Lessons learned about writing

After almost eighteen months of this writing thing, I wanted to talk about the things I have learned.

1.       Commas, they’re important. They go before the quotation mark. The next word is not capitalized unless it is a proper noun.

2.       If you make the character too snarky, it reduces the tension. Things can’t be that bad if they’re making jokes all the time.

3.       Not enough internal dialog makes things sound like a list. He did this, and then he did that, followed by him doing the other thing. The story comes across as flat.

4.       I focus too much on getting information to the reader and not enough on creating the emotions in the reader. This is a holdover from twenty three years as a radioman. Being trained to be precise and emotionless in my communications.

5.       The main characters names should not start with the same letter. It confuses the reader. Every time they have to think it makes it harder to get down the rabbit hole.

6.       If the scene is not critical to the story then remove it. Will the reader’s knowledge or emotion be impacted by the scene, if not remove it.

7.       If you show a gun in the first act, someone needs to shoot it in the third act.

8.       Don’t head hop. Pick a POV and stick with it for the entire scene. It will tighten things up. No more than five POV’s per novel. The more POV’s the farther away the reader gets from the characters.

9.       The POV impacts the story, Star Wars told from Han Solo’s POV is a totally different movie.

10.   Rewriting/Editing is hard. Wait awhile before going back and rewriting you story.

11.   Don’t use clichés. Simile’s and Metaphors should be original. Readers will skim over trite saying. Too much skimming and they stop reading.

12.   It is critical to get readers down the rabbit hole. That place where they are in the story, in characters head. Being amazed, amused, frightened about what is going to happen. Once you are there you can stretch reality, push the unbelievable stuff. But if you are not there, the reader will stop reading and usually end up throwing the book against the wall.

13.   Not all readers are the same. What one finds as great, another will think of as boring. And vice versa. Write your story, do the best you can and let the chips fall where they may.

14.    Conflict drives every story. It is the difference between a novel and an instruction manual.

15.   If the characters don’t grow and change, then nothing important happened in their lives.

Dystopia Novel vs. Dystopia

Why do Young adults or as I like to call them, Old Teens, like dystopian novels so much. Simple really, High School is the most dystopian world you will ever find. It is made up of unwritten rules and experienced by newbie’s who must navigate their way through a maze of trials and monsters. All of it designed to weed out the weak and ruthlessly promote the powerful. The world was so much better in the olden days (Elementary school) where there was a benevolent authority that provided a solution for most problems. In high school and most dystopian worlds you have had to rely upon your own wits, you have to find your inner strength. Most of all you have to grow and become someone else.

Young adults like dystopian novels because they live it everyday.

Test works

The test worked. I typed the word into google 24 hours after creating on this blog. today I did a search and it came up nr1. How great is that.

Epiistes

This is a  test of the google search engine. I am using the new word I invented "Epiistes".

Observation

In literature, Sex is used to make the story better. In erotica the story is used to make the sex better.

G.L. Snodgrass

Another Email to Uncle Roger

Hi Roger, I hope all are well and that you had a wonderful Christmas.

As for your last email – Some point to ponder.

-          Gun Control. I think it is a problem that can’t be fixed. For one, it would take an amendment to the constitution and you could never get 2/3’s of the states to agree. The current laws don’t stop a person from owning a gun, they just make it burocratically difficult. Instead there will be minor changes, but nothing serious and none of them will make a difference. Let’s not forget that the latest horror happened in a state with some of the tightest gun controls. The guns were stolen from the legal owner (mother). None of the rules they are thinking about enacting would have stopped it from happening. Let’s also not forget that the two biggest mass murders were done with Box knifes (9/11) and Fertilizer (Oklahoma City). I am not saying that there should or should not be total gun control. I am saying that it won’t happen, and if it did, it wouldn’t stop bad things from happening. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t Norway have strict gun controls but they still had that awful killing a couple of years ago. In fact I think the UK will have greater problems in the future with guns as a result of the bleed over from the EU. If a person can own a gun in Poland, can they easily take it to England?  That’s the real issue here, a city, or state can severely restrict guns, but a person can drive an hour and get what they need. It is illegal to take it home, but if you’re planning on mass murder, that fact is not going to stop you. It ends up only penalizing the law abiding people who wanted it for home protection.

-          EU Membership. I find the subject fascinating and have been following it closely. A lot more closely than most Americans. I followed the Irish vote. It seemed they kept having votes until they got the answer they wanted. I was surprised when the UK conservatives didn’t hold a referendum on the matter. I thought they had promised to do so? I bet you guys are glad you still have the Pound and are not part of the Euro. Especially with what is coming for Greece/Portugal/Italy/Spain and others. My opinion. And again, I am on the outside looking in, but I have never fully understood why Great Britain was willing to sacrifice Sovereignty for the right to be part of Europe. It seems to me that England has been fighting for a thousand years to avoid becoming some European despot’s treasure. Instead they got you guys to surrender without a fight. (I know I am over simplifying.) Some nameless Brussels burocrat was able to accomplish what Napolian, Hitler, Louis XIII and the Kaiser were unable too. In my opinion, Great Britain has had more positive impact on the world than any other nation in history, even more than Rome. The U.S. Can never overtake it because the U.S. is just a continuation of the British way of looking at things. Freedom, Property rights, fair play, etc. I fear that you are sacrificing your Britishness to become European, and from my point of view that is a step down. Again I’m not there and don’t know all the ins and outs.

-          The Euro – Will it last? And if it doesn’t can the EU survive? It appears that a lot of European countries have a model of borrowing money to pay for services. We have a saying. Things that can’t last, won’t. At some time the bill comes do. Who’s going to pay for it? There are only three ways to eliminate debut, (Inflation, Growth, Default,). Does Europe cut Greece, Portugal, Spain, loose? Are German Taxpayers going to pay for Greece and if so, what are they going to demand in return. It seems that the only long term solution is break up or more central planning, and central budgeting. But if that is the case then people will no longer be Greek but will be European. I realize this is what a lot of people want, but I don’t think they know what they’re getting. It is going to be Interesting to watch over the next decade. All I know is that they can’t keep doing things half way. Either become one country, Europe. Or don’t. Half measures never work in the long run.

What do you think will happen?