Two recent consultations. Two common problems.
1. Telling rather than showing.
A scene shows. A summary tells. The difference? A summary puts distance between reader and character (this also applies to bloggers who blog about themselves). A summary is necessary for a variety of reasons, but scenes are where the story plays out.
Invite your readers in by setting the stage and creating a compelling reason to stick around (character dilemma) and read more (dramatic action). Do this in scene and stick to the universal story form for structure and impact.
2. Not keeping the character consistent.
Determine what the character does to sabotage herself from achieving her goal. This becomes the basis for the character transformation. Be consistent. If her flaw is that she doesn’t stick up for herself, then don’t have her fighting back in the first 3/4 of the project.
Any other ideas???
Hello Martha,
I’m a newbie. I just wanted to say thanks for posting this.
However, I was a bit confused after I read this:
A summary puts distance between reader and character (this also applies to bloggers who blog about themselves).
Could you elaborate on “bloggers who blog about themselves?”
Do you mean to say that bloggers who only write about their daily happenings (what they ate for breakfast and watched on TV) puts distance between the reader because these details do not make for a compelling blog and should be used sparingly? Just as a summary in a novel should only get the reader from point A to point B, quickly, is also not engaging and should be used sparingly?
Thanks!
Welcome belletristic bloggette. Thank you for your kind words.
I was writing about any blogger who blogs about him or herself, whether memoir writing, autobiographical writing, or whatever.
All of us who read blogs or novels and/or watch movies want to actively take part in the piece. Although passive spectators, still we long to be part of the action. The best way a writer can facilitate this is to write in scene.
Problem is that writers often feel more in control when they tell what happened instead of inviting the reader in to live it moment by moment in scene.
The details do count so long as they are authentic and real, not vague or cliche. We want the time we spend and what we read count for something. That happens in scenes with engaging characters, compelling dramatic action and rich thematic significance.
Thanks for the welcome and for clarifying that; I was way off! 😉
Put a part of your own self into your characters and they will spring alive more than if you were telling a tale. It can be just one attribute of yours and that will help you envision the rest of the character. And have that trait at odds with another character. That will notch up the tension, springing the characters to life.
Become familiar with your characters so that they are living and breathing. Find photos in magazines or online where you can visualize your characters right down to the flecks in their eyes.
Make them your friends and take them to heart. Even an antagonist has some tender traits.
Live and breath with your characters and they won’t let you down. The telling stops and the showing emerges then strong and full of emotion.
Wild wave!!!
Hugs, JJ
Oh, and try not to rehash. The reader already knows what you have said so you can eliminate a lot of back paddling.
Your character can muse about what has been said by bringing a few words of the other character into his thoughts by way of italics. That keeps the summarizing down.
Hugs, JJ
Character consistency. Needed that. Thanks.