Writing Tips

Dynamic Dialogue

Dialogue is an extremely important layer to our writing. We want our dialogue to do more than convey an idea. We want it to sparkle, to bring our characters to life. The cardinal rule is that characters do not engage in dialogue merely to fill the page. No lengthy discussions of the weather, what the local team’s chances are, or any of the trivial things people actually say to preface a conversation. Dialogue must further the story. And no information dumping!

Attribution/Tag Lines – He Said, She Said

If there are only two people in the scene, you may not need attribution in fast-paced dialogue. Otherwise, the reader needs some way to tell the thoughts and actions of those speaking. Some feel "he said, she said" is invisible to the reader. I disagree, and think clean dialogue without tag lines draws the reader more into the world we’ve created. I especially dislike effusive attribution with telling adverbs for explanation. A way to avoid this is to use body language to convey the adverbial action or the POV characters thoughts.

Tag Line:

"That’s enough of that," she said menacingly.

My preference:

She whirled and balled her fists at her waist. "That’s enough of that."

Or:

She refused to tolerate rumors. "That’s enough of that."

These all convey the same idea. In my opinion, the reader is pulled into the story when body action or internal dialogue is used in place of tag lines. Let the character’s actions portray that person’s mood. Let the POV character’s thoughts and actions portray his or her reaction to the situation. One way to do this is to study body language.

Body Language

There are numerous books on this subject and your public library probably has at least a couple if you wish to pursue the study of body language. It’s not the kind of book you need to purchase and save forever to reread several times unless, like me, you can’t resist buying reference books. Here are a few examples to get you going on this theory:

Crossing the arms is a defensive gesture. This person is uncomfortable and feels challenged in some way and resists. Leaning forward when listening means the person is engaged in the message and doesn’t want to miss a word. It doesn’t have to be "sitting on the edge of the seat" but can be a slight tilt at the waist. Standing to loom over a speaker, or choosing a seat that places someone higher than that of the speaker is a play for power. It’s why we sit while a lecturer stands and why the boss’ desk chair is higher than those for visitors’ use. Running hands through hair – nervous. Tapping foot or fingers – impatient, bored, let’s get on with this.

There are endless subtle meanings to where a speaker looks while he is talking, but the most important is that the average person who is lying won’t meet your gaze [or look into the TV camera] unless he’s an accomplished liar or sociopath. If you want to delve into this further, explore this in one of the many books on the subject. For now, here’s an illustration.

Example:

He crossed his arms and stared at the ceiling. "Yeah, I’m listening."

Do you get the idea this person has already made up his mind? How receptive do you think he’ll be to whatever the speaker says? You see how his body language contradicts what he says?

Guy Speak vs. Girl Talk

When we write dialogue, we usually leave out many of the words we might insert when speaking—just, very, oh, well, really. In this section, I suggest you think about the way men speak. Eavesdrop in public places in order to give your male characters a more realistic pattern of speech. One of the first things you’ll notice is that most guys speak in fragments.

Our strong rugged heroes don’t use long sentences and involved descriptions. I am NOT suggesting that we make them dumbed down or grunting Neanderthals. For instance, a woman might say, "I’m going to the grocery store and I’ll be back home soon, probably before five."

In the same situation, a man might say, "Going to the store. Back soon."

The same idea is conveyed, but men tend to get on with it.

Dialect and Professional Terms.

This gives you a chance to use dialogue to paint a character. Let the dialogue tell the reader if a secondary character is a bore or a scientist or a cowboy. Our speech reflects who we are, where we live, where we grew up, how we think, and what’s important to us. There are colloquial speech patterns for most of the country and those let us know where the speaker lives/lived.

"Reckon I’ll ride to town and stop by the café for grub."

This person is not an Australian aborigine speaking of fat grub worms. You know this is someone from the Southwestern U.S. who intends to eat a meal at the local diner. Here’s the caution—don’t overdo the dialect or colloquialisms or the reader gets bogged down in them and your story is lost.

In one of my novels, my heroine and her family are Irish who have shown up in Texas in 1885. I struggled with dialogue flavored with enough dialect to appear realistic without tangling the speech into gibberish. What I decided is to drop the final "F" in of and the initial "I" in it is. O’ and ‘tis are characteristic of Irish speech and give the reader enough to consistently remember these people are from Ireland and not Texas.

Dialect: "Sure and ‘tis enough o’ that."

This is also true for period speech. Have your read Chaucer in the original form? If so, you know that this would exhaust our readers and they’d never complete a popular fiction novel that faithfully uses period speech. A mere sprinkling is all that’s needed. In addition, the author must be careful not to use words or phrases that have now become statements on their own. Certainly the words "awesome," "whatever," and "right," have been used through historic time. Yet if we use these in, for example, a medieval or regency romance, they will appear anachronistic to the reader.

Syntax/Speech Patterns

Further sense of the individual is accomplished with syntax and phrases common to that ethnic/regional group. You can layer in speech patterns to flavor your dialogue if you want to introduce a person from another country. Immigrants from many European and Spanish speaking countries reverse sentence order and modifiers from American English.

Example: "To the store I am going."

My Irish characters might say "Will you be standing?" instead of "Stand up."

Irish Phrases: "Now wouldn’t that be lovely?" Or, "I’ll be gobsmacked."

If you keep these simple things in mind, layer in body language, dialect, and speech patterns, your dialogue will sparkle.

Formatting Your Novel In Microsoft Word

Formatting is best set up before you begin your novel but it can also be performed for a work in progress or a finished work. To reformat text already begun in Microsoft Word, perform a Control A command, then follow the guide below.

Some authors make a template, which they then use for each book. But once you’re used to it, this process does not take long.

On the Margin menu, change the footer allowance to 0

Leave upper and lower margins at 1" and side margins at 1.25"

Leave header allowance at .05"

On the Layout menu, check Different First Page

Under Font, select Courier New 12 pt. Font, Regular, not Bold. Although some print publisher editors are now accepting Times New Roman, all of them accept Courier New.

Under Paragraph, change the Line and Page Breaks menu to Uncheck Widows and Orphans to allow for them

Under Paragraph, at the Indents and Spacing menu under Spacing, look at the right area for Line Spacing and select Exactly. Then in the open box under At, click until you get 25. Check Okay at the bottom

Under Paragraph again, at the Indents and Spacing menu under Spacing, select Double. This will not affect the 25 lines per page spacing. Click on Okay.

Under Header and Footer, a block will appear. In the header block, put your name, a slash, and then your title in all caps. Example:

Jane Austin/PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

While this block is still up, pull down the Insert Menu and select Page Number. It will give you a Right option, and that is what you want. Before you click Okay, make sure the box for first page is NOT checked. Then, check Okay and Close the header box.

If you plan to use a pseudonym, you do NOT use it on your manuscript. That carries your legal name only. Work out the pseudonym thing with your editor.

In the upper left corner in single spacing, type your name, address, phone number, and email. If you have a website, include that address also.

Drop down five lines and put the genre and approximate length. Figure 250 words a page, which makes a 400 page manuscript 100,000 words.

Drop down to 4.4" and put the title in all caps, next line [double-spaced] chapter one in all caps written out, next line the text begins. This should have the text starting at 5" or 5.1" from the top.

The text for each chapter should also start at 5".

If the end of a chapter has less than ten lines for the last page of the chapter, go back and see if you can tighten paragraphs where only one or two words are on the last line and reduce the chapter by the ten or eleven lines so that the end of the chapter is at the bottom of a page full of type. You can’t always do this, but try.

After the last period of the chapter, pull down the Insert menu and select Break then Page Break. This is if you are writing continuously rather than a file for each chapter.

Now your manuscript is formatted. Before you print it out to send to an agent or editor, make sure you have a fresh ribbon or good ink cartridge. Editors and agents read so much, we need to make our submissions eye-friendly reads.

When writing for a print publisher, underline those words you want to appear in italics in the published work. The underlined words are much easier for the copy editor to pick up and this a standard practice.

Good luck!

Responding to the Dreaded Rejection Letter

You send out your manuscripts, knowing you’ve done a darn fine job of writing. Then, you wait. And wait. Finally, your return envelope arrives in the mail. Not good. Acceptance usually comes via the phone, not by post. Your hands shake as you open the envelope. You’re hoping it’s a request for a few revisions as prerequisite to the desired sale. Nope, it’s a rejection. Not even a so-called good rejection, which would offer advice, but a lousy, rotten form letter.

How hurtful! How depressing! How annoying!

Rejections always hurt. The worst I’ve heard about is one received by Robert Vaughan, prolific writer of over three hundred novels including romance and westerns. Early in his career, a publisher returned his entire manuscript, but there was no letter. He looked in the large envelope that had contained his pages, then turned it up and shook it. Out floated a piece of paper, a tiny scrap torn from a page of his manuscript. All it said was, "Don’t want it." Succinct, but not helpful. Barbara Hume tried science fiction and mystery before she turned to romance. She received one rejection that said, "This is just the sort of thing I don’t like." She laughs about it now but it must have stung at the time.

You have high standards for yourself and expect others to act accordingly. How can an editor or agent be so unfeeling as to send you a form letter? How can he or she be so cruel as to suggest your magnificent work lacks conflict and your heroine is weak? The thing is, discouraging you is not the intention. Both editors and agents receive hundreds of submissions a week. They are always behind, even with assistant readers to help. And your submission may not even have reached the editor or agent you targeted, but may have been read and rejected far down the chain of command by a reader/associate. Any suggestions offered are intended as a benefit and should be viewed as a good rejection. It means that while the editor can’t buy this work, she thinks you show enough promise that she took extra time to offer a critique. But even a so-called good rejection hurts.

What do you do? First, you are allowed to wallow in self-pity and disappointment. [Eat – HOW ABOUT INDULGE?–] chocolate. Cry to your critique partner, your spouse, your best friend. Give yourself thirty-six hours of agonizing and venting to those close to you. Then, what do you do?

First, let’s talk about what you don’t do. This is a business. Consider that you work in a large corporation of writers. Editors, agents, associates are higher in the administration. Editors move from one house to another. Agents move from one agency to another. They see each other in NY or at conferences and exchange horror stories as well as positive tales. But even if that were not the case, you are a professional who takes pride in your work and your performance. Whether or not others act correctly, you must. Never publicly berate anyone. Limit your fuming to privately with those close to you. Venting your hurt and anger on a list or at a chapter meeting doesn’t hurt the editor or agent, but it does hurt you by making you seem unprofessional, amateurish and petty.

So, climb out of your blue funk and write a polite thank you. Yes, even if you hate that editor or agent and vow you will never, ever submit to that person again. Thank the editor or agent graciously for investing the time to consider your manuscript. If the rejection offered any suggestions at all, thank the person for the time it took to make those suggestions whether you agree with them or not. Remember, you are the professional writer, regardless of the other person’s conduct.

And here are some thoughts to consider. Although rejection hurts us, from the other side it’s not personal. Barbara Hume received this rejection from Isaac Asimov’s magazine regarding her short story. "We are not rejecting you. We are rejecting a few typed pages."

And one piece of advice attributed to Barbara Kingsolver is, "This manuscript of yours that has just come back from an editor is a precious package. Don’t consider it rejected. Consider that you’ve addressed it to ‘The Editor Who Can Appreciate My Work’ and it has simply come back stamped ‘Not At This Address.’ Just keep looking for the right address."

Query and Cover Letters

A query sent requesting permission to submit a manuscript or a cover letter sent with a partial or full submission must entice the editor or agent to read the work. The perfect letter consists of three parts: opening paragraph, blurb of one or two paragraphs, closing paragraph. Choose words carefully and keep the letter succinct—down to one page. You might make it easier on the recipient by using Bold for the title and for the first time the name of the hero and heroine are mentioned. First, though, you want to choose an easily read font such as Times New Roman 12 pt., Arial 12 pt., or Courier New 12 pt. If the letter won’t fit on one page, jiggle the font size and margins. You could go with 11 pt. font and three-quarter inch margins. Above all, make it easy on the eyes. Your target recipient reads hundreds of letters each week and appreciates eye-friendly mail.

In your heading with your name and address, include your phone number, email, and website address. Double-check the spelling of the recipient’s name. If you are in doubt, call the publisher or agency and inquire or check their website. No one likes to receive mail with his or her name misspelled, and it shows the author does not take time for accuracy. If you plan to use a pseudonym, this is not the time to mention that unless you are already published by that name. Otherwise, that information comes later in the publishing process.

If you check the agency or publisher guidelines on their website, you may learn whether or not this person likes a query letter only, query with short synopsis, or query with synopsis and partial. A partial is three chapters or around fifty pages if your chapters are short. If you have access to chapter email loops, ask if anyone has heard this editor or agent speak and has any first hand knowledge about this person’s preferences. Some editors read a synopsis, others don’t. Some want three pages, others want ten. Check before you labor over the synopsis. If you can’t find out, it’s best to go with a short, three- to five-page synopsis.

This is where you use the line that would be seen in a TV listing, the length, target market, title and whether or not the work is complete. The line you might see if it were a television movie listed in the newspaper should convey the theme and/or the High Concept. Briefly, high concept is the marketing label such as Cinderella meets King Midas, or Desperate Housewives in Smallville. This lets the editor or agent know what to expect from the book and how to pitch it to others. Including the target market and length lets the recipient know whether or not you have done your marketing homework. Isn’t that the agent or editor’s job? No, in today’s tough market writers have to be savvy enough to know what’s being published and how our work fits within those parameters. So, a first paragraph might be like this:

The blurb is that teasing information one might see on the back of the cover. It usually consists of two paragraphs, one for the heroine and one for the hero. You don’t have to tell the ending, but include a hint of the conflict, both internal and external. Write tight. Keep words to the bare minimum to convey the ideas. This is the hard part for most of us. Condensing the scope of a novel into only two paragraphs may take days of trial and error. Keep telling yourself that this is what will catch the editor or agent’s attention, this is what will convince him or her to read your precious work. A typical blurb might be:

List anything relevant toward your book or your career.

Do NOT say you have wanted to write since you were in the first grade, or that you always made A’s in composition in school, or that you used to be editor for the school paper. Editors and agents don't care.

Don't say your mom and sister and all your friends think you write just like Nora Roberts. Unless these people are editors at a major publishing house, their opinions are not relevant. Editors and agents receive hundreds of queries and submissions each week so give only the facts pertaining to this manuscript.

If you have been previously published, this is the time to say so. If you have won contests, include that. If you are a contest slut and have finalled in sixteen contests, don’t list them all. Mention you've finalled in numerous contests, such as . . . then pick only the two or three you feel are the most prestigious.

If your book is about coal mining and you work as a miner, include that fact.

Let the editor know you're not a one-book-wonder and you're at work on another book.

Mention whether or not you're in RWA and, if so, what chapter.

End with a thank you for considering this work and say you are including an SASE [a stamped, self-addressed envelope] . . . and then remember to do so.

That’s it. You might say something like this:

 Do

Keep it succinct

Use a high concept idea for reference

Entice with a blurb that includes hero and heroine and at least a portion of the conflict and goals

Mention you're working on another book—unless you’re Harper Lee, editors/agents don’t want a one-book author

Include your SASE

 Do Not

Say your work is better than anyone else’s

Promise your work will be a best seller

Mention why you write or when you began

Ramble

Say your manuscript is interesting, exciting, yada yada. Entice with your blurb and let the editor/agent decide

Voila! There you have a letter, ready for your closing sentiment and your name. And it wasn’t too painful, was it?

 POINT OF VIEW (POV):

METHOD WRITING

Have you been told your POV transitions are rough? That your POV head hops? That your characters lack depth? Hopefully not. But even if you have, these problems can be corrected with a little practice.

Consider the Method Acting process. That’s where the actor wills himself to become the character he’s playing. Some actors/actresses meticulously research their role prior to filming or a stage appearance. Renee Zelweger is said to have worked two weeks in a London office to train for her role in the movie "Bridget Jones’ Diary." She became a London office worker in order to play one on screen.

What’s the point of this information in an article on writing? Because in writing, the author must practice Method Writing and become the character. Whether telling the scene from the POV of the hero, heroine, villain, or a child, an author must relate the scene's experiences from that character’s body and mind. Therefore, the author should record only those things the POV character could experience.

Let's say the scene is from Mary's POV and she's arguing with John.

Instead of: John wondered what Mary meant.

That phrase from Mary’s POV should read: John stared, as if he wondered what Mary meant.

Mary cannot know what John is thinking, she can only guess from his facial expression and his body language.

Life experience determines a character’s thoughts, dialogue, and actions. The same is true for an internal dialogue—the character’s impressions reflect these past experiences. For instance, in THE MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE, Pearl bakes pastry and bread to sell to the townspeople. When she meets a brown-eyed man, she thinks his eyes are the color of cinnamon. On the other hand, a painter might think brown eyes are the color burnt umber. In DIGGING FOR DEATH, Laurel Aldridge manages a garden center. Because her world revolves around plants, she thinks the police detective’s eyes are delphinium blue. In HIGH STAKES BRIDE, seven-year-old Seth has been rescued from an abusive father by the heroine and the badly scarred hero, Zach. Seth thinks Zach is a nice man, even if he does look as scary as a nightmare monster. Keep your POV character’s life condition in mind as your write each scene.

Don’t forget to surround the character with the senses. What does the character see, feel, taste, hear, smell, sense, and perceive as reactions from the others in the scene? Immerse the reader in the character’s impressions, but don't dump them all in one paragraph. Slip them in subtly as the scene progresses.

Transitions: When you change points of view, smooth the way for the reader with a signal. At the first of the paragraph in the new POV, use a pronoun or noun to indicate the new POV. Don't cause the reader to back up and reread a paragraph to see who's speaking or internalizing. That takes the reader out of the story.

Head Hopping: It's true Nora Roberts head hops, and wouldn't we all like to write (and be) like Nora? She's one of my favorites and I never get enough of her writing. However, it's a mistake to think that because she does it, so can everyone. We lesser mortals have to follow the rules, at least until we're famous enough to break them. That means no more than one or two POV changes per scene, and the fewer changes the better. If you master Method Writing, you'll eliminate head hopping because you'll be immersed in the POV character and record events as if you had become that character. More importantly, because you are deeply in the character’s POV, you'll pull the reader into the story as well. That's our goal--to make the reader lose himself/herself in our stories.