Kev2012
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General Writing Hints (chapter 1)
Prologue (if your choose to have one)
O.K firstly not all books need a prologue, but if you choose to have one this advice might help you.
When it comes to that very first opening prologue, the first thing people who write will say is “obstruct it, to attract and hold the readers interest”. A dull and uninteresting opening prologue can make the readers first impression negative, while a good opening prologue can help turn pages.
Basically I, when doing my prologue, will try and give the reader a snippet of the plot of the book. Not a full-blown unravelling of the plot, but a little piece of something that is vitally important. For me this section has got to be action packed or full of suspense. (I tend to avoid introducing my main character at this point, but that all depends on what book you are writing.)
Directly from the prologue I tend to make the book much lighter. Humour and jokes rife, light banter between characters, a generally happier and more pleasant auro. From their I’d slowly and subtly start unravelling my plot, and creating the diversity of my characters. Personally I don’t think a book would work if you started like that, without a prologue.
Basically, in my view, the point of a prologue is to get your reader hooked, give them a taste of what the book is going to be about so that they don’t feel disappointed when they finish, summing up in a one sentence.
“The prologue is the advertisement for your book”
Post Edited By Kev2012, May/19/2006, 9:05 pm
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Jan/15/2005, 12:09 am
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Kev2012
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Re: General Writing Hints (chapter 1)
Avoid Wordy Sentences
I can hear you screaming now, “wordy sentences! well how else can a sentence be?” So i will give you an example of what i mean by a “wordy” sentence.
The Cat was always seeming to be up trees. The wind would almost appear to blow the cat out of the tree whenever it gust. The cat would often jump around the garden very joyfully, but the cat only wanted to have fun often.
Obviously the unnecessary words in this sentence are highlighted, and they would make an editor tremble in fretful anger and an anguished dismay. But when does a sentence go from being descriptive, ala Tolkien, (and like the sentence I’ve just used), to being “wordy”, something we all do I’m sure.
Basically the line is fine, and many words, anyway, very, certainly, exactly, almost, seeming and so on, are synonymous with making a sentence wordy. In essence you, as the writer or reader, can notice a wordy sentence from a descriptive one easily if you put your mind to it.
Just ask yourself does the word give the sentence a different interpretation if it is removed, and add extra emphasis on the emotions or situations that the sentence is highlighting? Or does it merely add additional words for you, and your readers, to read in your story? A simple logic that will help you avoid the simple error that we have all been guilty of at some time, I’m sure!
Post Edited By Kev2012, May/19/2006, 9:07 pm
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Jan/15/2005, 12:17 am
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Kev2012
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Re: General Writing Hints (chapter 1)
Writing Battles
One personal note that i have made for myself when writing battle scenes is to have a few simultaneous events to break up what can become repetitive writing.
Try to focus on some individual characters within the battle as well as entire units and brigades. If the battle is extensive and lasts an entire day or several days, maybe it would be a good idea to have a concurrent plot line develop, then go back to the battle after a set number of hours and do a brief recap. But that is just a personal preference and helps with the writing of a specific scene as well as gives the reader a break from what can be an overwhelming situation.
When writing army against army battles without a chieftain character, be it a king or leader, or an inadvertent hero. What I will say is the best way to attack (sorry poor pun) the issue is to treat your individual armies as the characters.
O.k that sounds weird no doubt, what I mean is a book really won’t work unless you feel the emotions of the people who are skirmishing, and no doubt dying gracious, but gruesome, deaths, in this battle. Try and get this emotion across through the medium of the armies. For example: -
Army A (good) Army B (bad).
“Army A’s troops went on full frontal attack at Army B. The want of retribution was evident throughout each and every member of the army. Each lone will producing enough impetus to have the want, the overwhelming desire, the unwavering belief to defeat Army B once and for all.
The combined sound of thousands and hundreds of thousands of legs pounding at the ground as they went, and armour and weapons clanging together, sent a reverberating sound of onslaught, the unmistakable sound of the battle starting.
You could almost hear Army B’s troops gasp in unison at the sight before their eyes. The feeling of fear could almost be smelt in the air as the troops neared, and finally came together in a deafening crescendo of noise.
I hope you grasped what I meant with that paragraph. Try and use each army as a lone person, give a combination of emotions to form the overall atmosphere within each army.
Post Edited By Kev2012, May/19/2006, 9:09 pm
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Jan/15/2005, 12:20 am
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Kev2012
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Re: General Writing Hints (chapter 1)
Creating Characters (and then introducing them)
Again this issue is completely down to the individual. Some like to create an in-depth character, family tree, future plans and life history. Others will just get the basics down and see themselves how the character develops. Now for the confusing bit, I do a mixture of both! I will only do a complex development of my main character(s) in the book. By "main" I mean the one that features in the book most, and the facts created will be vital in the development of both the plot and the characters themselves.
I start by getting a picture in my head of what the character looks like, facial features, height, appearance and the very basic outline of what the character looks like with regards to build, scars and what not. Then I get that all down on a piece of paper or a separate word document. That done, I will imagine the characters voice, just for my own impression of how the character in question will appear to others. Again it might be an idea to jot down an explanation of the voice for future reference and to save contradiction later in the book. Then I will write a bit about him/her, just spasmodically and randomly, see where his/her creation goes. Obviously with fantasy writing, as with all genres, it is important to make sure he/she fits into the story how you wanted, without coming across as forced into the story to fit a stereotype, i.e a wizard (just because a wizard is a stereotypical character in a fantasy novel doesn’t mean he has to be in it! But if you do put one in! Give the wizard a reason to be their other just to do fancy spells!)
Right, now for the most important part in my view. The characters personality and how to introduce him/her into the book, and get this personality across. This can be complex to write, and for the reader to understand, and should be done subtly over many, many pages not just forced in the characters opening appearance, for example this wouldn’t’ work!
“Mike was tall, had blue eyes…and was always angry with people. He didn’t like people mentioning he was fat, and he loved fighting with swords, and girls with brown eyes and blonde hair!”
Basically it is obvious where that is wrong. Firstly you should give the impression that this is the reader’s first meeting with mike. How would they know he always got angry? The best way to tackle the issue is to look at it in terms of real life! What do you know about a person the first time you meet them? Personality zip! Likes and Dislikes zip! But appearance is right in front of you! You can see a person’s hair, eye colour, height and alike, maybe things like slight scars and other markings you wouldn’t notice straight off!
Now back to the personality part. I find that writing slight additional scenes into my book was the best way to add to a characters personality. For example going back to mike, an extra scene where somebody called him fat, he got and angry and fought with a sword would get across several of this persons traits without forcing them. Make them appear subtly and delicately, so do that throughout the book, either in additional scenes, or scenes that already exist, and you character should become complex and fun to read about.
Post Edited By Kev2012, May/19/2006, 9:13 pm
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Jan/15/2005, 12:23 am
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Kev2012
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Re: General Writing Hints (chapter 1)
Commercial or Self Publish
O.k maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves here, but it is something we will all have to address at some time if we want to get our book into print, but which is the best option for you.
The question is an interesting one, both are plausible routes to take i suppose. On the one hand you have the Commercial route where marking, distribution and overall publishing is handled for you, but then you have to have an agent and submit proposals or full manuscripts to commercial publishing houses. This way is time consuming; it can take anything from 18 months to 24 months to see you book on the shelf after finishing the manuscript!
Alternately you have the Self-Publish route, using this way you have far more control over the overall process of the publishing, and earn far more money per copy of your book sold. You have to put far more work into the functions and services that are normally handled by the commercial publisher, but as was said, this is two fold, greater control, much, much more work. If you put in that hard work alternatively, you can then have your book ready and selling anywhere between 6-12 months after it is finished, a much greater return!
Personally i prefer Self-Publish, lets face it unless you are writing the next Harry Potter, Commercial selling just doesn't pay!
Commercial selling means you get roughly 6%-10% of what the book is sold for (£1 out of every £10 at best!!!) that is nothing short of scandalous, a terrible return and unfair considering you are 100% responsible for the book in the first place!
Now this is the nice bit, if you Self-Publish, put in that extra 10% of work then the rewards are much greater, you can expect 55% of the retail price of you book (£5.50 out of every £10)! You do the maths, on the lower scale Self-Publishing obviously pays!
Again the way you get your money also differs from one to the other, not only do you have to wait 90-120 days if you go Commercial, but they hold a further 25% of your money to cover the cost of potential returns of you book!
So on this evidence Self-Publishing pays, and is far more rewarding, Commercial is an elitist business…admittedly you might find one of the very few Commercial publicists that gives the author what they disserve, but for your average Joe-Writer, Self-Publishing is the route to take. If you are seriously considering getting your book on the shelves, then i suggest you do more research on the matter, but i know for one which way my first book is going to be sold!
If you have anything to add to this, or have had experience in either field, then please post your accounts here, lets help each other get the best we can from writing.
**Please note, i’ve done a lot of research into the figures of each field, and these are pretty much the average throughout the sources i researched**
Post Edited By Kev2012, Nov/10/2005, 12:42 am
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Jan/15/2005, 12:28 am
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Kev2012
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Re: General Writing Hints (chapter 1)
Submitting Your Manuscript
All manuscripts submitted to an agent or publisher should be: -
Courier New Font in Size 12.
Double line spaced.
Numbered on all pages.
Not justified on right margin, leave it uneven.
Have 1-inch margins top, bottom and on both sides.
NEVER mix fonts.
NEVER use Bold or Italics.
Editors will not even look at a manuscript that isn't prepared properly. Print your manuscript on high-quality white paper. Never use erasable paper or a dot-matrix printer. If you don't have the means to do the above, take your manuscript to a copy centre that offers the use of a laser printer. It's worth paying the few quid extra to make it look right.
When submitting your manuscript only send exactly what is requested. If you are mailing a large amount of paper, use a "Manuscript Box" available from all good stationers and post offices. Seal your package well but don't cover it in tape. Address to the appropriate person NOT to "the editor".
ALWAYS include a self-addressed envelope. And then wait, it can take as long as six months for a reply. If you are posting to multiple publishers ensure they accept "simultaneous submissions". Keep writing while you wait, work on a new project, short stories, poetry some freelance work, just do not go stale. Do not be afraid of rejection, in fact embrace it, all good editors will give a letter reasoning why they rejected your work, take into account what they say and learn from it.
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Nov/10/2005, 12:41 am
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