Finding Inspiration in the Season

I've been blogging about literary writing.  One aspect of good, profound writing is research.  A popular kind of book to read this time of year relates to one of a plethora of holidays that come up in various cultures and religions.  In order to write something meaningful, it's important to understand the culture behind whatever holiday you're going to write about. 

If you're going to write about Christmas, there are so many ways to approach it.  You could write from the mainstream cultural standpoint, including Santa, gifts, a tree, etc.  You could simply write based on your experience, but you may find that a little research behind the Christmas symbolism will give you insights you never had before that could add depth to your story.  If you're seeking to appeal to a Christian audience, make sure you know the symbolism and meanings well.  Otherwise, those who do will find themselves thrown out of the narrative. 

Stories about Christmas are very common.  However, some readers seek to write to audiences that celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Years, or any of a large number of December-centered holidays.  If you try to write about someone else's sacred day, even briefly, without researching it with attention to detail, you'll likely offend everyone. 

Researching any subject on which you want to write is important, but it becomes particularly critical where subjects sacred or fundamental to a reader's beliefs are concerned.  Such research will show respect and will set your writings apart. 

Borrowing external Eyes

I've been blogging about how to write in a more literary fashion.  This one is more about seeking help of others and should be a part of any writing.  As one writes, the tendency is to think everything you're writing sounds good, or you wouldn't be writing it.  You fall into habits and patterns of writing and storytelling, some of which may not work for readers outside your head.  For this reason, it's critical to seek out readers, as many readers as possible, to keep your writing making sense and flowing.  For this, one often needs to seek out writers' groups, whether they be online or in-person.  

There are several websites, many of them free, for writers to find readers.  One danger of using any old website is that a publisher may consider something shared with just anyone "published."  But finding an online writers' group helps get your pieces read without the struggles that go along with being at a certain place at a certain time.  There is freedom in being able to get things read on their own time and on yours.  I belong to a writing group wherein we say we're available then email each other our pieces.  I can read their pieces on my time as it fits in my schedule, and they can read mine as it fits in theirs.  

A lot of people prefer in-person writers' groups.  There is an advantage in being able to see body language, hear the feedback in person, and to be able to ask questions and get those questions answered in-person.  Experienced writers can give new writers a lot of wisdom and experience.  Also, this kind of group will often have speakers and presenters. Every state is likely to have such groups.  I'd recommend you find yours if you haven't already.  

Some people limit themselves to just friends and family as your readers.  The danger in this is they may be afraid to tell you their honest opinion and/or just not know what it takes to write in a professional manner.  They may tell you only what they think you want to hear.  It is good to know who you can trust to tell them their honest opinion, whether they be friends, family, or someone else.  

The critical part is to have external eyes, someone who can give you honest feedback.  Very few people can write solid pieces, literary or otherwise, without a lot of feedback.  If you can pay an editor after a lot of feedback from others, that would be better still.  One way or another, find external eyes you can trust and get your piece polished.  

It's not Shakespeare...Except It Is

I've been blogging about how to make one's writing more literary.  The backbone of Western literature, in terms of allusion, structure, story line, and so many other things, include Shakespeare and the Bible.  One cannot count the influences these texts have had on most of what we read.  Shakespearean turns of phrase and biblical allusion have become so entrenched in the culture that people don't even realize they're using them anymore.  When you talk about your character on a "wild goose chase," having "the green-eyed monster" of jealousy, or "being pure as the driven snow," you don't even realize you've just quoted Shakespeare.  When your female character offers your male character an apple, when innocent characters stand naked and vulnerable before temptation, when brother betrays brother with the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" you may not even think about the Bible.  Whether you're religious or not, ultra educated or not, or even very interested in either, it's a good idea to be familiar with both of these sources. If you are, you can consciously call on the literary strength and cultural depth of an allusion or quotation or story arc. 

Someone I know wrote a script that was supposed to be about the Christmas story, but because he didn't know the source material, it ended up being pure fiction that did not carry the emotional depth of the original.  He also wanted to write about angels without knowing what any biblical scholar could tell you about the stories.  I couldn't get this person to see the importance of knowing the original source material to tap the depth and power of the original into his works. He could still make the stories his own, use his own creativity and ingenuity to craft his stories, without ignoring the original. 

Anyone who reads great literary works like Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno knows these authors immersed themselves in the subject matter in order to spin it into something new.  Shakespeare, himself, drew on the Bible frequently.  He may question it and philosophize about it through the words of Hamlet.  But he was able to spin it into his own creations because he knew the subject matter. 

Whether Shakespeare seems like gibberish to you, or the Bible is just not your thing, much of great literature, modern and older works, draw on these mainstays.  You don't have to read these works to draw on the stories; however, reading sections before you rewrite or allude to them would give you more ideas, more strength, more specificity in your writing.  One way or another, keep these two sources in mind as you pursue your literary masterpieces. 

Stoke the Passion

I've been blogging about how to write in a literary fashion.  The beginning place for all good writing ought to be passion.  Do you have a character you love so much you can't get him/her/it out of your head?  Do you have a story that needs to be told, either real or fictional?  Do you have words bouncing around in your skull screaming to get out?  Do you have ideas and thoughts you want to share so much you can taste it?  These are good places to start any piece of writing.  If you don't feel strongly about your writing, neither will anyone else. 

The idea is to communicated that passion.  Get the reader to fall in love with your character like you love your character, the story like you love the story, see their own loves and fears in your poetry to the point that they can't put it down.  Readers and audiences still swoon over Mr. Darcy these centuries later.  People still fantasize about stepping into the plain shoes of Jane Eyre when she finally gets to say yes to Rochester.  People still ponder and discuss the ideas and thoughts suggested by To Kill a Mockingbird, Shakespeare, and so many other pieces.  These great stories and characters transport us because they started in a place of passion.  What makes you excited?  Start there. 

The hard part is to avoid letting that passion flag when the world strikes.  Say you've come up with a character you love so deeply that you can't wait to share her with the world.  You rush to record her story, her adventure beyond the clouds, under the sea, or into the eyes of the man she loves until he opens his mouth.  But then, you fall into the editing pit.  You run into the publisher who says no, the editor who finds plot holes so deep you wonder you don't fall into them and never see the daylight again.  It's time to reread your work,  Fall in love with her and her story again.  Remind yourself of the source of your passion.  Then, never give up until you share it with the world. 

Taking Note

I've been blogging about making your writing more literary.  One important trick is to carry around a notebook, a computer, or something else with which to take notes.  If a turn of phrase, a wordplay, a snippet of conversation, a crazy dream, or a flash of inspiration strike, it's a good idea to get it down right away.  When you don't, you may just lose it forever. 

This isn't necessarily a literary writer thing so much as an every writer thing.  You never know when the Muse will strike.  When it does, you will want to make sure you're ready.  Don't even worry that you're writing it down right or what form it will eventually take.  The important thing is you're telling your subconscious that you're seeking thoughts and ideas. 

If you're after one kind of inspiration, it may help to write it down at the top of the page.  For instance, if you're looking for quirky dialogue, write that at the top of the page.  If something seems to play into a particular section of your work, write down a note about it, maybe how that part could fit in.  Also, with your notebook on hand, if something really inspires you, you can do a free write right there, perhaps turn it into a piece of fiction, a poem, or something else.  If you don't have one yet, go get yourself a notebook and start on this right away. 

Meaning behind Words

I've been blogging on writing in a more literary fashion.  One thing that works of literature have in common is they get at truths behind the human condition.  Works that stay paper-thin are those that just tell a story without any meaning, without eternal themes that have the power to elevate writing. 

I've read stories and seen movies that tell a good story.  They introduce characters.  They go through the motions and beats that are expected of such works.  But the story falls flat.  It may excite for the moment as the reader follows the hero's adventure, but nothing sticks.  In cinema terms, we'd think of it as a popcorn flick.  Nothing changes the reader's world like good literature does.  When we read great pieces of fiction, we want to feel like we've learned something, like we've considered a new perspective, like we've found a fresh approach to something, like we haven't seen this story a hundred times before.  The reader wants to feel transported and somehow changed, even if only a little bit. 

                                    

I read a piece of cheap pulp fiction, and I may even forget its title or plot a few days later.  It was a fun read.  I like cheap fiction, as do many others.  But, it feels like I've eaten cotton candy, not a steak and potatoes.  If I want to write with steak-and-potatoes depth and quality, I need to consider meaningful themes.  In a fluff piece, perfect man meets perfect woman, they pull away from each other or deal with some other fleeting hardship, and they get together.  A detective solves a mystery.  A crew of a space ship fight off an alien monster.  So what?  Who cares? 

However, I can take a couple in a romance and have them struggling through loss or betrayal in order to get together.  I can have them experience a meaningful voyage and choices, good and bad, that lead them through hurt and frustration at racism, sexism, fear, hope, or any other thing that reflects the human condition. 

It helps If I have either experienced what I'm dealing with or can authentically speak to it through research.  I don't have to have lost a child or had cancer or have seen my parents get divorced or have watched my husband go to war only to have them die on the battlefield to write about these situations.  However, I need to know and convey what it's really like.  Otherwise, those who have will feel betrayed.  Lee Harper didn't have to be a lawyer or the child of one to write Scout's perspective in To Kill a Mockingbird.  However, Harper had to know enough about the legal process and racial tensions contemporaneous to the work to write in a way that would make the novel so eternal.  Otherwise, the reader would be so thrown out of the work that the themes of racism, abuse, etc. in the story would have had no power. 

Now, it's your turn.  Ponder what themes you want to bring out in your story.  Read several similar novels in your genre to find out how they do it.  Then, you can start to write.  If you already have a piece without meaningful themes, take a careful look at what themes would naturally come out of the story you've written.  How can you bring out those themes in a way that is meaningful and speaks to the human condition?  Good luck. 

Isn't It Ironic?

I've been blogging about making writing more literary.  One strategy that can quickly elevate a piece of writing from mundane to literary is the use of irony.  Most people use "irony" in the way it's used in the song "Isn't It Ironic," as in something going wrong in a funny way.  In the song, the word "ironic" is used to categorize misfortunes like rain on one's wedding day or crashing the first time you dared to fly or getting a free ride when you've paid or meeting the perfect man who is already taken.  These examples don't entirely capture any of the three literary definitions of irony, and some don't really fit any of these definitions.  

Real irony goes counter to expectations of the reader or the characters.  Does one expect rain on a wedding day?  If one is paying attention to the weather reports or has an indoor wedding, there's nothing ironic about it.  You expected the rain or at least prepared for it.  Does one expect a handsome man to be married?  Many times, this is no surprise.  It defies no one's expectations.  If all you ever knew about irony was learned from this song, you don't fully understand the meaning of the word.  Now, isn't that ironic? 

The three kinds of literary irony are verbal, situational, and dramatic.  These literary devices can be used in comedy, tragedy, drama, or anything else in order to defy the reader's expectations.  

 

Most people use verbal irony in sarcasm.  The narrator or character means the opposite of what he/she says.  John may say, "Well, isn't that great" in a sardonic tone, when what he means is that's not great or even good.  In "Star Wars," Han Solo says, "What an incredible smell you've discovered" after they've found themselves in a foul-smelling trash compactor. In literature, Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" ironically advocates for the use of Irish babies as food when what he's trying to get people to realize that Irish people are humans, too, and deserve to be treated as such.  Verbal irony is only present when words are being used, such as in speech.  Otherwise, it's another kind of irony.  

Situational irony is when what is happening is different than is expected.  This is the closest to the definition as in the song.  For instance, in "The Gift of the Magi," a man sacrifices his watch to buy a comb for his wife's long hair, while she gives up her hair to buy a chain for his watch.  The situation defies their expectations.  Romeo rushes to Juliet's side only to find her apparently dead.  Because she seems dead, he acts accordingly and kills himself.   However, his false understanding results in both of their deaths.  The reader expects a fireman to put out fires, but in Fahrenheit 451, they do the opposite.  Authors use situational irony for all kinds of literary effects from humorous to tragic.  

 

Dramatic irony comes up all the time in comedy, tragedy, mystery, and everything else.  The narrator reveals the killer is behind the door as the investigator walks into the room.  The reader yells at the investigator to get out because he/she knows something the investigator doesn't.  This is dramatic irony.  In 12th Night, the reader/audience knows Viola is female, even as she dresses like a boy.  This can cause discomfort, emotional intensity, and humor in the love triangle, as she falls for Orsino, the man who has fallen for Olivia, who has fallen for Viola's alternate identity, Cesario.  The example in the paragraph above from Romeo and Juliet also falls into this category as the author/audience knows Juliet lives.  The use of irony heightens the drama as we watch Romeo acting without the piece of knowledge the audience has but Romeo lacks.  

You, too, can use irony in your writing.  Make sure to research and fully understand these three types.  Read examples of them.  Don't fall into the trap of just going with the misleading and shallow cultural understanding of irony.  There is much more to it than that.  Find places where your character's cell phone or computer can die just at the wrong moment, leaving him acting without the knowledge of what others are doing.  Make situations completely the opposite of what your characters expect.  Use verbal irony for humor and to add depth to dialogue.  You'll find your writing becomes much more literary as you do.  

A Title that Grabs

I've been blogging about writing in a literary fashion.  Recently, I talked about the need to ensure your first line is an attention-grabber.  Even before a reader can find your awesome first line, they must first pick up or click on the book.  To get them to do that, you must find a title that makes a reader want to learn more.  

Now, it's a given that the final title isn't always entirely up to the writer.  The writer chooses a working title, but the publisher or others may have input as well.  As much as possible, however, the writer ought to give the title a lot of thought.  It must be the kind of title that reveals and conceals, that gives the reader just enough of what the story is about without giving away too much.  

One obvious and common titling method that has stood the test of time is choosing a name for a title, often the main character's name. Jane Eyre.  David Copperfield.  Oliver Twist.  Tristram Shandy.  Emma.  The Count of Monte Cristo.  If the location plays a major role, that could also be a possibility like Mansfield Park or Wuthering Heights.  However, this kind of title may not cut it in the modern world with so much competition.  If a reader doesn't know who this Emma is or where Mansfield Park is, what makes a reader care?  A lot of titles use the name plus something about the plot, something to hint at the genre as well.  Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone.   Okay, it's obviously about one character's experience with magic.  Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series title).  Mythology?  Okay.  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Adventure sounds good.  This addition may intrigue the reader just enough that he/she is willing to pick up a book to find out who this Harry or Percy or Huckleberry guy may be.  

However, a lot of titles don't mention the main character at all.  So what do you choose?  Some authors choose major themes like Crime and Punishment, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, or War and Peace. These may seem a bit esoteric or more philosophical than a modern reader may want to explore, though these titles alone would appeal to some.  Think about a critical image or symbol like The Picture of Dorian Gray, Of Mice and Men, Moby Dick, Grapes of Wrath, Les Miserables, Animal Farm, The Tempest, or A Tale of Two Cities.  This kind of title may appeal to a lot of readers, especially if it's an intriguing and unique symbol, one that captures the reader's imagination.  This can be particularly successful and literary if the book, itself, makes the symbol or image carry so much more meaning.  A picture of some random guy named Dorian is intriguing, but a magical picture that magically reflects a character's soul?  That's deep.  Mice and men are common in this world, but when they become so closely paralleled and their fates tied together?  Wow.  Grapes of Wrath as a symbol draws on biblical imagery, as a lot of successful literary works do, but in the case of the novel, this image brings a lot of that imagery into the modern world, making it mean so much more.  

Really, when it comes to titles, anything intriguing, meaningful, and reflective of the story can work.  But it takes a lot of thought to come up with just the right concealing/revealing sort of title, something that invites as many questions as it answers.  It may also help to look through titles that have worked for others.  Best of luck coming up with just the right title for your amazing piece.  

Leave it Fallow

I've been blogging about writing more literarily. This blog is simply about a technique that a lot of writers use to give them distance as they approach editing.  As one writes, magic happens.  Characters that have been extensively described, drawn, outlined, etc. come to life on the page.  Settings come to vivid color with their visceral scents, sounds, sights, and flavors.  The writer dives into a world, either meant to represent something real or imagined.  The writer often comes close to the material, bonding in a way that is unlike anything else.  You, as the writer, come so close to the material that it hurts to cut anything.  This is why writers need distance from the piece before you can begin to edit. 

How does one achieve said distance?  As with most things, the best way to achieve distance is through letting time pass before editing.  How much time is entirely up to the writer.  It could be a few days, a few weeks, or even a few years.  Sometimes, there is no option to dive right into editing.  But, for me, the ideal is to let as much time as can be managed before editing. 

When I edit something I just wrote, I'm in the same place intellectually, emotionally, and physically that I was when I wrote it.  At best, I'll find the things I considered faulty in the first place, grammar issues, spelling issues, and other such glaring issues.  But I can't really rethink the concept, characters, and shape of the piece.  I wanted it like like this, so like this it must be. 

However, if you can allow yourself a week, a month, a year, or more while you work on other pieces, this would be ideal because then, you can see it from a bit of a distance.  You can see better what works, and what doesn't.  If you can get the help of heads outside your own, you can achieve even greater distance.  As I go back and revise short stories I wrote years ago, I don't even remember what I was thinking the first time.  I can slash out large spans of wordiness, rename and revamp characters, delete adverbs, redirect the whole story, and just make it better because I'm no longer the writer I used to be.  If I've been refining my skills, I will better know how to tackle what once looked fine to me. 

Look at the pieces you just wrote.  Then, set them aside.  Go back to something you wrote sometime ago.  It's now the perfect time to revise. 

First Lines

I've been blogging about how to write in a more literary fashion.  Much has been written about first lines.  They really need to catch the reader.  A title and interesting cover buys you a couple of seconds' perusal.  An expert in the field may tell you the first line gets you the first paragraph.  The first paragraph gets you the first page.  The first page may get you the first chapter, which may get that reader sticking through to the end of your book, which may just get them reading your next book and beyond.  It (almost) all starts with that first line, assuming your title and cover (over which not all writers have control) are powerful enough.  A first line is critical to hooking your reader.

So what makes a good first line?  It often can be something with a mystery, something that leaves your reader asking questions.  Google first lines or get your hands on a collection of great first lines.  Then ask yourself what makes them tick?  "Call me Ishmael" from Herman Melville's Moby Dick seems, at first blush, like a simple introduction until one starts questioning if that's this character's first name, and why he'd choose Ishmael of all names if it isn't.  It gets the reader asking questions.  Orwell's 1984 leaves the reader absolutely mystified with its at first mundane, "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were all striking 13."  One is immediately stricken with questions about how this is possible and with the thought that such a world would have Aprils and o'clocks, such a normal, expected thing, but not stop at 12.  Military time, maybe?  But one must read on.  Ralph Ellison's opener, "I am an invisible man," which mentions the title in that very first line, makes one pause because the reader can't decide if this is literal or metaphoric, and what this could mean.  Dickens's David Copperfield asks the question we never thought to ask because it seems self-evident, "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show."  How could he be anything but the hero of his own story, one is left to wonder.  There are countless examples, and not all start on a question.  However, enough of them do that it seems a good strategy.

Many classics start with long-winded, eternal lines that just don't end, but that strategy would be a tough sell in the modern age.  For some funny (and intentional) crappy first lines, please go to the Bulwer-Lytton contest and maybe enter the contest. But don't, I repeat don't, do anything anyone there does.  Also read through several first lines of modern novels.

Remember as well that it helps if your first line or lines bear a quirky or interesting voice like the first line in the Harry Potter series.  "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense." Not only does this leave one asking how such normal people can be important to a popular fantasy series, but it also is stated in such a tongue-in-cheek and quirky way.  Likewise, Rick Riordan's popular Percy Jackson starts with quirky voice and on lines that raise questions.  "Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.  If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now."  The narrator speaks to the reader in a way that invades his/her space and makes the action to come seem very real, like it could really happen.  It also asks the question, "What is a half-blood?"  The reader ceases to be just a passive observer and becomes part of the story.  It also works with reverse psychology.  The narrator is telling me to put this book down, which means I have to keep reading.  

Go to your first line(s).  Does it ask questions?  Is it in your particular voice?  Does it make the reader want MORE?  If not, it's time to read more examples and find out how to craft that first line in a way that draws your reader in.  

Wants and Needs

I've been blogging about how to write more literarily, but this is more of a basic concept.  It's that every character, large or small, that enters the stage of your narrative needs a motivation, especially the important ones.  How many people do you know who do things for no reason?  In reality, it may happen.  However, generally, people in real life do everything they do for some reason.  If you have a man standing on the street corner, but he doesn't seem to go anywhere or do anything, what's the purpose of even mentioning him?  A character's motivation may be selfish or selfless or anything in between.  These desires and drives shape the story as characters act on them.

It helps to heighten the drama of a story if those wants are at odds, and even more so if what drives the character is different then what others or even they, themselves, think..  Let's look at Jane Austen's Emma, for example.  Emma pushes Harriet into a fake relationship with Elton.  Why?  Because she wants to feel pride in a match well made.  The relationship doesn't work because Elton's motivation for all he does (spoiler alert) is to impress Emma, and Harriet's motivation is eagerness to please.  No one in this situation is motivated by love in this "love match," so drama ensues.  If Emma's desire had been true concern and love for a friend, Elton's had been love for Harriet, and Harriet's had been love for Elton, as in the fiction Emma paints for herself in her imagination, there would have been no drama.

Shakespeare's Hamlet is all about characters trying to read each other's opposing motivations.  The spirit of Hamlet's late father pushes him to take revenge on his murderous uncle.  His uncle watches Hamlet to read his motivation, even while Hamlet returns the favor.  Hamlet plays the fool while searching his soul and those around him for a motivation and drive to obey his father's will.  Ophelia gives up the fight toward trying to read Hamlet and takes herself out of the narrative.  The tension of the story is in the reading and misreading of others as they all struggle toward a resolution.

Sometimes, a motivation can be short-term, as in for just one scene.  Harry Potter's need to solve the riddle of the golden egg in the fourth book drives just one section of the book.  That drive conflicts with his desire to deal with other issues around him, so this motivation gets put off until others spell out how to solve the mystery.  The motivation of his seeming-ally, though at first appears altruistic, ends up bringing on the true danger and climax of the book.  Although Harry's motivation is temporary and not even that strong, that of his unseen enemy carries him through to the end in a way that is critical to the story arc of not just the book but the entire series. Motivations can vary in strength and conflict with each other, even in the same story and character, but all of them need to be believable to the reader.

What are your characters' most basic motivations?  What do they want?  Look at both the broad plot and individual scenes to figure out if the motivations are clear to the reader, even if they aren't to the characters.  Are there places that characters confusing each others'--or even their own--motivations could heighten the drama?

Verbing Nouns

I've been blogging about writing in a literary fashion.  This one is more about how to write in a modern literary fashion.  Once upon a time, if a writer wanted to get expressive, they'd say it with adverbs.  "Adverbs!" said the character observantly.  That style doesn't work with modern literature.

Writing with passive tenses, spicing it up with adverbs, is now considered a sign of novice writing.  Editors advocate using "said," "asked," or "yelled" then a short dialogue tag, possibly including action since dialogue tags should practically disappear.  Interesting verbs should take the place of adverbs wherever possible--outside of dialogue tags--and adverbs should all but disappear.  "Adverbs are a no go," George said, stomping his foot.  Writing this way tends to be more punchy and powerful.

Many writers take potent, brief writing one step further by changing a noun into a verb to create something new.  This is a form of what's officially called "anthimeria."  If you googled for information, hashtagged a post, eBayed your old stuff, friended someone on FaceBook, or YouTubed your video, you're already verbing nouns.  Some of these usages, like the above, enter the language and become permanent.

This technique can be used in writing to make your voice unique. The comic Calvin and Hobbes says, "Verbing weirds language," thereby showing how this is done with not one but two words in a unique way.  But "weirding" language also freshens it.  This has been done over the years, such as when Jane Austen in Emma writes, "Let me not suppose that she dares go about, Emma Woodhouse-ing me!" A reader of the book knows this verbed noun references matchmaking.  Even Shakespeare occasionally did this such as in King Lear,  "The thunder would not peace at my bidding." This is not a new technique. 

However, verbing nouns has become more common in modern writing, and it makes writing sound fresh and unique.  Kate Daniels, for instance, used it in In the Marvelous Dimension with the line, "Until then, I'd never liked petunias, their heavy stems, the peculiar spittooning sound of their name."  The word "spittoon" has become a verb/adjective instead of a noun.  In The Lamorna Wink, Martha Grimes writes about a character who "was marmalading a scone."  Verbing nouns cuts out possibly unnecessary words and gets right to the point in a fresh way. 

Now read through your writing.  Where have you used adverbs?  Is there a noun or even a verbed noun you can use there instead to make your writing powerful and fresh?  Best of luck using this technique. 

The Importance of Reading

It's been said many times, but I'll say it again: read what you want to write.  If you want to write like Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, J.K.Rowling, or anyone else, read.  You can read as many blogs, as many how-to books, as many guides as you want, but the best way to really get to know your genre is to read it.  If you're a poet, immerse yourself in poetry.  If you want to be a poet, but you're reading historical romance, the wrong voice is likely to rub off on your writing. 

I find my voice best when I'm reading books that have the voice I want to emulate. If I'm writing a romance, my work is at its best when I have recently read a string of romances along the lines of what I want to write.  If I want to write profound literary fiction, I should sink deeply into the world of literary fiction to get a sense of how they do it.  If I want to write light and humorous fiction, that's exactly what I should read.  My young adult fiction is at its best when I've just read Rick Riordan, Harry Potter, and others that have a unique style.  No matter what genre I wish to write in, it's always best when I read books like those I want to write.  What are you writing?  Go find something like it, o you have a sense of how to do it.  Then, you'll know comparable pieces when it's time to publish. 

Beware of Hopping Heads

I've been blogging about how to write more literarily.  This one is actually how to write more like modern literature rather than traditional literature, with a focus on modern YA literature.  There was a time that the distant, omniscient narrator was the way of all writing.  A writer could tell you what was happening in John's head one paragraph, Sylvia's the next, and their garbage man a third.  The writer could play a wild game of checkers, with pieces in their command moving however they wanted. 

Now, readers, as a rule, prefer the intensity of learning the interior world of one, two, or a select few characters.  They like first-person or third-person limited.  Readers, especially young readers, like a book like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series in which we follow the ins and outs of one character in first-person.  They also like Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series, wherein there are multiple perspectival characters, but we follow in third-person one character for a chapter or a few chapters then switch to another for more chapters.  Or, they like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series in which we never leave Harry's head.  He may observe Voldemort through his dreams, but we're still firmly in Harry's mind. 

Older literature, even children's literature, hops heads all the time, without chapter changes or even section changes.  If you pick up books like Tamora Pierce's Lioness Rampant series or even Roald Dahl's Matilda, among several others, a narrator can hop heads two, three, four or more times a chapter.  At the time, this was the norm, just how they did it.  Now, a writer is advised to avoid such random head-hopping. 

If you want to hop heads, it's a rule of thumb to make at least chapter or section divisions.  If I want to appeal to a modern reader and editor, I'll no longer write, "John looked at Sylvia and marveled at her beauty.  She looked back at John and wondered when he would take a shower."  Instead, I'll write, "John's longing eyes turned toward Sylvia's lovely face only to catch her nose wrinkle and eye roll as she leaned away from him."  I see her response to the world through her body language but firmly remain in his head, at least this chapter.  Next chapter, I can hang out in her head a while.  Or I can just stick with John the whole book, reading the world through his eyes. 

Go through something you've written recently.  Is there any section in which you're intentionally or unintentionally jumping from head to head like on the 90's series "Quantum Leap," without changing sections or chapters?  Is there a time in the middle of one section where your character, mind-reader like, magically knows what someone else is thinking or what actually motivates another WITHOUT having telepathy?  If so, it's time to tweak your writing to avoid head-hopping.  Your reader will thank you for it. 

Figuratively Speaking

I've been writing about how to make any kind of writing more literary.  My student posed a question I'd never heard before, one which seemed like it could lead to some interesting discoveries for writers. He pondered the comparison and contrast between the similar concepts of simile, metaphor, hypocatastasis, pataphor, anthropomorphizing, and ideasthesia.  I figured these terms wouldn't be hard to differentiate, but it turns out there's a reason people struggle with these terms.  They're not your garden-variety kinds of words.  

Some of these terms are commonly understood.  Most people know a simile is the comparison of one thing to another, pointing to a resemblance between two things.  "That guy's like a baby, the way he uses his hands to eat and throws a temper tantrum every five minutes."  Most students who have spent some time in an English class can tell you a metaphor ties image with thing closer together, representing one thing by another, basically like a simile without the word "like."  "That guy's such a baby."  I had to do research for the third one, hypocatastasis.  I didn't even know there WAS a third level to this.  Apparently, it's not even in some copies of the Oxford English Dictionary.  Hypocatastasis, as it turns out, ties these things even CLOSER together by simply implying one with the other.  "Baby!" (Spoken to the guy.)  I can imagine using all of these techniques in writing.  

Pataphor, meanwhile, is a metaphor that is fairly all-encompassing.  It is two steps removed from non-metaphoric language.  Here is an example given on pataphor.com: 

Non-figurative     -Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line.

Metaphor    -Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line, two pieces on a chessboard.

Pataphor     -Tom took a step closer to Alice and made a date for Friday night, checkmating. Rudy        was furious at losing to Margaret so easily and dumped the board on the rose-colored      quilt, stomping downstairs.

      (The pataphor has created a world where the chessboard exists, including the                        characters who live in that world, entirely abandoning the original context.) 

Pataphor is described as "an extended metaphor...which occurs when a lizard's tail grows so long it breaks off and grows a new lizard."  Basically, it's a comparison that creates a new world wherein the metaphor becomes almost a new reality.  

Anthropomorphism/personification is simply a kind of metaphor in which an object or animal is ascribed human-like traits as in "her painting spoke to my heart."  Obviously, a painting doesn't literally speak, and hearts don't have ears.  However, such a personification may make the painting seem more powerful.  

These concepts were easy compared to the next one.  I had to research multiple sources to even comprehend the definition.  Ideasthesia is not necessarily a method of creating imagery but the philosophical concept that experiences evoke visceral responses in the human mind.  Red evokes anger and passion.  Blue evokes emotional or physical coldness.  It's more a response to a stimulus than a way of writing.  This is more like metaphor or simile in action.  If you understand how this works, how the human mind processes a stimulus, you may be able to create a more effective and unique metaphor, one that evokes the same response the actual thing does.

Figurative language can make a piece more powerful.  It's one thing to say that something happened.  It's yet another to turn a simple event into a visceral and emotionally-charged moment through language.  Find a straight-forward piece of writing or simply WRITE a scene in which someone makes a sandwich or plays volleyball.  Now, try to include each kind of figurative language in turn.  Advanced challenge: try employing all of these forms of figurative language in one paragraph.  Now, use these in your writing to make them more meaningful and literary.