  If you have a good editor that gives you sound advice about your writing, thank your lucky stars, because they aren't falling off of trees like crabapples.  Accept the advice with a happy heart and use it to make your writing shine.

    As always have a great day and Happy Writing!

The Keys To Great Dialog

 

    So, you're character's conversations sound weird and stilted...  Dialog is one of the toughest techniques that we writers have to learn.  We aren't supposed to write words like "thundered" or "bellowed," while writing, but we must make it sound unique and interesting.  How are we supposed to do that when our literary hands are tied with "he said" and "she said?"  Well, that's where I'm going to try to help you out.

    The most important thing about written dialog is the flow.  When people are verbally communicating, there aren't usually long pauses or five syllable words thrown around.  Rule #1 is to keep it simple.  Use words that normal people use while talking.  A construction worker or a waiter would not use words like "preamble" or "hypothesize."  Even if they have the vocabulary, they would sound like they are talking down to people if they use it.  So, if your character isn't talking down to people and making an attempt to show off that vocabulary, keep the big words out, unless your she has a PhD in Literature.

    The next thing I'd like to emphasize is punctuation.  Punctuation is very important for the flow of the dialog.  A comma calls for a pause in the thought, and one that has been misplaced can change the entire flow of the conversation, and even the meaning of the sentence.  The punctuation is normally placed within the quotation marks like so:

    "See Spot run," Jane said.

    Notice that the comma is located within the quotation marks, and it marks a pause in thought.  It says that the character is done talking and the narrator is taking over.  If you are having a difficult time writing dialog, it wouldn't hurt to brush up on your punctuation.

    Our last topic on the subject will be on subjects.  The subject of sentence will be the person talking.  In the above sentence, Jane is the subject.  Naming subjects in our writing can become repetitive.  Having "Jane said" at the end of every sentence can get monotonous in a hurry.  I like to use descriptive words instead of names sometimes, to break up that monotony.  If Jane is the older of the two talking, I would say:

    "See Spot run," Jane said.

    "See  Red run," Sue said.

    "No, see Spot run," said the older girl.  

    The audience must already be aware that Jane is the older girl.  This technique can be used with any descriptive, such as, taller, shorter, wiser, impatient, or stronger. It is a good way to make your dialog varied, but still keep the reader aware of who is talking.  

    That's it for today.  Let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them.  Leave a comment, and sign up for the feed.  Also you can find me on Twitter at @murickansaga or Instagram @murickan_saga.  As always, have a great day, and happy writing!

Hey Lolli Leave Your Adverbs Here

 

    I think that most of us writing types know that the adverb is a creation of the devil, and is to be shunned at all costs.  The question that some of us have, is why?  Why is the adverb so demonized by the writing community?  What has the poor adverb ever done to any of us?  Well, I'm here on this Sunday morning to explain it to... probably no one.  lol  But, I love to write, so I'm going into heavy detail as to why you should never, well almost never, use an adverb in your writing.

    Let's start off by going over what an adverb does.  An adverb describes a verb.  That's it.  It simply an adjective for the verb.  Like an apple can be red or green, writing can be done quickly or slowly.  So, you may ask, why aren't adjectives demonized as well?  We'll get into that as well, and hopefully reading this article will help you remember the anti-adverb rule when you're writing, and save yourself a lot of time during the editing process.

    The adverb is to be shunned because they are, by and large, unnecessary.  They are fluff and dander that pads the word count, but contributes nothing to the message.  Adverbs are used to describe things that don't need description.  Adjectives on the other hand describe nouns, which are not self descriptive, and need help. 

    Comparatively speaking, and I mean compared to walking, people run fast.  You don't need to add any descriptive words, explaining to the reader, that someone is trying to go fast when they are running.  An apple, on the other hand, can be large or small, yellow or green, light or heavy.  Nouns don't describe themselves the way verbs do, so the adjective is necessary to give the reader a mental image of the scene.  

    When I say, "Mary ran," I can picture Mary running.  I don't need any other words to describe it, unless she is running in a way that is out of the ordinary.  "Mary ran slowly" or "Mary ran awkwardly" may be used, if the context doesn't give us this information already.  You still may not want to write "slowly" or "awkwardly" if the reader knows that she is running through knee deep mud.  The word running, and most other verbs, are self-descriptive, so most words added for description are superfluous and unnecessary.  Even though adverbs may sound good when we are writing, they bloat our work and slow the readers roll.

    I hope that you've learned something that will help you improve your writing.  Every one of us can improve.  That's the wonderful thing about writing, we are constantly evolving and improving as artists.  I hope you're having a terrific weekend, and as always happy writing!

Sunday's Writing Tips

  

   I have decided to dedicate some posts to helping other people learn the craft of writing.  I write fiction, medieval fantasy, to be specific, but most of what I have to say will apply to non-fiction writers as well.  Being a writer of fantasy fiction, I spend a lot of time in my head, daydreaming.  This can also be considered procrastination, and that is what I'm going to talk about today.

    Writers in general do a lot of thinking, and this is a good thing.  To be a successful writers though, whether fantasy, thriller, or non-fiction, we have to write.  Not only do we have to write, but other people outside our circle of friends and family have to read our work.  So, the number one rule of being a successful writer is to write.  Write every day possible and do it until your story is complete.  Writing, like any other action, improves with practice.  To be a good writer, you must write a lot, and to be a successful writer, you must be good.

    We all have our reasons not to write.  You aren't alone in this.  These reasons are justifications for our fear of failure, our self doubt, our lack of motivation, and our low self esteem.  None of these reasons are good enough to keep you from writing your bestseller.  You need to write, even if you think it will be bad.  The thing is, bad writing can be made good through editing.  If you don't write at all, there is nothing to improve upon.  Nothing can't get better, because it isn't there, it doesn't exist.  I understand how hard it is to break down the mental barriers that we build up.  I understand, but I know that only you can break them, and that is exactly what you have to do.  The good news is that you can.  It's a very difficult thing to do, but it's also the easiest thing in the world.  

    The writing classes, the fantasy story-crafting groups, and the creative writing lessons aren't going to help you.  Writing will help you, and that is the only thing that will.  In my opinion, all of these classes and courses, and I have taken my share, are just another form of procrastination.  We are writers and we need to write.  

    So, today, I want you to take an hour and write.  Write anything.  Write your fantasy.  Write the prologue to the fiction novel that has been growing mold in your brain for the last 10 years.  You can do it, and once you do, the door will be thrown wide open.  Your life will change.  Start writing, and don't ever stop.  There are lots of friendly people on Twitter and Facebook who are writers.  Come join our community and share your story with the world.  

    My Twitter handle is @murickansaga, and if you write your first words after reading this, please find me and tell me about it.  I would love to read it and give you some critique.  Have a wonderful day, and WRITE!