Writing in the Dark

Writing in the Dark

Traci Kenworth

 

I used to write religiously with an outline as I’ve said on here before but lately, I’ve been “writing in the dark” so to speak. Which is to say, I’ve thrown out my outline with my current project and what I’ve begun to do is to take each chap as one/or several long scenes and jot down notes before writing the chapter. Then I proceed to the next chapter and start the process over again. I’ve discovered a freedom in this type of writing and it’s really opened up the creative doors for me.

Part of why I’ve down so is reading several Stephen King interviews as well as going back over his The Stephen King Companion. He’s admitted he isn’t one for knowing exactly how a story is going to go, but with his writing, “finds what he needs, when he needs it.” I’m paraphrasing here, these aren’t his exact words, but I’ve found this to be true when it comes to my own writing. See, I was having a hard time getting enthused about a wip when I knew what was going to happen down to the ending. Writing this way lately, has multiplied the possibilities.

I’ve found new life in my story, my cps are enthusiastic about it, and it’s turning out to be one of the most complex stories I’ve written. So, it just goes to show, sometimes if you throw all the rules out, you find the will to go on, and what’s more, you’ll soar in your efforts. How about you? Are you an outliner or a pantser or a little of both? Any tips on how to do writing your way that you think might help others?

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When it’s Okay

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When it’s Okay to be in Love with Your Writing

& when it’s not

Traci Kenworth

 

Okay, so you just know you’ve written the one. You’re trembling with excitement, on fire with ambition, ready to shoot past the stars. Hold on there. Have you ran your brilliant creation past your critique groups and beta readers and gotten their thoughts/pointers? Although you may be tempted to skip these steps, because you can’t possibly make it any better, do them anyway. That’s right. Resist the temptation to just hit send to that agent on your list.

Instead, step back, take a look, and breathe. Let the comments settle a while if you must, and then pare your work. Yes, that’s right, doing so will improve it further. I know how hard it is to put something you’ve sweated, cried, and driven yourself mad over, but it has to be done. And when you do so, keep in mind that the critiquer is not out to get you, someone who lives to cut others down, or tempted to steal your work. They’ve got their own.

Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some unscrupulous people out there. Do your research. Find a group that cares about you as well as your writing. Support is a major factor in winning the battle. I trust my cps. I’ve been the rounds with them, know when to listen, and when to stay with my vision. I can tell you one thing though: what they say carries impact because I know they really want the best for me.

I try to give that back as well. Are there times I don’t like what they say? Yes. Are there times when they don’t like what I say? Yes. But we get through it like a family does. The best advice I can give you is to put that manuscript aside and let what was pointed out sink in. Then when you go back, approach it with new eyes. Does that paragraph really border on telling? Tweak it. Is your character too passive? Go back and look them over. Are they doing their job? Is this really their story? Or does it belong to the poor boy, Jack? Is your prose overwritten? Weed, weed, weed.

It’s amazing how much we learn from book to book, if we let ourselves. One of the best compliments I’ve received was after advice to put what I was working with aside and go back to it. My cp simply told me, “Anyone can be taught to write, but you’re a storyteller. That’s a rare gift.” I treasure and hold onto that when the reviews don’t turn in my favor. This is the same person who gave me a key that I like to think will open the door to success for me one day. See, we are like a family. Support and constructive criticism.

Has anyone ever been hurt or put off by my comments in the past? Yes, I’m sure more than once. I tend to be honest and straight forward in a critique and that doesn’t always agree with some people. And some do take what I say the wrong way. I wish this wasn’t so, but it is. I’ve had relationships destroyed by the fact, and people ask me not to critique their work any longer. The hurt goes both ways. I was trying to help, they took offense.

Luckily, the ladies at YAFF (YoungAdultFictionFanatics) keep the communication lines open. Just remember to find someone to critique your work that doesn’t approach it as a tear-down session. They should compliment what you’re doing as well as point out the bad. It’s give-and-take.

Remember to digest what they say, and if it remains true to your vision of the story, or can improve it, go with it. If it deviates from how you want to go, weigh the pros and cons. Trust your gut. It’s hard to do at first, but the more you write, the stronger your belief in yourself will become. Eventually, you’ll learn which path to take. Don’t be so in love with your writing you’re unwilling to change it, but fight for what you believe in.

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Life-Lessons Learned from Writing

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Life-Lessons I’ve Learned From Writing

Traci Kenworth

 

 

1. 1.      Be confidant: One of the hardest things I’ve learned is to have confidence in myself. I felt lost in all areas of my life, struggling to find my way to the shoreline when it came to everything. But then I started to write and the pieces slowly came together. I could look at other places I thought I’d messed up and see that I hadn’t done half-as-bad as I thought. Writing made me happier too. My kids noticed it. My family and friends, even co-workers. I was in my element. With everything before me and nothing impossible.
2. 2.      Pride. Now this is a delicate one to handle. You don’t want too much of it to become overbearing to others. Just a tad is enough. But, yes, here was that piece I’d missed all my life when I turned around. A tragic marriage stole a lot from me. God gave it back to me in my words in a story. They stir my heart and make me see the dynamics in what I’m doing.
3. 3.      Hope. This brings us to the next stage of our career. Reaching out to others doesn’t seem that far away in the written word. I want to give back to my readers what I had taken from me. I want to show them they don’t have to live among lies and threats. I want to show them that there are caring, wonderful people out there who want to make a difference in their lives. Without hope, we’re lost. Let’s sprinkle that among our readers, dare them to believe the truths: that we can do anything through God that strengthens us. We are a country built on that fact. Let’s not lose it in life. Bring back the spirit of the survivors and the quest for a new life.
4. 4.      Faith. Now you might think it’s funny that I used that word when it comes to writing but faith is the companion of those above. When you have faith, you can do anything, succeed at anything, carry yourself through the heartaches and lean years. Our ancestors counted on such strength to push them through the hard times, we can do the same when it comes to the publishing industry. Just hang in there, do your best, and most important of all: send that material out.
5. 5.      Prosperity. I know, that’s sounds funny coming from someone with my income. But I’m talking about the urge to turn your bank account into a profit again, to save money, to cut your debts out. Writing has inspired me, even when things were bad, that they don’t have to stay that way. The challenge is to try and turn things around. And once you try, you set yourself up to succeed. So those are the lessons writing has brought into my life. They may sound strange to you, but every day I write I learn something new. Whether during my research, writing my story, or just taking notes, something strikes me and turns my life around. What are some of the lessons writing has taught you?

 

 

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Settings for Horror

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Settings for Horror

Traci Kenworth

 

Settings for horror can happen anywhere. From basements to dining rooms, outdoors to in, present day to long ago. But you’re main concern here is what evokes terror for you? I’m talking: heart-pumping, sick to your stomach, ready to crawl through a narrow pipe to escape fear. It has to be something that terrifies you, so that you can convey that to your readers. Take a basement. A classic setting. The items in a basement tend to range from mildly curious to downright dangerous to have around. Old saws, bear traps, crow bars, and the likes. Any and all could be used for defense or torture.

Houses themselves have played a HUGE part in horror stories over the years. The Amityville Horror. Poltergeist. Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Anything from haunted mansions to devil traps, curses etc. You hold unlimited means as to what tools reside in the home. Again, for defense or torture. Imagine scenes of hungry zombies at your door as Carrie Ryan did in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. You can get trapped in houses, or the house itself becomes the trap.

The woods are a popular setting. Getting lost among them can become terror itself. Having someone or some thing chasing you through can be another driving force for fear. Or perhaps, the scare comes from within your character: someone who got lost in the woods as a little girl/boy and relives the nightmare as an adult. Weapons here are nature’s caveat: tree branches, trunks, rocks, dirt, etc. You could build an arsenal out of the things available and may need to do so to keep that creature from breathing down your neck.

You can also use different time periods. Present day happenings to glimpses of deaths of long-ago victims. A lot of writers apply this to their stories. Some tales even happen in an alternate world or apocalyptic setting. There’s a full range of possibilities here. They can add a dash of zest to your writing.

The point is: anywhere in life can barrage you with terrifying thoughts and ideas; you just need to pick from among them and decide which works best for you. I like the places and time periods listed above. I also like exploring new settings. Even those I haven’t been too. To write horror (or any story for that matter) it takes a certain suspension of belief. If you can dig down deep within you and imagine your worst fears (i.e. giant spiders, venomous snakes, an attacking dog, people gone insane, a distraught mother who mistakenly thinks you kidnapped her child), you can come up with a story worth telling.

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How to Breathe Life into Your Characters Part VIII

How to Breathe Life into Your Characters

Part VIII

Endings: The All Important Stop

Traci Kenworth

 

Next to your beginning hook, your ending may very well be the most challenging to write. Readers want to be satisfied, to be carried through “the dream” they’ve been exposed to. And, no, I’m not saying here to wake your reader up to an, “It was all a dream,” storyline. What I’m getting at is that the all important stop has to resonate with the reader, to the point of them saying, “Yes, that’s the way it happened.”

In your end, you want to tie up loose knots. That’s not to say if you plan sequels that you have to tighten them all, some can remain unraveled. Even if a single story. For instance, we don’t need to be told a character’s future. We can leave that up to the reader to decide what happens, if they got their “happily-ever-after,” or if things just didn’t work out. How do we do this?

We give a little taste of what is to come. This is your shot, your chance to hook the reader into buying your next book and the one after that. Always leave them hungering for more. So how do you know you put the right ending on? You should feel it down in your bones. That this couldn’t happen any other way. It should capture the joy or sadness of the characters depending on the outcome. It should leave the door open a smidgeon for us to guess what happens next in their lives. If they survive.

Sometimes heroes go down on the job. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. There are times when, no matter which way we look at it, the main character has to give their life in order for others/the world to go on. But along with all the grief, you want to leave the message that their life counted for something. That others will go on because of it.

An ending can make or break us. We can lose readers from a half-hearted effort, we can gain word-of-mouth from a glorious one. So pay as much attention to the ending as you do the beginning. Give us a teaser that will make us want to read more of your books. Good luck with your writing.

 

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How to Choose Which Genre…

Choosing the Genre in Which to Write

Traci Kenworth

 

I’m going to divert from “How to Breathe Life into Your Characters” this week to discuss what genre you should think of putting your book in. There’s so many to choose from, and different shades of each. You have your Science Fiction-Fantasy that breaks up into “pure” strains of either Science Fiction or Fantasy. You have your Horror, Thrillers, Romance, and so on. So how do you decide?

Just as you had to figure out what character to begin with, this is your time to discover just “who” it is you’re writing to. The gentle reader, of course. But what age group? Yes, you have to break it down. There are no books from 5-100. So that means, you must choose between  pre-school, middle-grade, teen, and adult readers. All fun to write for, but only one selection can be pursued.

If you tried to write the 5-100, you wouldn’t be able to place the book. The agent wouldn’t know where to market it as well. So don’t be stubborn: let your characters speak. What voice do they use? Young or old? How youthful? I tried writing adult books(and who knows, someday maybe I will give it another shot), but my teenage characters keep reeling me in for their stories to be told. Not that I mind. They have some fascinating tales to tell.

For me, I remember not having much of a selection to read from in the YA market. Nowadays there are so many diverse slots for the books, it’s hard to know just where to go. That’s when you have to let the story point the direction. Is it paranormal? Chick-lit? Dystopian? Contemporary? On and on. I tend to write in the YA Supernatural Horror area. I have read a LOT of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, J.N. Williamson, Ray Bradbury etc. That’s where the horror background comes in. It’s funny, I can’t take the hard-core horror movies or TV shows, but I can read them, and write them. The supernatural is just is part of the way I look at things. Add to that my young adult characters and I know what genre I’m supposed to write in.

I tried comedy, contemporary, the funny and light, nothing fit my voice until I decided to stop fighting it and realize “dark, haunting tales,” are just a part of me. Growing up, the Apocalypse aspect of things always waited just out of reach. I think we’ve come back to those times, those fears. So I write about them, hoping to dispel some anxiety of the reader. What would be the worst that could happen? Could we stop it? What if we couldn’t? All this goes into the material.

Why young adults(ages 13-18), you ask? Because I believe it’s one of the best genres out there. And not only the market ability. I believe young minds are on the cusp of opening to a whole new world of possibilities, that they want stories that challenge them, give them hope, make them dare to take that leap. I don’t write these stories to make them fear life. I want them to embrace it, and live every moment to the fullest.

So decide which shelf it is that you want to pull your book down from. Each genre has it rewards. It’s up to you to decide what means the most to you. Perhaps try experimenting with the different ones, and let that settle your mind on where to write. If you love seeing the hero and heroine explore their relationship, and want to focus on them, choose romance. Love fantastical worlds ala The Hobbit? Fantasy’s your option. Spaceships and star destroyers? Science Fiction. Monsters and good defeating evil? Horror. Or blend them. Not all, of course, but a good Fantasy-Horror book is just waiting to be written.

And remember to break them off into age brackets. Your reader will thank you for choosing to express yourself in a genre you’ll most likely come to love. All that’s left then, is to settle down, open the pages, and begin the story.

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How to Breathe Life into Your Characters VI

How to Breathe Life into Your Characters

VI

Introductions

 

The way you bring your hero/heroine onto the page is important. Some say to start with a big bang, but that doesn’t allow your character enough time for the reader to come to identify with him/her. You want to begin with the inciting incident, for sure. This means what catastrophe is going to happen/the beginning of a romance/the window to the plot.

Don’t rush it. Take your time and bring the viewpoint character as close to the action as possible without dangling him over a cliff in the first few paragraphs. I’ve made some of the big no-no’s when it comes to beginning: beginning with dreams, describing the character via mirrors/pools, putting him/her into the thick of things before they’re developed enough.

That’s the key here. The reader wants to get to know your character before they decide to jump off a bridge/rush into the darkness with them. Because we all know there are consequences in those actions. However, for most of us, it’s like listening to the news. We’re aware of the situation but it doesn’t concern us because it’s not personal for us.

Let’s get a glimpse of their sock drawer where they’ve hidden a million dollars, watch the struggle over a comeback to the biggest bully in school, catch a peek of a shadowed figure before we’re swept into the action. This isn’t to say that you start with a dull opening. Far from it. You need a hook to catch an agent/editor’s attention. But a piece of advice: don’t go for the throat in the first sentence.

Think of your favorite books. Clary doesn’t start off in The City of Bones trying to rescue Jace as well as humankind. She doesn’t even know that’s on the horizon yet. She’s concerned with what her mother will think about her staying out late—again.

Katniss doesn’t fall onto the pages within The Hunger Games, a contestant bent on survival. No, we’re allowed to see both the good and the bad of her world. Introduced to those who care about her, and those she cares about. This shows us the window to the plot.

Mary doesn’t begin in the woods in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but begins by describing a typical day. The horror of what she knows: living with zombies at the fences, always with the threat of their breaking through. We know it’s going to happen, just not when.

These authors were adept at dropping the reader into the book at just the right place. It is important that we know where the hero/heroine’s from, who their family is, what life means to them, and what they consider their fate is going to be. Each glance we get into their perspective worlds bridges the gap between them and the reader. Then, when the rider gallops into the village with news of impending doom, our heroine’s lunch tray gets thrust aside by the it girl, or our lovebirds meet for the first time, it’ll set off sparks.

And those sparks can fan a flame. Keep your characters real to themselves and your readers: show us all that they are made of, then break them down. This is where your story begins. But remember, quietly not with a bang.

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How to Breathe Life into Your Characters Par IV

How to Breathe Life into Your Characters

IV

Choosing Viewpoint

 

Okay, now we get down into whose “eyes” the story is told through. It should be the character with the most to lose. Is it Little Boy Blue hiding under the haystack? The Big Bad Wolf? Or Esmeralda? Sure, the villain has a lot at stake, but are readers going to identify with him/her? Or would they much rather fit into the shoes of the hero or heroine? The choice is going to be as varied and interesting as the author’s of the stories.

I would say that it also depends on who your reader is: young adult or adult? It is much easier to incorporate the baddie’s view in the adult novel. Teens want to embrace the characters they read about, not be repulsed, imo. That is why Katniss, Clary, and others are so beloved. They speak to a reader, they’re like old friends. You want to encourage that comfortably as much as possible. Give them something unique, quirkish for sure, but ultimately it’s their hearts that matter.

A good character, a strong-rooted one, will be followed by their fans through thick and thin. So what makes a hero/heroine? Is it their bravery? Their ability to function when the lights go out in a haunted house? Courage is a powerful motivator. What makes Jay Asher’s hero listen to the tapes of a classmate who killed herself? An inner need to know the truth, to go the distance, to know himself.

I think it is the journey, the obstacles thrown into our characters path, the quest to overcome them, to become a better person that keeps those pages turning. In real life, we may not always be the “star player” in our world, but in a book, we can soar to new heights, maybe even change a part of who we are, how we see things, when we finish it. A novel gives us hope that things might be different, that others understand and awaken courage within us. They explore all topics from depression, to suicide, cancer, and rape to name a few. Stories can teach us something at the same time they deliver “the goods.”

Can your book be written from multiple viewpoints? Yes. Often both the hero and heroine share in the telling. I, personally, prefer this method. It gives you a chance to explore events that happen when another character is off-screen. You can advance the story faster. Look at Maggie Steifvater’s linger series. The hero and heroine effectively play off the other’s last scene. Simon and Clary do this well also in the City of Bones series. Here, we have a slight variation on just who the “hero” is, Simon or Jace. But clearly, Simon has the “most” to lose.

So, when your exploring how to begin your novel, consider the viewpoint character/s. A rough coal can be chipped away at to display a diamond. Point-in-case, hush, hush’s fallen angel. A “good” guy can be hiding in our midst, a “shattered” heroine can learn to live again. And the Big Bad Wolf can be defeated.

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How to Breath Life into Your Characters III

How to Breathe Life in Your Characters

Part III

Background Info.

 

Now that you’ve gotten your characters’ names figured out as well as their descriptions,

it’s time to move onto their backgrounds. For example, who are their parents? Where did they grow up, when is their birthday? The more detail you can put into each of these little tidbits, the better. Don’t skip this precious step. I know it’s easy to think you can because most of the information won’t even show up in the book, but this leads to a one-dimensional character.

Who are they, where do they come from adds layers to them. Don’t settle for a stick-figure when you can have a fully-developed character. You may even have to go back further than your main characters to get a grip on your storyline. When I did my Akara world, I briefly touched on its roots but learned during two books that I’d neglected a whole depth of information. I needed to do a history on the tribe, the village, the founder before I could put my best efforts into the background. Thus I came up with Eauga and the tragic history connected with him.

Research comes in here, as in all points of the story. I had to study the area I wanted it set in, how the Native American tribes were treated, what became of them. I then had to bring the people forward into the time period I wanted to set it in. So, I had to age both my setting and those who had come before. I had to create a village, a county, a town, and city to go along with them. I had to delve into their communication systems, their heat/air conditioning situations, their paths taken. Spending the time doing the research isn’t always fun. Some days it’s downright boring, but when you hit on that little fact, that spark of imagination, it’s all worth it.

Like the character’s descriptions, I had to paint in my setting. The trees, the mountains, the rocks, and the lake. I had to show the acreage, the deed, if you will. This area forces you to dig down deep, to give it that extra effort. After all, you want your reader to stay immersed in your world, and not come crashing down to a world full of dirty dishes, housework, and boredom. People read to escape, to learn, to enjoy. What I did was to take pictures of places in the real world and bridge it with my own imaginings. Thus a snapshot of a mountain provided my inspiration there, likewise the lake, and other land features.

Know your population. How big or small is your town, city, county, state, or country? This is useful in giving us a visual of what the area looks like. Are there crowds down the sidewalks? Lonely, vacant buildings? Unused railroad tracks? Busy malls? Again, your characters must determine your setting, unless you’re trying to take a fish out of the water.

Who is their enemy/the conflict they fight against? Is it nature, man-made, a person/creature etc.? Let your surroundings dictate what sort of obstacle would arise in that world. My Akara are an isolated group. They’re used to being treated different by others who hold a prejudice against them due to race, class, or who they are. Here, I’ve layered their enemies as well. Besides the town’s fear of them, there is a secret society that desires to exterminate them, and creatures who hunt them, even as they are hunted by them.

What kind of education do they possess? Are they leaders among their people, or followers? Do they cower before shadows, or bravely scatter them in their paths? What about faith? Do they have one? How important is it to them? This can be a life-altering decision for your character just as much as it is for someone in real life. How does it make them go about their business? Shock them in moments of weakness? Bring them to their knees?

What about deaths in the family? Classic catalyst. What weapons do they use? Or are they forced into hand-to-hand combat? Their ideas/thoughts on fighting/wars are a major part of who they are. In truth, the best way to round your character/s is to think of yourself and others you know. What makes you up? Your politics? Does a fight in high school with one of your best friends at the time haunt you? Do you wish/regret that old flame you let die? What are your scars, physical and emotional?

Wrap these things and more into your characters and you will have winners/losers. After all, there’s a fair end to the spectrum. Our heroes/heroines must rise the occasion, our villains fall, and the losers in the story must play their part to bring out the best/worst in us all. Only then can we be assured we’ve done our job.

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Let Me Look in the Mirror Already!

How to Breathe Life into Your Characters

Part II: Let Me See in the Mirror Already!

 

 

A character’s looks. How important are they? Some say the less description the better,

but I’ve read in an agent’s recent blog(and I concur)that the readers wants to know what your character looks like, warts and all. I don’t say to browbeat him or her with endless descriptions of a character’s eyes or rosy cheeks etc. But there has to be a healthy balance between what your hero/heroine looks like and what the reader see’s in their minds.

Think of them as clues. Blond hair or dark brown? Green eyes or violet? All little details that drive home the character to us. I, for one, like to “cast” my characters. So on any given day before I start a book, I spend countless hours searching magazines, the internet, or television for that matter for the perfect match to what I see. Sometimes I don’t start with a clear image as to what I’m looking for but just scan until the right photo jumps out at me and claims the face of the character in question.

Sometimes I pick a popular actor/actress, oftentimes I go with an unknown. Because no matter whom they are to you, your reader is going to see someone different. We can only give visual tidbits to further the illusion. And the truth is, I’m going to describe an actor/actress in the way I see them. That means I might notice imperfections others don’t that bring the character alive. And I search for the flaws most of the time because who wants to read about a perfect person?

Really the picture is just a canvas that we need to enhance in our reader’s mind. Character traits play an important part of this. We can have a pretty heroine on the outside but inside she feels like a girl next door or plain Jane. A gorgeous guy can be the vilest person we know deep down. It’s all in how you want to layer them.

In my story, The Safe House, I take a well-known actress and give her body issues. To everyone else, she’s beautiful, to herself, she’s too thin, too little up top, too ordinary. I like to think this brings her down to our level. After all, who among us is comfortable in their own skin, especially at eighteen? The awkward, ugly duckling phase can be felt by all. And when we grow into that swan, it’s not because we suddenly became Julia Roberts, but we came to terms with ourselves inside. It lends a sort of confidence to who we are.

Likewise my hero finds a different sort of failing in himself. Outwardly, he is calm, resolute. Inside, he feels like a fake, an actor on a stage who someone is about to discover doesn’t belong as the lead. He is forced to take more and more responsibility onto his shoulders and yet, his doubts hinder his performance until at last, he breaks free of the insecurities and rises to the warrior he needs to be.

So, yes, as you see, there’s more to it than labeling someone with blond hair, blue eyes. And yet those looks help develop who a character is to our readers. Describing our characters too little can often leave them abstract, in need of an infusion of color, warmth. Balance is the key. Bring the emotions with the image. Reflect that back and you’ll create characters that are fully rounded and ready to spring from the page.

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