Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Avoid Fiction Disasters: Remove Exposition And Backstory In 3 Steps

Writing fiction? If you’re a new author, your biggest temptations are exposition and backstory. They’re tempting because you want to explain things to readers. Please don’t do that — you’re killing your novel.

Readers want entertainment, not explanations.

In an earlier post, we discussed beginning your novel, novella or short story with a first-sentence hook, and said:

Your novel’s first sentence must be a hook. Otherwise readers won’t read your second sentence.

Sadly, many new authors follow that strategy, then wreck their wonderful hook because they don’t trust readers.

You need to explain, don’t you?

NO, you don’t. When you explain, you throw away wonderful opportunities to keep readers reading.

Avoid explanations: you’re throwing away opportunities to create suspense

Authors “explain” when they use devices like exposition and backstory. (Backstory is anything that happened before your story starts.)

I’ve written about backstory hell before. Here’s what an author indulging in backstory looks like to readers.

• A scene starts. You settle down to read an enjoyable scene between two characters, then the author inserts…
• Backstory 1, of one of the characters…
• In the middle of backstory 1, you get backstory 2, the backstory of the other character…
• Finally the author remembers he’s writing a scene. So you get a snippet of the scene (by this time the reader’s head is spinning like a top). After just a few paragraphs of the scene, the author inserts…
• Something or other, which may be backstory, or maybe it’s a flashback, who knows?

Please don’t do that.

Keep your story moving FORWARD, always

Make it your goal to remove all author intrusions when you spot them. Keep your story moving forward.

These steps will help.

Step 1. Your first draft is your “story” draft: write quickly

You’ll eliminate exposition and backstory in later drafts. In your first draft, you’re discovering the story of your novel or novella. So just write, without editing.

Be messy. Your sole aim in your first draft is to get the story down and type: “The End.”

Step 2. After your first draft read-through, tag all instances of exposition and backstory

Leave your first draft for a day or two, then read it through. This first read-through is solely for story. Do you have a story? Can you create a logline?

You must know what you're selling, so selling your book starts with a one sentence summary, much like a movie’s logline:

When INCITING INCIDENT happens, OUR PROTAGONIST decides TO DO ACTION against ANTAGONIST.

During your second read-through, tag author intrusions like exposition and backstory.

Then…

Step 3. Delete backstory and exposition

Most of the time, you’ll be able to delete instances of exposition and backstory and instantly improve your story.

Occasionally, you’ll need to introduce information you’ve deleted or which is missing. Introduce this needed information via:

• A new scene, or even an entire subplot;
• Dialogue;
• A character’s thoughts.

Write Your Bestseller: Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Word for word, mystery authors earn more than authors of most other genres, including romance.

Check out our new report, “Write Your Bestseller: Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense”. You’ll discover how, why, and what types of mystery fiction are selling today, and how to develop a mystery writing career.

Your Novel: Ensure Your First Sentence Hooks Readers

You’re writing fiction, so you’re aware of the importance of narrative hooks.

Always plant your first hook in the first sentence of your novel.

Start your novel with a hook: it’s a promise

What’s a “hook” in fiction? It’s a promise that keeps readers reading — a promise that something is either happening, or is about to happen.

Your novel’s first sentence must be a hook. Otherwise readers won’t read your second sentence.

Five “hooky” first sentences (all bestsellers have hooky first sentences)

Let’s look at the opening sentence of five novels. Each and every one is a hook.

Here we go…

The recovery mission was called off at 6:56 P.M. (Sandra Brown, Ricochet)

The music-room in the Governor’s House at Port Mahon, a tall, handsome, pillared octagon, was filled with the triumphant first movement of Locatelli’s C major quartet. (Patrick O’Brian, Master and Commander (Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1) )

Matilda Jane Roberts was naked as the air. (Larry McMurtry, Dead Man's Walk: Lonesome Dove 1)

From above, from a distance, the marks in the dust formed a tight circle. Jane Harper, The Lost Man

The stranger appeared just after lunch on day one of Wyatt’s operation against the Mesics. (Garry Disher, Crosskill, Wyatt Book 4)

I love those five sentences because each one is perfectly tuned to the readers of the genre of that novel.

Tip: pay attention to first sentences in the novels you READ, especially if you enjoyed the novel.

Do this:

• Read the novel. Then if you enjoyed the novel,
• Go back and reread the first sentence and ask yourself some questions.

You might ask:

• What made me keep reading after I read the first sentence?
• How did the sentence make me feel?
• Did the sentence encapsulate something about the novel? What?

Of the above five first sentences, my favorite is the first sentence of Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander. The novel begins his Aubrey/ Maturin series of novels; they’re set during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the first scene, Aubrey and Maturin meet. It’s one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever read. Although it seems that nothing much happens in the scene, we discover the characters of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. We also learn about the Royal Navy in 1800.

The first sentence introduces the scene and the novel — we like these two men, and want to read more. Readers who read the blurb of Master and Commander know what they’re getting: a novel about naval warfare. So the first sentence creates cognitive dissonance and arouses the reader’s curiosity.

Tip: write your novel, THEN worry about the first sentence (it may well be FINE)

All authors know that the first sentence of a novel is vital. If a reader won’t read your first sentence, he won’t read your book.

Some first sentences are so memorable they’re famous. Consider:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” (Dickens, A Tale Of Two Cities.)

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” (Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca.)

New authors know that their novel’s first sentence is of vital importance, as is the first scene in their novel. So, they tend to rewrite the first few paragraphs over and over.

Don’t do that. Write your novel. Then rewrite your first sentence, if you must. Often you’ll discover that your first iteration of your first sentence is fine, so don’t think you must make it “perfect.”

The specific words in your first sentence don’t matter. All you need to do is keep readers reading. As long as your first sentence is a hook, readers will do that.

Write Your Bestseller: Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Word for word, mystery authors earn more than authors of most other genres, including romance.

Check out our new report, “Write Your Bestseller: Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense”. You’ll discover how, why, and what types of mystery fiction are selling today, and how to develop a mystery writing career.

Write A Short Story In 5 Minutes A Day

As you may know, I’m a fan of writing and publishing short stories.

The reason’s simple: when I write a short story, I know it’s done within a few hours. Yes, there’s the cleanup phase: editing and proofing and finding a cover, but those are minor chores.

In a way, writing a short story is like writing blog posts; it’s (almost) instant gratification. You get an idea for a story, write it and publish it. Use your spare minutes; you can write in five minutes a day if that’s all the time you have.

Want to write a short story?

Try not to overthink writing a short story. Think of it this way — you’re creating fast and fun entertainment for readers.

We’re all busy. Few readers have hours in which they can read, but they have minutes. Write stories to distract your readers from their worries and problems for a few moments.

Try these simple steps.

1. Use what you have

Often, you can write a short story from materials you’ve got on hand:

• A scene you deleted from a novel;
• A character you removed from a draft;
• A novel which went nowhere. If you have a novel like this, why not try carving a couple of short stories from it?
• Ideas which won’t leave you alone… When you get an idea like this, write a story, even if it’s not in your primary genre, so the idea will stop bugging you.

2. Set a word count and a goal

Your story needs a fictional structure, with various elements, so that it’s satisfying to readers.

The phases/ elements:

• A setup phase (usually 25% of the word count)
• Rising action (obstacles)
• A turning point (the midpoint — at 50%)
• Your character fights back (50% to 95%)
• A climax (95%)
• A windup (just a couple of hundred words.)

You don’t need to structure a story precisely like this. Conflate phases if you like. It’s your story: write what entertains you. Chances are it will entertain readers too.

3. Write first, worry later

Can you write a short story (or any piece of fiction) in five minutes a day?

Of course you can. Write. Write whatever pops into your mind. Words develop more words.

Writing whatever’s in your head is a great habit to develop. Here’s why: stories will often come to you in bursts of inspiration.

If you’re writing a story in five minutes a day, you might spend five days (25 minutes) before you get an idea of what your story’s all about.

That’s fine. Your creative self, which gave you the bursts of inspiration will form them into a story.

Write. Five minutes a day.

Have fun. :-)

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How many novellas could you write before Christmas, if you could write a novella in seven days?

You’ll enjoy writing novellas; make this holiday season the best-ever for your self-publishing business.

Dialog Tags in Fiction: If I Read "Whisper" Once More...

Oh kill me now... I just found a wonderful new (to me) author. She writes engagingly, her characters are witty and charming, and there's a real plot to her novel.

I'm rubbing my hands, thrilled, already making plans to glom all this author's backlist asap.

Then it starts.

The heroine stops talking. She starts whispering. For page after endless page. Every interaction she has with the hero -- he's an alpha male of few words -- she whispers. Even when they're talking about the man who's trying to kill her. Whisper, whisper... And I'm done.

"Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue": Elmore Leonard

"Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue" is one of Elmore Leonard's ten rules of writing.

Depending on your story, of course you can use other dialog tags, occasionally. Very occasionally.

Your readers skip over "said"; it just lets them know who's talking. Your readers will not skip over other tags. If you use whisper, there had better be a reason, or you'll annoy your readers. Annoy them too often, and not only are they done with your book, they're done with everything else you'll ever write.

Whenever you're tempted to use a dialog tag like: shouted, exclaimed, snorted (another doozy -- no one snorts a sentence) -- don't. If you have a thesaurus, leave it alone. Emotion sells your fiction. Emotion never comes from dialog tags. As Elmore Leonard says, any tag other than "said" is just you, the author,  muddying it up by giving stage directions.

Fiction is entertainment, so entertain

Readers read fiction to be taken out of their daily lives, and enter a new world you've created. 

Use the words which come naturally. Let your characters talk. Their emotions should come through in their words. If they don't, it means that you're not feeling it, so the your characters can't, and all the whispering in the world won't help your readers to feel it either.

Learn the secrets of emotion, and much more, in Hot, Hotter, Hottest: Write Bestselling Kindle Romances.

 

Join Angela on Google+, and on Twitter: @angee. You can find Angela on Pinterest, too.

Kindle Romance Writer Weekly: What Happens in the 26 Weeks?

I've been asked about Kindle Romance Writer Weekly, and what you can expect over the 26 issues.

Originally, I conceived of KRWW as a continuation of Hot, Hotter, Hottest: Write Bestselling Kindle Romances,  because there was so much to cover... but I didn't want to overwhelm new authors. I wanted them to write, and keep writing, and present new ideas and techniques slowly.

However, so many writers asked for KRWW as a separate program that I was happy to do it.

In a nutshell, KRWW covers hot genre fiction news and tutorials. It's focused on romance, because romance sells, and is (theoretically) easier to write. There's not much you can do to mess up in romance. Romance readers are forgiviing, as long as you give them what they want. A romance doesn't need fancy footwork, and yet, done well, romance can be satisfying to write, as well as to read.

What if you don't want to become known as the Romance King or Queen of your town or state? People tend to be sniffy about romance. Consider that many authors got their start writing romance -- umm... smut. Lawrence Block, for one. Romance in all its glory is a wonderful training ground for authors. Here's the solution if you don't want to be known for romance writing... use a pen name. Your great aunt Maisie never needs to know that you write smut. Once you start making money however, it might be easier to tell her than have her think you're dealing drugs... :-)

OK, all jokes aside. 

Kindle Romance Writer Weekly gives you:

* 26 weeks of writing tutorials and instruction, so that you know the elements of genre fiction, and can use them in your ebooks/ books; AND

* HOT news. For example, in Issue 2, we discussed a price point on Amazon which is a no-no. In Issue 3, we talk about the hottest-selling categories in erotic romance.

Hot news: how it works

You receive one issue of KRWW a week, starting with the first issue, so that you receive all the instruction and don't miss out if you join later. 

I send out hot news so you receive it immediately, if I know it will make a difference to you in the next few weeks. It also goes into an issue, so that you have a permanent record of it.

We're having great fun with Kindle Romance Writer Weekly; join us. :-)

 

Kindle Fiction: Could YOU Write a Romance?

Could you write Kindle fiction, specifically romance fiction? With the release of our romance writing class, Hot, Hotter, Hottest: Write Bestselling Kindle Romances, and our new Kindle Romance Writer Weekly digital magazine, I’ve been getting questions from freelancers who want to try to write romance.

They’re hesitant. They write Web content, or copy, and haven’t written fiction. I ask them all the same question: have you tried reading romance?

Here’s what’s always worked for me, and works for my students when they’re not sure whether they can write something or other. If you THINK you can, and you WANT TO, you can. What counts is your enthusiasm and excitement.

The hardest money you’ll ever earn is if you take a writing commission just for the money. Believe me, I’ve done that, and barely lived to tell the tale. Yes, I’m serious. The last time someone waved a lot of money at me, and I foolishly agreed to write a book I didn’t want to write, I ended up in hospital. Even though I had surgery, I’m convinced that stress wrecked my body so that I needed to go under the knife.

So, in a nutshell: if you can read romance fiction with enjoyment, and are enthusiastic about writing it, you can write it.

Write Short Stories First.

Start small. As I wrote in this article of fiction writing tips:

… write short stories, and if you can, write erotica short stories – smut SELLS, and sells well. Last year, you could write ultra-short erotica, and make a great income. These days, focus on erotica romances. Aim for 10,000 to 20,000 words. Use a pen name for this stuff. You can write under whatever names you choose.

For the first time in decades, you can make excellent money writing short stories and novellas. And yes, if you enjoy reading smut, write it. Under a pen name. Your great aunt Ruth and your pastor never need to know that those kinds of thoughts go through your mind. :-)

Forget Publishing. Just Write.

When you’re starting out with fiction, just write. Make up stories. Practice brainstorming fiction.

Expect to be clumsy at it. If you’re used to writing nonfiction, making up stories seems weird, at first. Give it a week or two. Write on the train, and while you’re watching TV. Distract your logical left brain, and give your creative right brain a chance to come out and play.

Lower your expectations, and keep reading romance. You can find hundreds of free romances on Amazon.

If you enjoy what you’re writing, our romance writing class, Hot, Hotter, Hottest: Write Bestselling Kindle Romances, and our new Kindle Romance Writer Weekly digital magazine will help you to make writing romance fiction your new career. Or just a sideline to whatever you’re writing now.

I started my writing career writing romance, and these days, writing it seems like a holiday. I do my other writing chores, and look on my romances as the reward for my other writing.

Start small, with short stories, and encourage yourself to have fun with it. If you think you can write romance… you can.

Join Angela on Google+, and on Twitter: @angee. You can find Angela on Pinterest, too.

NEW: Your Short Story Factory - Personal Coaching

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Want to write and sell short stories on Amazon? You can. Short fiction is profitable in some genres. I've had many requests for personal coaching in writing short stories, and building a catalogue of your works, so here we go. This is a fun course. We'll work together for 30 days.

 

Writing Your Book: Who Tells the Story?

The biggest choice you make when you start your novel is the decision: who tells the story?

If you tell it in the third person, who's the primary viewpoint character? 

On the other hand, if you choose the first person -- "I" -- that presents challenges. Your first person narrator needs to be there for all pivotal scenes. Moreover, there's a limit to what he knows and understands.

As this article, How a Pronoun Shaped a Novel, says:

Writing in the first person was thrilling at first. No scene started as a blank slate—my heroine was always there. I was not obliged to do any complicated bobbing and weaving between the narrator's perceptions and those of other characters. And writing from a single character's point of view sped up the Frankenstein-like authorial process of making her seem alive.

Writing in the first person can be comfortable, but it may not be the best choice for your story. It's not the easiest choice, either.

Try writing from your preferred point of view. If it doesn't work, that's fine. You can always rewrite if you see it's not working.

 

 

A Christmas Carol: it's that time of year again

It's the season of peace and goodwill, so dig out your copy of A Christmas Carol and read it to the deserving young in your life. Or you can read it again, just for yourself. :-)

You can download a copy here, if you don't have one.

If you just want to listen, you can buy a copy of A Christmas Carol at Audible, read by the wonderful actor Paul Scofield.

The ending always brings a tear to my eye, no matter how many times I read it:

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and
infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was
a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a
master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or
any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old
world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him,
but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was
wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this
globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill
of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these
would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they
should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in
less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was
quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon
the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was
always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas
well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that
be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim
observed, God bless Us, Every One!

Want to start a family tradition? Reread A Christmas Carol each year. As a writer, reading the master is  good for your soul.

Writers' Christmas Treats: Writing Gifts for You, Dear Writer

Want to write a book?

I've received several questions this week about freelancing fiction.

These kinds of writing jobs are available on the outsourcing sites, but if you want to write a novel, just write it, and sell it. You just may get lucky. Writers hit the bestseller list every year.

Start by writing a genre novel. Readers of these novels have certain expectations, and if you can meet those expectations, there's a real market for your writing.

In First Steps To Write A Novel: Pick A Genre | Write a novel | Write A Nonfiction Book or Novel and Get It Published I wrote:

"These expectations that readers (and of course publishers) have for a genre give you a handle on how to write that particular genre of novel. You start by deciphering what those expectations are, and how the elements of the book meet those expectations. Tip: many publishers offer ‘writer’s guidelines’ for their books. While these are useful, your own thoughts about WHY readers like a genre are much more valuable to you, because everything you write is filtered through your own experience."

Happy writing. :-)

If you're interested in kicking off your freelance writing career quickly, check out next week's ezine, in which our theme is Mastering Freelancing FAST.

NaNoWriMo tools you need for your writing journey

Here comes NaNoWriMo again. Another month devoted to writing until your fingertips ache.

Good luck to you if you're taking part -- enjoy the journey. :-)

Here are tools to help.

Firstly, a couple of counters. All Freelance Writing » Blog Archive » 2 Free Word Count Trackers for Writers reports:

"Our second word count tracker is a cool little tool that you can use for much more than tracking your word counts. For example, if you set an income goal as a freelance writer and you want to keep your blog readers updated on your progress (for the year, month, or however long you choose), you can choose to track a dollar amount by entering that into our custom field. Or you can use our preset options to track words, pages, or posts (such as a certain number of blog posts each month). Do you know what’s really great about the custom field though? You can use this to track anything, even if it’s not writing-related! Need a weight loss tracker? Here you go! Want to count down until a vacation or other event? You can do that too! You can track just about anything you want!"

Next, some ideas for preparation.

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 1: Pick a genre 

Think about what you'll write in November; start by picking a genre. 

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 2: Be a squirrel

Squirel away the stuff you'll need in November.

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 3: Your characters' professions

Choose professions for your characters.

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 4: Write a character journal

Choose one character, and write his or her journal.

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 5: Interview your hero and heroine

Following on from #5, it's time to interview your primary characters.

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 6: Gear up with story boards

Have you discovered story boards? They're a great help to keep track of your story.

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 7: Get organized

When you're writing a novel, you need to get comfortable with creative chaos... and then get organized. :-)

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 8: List action scenes - fiction is not real life

In fiction, you leave out the boring bits. List your action scenes and write them.

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 9: Get your story into shape

Conquer the dreaded middle of your novel (that's what ACTION scenes are for.)

* NaNoWriMo QuickStart 10: Ready for takeoff?

Final tips to help you through November...

You've only got a couple of days until the big day -- make the most of them. :-)

Fiction: getting to know your characters

Miss Potter is a lovely gem of a movie. If you haven't seen it, rent it as soon as you can. It's a must-watch for novelists.

In it, Beatrix Potter knows her characters. They are real to her.

Without giving away the plot of the movie, there's a time when Beatrix can't draw or write. She's close to a breakdown. Watch what happens with her characters in the scene where she's trying to  write: it's truthful.

So how do you get to know your characters as well as Beatrix does hers?

You get to know them the same way you get to know people: you live with them, talk to them, listen when they talk to you.

You write down snippets of information about their history and their daily life. You journal about them and care what happens to them.

When you begin working with characters, you will "make them up." But as you continue to live with them, they will become as real to you as all the other people in your life. They will then become real to your readers too.

Discover more about creating characters which live in your heart, and your readers'.

Technorati Tags: fiction

NaNoWriMo: time management so you can write a book in a month

Writing a novel is FUN. If you love to write, then covering a notepad or computer screen with words is just about the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Or off, come to that. :-)

With NaNoWriMo just a couple of weeks away, I posted "It's write-a-novel time again - here comes NaNoWriMo" with some links to some NaNoWriMo QuickStarts I wrote last year.

But know what? You don't need all that preparation. What you need is TIME. Nothing will derail your NaNoWriMo efforts faster than not having time.

I suggest that you clear a block of time either at the end of the day or at the beginning of the day, depending on whether you write better at night, or early in the morning.

For NaNoWriMo month, that hour or two is sacrosanct: you'll need to protect this time like a mama bear protecting her cub from others in your household, and from yourself too.

If you're going to tackle NaNoWriMo, tell yourself that no matter what, you'll show up for yourself and your writing each day.

So start thinking about how you'll clear that block of time now: it's vital to your success.

Good luck. :-)

Technorati Tags: NaNoWriMo

It's write-a-novel time again - here comes NaNoWriMo

It seems just a little while ago that the madness was over, but here we are again - it's NaNoWriMo time...

I've already  covered NaNoWriMo extensively in previous years, so here are some links for your enjoyment -

NaNoWriMo QuickStart 1: Pick a genre

NaNoWriMo QuickStart 2. Be a squirrel

NaNoWriMo QuickStart 3: Character professions

NaNoWriMo QuickStart 4: Write a character journal

NaNoWriMo QuickStart 5: Interview your hero and heroine

NaNoWriMo QuickStart 6: Gear up with storyboards

That should keep you happily engaged until the big day. :-)

Technorati Tags: NaNoWriMo

Got a novel? Cash in with Amazon.com's Breakthrough Novel Award

Money for writers is always welcome. :-)

Amazon.com: Breakthrough Novel Award: Books reports: "Are you a writer longing to be discovered? Submit your manuscript for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. It’s the perfect opportunity to become the next great novelist: the winning author will receive a publishing contract from Penguin Group, including promotional support for their book on Amazon.com, and a media suite from Hewlett-Packard. All entrants are eligible to self-publish their novel with CreateSpace and sell it on Amazon.com. Enter your manuscript for consideration by November 5, 2007!"

How much do you win? Publishers Marketplace says:

Amazon's contest promises the largest field of potential entrants--they'll accept up to 5,000 unpublished manuscripts between now and November 5--and the biggest prize, which includes a publishing contract with the Penguin Group for an advance of $25,000, plus some lovely gifts from Hewlett Packard.

If you haven't started your novel yet, it's too late for this one. However, since there are so many novel contests at the moment, it's a real clue that publishers are struggling to find talent. So get writing. :-)