Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 1 Comment

Characters

When I first started writing I thought very little about the importance of characters in a story. All I cared about was the story, the plot and what happened next. If a story failed to keep me interested it was always because the plot was weak or because I saw some of the things that happened in the story as far fetched and unrealistic. I still have this way of thinking when it comes to movies.
I learned that this is not the way when it comes to books. Luckily, I got out of that mode once I started learning more things about what it takes for a reader to be drawn in a book in a way that they can’t put it down. It was none other than the importance we, as readers, put in those who take our hands and lead us into their make-believe worlds: the characters.

Recently, I came across an article from Carly Watters, a literary agent that gave some solid advice on what aspects of a character agents are looking for when it comes to opening the gilded doors of the publishing industry, for us aspiring writers.

Whether you aim for traditional publishing or are interested in self publishing your novel, I think you will find her advice very helpful. I know for a fact I will bookmark her article and use it as a guide when it’s revision time.

Just in case the above links don’t work this is the address:

The Secret to Writing Good Characters

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Scene Elements

Ever since I started writing (granted, it’s not that long) I found it easier to break my work down into scenes and work my stories with that in mind. So, today’s topic is SCENES and their ELEMENTS.

1. First of all, any scene should have characters (the driving force behind any decently written story) that readers can identify with. In other words, each reader should be able to find at least one thing in the character’s behaviour that he or she can honestly say ‘that makes sense to me; I would act in the same way.’ If we miss that, then we feel detached from the story and sooner or later we are going to put the book down or at least claim that the story wasn’t nice.

2. A scene also needs to be exciting. How can this be achieved? By having conflict in the scene. Keep in mind that conflict doesn’t mean crisis. They are completely different. An interesting character is a conflicting one and it’s the character’s role (technically, it’s our role as writers/storytellers) to bring the character’s conflict into the scene. If the character is one who values life as sacred and is instead forced to make a choice that will result in the end of another life, then this is conflict. If a character is brought up as an honourable and never act behind the scenes, forcing that character to go against their personal code of conduct to preserve the greater good or the status quo, will result in tension, suspense and ultimately conflict. Which in turn means the scene is interesting.

3. A scene should be clear enough for the reader to know who’s to cheer for and who’s to mourn. It doesn’t matter if later in the story these roles will be switched. All that matters is that the scene will be clear in showing who’s who.

4. It goes without saying, that any scene uses strong sensory details; hearing, taste, sight, touch, smell. Use it all at the right time, in the right amount. The story I’m currently writing (The Darkening) takes place in a world where humans can only live in darkness. Sight is virtually non existent, so all the other senses have to make up for it.

5. There should only be enough back story that will drive the plot forward. This was something that used to plague me when I first started and I think to a certain extent, it’s something that everyone has to deal with as they begin. It’s a more prominent mistake with any of us writing high fantasy, or create new worlds for our stories. The rule ‘avoid infodump’ should always be in our minds with this one.

6. It’s vital to have some kind of foreshadowing going on, if not at every scene, certainly at those that are more vital in showing us things about the characters or the plot. Don’t overdo it though, cause then you end up infodumping and the reader may get bored.

7. Do I need to say anything about author intrusion? I think not. Points 5 and 6 are somewhat related to one another by the blunt intrusions we often as writers/storytellers make. So no author intrusions. Avoid things like ‘and as it’s known, crocodiles are vicious killers’ (sounds, terrible, doesn’t it?)

8. A scene becomes more interesting if we guide the reader through a familiar setting, by showing the things that are unusual. There’s hardly anything strange or unusual in a bedroom but what if the character was to enter such a room and see that the bed cover is creased and messed up at one side? Something happened there and we just showed it to the reader.

9. I had read somewhere that when describing a scene it’s best to show the important aspects of a scene first and then the less important ones. It makes sense but I think this may come down more to how each writer handles that. One thing for sure is that the way we handle this thing has to be consistent.

10. A scene should have turning points for a character in the dramatic action, as well as the character’s emotional development. Have a character that appears to be selfish, do the right thing, after the character has fought with himself inside.

If you know of any other elements for a scene that don’t fit in the above, please comment below.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 7 Comments

Filter Words and their role in the ‘Show Don’t Tell’ rule

One of the most important advice I ever got in the past year and a half that I’ve been writing, was about “filter words”. Filter words are descriptive words that we very often tend to use when we write, especially if you are like me and have no previous writing experience or if your educational background has nothing to do with literature. It is also the one that is directly related to the so well known rule “show don’t tell.”

When I first read about the “show don’t tell” rule I saw the importance of it immediately but even though I always had in my mind when I wrote, I hadn’t really gotten a full grasp of it. For me at that time that rule simply meant “Don’t tell me he was angry, show me his reactions based on the character being angry.” It made sense and it still does; there’s nothing wrong with it, in fact, that’s the right way to do it. There is a however a great difference between writing “Jenny felt her rage bubbling” and writing “Jenny’s rage bubbled.” Similarly, writing “Tim heard the wolf cry in the distance” may not be wrong BUT writing “the wolf cried in the distance” is far better and more captivating for the reader. After all, everything we write is the reader’s pleasure, right? Well, most of the times anyway.

The first example in each case uses a filter word (felt and heard). The second doesn’t and goes for a more direct approach and description. In fact, in the second example, the second phrase by omitting the filter word “heard” also forces us to remove the subject from the sentence (Tim), which can be found either in a previous sentence in the same paragraph or in a following one.

Here’s a list of filter words that I have found flooding my earlier manuscripts and my first drafts:

to sound/to sound like
to see
to consider
to hear
to note
to think
to notice
to touch
to realise
to watch
to look
to hope
to seem
to feel/to feel like
can
to be able to
to decide
to know

All of the above (and probably more than just them) are considered as filter words. There may other terms for them but that’s how I came to know them. When these words are used, they create a barrier between the reader and what the character experiences in the story and as such, they create distance.

Naturally, there are occasions where using these words as in the examples I mentioned earlier, it’s necessary. They are particularly useful when one writes about a dream and want to show that distance of what is real and what isn’t. Use with moderation, though, cause a dream often has a profound effect. Generally speaking, whenever you want to add tension and want the reader to feel immersed in the scene or in the feeling, avoid them. I’ve come to terms with using them during my first drafts, though the more I write and I practice, the more I find myself to be aware of them making their way into my writing and rearranging my thoughts as I write them down. Remember last
week’s post about the importance of writing on a daily basis? It helps a lot in cases like this, because you get to practice.

Have a look at your current and older manuscripts. Do these words appear anywhere? Were you aiming for tension when you used them? If yes, have you considered revising that part and adding more tension by simply removing that filter word? I know my writing has gone up a level since I learned about it and implemented it on my manuscripts. I’m sure yours could benefit from it too. Also, have you found any other filter words like the above? If so, please post them in the comments below, so more aspiring writers can benefit.