Trim the "Fat"

When describing a scene, person, or "thing" in your writing, be specific. Telling the reader "the desk was made of wood" or "he didn't feel well (not good)" is weak writing. If the desk was made of wood, then tell us what kind of wood. A light-stained oak? Mahogany? Knotty pine? If your characters is ill, then tell us what ails him.

Go through your text and remove any weak nouns, verbs, and modifiers. Eliminate abstractions and replace them with concrete images. Help your readers visualize what is happening.

Cut any clichés, unless they are central to your character. If you use a metaphor or simile, create your own.

Internal "Talk" What Characters Think

It's those internal conversations, those inner thoughts that often give the reader insight into your character's soul. There are two ways to approach this: the indirect thought and the direct thought.

With the indirect approach, the character's thought is more of an observational commentary. For example, if you are writing a story about a child waiting to be picked up at school, you might write: The boy worried that his mother may have forgotten him, or worse...she may have had a horrible car accident. This is an indirect character thought because you did not write the exact wording of the character's inner dialogue.

A direct character thought is written as internal dialogue. Some authors use italics to signal that the words are the character's thoughts. Using the above scenario, you might write: Billy sat on the steps outside the gymnasium. The schoolyard was quiet. Maybe Mom didn't see the note I left on the table. Or maybe she had one of her episodes. Last time that happened Dad yelled at her, said he didn't want her driving anymore.

When writing direct thoughts do not use quotation marks. A tag, such as he thought, is optional.

From The Writer's Block...

Read your work out loud, particularly the dialogue. This is an excellent way to judge the nuances of rhythm and interpretation, or find odd-sounding modulations—cadences—that interrupt the flow of words in written text.

From The Writer's Block...

Give your prose pizazz by engaging the senses. Examine the sensory details in the scene. Give the reader more than visual description. Explore the sounds and smells in the environment, the textures. Examples: the rustle of leaves, the piping of an oriole, the gritty sand.

And Now A Word From Aristotle...

Okay...I'm a philosophy wonk...I admit it. But those early guys had a lot of good "stuff" (their word, not mine.

Aristotle’s Approach to Plot - The Basic Three-Act Structure

Act I: Beginning (Setup) -- introduce the reader to the setting, the main characters, and the situation (conflict) they find themselves in.

* Plot Point 1 is a situation (a first turning point) that drives the main character (protagonist) from their day-to-day life toward some different conflicting situation.
* Here, too, the main character is thrust into the dramatic situation
* The inciting incident at the end of the first act, complicates the story, ensuring life will never be the same again for the protagonist. This incident also raises the dramatic question that will be answered in Act III.

Act II: Middle (Confrontation) -- story develops through a series of complications and obstacles as the protagonist attempts to resolve the problem initiated by the first turning point. The character’s actions lead to a mini crisis and inevitably to an ultimate crisis—the Climax. As the story progresses, there is an overall rising tension as we approach the second turning point, or Climax. The second turning point is the scene or sequence in which the main tensions of the story are brought to their most intense point and the dramatic question answered.

* The resolution of the Climax is Plot Point 2.

Act III: End (Resolution) -- Climax and the loose ends of the story are resolved during the dénouement, when the story and the sub-plots are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

* Coward finds his courage, losers win; sinners lose; sinners are redeemed.

More From The Writer's Block...

Point to keep in mind:
Every genre of writing answers questions and has moral value.
Every book has Content (duh!), but Content requires structure or form to shape it.

STRUCTURE is the organization of these events.

Beginning – set up the story, get the reader’s attention, establish the situation/goal

Middle – conflicts (Growth/life lessons) that lead to crisis (need for change, action, decisions)

End – resolution: Works with stories that reflect back over periods of time

SET-UP - create a sense of unity. Lay undertones that guide the reader, set-up for what will happen or influence.

SPINE – another big event that motivates reader to achieve a goal; when the character becomes fully committed. Includes Conscious objective and Unconscious desire – (more powerful, durable – reaches down to innermost self.)

Catalyst - (a turning point, yes) sparks the reader’s goal, mission, need, problem, desire

Resolution - Climax