Word Choices

In writing, the words you choose are everything. Is it red, or scarlet, or mulberry? Some of them aren’t as easy to choose between.

There are other choices. Deliberate mispellings, created words, and double entendres of all kinds are completely up to the author. Well, eventually editors will have a say in traditional publishing – but that isn’t the only way to go.

Do you choose adverbs instead of adjectives? Do you choose to get rid of both? Do you use them as seasonings or as the main course?

An example:

They sat on the window seat with the cooler.
They sat on the padded window seat with the cooler.
Exhausted, they lounged on the window seat with the malfunctioning cooler.
Languidly, they relaxed on the colorful window seat with the yellow cooler.

I could go on like this all day. What do you say? What do you mean? What does the reader pull from it? This all from words I can pull from the dictionary! I’m not a fan of adverbs for the most part. I usually think I can find a stronger verb to make the sentence better. (Aside from my blog posts, that is.)

Posted on 8 July 20097 July 2009 by ransomnoble 1

Family Relationships, Pt 2

Unexpected changes in relationships can put stresses on all of them. Characters must be examined from each facet of the unique family dynamic to see how they’re put together.

Deaths, births, marriages and divorces are all stressful events that change a character’s family. They’re not to be used lightly, and they show a character to his limits. Home and family are always things that define a person.

Add in a holiday or two, and things might be comedic, strained, or just plain ordinary. All angles can be shown to put the characters to light.

Posted on 5 July 20094 July 2009 by ransomnoble 0

Family Relationships

It might have been the introduction of The Speaker for the Dead where Orson Scott Card talked about how each character fits into a family and their relationships within.

One of the characters had six children, and he said each fit into the family in a unique way. It was hard for him because every time two people get together, whether it be in a story or in real life, their character is a little different.

It’s these unique relationships that stretch writers as we try to show the stories that are in our heads. As he explained it, each of those six children and the mother had different facets depending on which other characters s/he interacted with. It comes up to a lot of facets, then slightly more shadings as you combine more than just two characters in a scene.

As I write, I try to listen to the character as I’ve imagined him/her. It helps, but sometimes it isn’t enough to preserve those slight differences with each character. As with everything else, practice makes perfect.

Posted on 4 July 2009 by ransomnoble 0

Superstition

There are several superstitions floating around our culture. They’re not always believed: “Step on a crack; break your mother’s back.” Others are more pervasive, like “knock on wood.”

How many people remember where that one comes from? A long time ago, when the more common belief held spirits were everywhere, people wanted to be thankful when good luck hit them and remember the tree spirits so they wouldn’t take their luck away.

Is there a good way to work in irrational beliefs into a character? Sometimes it’s difficult to see where they work into our own personalities, and making them work into fictional characters is just as dicey. Be careful, be consistent, and be sure you find the right motivation.

Posted on 2 July 20091 July 2009 by ransomnoble 1

Editors

A magazine asked for editors on Twitter, and several people passed it on. Great thing about Twitter – I have food for thought.

Requirements include excellent language and grammar skills, which makes sense. How does one prove this on a resume? I bet prior editing experience would be good. What else? If you have no experience, how would you get there?

I have a friend whose grammar is stellar. She always corrects my Midwestern turns of phrase which leaves prepositions at the end. While I have some quirks, my grammar isn’t horrible. That said, I couldn’t prove it on a resume. Gee, I’ve had more calculus classes than most English majors think exist, but not a single literature course in college. Rhetoric fulfilled a requirement; we never talked about how to use the language. Somehow I ended up a writer anyway. Not that being a writer necessarily means great grammar or spelling or even good use of language. It helps. It separates the mediocre from the good and the great.

That still leaves me with how I’d prove it on a resume. I think the short answer is, I can’t.

Posted on 24 June 200923 June 2009 by ransomnoble 2

Waiting-

I hate waiting for responses. It isn’t necessarily that I’m impatient. I can hang in there pretty well.

It’s just that once I know the usual response time has ended, I wonder what to do. Is it time to query? Should I wait another day? Another week? It isn’t so bad if I can send a friendly email to the editor, but sending through the post office? What if the original didn’t get there? (I know, send a self-addressed stamped postcard and get a response as soon as it’s there.)

If a response isn’t given in the time generally allotted, some markets just aren’t interested. Sometimes it’s difficult to know which is which.

Posted on 19 June 200918 June 2009 by ransomnoble 2

Editing

Every writer needs an editor. It’s not about how technically correct the writing is. It isn’t even about how great the story is.

A writer needs someone to look over the work. How many times have I read the big authors talking about how their spouses read over what they wrote for the day? So many talk about the editors of the old days who worked with writers to improve their works.

I listened to an author speak about a year ago, and one of her classmates from her MFA program read everything she wrote. It seems a natural pairing, an editor and a writer – even if the editor in question has no training.

Why? Well, no matter how many times I look at a manuscript, there always seems to be something I miss. Too close is usually the reason. I think that’s true of many of us, though all writers get to different points on their own before enlisting outside help.

But I think just about every writer I know does enlist outside help, an editor or whomever, at some point.

Posted on 18 June 200917 June 2009 by ransomnoble 2

Reading

The more I read these days, the more I’ve begun looking for the pieces that hold the story together.

This type of analysis is good, except sometimes it gets in the way of the reading for pleasure I did for so long. It’s almost impossible to read without looking for things to tweak, though I reserve most of that for my own pieces.

The writing is going slowly since I need to focus during naps, but at least I’m attempting it.

Posted on 17 June 200916 June 2009 by ransomnoble 1

Writing Prompts

One of the ladies in my writing group brought two pieces Saturday. Both were from writing prompts from another group she’s in.

She’s right when she mentioned how every writer looks at a prompt differently. My first story, “Qui’s Contract,” was written for a prompt along with every other piece in the book Ruins Metropolis. The prompt was the front cover picture. The stories ranged from science fiction to fantasy to mainstream. Cool book!

I’ve been trying to write for another prompt from the same publisher for a new anthology, but while the idea circles in my head, I’m feeling defeated when I try to hammer it out.

Some prompts just fly through my fingertips. Others feel like they’re just not meant to be. Of course, what anyone chooses to do with a prompt is completely up to them.

Posted on 16 June 200914 June 2009 by ransomnoble 0

Ransom Noble

Science Fiction Writer