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Show, Don’t Tell

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments
#writetip How many times have you heard “Show, Don’t tell” ? So the advice is everywhere and it must be easy. Ha Ha. Here’s a technique I use when I’m trying to force myself to show and not tell.

For each scene, establish a point of view character and stick to it. If you find yourself throwing in other characters thoughts or feelings, see if you can get rid of them without hurting the scene. This narrows the POV to one character.

Once you’re that far, check the scene for anything the character can’t know, but you’ve described. There’s a good chance this is telling. It might be something that can be removed or put in as part of what the character is doing. This way you’re revealing the character’s experience and not what you as an author want the reader to know.

I’m not saying write your whole novel this way. I’m not even saying this works. What it does is give me a process to check if I’m telling and not showing. Then I can decide whether or not to make changes.

If you have other ways to check if for telling versus showing, I’d love to hear them.

Writing in a Small Space

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

#writetip #sailing Continuing with  my theme of writing and cruising, here are some tips on writing in a small space.

I don’t actually consider my Lagoon 380 S2 a small space. She is 38 feet long and with her two hulls, there is a lot of room. It’s just close together.

There are three sleeping cabins, a main salon and a cockpit. There is a built in desk in the starboard hull. But, and here’s the big but, It’s hard to be invisible and write. I can hear all that’s going on in the boat and around the area.

So I hear my friends launch their kayaks, heading out to explore and how to I resist? I allow myself one (okay maybe two) activities during work days (Mon – Fri). Saturday and Sunday are my weekends. I might write, but I don’t feel I have to.

That modern invention, the iPod, is a great way to tune out noise. If you can write to music, and don’t have a quite place, it might work for you.

Crab Hunting

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments
Dig, Dig, Dig: A great way to get exercise.

Hungry? Is Farley thinking the crab hiding under the sand is his next meal?

So far, the crabs are too quick for him. It’s amazing how fast a crab can run when motivated.

Farley – 0. Crabs – 50. Not a good streak.

Lucky for Farley we’ve provisioned enough dog food for the season.

Complicated Character Relationships

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip Should you drip out information on complicated relationships or get the info out early?

Here’s the advice I got from an acquiring editor: If the relationships are key to the  motivation of the crime, then it’s better to define them early. You can do this and still keep the reader intrigued.

Now to go do this…

I’m writing from Norman’s Cay in the Bahamas and the nearest cell tower is 7 miles away. I’m amazed I have a connection today.

I have to keep the posts short, and it may be slow, but at least it’s working.

 

 

Evil Characters

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment

#writetip In a mystery novel, can your character be too evil? An acquiring editor told me yes!

If you want the reader to take your evil characters seriously as the character who committed the crime, you must round them out. Give them a few positive characteristics. Maybe they foster cats, are nice to their spouse but no on else, but don’t make them just bad, bad, bad.

Here’s to putting some niceness in your characters.

Keeping Track of Three Novels

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment

I’ve talked about this before, but I keep learning new things. #writetip It’s a surprise  how important spreadsheets are during the process of writing.

The latest addition to my team of spreadsheets is for characters. I already had  one spreadsheet per novel where the character details are kept.

Now, I find I need a new one. The latest spreadsheet keeps track of character details per novel, but in one place. I have several characters who made it into all three novels.

After that length of time, characters gain/lose weight, change their hair, get a new job etc.

As I am editing the last two novels at the same time, I need an aid to tell me what hair cut they have. The spreadsheet five me a quick place to reference this.

 

Dog Training in the Bahamas

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments
Attentive Dogs?

Who ever said a beach wasn’t a great place to train dogs? #sailing #dogs I certainly have their attention here. You’d think I was holding a piece of steak, but nope, it’s a ball. All three want to be the first to get to it after I throw it.

Farley (the Wheaten Terrier) will chase it and and then sit down beside it.

Jasper (the Spaniel) will pick up the ball, bring it back to me, and then not give it to me.

Calli (the Jack Russel) will run beside the other dogs barking at them.

I think I may need a new training program.

There must be a dog out there that would bring a ball back to me.

Narrative: It’s all in the details

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Do you have too much detail? #writetip I received a very insightful comment on my second novel from an acquiring editor. Here’s what I got out of it.

When describing “something” in a novel, that “something” should be related to the story. For instance, it is the murder weapon? Then perhaps it deserves a lot of attention.

It is “something” used during the novel, but not key to the plot? Then perhaps a little less detail.

It is “something” not related to the story? Then perhaps remove it.

There is so much to remember when editing a novel. Maybe it’s time I started another spreadsheet.

Eye Colour and Your Characters

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

How many ways are there to describe eye colour? #writetip So My handy spreadsheet tells me I like brown eyes.  A character’s eye colour is important and there are only so many different colour of eyes out there.

Here’s what I discovered. Paint companies love to name their paints all kinds of fascinating things. Go to a paint store, pick up a whole bunch of cards  that show colours similar to eye colour, and bring them home. When you need to describe a new character here is your pool of colours.

Arrival in the Bahamas

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments
Pure Happiness

Monday is usually a day I blog about writing #sailing But we’ve arrived in the Bahamas.

Farley represents how we feel.

We left the Florida coast at 4 AM and arrived in Lucaya, Grand Bahamas at 3:30 PM.

Crossing the Gulf Stream was a little rougher than we expected, but we had enough wind to motor sail. We would have preferred no motor, but were happy having the main and genoa up to boost us along.

The window to cross was short and closed up behind us. We are now waiting in Lucaya  at the Sunrise Resort and Marina for the wind to settle down and let us move further south. It’s a great place to get some writing done.

After this we island hop, so internet access could get a little sketchy.