Creative Writing Blog

Finding a Descriptive Balance

You can have a good concept, plot, or theme in your writing, but without good description the writing suffers. Learning to use description with a balance is difficult to learn. Writing without enough description results in a dull and dreary product, a product no one would want to read. Moreover, if you over-describe, you make the writing to complex to enjoy; as a result, it becomes difficult to progress the plot because you get lost in the description.

Consider the following examples:

Too Little

At night, the thief stole the car at his first chance. It was hard, but he entered the car and got away.

Aren’t these terms too generic? Car, first, chance, night, hard, entered, “got away?”

At night (dusk, twilight, after the sun fell), the thief stole (hijack, “jacked,”) the car (vehicle, automobile, Meredes) at his first chance. It was difficult, but he entered the car and got away.

Too Much

The sunlight fell, filling the steel city with the utter and total darkness (utter and total are redundant - and darkness is redundant with the sunlight “falling”). The short, fat thief pried the large, black car-door open with a rusty crowbar he stole from the warehouse down the road (unless you’ll use the warehouse latter, this is insignificant). It took the car thief much longer than usual for him to complete breaking into the car (wordy and unnecessary), but he eventually managed to enter the stunning vehicle, start the car, and drive away at a rapid speed.

There is also a lot of unnecessary repetition in this segment. Moreover, one might consider that, if you were writing this as fiction, you might give the character a name.

Better

As the sunlight fell, the car villain immediately moved in on his target. Fumbling with the crowbar, he managed to enter the sleek Mercedes. Hot-wiring the vehicle, Jack made of with his prize.

Though it still needs work, the last example using both better words and more literary variation. It also names the character and gets the concept across briefly, but with decent description. Moreover, while a brief excerpt of a hypothetical story, this small passage hints at some suspense, whereas the other two examples did not.

Note, while the third example isn’t fantastic, it’s okay and straight to the point. It using enough description to keep it from being completely boring. It added description, removed redundancy, and supplemented some words with more relevant ones. A good writer must find a balance in which relevant description is applied, but in which unnecessary description is omitted.

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The Interrogbang

If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking: what the hell is an interrogbang?! Well, if you think with punctuation, you’ve justed used one. The punctuation at an end of a sentence that includes both a question mark and an exclamation point is a modified version of the interrogbang. The name interrogbang comes from the question mark (interrogative point) and from the exclamation mark (the bang). The technical symbol for the interrogbang is the two marks overlayed as follows: ‽.

The intended use of this punctuation mark is to express a question with an exclamation. The punctuation mark is intended to be used to express excitement in the form of a question, anger or disbelief in the form of a question, or a rhetorical question.

For example:

What’s wrong with you‽

The term and symbol of the Interrogbang was created in 1962 by Martin K. Speckter.

Writing a Bestseller

Everyone wants to write a bestseller - I mean, come on - who wouldn’t? Not only do you (theoretically) end up wealthy, but you end up well known. While there are hundreds of books that make it to the bestsellers list, there are tens of thousands that don’t. For this reason, new writer’s must be realistic. If you manage to get published, chances are you won’t make it to the bestsellers list right away.

Here are a few things to consider:

Content - you need a story that encaptures the reader; a novel that has some highly original and highly creative ideas and plotlines that will keep them interesting. It needs to be full of intricate details and perhaps alternative storylines. You need to have characters that the readers love, and characters that form strong, realistic relationships.

Something Viral - Your story needs to be good enough that readers will recommend it to a friend. If your story is good enough that people will tell others to read it, you’re doing something right and you’re halfway there. This is usual a combination of things that make readers recommend your writing, namely style and simply good writing.

Experience - Sadly, this is the number one thing a writer typically needs to write a bestseller. Most bestselling authors have written several published books that didn’t make it onto the bestsellers list. An author who has previously published three books typically stands a better chance at making the bestsellers list than a new author.

Keep in mind the genre of the book as well. Currently, 7 of the 10 top fiction bestsellers, according to the New York Times, are thrillers. They’re about crime and detectives an suspense. 8 of the top 16 fiction bestsellers were authors i personally recognized, which reinforces my previous point that publishing experience is key to making the bestseller list. Novels of certain genre’s just don’t do well in making the bestseller list. This is simply because there aren’t many readers of the genre, not necessarily because the book isn’t good. Western is a prime example of this.

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t be writing to get your novel a bestseller. You should write because you love it and want to write, not to make money. Moreover, getting your novel published is a worthwhile goal, but you, as a writer, have to keep in mind that it isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

A friend of mine recently pointed out what otherwise should have been obvious, but was nonetheless something I’d never really thought about before. The popular quotation, “it was a dark and stormy night” is, in itself, a very redundant clause.

The phrase itself originated from novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1830 novel Paul Clifford. The style is, in today’s literary terms, an attempt at dramatic flair.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s opening sentence went as follows:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

The phrase was not well known until Charles Schultz (”Peanuts” comic artist) used it in his comic strips, sometimes with a variation as “He was a dark and stormy Knight.”

If it was night, don’t we already expect it to be dark? And can’t we be more descriptive than “stormy”? Particularly to begin a story, “It was a dark and stormy night” is weak, even standing alone. It has no teeth, no vitality. - Cogito.

This is a very valid point. Why state that it’s dark if we know it’s night? Why not be more descriptive? One could describe the storm, the dark, or even the night. The writer just needs to carefully examine that he’s not restating the obvious.

In general, there isn’t anything wrong with the phrase, aside from it becoming a modern-day cliche. My point isn’t to bash Bulwer-Lytton, but rather to point out the importance of not being redundant. While there are some situations in which redundancy can be beneficial to a writer, in general it should be avoided.

Write About What You Like

When writing, find something you like to write about. For some people, this is a particular genre, such as romance or fantasy. Sometimes it’s the same genre they read, though oftentimes this is not the case. Writing about what you like is especially important in nonfiction writing. Not only is it boring for the writer when they write about something they don’t have interest in, it sometimes results in poor writing. For example, it wouldn’t make sense for someone interested in cosmetics to write about global warming if she loved writing about cosmetics but hated science papers. This is not always the case, but it is the most of the time. Not only this, but it will be more difficult for the writer to write; if they like the topic, they’re typically more knowledgeable in the topic, whereas if the writer doesn’t know anything about the topic, it’ll take them a lot more work and research to write accurately.

On the other hand, keep in mind that writing about things your not knowledgeable or interested in can still be beneficial. It might expand your focus and abilities; who knows, you might find a new interest.

Character Profiles

A somewhat debated topic amongst writers, character profiles have both their pros and their cons. Some writers choose to create character profiles or brief biographies about their character to help them learn more about the character themself. In a character profile, the idea is to write as much about the character as you can, even things you may not use in the actual writing. Your intent is to create a personality for the character.

Some writers find this technique very helpful; other writers find that this restricts the character too much. The second type of writer prefers to create the character as they write, shaping them to the story as opposed to shaping (the events) of the story around the character.

If you choose to do a character profile, include the following:

• Age
• Occupation and Income
• Appearance (be detailed!)
• Education and Intelligence
• Relationships
• Interests
• Dislikes
• Information about their past
• Characteristics and habits
• Ambitions
• Fears

Try to make the biography as detailed as you possibly can. Some people find that it’s helpful to create a character based off of someone they actually know.

Keep in mind that this technique is used by some writers, but other writers resent it. My best advice would be to find out if it works for you; if so, use it. If not, then find something else that works. For me personally, I never had any success with creating character profiles. However, I do know several people who have; for that reason, I’ve chosen to write about it briefly.

Americans Are Reading Less

As a follow-up to an 2004 NEA survey, a study, titled “To Read or Not to Read” will be released today. The previous survey found that the number of adult Americans who read at least one book a year was decreasing. According to the study, more than 72% of high school graduates are deemed literary deficient. Additional survey findings include:

• In 2002, only 52 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24, the college years, read a book voluntarily, down from 59 percent in 1992.

• Money spent on books, adjusted for inflation, dropped 14 percent from 1985 to 2005 and has fallen dramatically since the mid-1990s.

• The number of adults with bachelor’s degrees and “proficient in reading prose” dropped from 40 percent in 1992 to 31 percent in 2003.

“This should explode the notion that reading is somehow a passive activity,” Gioia said. “Reading creates people who are more active by any measure. … People who don’t read, who spend more of their time watching TV or on the Internet, playing video games, seem to be significantly more passive.”

“‘To Read or Not to Read’ suggests we are losing the majority of the new generation,” Gioia said. “The majority of young Americans will not realize their individual, economic or social potential.”

Original Article.

Amazon Kindle: Revolutionary EBook Reader? I Think Not.

Amazon recently unveiled it’s new “Wireless Reading Device,” the Amazon Kindle. The product is wireless and allows you to access Amazon’s ebook store wirelessly. It also allows you to purchase books from there store, which holds more than 88,000. Unfortunately, the product can only hold about 200 titles.

Firstly, the reason I don’t think this product will be successfully - or any similar future product, for that matter - is because of the nature of it. I just don’t see typical readers buying a product to read their books on. There is something unique about reading a book, holding it and turning the pages. Carring a screen around won’t change that. Secondly, it’s monstrously overpriced. The asking price for this product is $400. I can’t see anyone other than the rich or the foolish purchasing this product.

The second issue I have with this product is simply the look. The design is horrible; it looks like a low-end product from the 90s. The awkward keypad and bulky, uncreative design put a damper on a good concept. I’m sure amazon will keep trying, but for now I think this product is anything but revolutionary (as Amazon claims it is).

The Key to Sucessful Writing: Perseverance

They key to writing successfully is simple: be persistent. Perseverance goes a long way. You can be an excellent writer, but if you’re not motivated, you’ll never be successful. As a writer, you need to find what works best for you to get thing out of your head and onto the page. I previously suggested that you set aside a piece of time everyday for writing. Find what works for you, and then write.

Skills and creative ideas are often very helpful to writing an excellent novel, but they’re not as vital as perseverance. If you don’t persevere, you can have all the creativity in the world, but you’ll never finish. Believe me, no matter how hard you try, you’ll never sell 3/5ths of a novel.

Take a look at many of the novel’s that are published today. Many of them are okay writing, but there’s nothing unique about them. Apparently, for some publishers, that’s okay. The author finished writing the novel, which is the first and most important step.

I simply want to stress how important being motivated truly is. Not all perseverant writers are successful, but all successful writers are perseverant.

WGA Writer’s Strike 101

As many of you know, many of the television writers have been striking for the past week or two. Immediately following the strike, late night television started airing reruns, soon followed by soap operas. Soon primetime TV - and your favorite show - might follow. Most television shows have about three episodes left that have already been filmed; after those three you might be stuck watching reruns indefinitely. Let’s assume that the majority of primetime television will stop airing new episodes halfway through January. until then, the strike will have little effect; however, after that it could be disastrous.

All the major networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CW and Fox are all suspected to be planning several new reality TV shows to supplement the shows that are under the WGA contract. Because reality TV shows aren’t under the contract, if the strike doesn’t end soon, it’s likely we’ll see a surge in reality TV shows in the near future. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing for some shows; for example, ABC’s Lost and Fox’s 24 each have several unaired episodes that weren’t intended to start until January or February anyway. For shows such as these, it’s likely they’ll see an increase in ratings if the strike persists.

The Writer’s Guild of America are striking because they want to have a portion of DVD and online revenue. Currently they do not receive royalties from these mediums. Typically, this wouldn’t be such a huge issue, except it’s very possible that the Actor’s and Director’s Guilds might also strike next summer if the Writer’s Guild is successfully in getting a portion of these new revenue streams.