Endearing endings

"Maybe my fairy tale has a different ending than I dreamed it would. But that's OK." ~Kim Kardashian

I'm sure we've all been there before. We're reading a good book, we're excited to see how it all plays out, we have expectations, and then the end flops. It's enough to banish an author from your reading list. All writing is subjective to individual readers' tastes, but in general I think the best endings tie up all loose ends (unless it's a series that leaves questions to be answered in other books) and answer the story question(s) in a satisfying way.

Chapter endings -  

Chapter endings should propel readers forward. Whatever you do, be sure to mix things up. Never use the same technique too often or too frequently. That makes it less effective. Here are a few ways to accomplish great chapter endings.
Cliffhangers:  End the chapter right in the middle of some outrageous action. Your character might be hanging by her fingertips from an actual cliff, staring down the throat of a gun or any number of scenarios. The idea is to make the reader turn the page to find out what happens. 

Deepen conflict:  End the chapter by adding a new layer to the current conflict or adding an entirely new problem for the character to overcome. In short, complicate things even more. 

Dialogue: End the chapter by having someone say something that makes everyone, including the reader, gasp. 

Scene endings -

One good rule of thumb is to end scenes while they're still strong, not letting them trickle out. Scenes can end in the same ways as chapters. Another way to end a scene is to make things seem like they're going along smoothly, but of course it's only a lead-up to some major problem and action. Cliffhangers should be used sparingly for scene endings, but work well when you want to fool readers. You might leave them thinking a character possibly died (she was, after all, hanging by her fingertips from a cliff) and then have her show up later.

Story endings -

May we never disappoint our readers with unsatisfying endings. Here are few ways to end a story.  

Twist endings: You lead readers to believe one thing and then throw them for a loop. These are my favorites. They surprise people in a good way if they're done properly. Done poorly, however,  readers will feel cheated. Make sure the twist is plausible.

Explicit ending: Wraps everything up and answers all the questions. This ending usually reveals what happens to each of the major characters. These endings can be used in correlation with twist endings. 

Long view ending: These endings show the characters in the future, often long after the action is over and the conflicts resolved. 

Unresolved ending: These are risky to use, but can be pulled off if done well. The main conflicts are left unanswered and readers are left to decipher the outcome. 

Tomorrow's post - Fiction teaser

Dramatic dialogue

"Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms." ~ Alfred Hitchcock

Dialogue serves many purposes in a story. It reveals character motivations, setting and back story. It paces, sets mood and creates or intensifies conflict and suspense.  What a character says, or doesn't say, propels the plot forward in one of the most entertaining and natural ways.

Writing believable dialogue comes easily to some, but others have to work hard to hone this ever important skill. Here are just a few tips to help and remind.

• Visualize- I still remember when my son was three and helping me in the garden. He'd scoop up dirt with his little shovel and say: "I gotta put nis dirt into my imadinason so we could eat it." Not only was this super cute, it was insightful. Putting our character into our imaginations and listening to what they say is an excellent way to flush out natural sounding dialogue. All it takes is a little time and a pair of closed eyes. And an imagination, of course. Set your characters into the scene you're working and let them perform. It's like watching a movie. When the credits start to role, you start writing what you heard. And don't forget what you saw. This is an excellent way to mine character traits and actions as well. 
•  Ditch the straight path- Characters aren't always concerned with the same things. A good way to add intrigue to a scene is to have your characters carry on a conversation that isn't in sync.

          "Love your dress, Deb. Is it new?"
          "Where is he?"
          "I saw a necklace at Downtown Boutique the other day that would go perfectly. Expensive, though."
          "I know you were with him last night."
       
         As Usual, you don't want too much  of a good thing. You wouldn't want an entire novel written with this type of dialogue.

•  Get trivial- If your characters are detonating a bomb that's about to blow, hands shaking, sweating all over, have them talk about which brand of potato chips is best. Using meaningless chatter can juxtapose tension, in some instances intensifying it, in others creating comedy. Make sure you're accomplishing the right effect for your story.
• Hush-hush- According to Thomas Carlyle, Silence is more eloquent than words. This holds true when writing dialogue. Silence says a lot. Not only can it be more eloquent, but also more powerful than anything your characters might say.
  
  "Where were you last night?"
  "Out." He shovels another bite of cereal into his mouth, crunching becoming the only sound for miles. He slows his chew.
  "Were you with Natalie?"
  He won't look her in the eye.
  "You were, weren't you? You were with Natalie."
  When he finally looks up, she catches his bloodshot eyes. The bite on his spoon pauses midway to his mouth, which is clamped shut. But those eyes have never been good at lying.
   
• Keep'n it real-  If you're characters are three years old, they better sound like three years old.  If they've matured into backwoods loggers, they better sound the part, each in his/her own unique way. Some characters will sound similar to others if they have a similar background and lifestyle and they're around each other a lot. It would make sense, for instance, for siblings to have a similar cadence and vocabulary. But even they will have at least some originality. If you've gotten to know your characters, their speech should come to life spontaneously. If you're struggling with dialogue, you might want to stop and do some character work before you continue.
• Chop-chop-chop- Something I notice a lot in critique groups/partners, and in my own unedited work, is stilted speech. Everyone starts sounding pompous and wordy. I don't know anyone who walks around saying "I have not had breakfast yet." Or, "I do not love you anymore." Contractions are legal. Use them. Along these same lines, most people speak in shorthand. 
  
  "Are you going to the dance on Wednesday?" Becomes: "You going to the dance?"
  
  "I'm going surfing. Do you want to come?" Becomes: "I'm going surfing. Wanna come?"
  
  Cutting words is often the solution to natural sounding dialogue. The best way to learn to write dialogue well is to listen. Pay attention to rhythms when people talk to and around you. Take note of how everyone's speech differs. Notice what's similar. Soon you'll have a thousand voices in your head, all waiting to be set free.  

Tomorrow's post - Endearing endings

               

Crafting conflict

"The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself." ~Garth Brooks

Without conflict, a story wouldn't be worth reading, or writing. A story needs a protagonist coming up against their worst fear or fiercest enemy. It's about testing their character and moral choices. It's about entertainment. About exploring the human condition. Struggle. Most importantly, it's about change and growth.

In order to create meaningful conflict that touches the hearts of our audience, we need to abuse our characters. This doesn't always mean throwing him into battle. It's much  more dramatic to figure out what your character is particularly afraid of, the more unconventional the better, and make him face it. What's the most important thing in the world to him? Threaten to take it away and watch what he does.

Types of conflict

Inner conflict: The character struggles with what they want and what they must do, right and wrong, personal gain and spiritual devotion, etc.

Relational conflict: The character struggles with another person. 

Social conflict: The character struggle with a group.

Environmental conflict: The character struggles the elements or wildlife.

No matter what type of conflict a story has, the stakes must be high. The outcome has to mean everything to the character.

Conflicts for the writer

As writers we face conflicts at every step of story creation. Every detail requires us to make decisions, some more difficult than others. When we come across something that really has us stumped, there are a few things we can do to help us make the right choices.

Relax: Nothing blocks creativity more than stress. 

Exercise: Studies have shown that when we move our bodies our creativity heightens. I like to take walks in nature because being in the fresh air surrounded by trees helps with relaxation.

Dream: This one might sound strange to some, but it's another one that has studies to back it. If you think about your problem right before you fall asleep, the answer just might reveal itself in a dream.

Tomorrow's post - Dramatic dialogue

Beautiful beginnings

"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth ... not going all the way, and not starting." ~Buddha


Most of us love the idea of a new beginning. It's a fresh start, full of possibilities and wonder. Beginnings, however, don't always live up to our expectations, or those of our readers. They say you have three paragraphs in a short story to captivate an editor. In a novel you have about three pages, if you're lucky. Readers are busy these days. If the opening of a story doesn't grab readers, even non-editors, they're likely to toss it aside. Let's take a look at some things that can help us connect with our audience right from the start. 

Who does what and where

Character: Give them someone to care about. This entails creating a protagonist readers can either sympathize or identify with and easily imagine. 

Conflict: Something goes wrong for this character, or at least there's a hint of some future trouble.  Since readers care about him/her, they are going to want to come along for the ride. 

Setting: Add enough detail to help anchor readers into the story.

Set the tone: Is the story going to be comical or serious, frightening or romantic. Choose words and setting details that portray these qualities.

A word about descriptions at the beginning

While it's important to develop the character and setting enough for readers to care about and feel a part of the story, the beginning isn't the place for long descriptive passages, generally speaking. We want to start off by throwing readers into a situation and give them just enough to make them want to come back for more. More information can be sprinkled in along the way to the finish line. A few well selected details about setting and character can go a long way. 

Study and practice

It's always a good idea to learn from the masters. Pull several novels and short fiction collections from your shelves, or visit your local bookstore, and read the opening paragraphs or chapters. Pay attention to how the authors set up character, conflict, setting and tone. Then, when you're working on your own story, try several different approaches and see what works best.  

Tomorrow's post: Crafting conflict 
  
 

Creating amazing action scenes

"Never confuse movement with action." ~Ernest Hemingway



There's nothing like a good action scene to get your heart pumping and glue you to the pages. Even if a story doesn't fall into the thriller or adventure genres, it's not unusual for action to pop up from time to time. I've gathered a few tips to help make these sometimes tricky scenes work. 

• Pace: Action scenes work best when they move fast. Too much description and the excitement quickly wanes. Now isn't the time for back-story or scene-setting passages. Keep to the point and incorporate needed details into the action. 
• Setting: While it's never a good idea to spend much time on descriptions in an action scene, it's still important to ground readers in the story by using a few well chosen setting details. In an action scene, it's best to introduce setting details by incorporating them into the action. Have the characters knock over the multimillion dollar sculpture or put a fist through the dirty, paper thin wall.   
• Structure: Use short paragraphs with short or fragmented sentences to give a feeling of urgency.
• Set-up: If a character needs to be an expert at karate or have on him a certain weapon in order to survive the scene, make sure he uses those skills or that weapon throughout the book to make it believable when he pulls it out during the action.
• Stakes: The most powerful action scenes put characters in a real jam. Maybe he's not only fighting for his own life, but also the life of whomever he loves most, or the lives of an entire city or planet. Have the character desperately need to be somewhere, time is running out, or already out, and the action is delaying him. 
• Verbs: We're all familiar with the passive voice woes. Active verbs, while always a good idea, are especially important in action scenes.
• Dialogue: This isn't the place for long-winded conversations. Short powerful dialogue can often be more effective at keeping readers breathless. 

Tomorrow's post: Beautiful beginnings

Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting the A to Z Challenge! Visit his blog at http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/

New Sun Rising, paperback launch

 The time has finally arrived, this amazing charity anthology containing short stories (including one of mine ;-), poetry and artwork is now available in print. I love holding a book in my hands and turning real pages! Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/New-Sun-Rising-Stories-Japan/dp/0987138316/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353568874&sr=1-2&keywords=new+sun+rising+stories+for+japan

In order to gain maximum exposure, we're asking all those interested to purchase the book at Amazon.com on  Saturday, November 24th. This will create a "chart rush" that will push the book to the top of the Amazon lists and cause more people to see it. Of course, it can be purchased at any time. Every cent, excluding Amazon's small fee, goes to the Japanese Red Cross. Read more about the project and the chart rush here: http://storiesforjapan.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-sun-rising-paperback-launch.html

View the book trailer below:

Spiders

Read my story "The Rules of Magic" in this creepy crawly anthology. Both e-book and paperback editions are available.