Finally . . . the secret to successful writing is here!

Are you ready?

Below is the secret to becoming a successful writer.

Here it is . . .









Are you sitting down?

Good.

Now write.

(okay, it's not really a secret, but time and time again, I've heard successful published authors say that the only way to become successful is by sitting your butt down and writing. That's it. Nothing fancy about it. And if that sounds like work, then you're not cut out to be a writer.)

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit - the official trailer

It takes a lot for me to get excited about a new movie--unless it's probably Star Wars or something--but the new Hobbit movie looks absolutely awesome - I highly recommend you check out the Official Hobbit YouTube channel (I suggest clicking on this link, because I tried searching for the longest time to find the official site and was disheartened to find it very difficult)

Putting the descriptions all together from the previous day

In reviewing the last blog regarding descriptions, let's put them all together--this is something similar to a writing exercise in Stephen King's On Writing.

Here's what I came up with:

    As the whirl of the frappuccino machine thunders away, echoing to the farthest reaches of the breakroom--where one could play a decent game of football if it weren't for all the tables and chairs--I stood in line, patiently awaiting my chocolatety wonder.
    The clerk, a perky blond with a small diamond-headed stud in her nose, chats with the customer ahead of me on the latest Facebook statuses.
    Behind me, a microwave chimes and the vile stench of burnt popcorn churns my stomach.



Okay, it's not the latest award-winning literature, but it's certainly not the worst either.  I'm usually not a fan of the word "perky" because it's been so overused, but for not I'm going to leave it--that's what rewriting is for.

Honestly, I don't like to have too much descriptions without mixing in a fair amount of dialogue.  In the second paragraph, I notice there is a lot of "telling" so in the editing round, I'd probably insert "showing" dialogue about the Facebook statuses.

Writing Prompt Wednesday - Episode #3

This one was inspired by Stephen King's recent novel 11/22/63

Insert a scene around this bit of dialogue - the dialogue itself can be anywhere in your piece: beginning, middle, or end.  I won't tell you who the characters are (except for one, which is obvious at the end) so play around with different roles, whether it's a psychiatrist and a patient, a bartender and a patron, or two strangers on a train.


"Need to get something off my chest."

"Certainly.  I'm all ears."

"Keep in mind, I've never told anyone this before.  Not sure why I'm telling you now, but here it is.  I . . . I killed the President."

"Huh?  I don't understand.  Which one are we talking about?"

"Can't be Lincoln, you dumbass!  It's Kennedy, who else?  And before you go asking, I'm not this supposed second gunman on the grassy knoll.  That's total conspiracy theory bullshit."

"Buddy, I hate to say this, but the guy who killed Kennedy is dead.  Lee somebody.  Never was any good with history, but I know his name was Lee."

"His name was Lee, but the guy who was killed was an imposter."

"Come on, now.  You're telling me all of the history books are wrong-"

"We're getting off on the wrong foot.  Let me introduce myself.  I'm Lee . . . Harvey Oswald."


**One may think this is impossible, but stretch your imagination for a bit and think of how Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities ended.  Hmmmmm . . .

Happy writing!

Writing effective descriptions

One of the best ways to describe a setting is to use as many senses as you can--and if you can do more than one in a single sentence, that would be even better.

Just like hooks, there shouldn't be too much description.  There should be just the right amount--a crappy answer, I know, but let me show you how.  Besides, your setting is only there to give a sense of place for your character.  Readers want to know what happens in the story.  They don't want three pages describing a certain restaurant or the lobby of the White House.  They want to know about what the characters are doing (Okay, Anne Rice can get by with writing pages upon pages of elegant prose, describing her settings in glowing details, but she's a master storyteller and has strong characters so what else do you want me to say).

I'm going to give you an example.  At my full-time job (I can't tell you where because it's against the company's policy) we have quite a spacious breakroom.  I'm going to describe various aspects of it, then I'll pick out the best pieces to go in my story, using as many of the senses as I can.

Here we go:

Quiet murmur of chatter

A pop bottle clunking down the pop machine chute

The ripe stink of burnt popcorn

Whirl of the frappuccino machine, bubbling as it nears the top of the glass, creating a frothy wonder

Smooth, cool tables and chairs with flat, warm cushions

Clear sky, giving the illusion of warmth despite the sub-zero temperatures

Salivating smells of chocolate, vanilla, and cream from the Starbucks-like kiosk

Faint beeping of a cash register

Thunderous sounds from the floor below, possibly construction

Clunking of pop cans being set onto the tables

Slamming of the microwave doors, followed closely by the beeping alerts of yet another nuked meal

Cheap wire napkin holders with glass salt and pepper shakers, the latter with dull stainless steel tops hopefully screwed on tightly enough to prevent an overloading of spices.

Modern cash register with the customer's order displayed on one side and the clerk's Facebook page on the other.

Office personnel wearing slacks and nice shirts while the warehouse patrons don blue jeans and T-shirts--two worlds colliding with one another.

People reading more Kindles and ebook readers nowadays then physical books

Numerous people checking their Facebook statuses on their SmartPhones

Perky clerk with blond hair, a chatty demeanor, and a silver stud in her nose

A large flat-screen TV on the kiosk, displaying the latest specials and current menu

**These are just a list of quick observations.  Not necessarily the best descriptions, but I can tweak those when it comes to writing the story.  Stay turned tomorrow where I'll bring these descriptions together.**

Hooks - the great debate of "how many"

I once read a recent interview with a thriller writer where the interviewer was asked about hooks.  The writer said that there needs to be a major hook at the end of every chapter, to pull the reader into the next and beyond.

He is dead wrong--no pun intended.

If there were major hooks at the end of every chapter, the reader would get exhausted and be forced to quit reading.  Take your favorite bestselling thriller writer (not that the one in the interview wasn't--no offense but he wasn't as well known as John Sandford or James Patterson) and examine any one of their thrillers.  Where are the hooks?  In every single chapter?  Nope.

Didn't think so.

The key is to sprinkle hooks throughout your book, without it seeming like there is one around every corner.  This may be a piss-poor answer, but there should be just the right amount of hooks, not too many and not too few.

What is a hook?

In its simplest forms, a hook is a plot technique that draws the reader to continue reading the story.  This is typically at the end of chapters--but not every one.

Also, a hook should move the story along, not be some gimmick.  Don't end your chapter with, "And he opened the door and saw . . ."   Only to open the next chapter with, "His mother, holding a birthday cake.  And it wasn't even his birthday."

In Stephen King's 11/22/63 he ends with one of his chapters with the main character stepping through the portal, from 2011 to 1958.  That's it.  No gimmick.  Just plain, awesome writing.  And does every chapter end with a hook?  Nope.

Chances are, you know what hooks are, you just had to put a name to the technique.  Once again, I stress not to put hooks at the end of every chapter.  Hooks shouldn't be what drives a reader to read your story.  If you build your characters well enough and your readers will like them, they'll read it.

Writing in your strengths

Your child comes home with their report card. On it are three As, three Bs, one C, and an F. Which one do you focus on?

If you're like me, you'd probably say ,"What the hell did you get an F in? How are you going to fix that?"

Now this may be fine, great, and dandy, but what one should be asking is: "What did you get the As in? How can we help you to focus more of your energy in that area?"

Too many of us are focused on our weaknesses. Even in job interviews, don't you just dread it when the interviewer asks what your greatest weakness is? I do.

The same goes with our writing. Some writers are great with dialogue--just read anything by J. D. Salinger and you'll be amazed by his dialogue. Others are great with descriptions and elegant prose. Anne Rice fits the bill on that one.

In my writers' group, the members have always said to me how natural my dialogue sounds. It's something I work on very hard, even saying it out loud so that it does sound natural, so for me that's a strength I'll continue to work on. Not that I won't work on others, because I will.

What is your writing strength?

Descriptions?

Dialogue?

Character development?

Building suspense?

Hooks?

Plot twists?

Find out what it is that you're good at, and work on building your strengths into the powerhouses they're meant to be.