Six letters can directly impact whether or not your novel crosses an Editor’s desk or becomes relegated to the slush pile.
A-C-T-I-O-N.
Simply stated, your book and your characters must move. If they don't, an editor or reader will put your book down just as quickly as the temperature tends to rise in this part of Texas. Look through three or four of your favorite books. Chances are that common denominators in all of them are action, conflict and meaningful dialogue.
How do you put that snap in your pages? The answer lies in two areas: development and polish.
The first step is development. Before you can start to write, you -- as the author -- must have a clear sense of the characters. Especially in the case of the hero and heroine, your knowledge of their goals, motivations and backgrounds must be absolutely clear so you will be able to put them through all the twists, turns and struggles that will come throughout the course of a 200, 400 or 600-page novel -- and make it all understandable and believable to the reader.
Two of the best resources for starting on this path of developing action are: Debra Dixon's book, GOAL, MOTIVATION AND CONFLICT, and the Writer's Digest book, CONFLICT, ACTION AND SUSPENSE. (If you don't have either of these, you need to make them a part of your writer's resource library.) By establishing what your characters will and will not do, you increase tension -- and action -- by putting the characters only in scenes and situations that advance the plot.
Polish, the second step, is also necessary. While turning off your "internal editor" is crucial to getting creativity flowing from your brain to the computer screen, there also comes a time to critically evaluate plot and pace. Several who have critiqued my latest work have seen me write three different openings for THE BACHELOR AND THE EASTER BUNNY. I have pared and reconstructed the beginning scenes from passive observation to action between my hero and heroine. Could your WIP benefit from a similar objective look?
One way I'm trying to keep my book action-oriented is through writing much of it in screenplay format. One of the classes I'm now taking is "Writing the Screenplay," and I've chosen to adapt BUNNY as my project for the semester. As my professor said on the first day of class, screenplay writing is an "adjective-free zone." Because a screenplay is all action and dialogue and little other description, the characters have to tell the story themselves. Try this exercise with the scene you're working on now and be prepared to see action and dialogue cover your pages.
A crisp, exciting story awaits your readers when you ground your book in plot-building, fast-paced action. So, sit at your computer, evaluate the pace and conflict within your book and take action to make some action.
Recently, I had the opportunity to take a course called the Wines of the World at the Culinary Institute of America. Thursday nights were usually reserved for working on my new novel, but I had hit a block in the love scenes. Frustrated by my attempts to set fire to the pages, I decided to do something different to spur my creativity.
I was joined by a number of people who loved drinking wine, but wanted a more extensive knowledge of the field. Actually, we all admitted we would love to impress our friends in ordering the proper vintage in a five-star restaurant.
After the first glass was poured, we were instructed to study the appearance of the wine. Holding the glass against a white background, we made notes of our impressions. One student tentatively raised her hand.
"It’s red."
We all wholeheartedly agreed. Our teacher shook his head vehemently. "We know it’s red. We want to challenge the ordinary in order to tell the true quality of this wine. What kind of red? Brownish? Ruby? Go beyond the color. Tell me about the finish."
As I studied the liquid more closely, I noticed there was a deep purple color evident in the depth, and as I titlted the glass at an angle, I could glimpse a clear, bright finish to the wine.
Suddenly, my instructor’s words took on a new meaning.
As I thought about my descriptions of my hero, I realized I had not gone beyond the typical broad-shouldered figure with dark hair and blue eyes. I had never shown my reader how his hair spilled over his forehead to partially cover fierce black brows. His nose was a rugged slash across his face; his jaw thrust slightly outward, always giving an impression of arrogance, and his chin was covered by rough five o’clock shadow. His eyes were not just blue, but a deep indigo, piercing intensity when he looked directly at my heroine. And his lips seem to curve slightly upward, almost as if he knew a naughty secret he refused to tell.
I came out of my trance as my instructor moved on to the most important part of tasting: scent.
"Your tongue can only distinguish four tastes. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter. This means you must rely on your sense of smell to tell you everything about wine. What do you get from this variety?"
"Fruity," someone ventured.
"Not good enough." My instructor stared long and hard our group. "What kind of fruit? Citrus or tropical? Do you catch anything else, like floral or spice? I want everyone to close their eyes. Let your senses be your guide." As I breathed in deeply , I was struck by an image of plump blackberries just picked from the vine, and a hint of oak.
My fingers gripped my glass as the realization struck. When I described my hero’s encounters with my heroine, had I ever let the reader feel every touch, every look, every feeling? When he bent his head toward her, the scents of lemon and musk mingled in a rush, teasing her nostrils. While they were talking, his hand would reach out to grasp a stray tendril of her hair, sliding his fingers over the strands with easy, sensual movements. And when she tried to deny her feelings for him, he laughed: a low, husky growl that raked across her nerve endings and told her he didn’t believe a word she uttered. Each encounter laid the groundwork for their ultimate union, but the reader needed to be there every step of the way, or the final culmination would be flat.
"All of this eventually leads us to the finale," my instructor continued. "Taste. Now, remember, it should only confirm all your initial observations."
At last my writing problem became startlingly clear.
When my hero finally backed my heroine up against the wall and stamped his mouth over hers, it was the climax of all their previous confrontations. Each must be described in full detail. The long, searching glances. The brush of his hands over her skin. The electricity crackling in the air every time they stand near one another.
And I realized what I had done wrong. Sexual tension had been the missing link in my novel. I had tried to jump right into the love scene, assuming my readers knew my characters as well as I did. Instead of dangling the carrot, I had just handed it over, robbing them of the pleasure of being led through each delicious intimacy by an experienced guide.
The love scene should fulfill every expectation the reader promised. When your hero finally sweeps her into his arms and kicks down the bedroom door, the reader won’t be trembling unless you’ve laid the proper groundwork.
When my instructor dismissed us, I sped home to my word processor. I reworked the previous chapters, adding all of the details I had cheated from my readers, and my love scene exploded off the pages.
Besides getting my novel back on track, I can now enjoy an excellent glass of Chianti Classico while I work...preferably from the year 1994.
Reprinted for the June issue of ROMANCE AMONG THE ROSES.
Or is it like a sieve? Think of your story as a recipe. In it you will place a hero and heroine in the intriguing conflict, maybe a subplot or two, secondary characters, descriptions, dialogue, etc...and when you mix all of it together you end up with a.. souffle. But did it fall flat? Have you ever tried to mix up the ingredients for a souffle in a colander? Probably not. (I don't recommend trying that as an experiment at home.) But just imagine the mess it could make. And that’s the same mess you could end up with in your 300 or 400 page book if you don't have a solid premise.
If you've ever reached chapter three or five or ten of your novel and realized your story is going nowhere, or that your story should have ended a hundred pages earlier, then this test is for you. It’s much easier to solve a problem of that magnitude before you ever start the story. The way I do this is by testing my conflict. If it holds up to questions and the pressure I put on its seams before I start the book, then the likelihood of it springing a leak on page 198 is much less. Your bucket of a story has to hold up under the pressure of subplots and characterizations, dialogue and descriptions. So, let’s test your conflict.
In Techniques of the Selling Writer, Dwight Swain says, "Stories should open with trouble. Open when a bad situation is about to get worse." Trouble causes change. Change often troubles us. Every reader can relate to that. But is the trouble you've created for your characters enough for a short story or a full length novel? Let’s find out. If you're going to start with trouble then you'll need these things (according to Swain):
A. You need an existing situation. This is your main character’s normal, every day life --going to the gas station, helping her ten-year-old catch a baseball, or handing out parking tickets. It is what your character expects to happen every day in his/her life.
B. Then you need a change in that situation. This is a new element or relationship or catastrophe injected into that hum-drum situation--your character walks into the gas station and learns she's won the lottery, a handsome new man will coach her son's baseball team, or a dead body is found in an illegally parked car. Whether the something is good or bad, it changes.
C. The character. The character is affected by the change whether financially, mentally, physically or emotionally. This character reacts in characteristic fashion.
D. Finally, you need consequences. This is the vital ingredient that can spell success or disaster. Let’s look at a couple of examples:
Situation: A teacher berates a student for
never completing his homework.
Change: The student works all one night and
completes his assignment.
Character: The teacher scoffs at the child's
attempt and gives him a D.
Consequences: The child gives up on
learning.
And you're back to square one. A change in a story must prompt a chain reaction of events that will catapult us through the story. Responding to change your character must do something that brings unanticipated results. Let's look at GONE WITH THE WIND:
Situation: Scarlett O'Hara, a southern belle, is speaking with two handsome men about the latest county gossip.
Change: Ashley Wilkes is engaged! It will be announced the next day at the barbecue.
Character: Scarlett is devastated.
Change: She runs off. This sets off events for her reaction, her idea to tell Ashley how she feels, her outrageous flirtations to make Ashley jealous, the wonderful scene in the library that Rhett overhears, her decision to marry first Charles then Frank and on and on and on through all of Scarlett's shenanigans.
So, when you think you're ready to start writing chapter one, take a minute and test your premise. Make sure it holds water...or a good solid plot with lots of conflict, so you will have 300 pages to fill with a wonderful, engaging story.
Reprinted from the June issue of Romance Among The Roses.
6 Key Elements for Characterization
WHAT a character DOES
HOW s/he does it
WHAT a character SAYS
HOW s/he says it
WHAT a character THINKS
HOW s/he thinks it
(Characterization for non-POV characters would have only the first four.)
If a character is consistent in all of these areas from the beginning to end of a book, you have an extremely static character (readers expect characters to go out of character because they expect the hero/heroine to change). If a character abruptly shifts in all--or even several--of these areas at once, you have an extremely unbelievable character.
So, the idea is to mix ‘em up. My personal theory is that most of us (yours truly included) have a healthy dose of self-delusion, and I see no reason characters wouldn’t, too. So I often start a character’s process of change by dealing with those HOWs well before the WHATs. So, in the heroine’s POV--let’s call her Hildegarde--you might have her thinking:
Reg was such a swine. She never could stand him. Not even when he swept her into that waltz on the piazza--no, especially not then. He’d left her all flushed and breathless--from the exertion of the dance--when she had most wanted to be calm and regal when she was presented to Gerald’s parents. Yes, Reg was a swine. Always tormenting her. An absolute swine.
So this is a heroine still THINKING "in character" for the character presented at the beginning of the story of not being attracted to Reg and having her sights set on Gerald. But HOW she THINKS it, indicated a change is brewing.
The "doth protest too much" works great with the HOWS in SAYING and THINKING to show a character trying to hold onto being "in character" for their position from the start of the book, while clueing in the reader that the change has started.
The next step might be for Hildegarde to find herself thinking unexpected/out-of-character thoughts (unexpected based on her position from the start of the story), such as what a wonderful laugh Reg has--starting to change WHAT she’s thinking.
I think the most natural or accepted progression would be what a character THINKS to what s/he SAYS to what s/he DOES, though switching them around not only works, but can be fun. In fact, I’d say that for male characters, often the progression of a change is THINKS, DOES, SAYS.
A straightforward march through the progression might work, but I think it would be boring. Some backsliding is normal and interesting. But, I know that for me, as a reader, when a character gets stuck at one part of the progression, I get impatient. If Hildegarde is still indulging in self-delusional thinking and that’s all the progress she’s made after 100 pages or so, there’s a good chance she’s going to choke on the dust bunnies under my bed.
Patricia McLinn is the author of 10 Silhouette Special Editions, as well as a Harlequin Historical. Reprinted from the September issue of POTPOURRI.