Apr 25, 2008 | Writing |
Hubby is reading a book he enjoys, but that he says is driving him crazy too. So I ask what the problem is. He says it's the writing. Now, he's not a writer, so I'm curious. Because when I was strictly a reader, before I started trying to write my own books, not much affected me. Headhopping was no big deal. Adverbs? Could have cared less. Purple prose — what's that? If the story was compelling, I kept reading.
So I ask him specifically what about the writing is bothering him. He shows me a passage. The narrative is in first person, and yet the POV character interrupts his own dialogue to say I said.
“Give me the disk,” I said. “Or I'll shoot.”
That doesn't seem terribly offensive at first look. But right above the POV's line the author had another character speaking and wrote she said. Since there were only two characters in the scene, it's pretty clear when the POV character speaks. I said becomes unnecessary.
But, hubby complained, it gets worse. Every time someone speaks, there's a said. I must have looked perplexed because he repeated that it drove him crazy. Then I told him what we writers have been told a thousand times: said disappears. He snorted.
Now, I don't use tons of dialogue tags, and my CP has often pointed out the unnecessary saids which I promptly lose. I will very rarely toss in other dialogue tags: answered, questioned, replied. I have even committed the sin of having a character sigh dialogue. Believe me, it was a conscious choice, not a mistake on my part. She was in a position to sigh, and you can speak while doing so because I tried it. 🙂
I am picky about dialogue running seamlessly into the narrative. Action beats help.
“Tell me about your date last night.” Laura poured coffee into Joanne's cup. “Was it everything you'd hoped?”
Do we have any doubt Laura's the one doing the talking? (Yeah, it's a crappy example, but I'm on my first cup of coffee and the brain hasn't kicked in.) I like beats because they can also give us insight into character mood.
“How dare you,” Laura said angrily.
OR
“How dare you.” Laura slammed her coffee cup onto the table.
Which one do you like better? I'd pick the second, though you also have to be careful about having TOO many of these things. You can't have every single line of dialogue followed or preceded by a beat. Sometimes, especially when the conversation is charged, you have to let the words flow.
Here's an example from THE SPANISH MAGNATE'S REVENGE. (If you read the chapter over at the I Heart Presents blog, you've seen this before.)
“You will be pleased to know we are divorced,” he continued. “Alas, arranged marriages never work as planned.”
“Good for her for wising up.”
“Like you did?”
A bitter laugh burst from her throat. “There was never a choice for me, Alejandro. You were already engaged.”
“Promised, not engaged.”
Rebecca waved a hand. “What is that, Spanish hair-splitting? The truth is you were to marry another woman when you so conveniently seduced me.”
“You did not mind being seduced, as I recall.”
Did you have any doubt who was speaking? I hope not. Even without me telling you it's a man and a woman and the situation is charged, I think you can divine that from this bit of dialogue.
I am not advocating the wholesale replacement of said with more creative choices. But I do advocate trusting your reader to figure out who's talking. You can have too much unattributed dialogue, which gets confusing. Or you can go overboard and always have attribution. I like a happy medium between attribution, beats, and letting the characters' voices speak for themselves.
Go ahead, play with your dialogue. See it on the page. Read it aloud. See if you can cut the attributions.
What's your favorite dialogue trick? Which authors, in your opinion, have fabulous dialogue? Does said drive you crazy if used too much or does it disappear?
Apr 22, 2008 | Conference, Goals, Revising, Writing |
Wow, has it really been a week since I posted? The days flew by. I had several things going on in Chez Harris, plus I have to write about that sexy Spanish magnate. Which I have been doing!
The story is coming along quite nicely thus far. It's fun to write about a strong emotional conflict without a gun or dead body in sight. 🙂 But I still need to finish the revisions on HOT PURSUIT. *sigh* There aren't enough hours in the day sometimes!
Is it really only 3 months until National? My SF diet is not going so well. Must get busy on that. I've been using my treadmill, but it'd help if I could cut out the Chinese takeout. And the pizza and wings. I blame the hubby for those. 🙂
But I have no choice. The dress is bought, the matching purse is found, and I MUST appear with them on RITA/GH night. So, in between writing about sexy Spaniards and sizzling Spec Ops guys, I need to lose fifteen pounds. Piece of cake, right?
How's your week going? Accomplishing any of the goals you set for yourself? Lost any pounds? Done any conference clothes shopping yet? Wrote anything new?
*Not really, but I'm blonde and I'm multi-tasking this week.
Apr 15, 2008 | Goals, Revising, Writing |
I saw a quote recently that really made me stop and think. It was in a magazine, but I can't remember who said it.
Perfectionists always lose.
Yikes! But so true, because a perfectionist is never satisfied. And if you're never satisfied, you never let go of the work. I know this from experience. I am cursed with the perfectionist gene, though it's selective (for instance, I'm not obsessive about having a perfect house — well, I kind of am, but I know I have to give up and invite people over or I never will because things aren't perfect — hence my party this Friday that I'm trying not to obsess over).
And I've also had to learn to stop trying to perfect the writing, to send the darn thing out and see what happens. I do this remarkably well when deadlines are attached. 🙂 But let me have all the time in the world to “fix” my work, and I'll keep fiddling with it. There's always a better way to say something, always a better idea.
But you have to learn to let go.
Are you a perfectionist? Do you have trouble letting the work out of your sight? What tricks do you use to stop yourself from fiddling? If you aren't a perfectionist, how do you know when the work is ready? What is your benchmark for determining it?
Apr 11, 2008 | Heroes, Writing |
People have asked me since I won the Presents contest how on earth I got from writing military romantic suspense to writing about a Spanish magnate bent on revenge. What could my special forces guys possibly have in common with tycoons?
Lots, in fact. First, yes, switching from suspense mode to Presents mode requires some mental adjustment. In a suspense, there's an element of danger. In a Presents, the element of danger is typically that wonderful alpha male tycoon we love to read about. He's sexy, thrilling, and about as untamed as a tiger.
Military guys are sexy, thrilling, and daring. They eat danger for breakfast. They are alpha males accustomed to taking care of themselves. They are commanding, authoritative, somewhat arrogant from time to time…..sound familiar? 🙂
Basically, I write alpha males, those sexy, irritating, arrogant men that not one of us modern ladies would put up with for a second. But we love to read about them because they are larger than life, they would kill to protect what is theirs, and all that passion gets turned onto our heroine — and becomes hers forever when she tames the tiger. He is only tame for her, though. The rest of the world he will still chew up and spit out if it messes with him.
In that respect, I think I could write about a medieval knight or a duke (and I have done both) and, except for era and research, it wouldn't be a problem because my men are always warriors. Whether they wear silk and Armani, chain mail, a cravat, or BDUs and greasepaint, they are warriors. I love to write about warriors, men who are intense and extreme and who still have, somewhere inside, a core of vulnerability that only the heroine can find.
The lovely Jane Porter once gave a workshop where she talked about how we write to a myth, perhaps something that resonated with us as children. It could be Cinderella (ragamuffin woman becomes gorgeous woman who meets prince, leaves him, and he tears up the kingdom to find her again), or Snow White (virginal heroine, evil stepmother), etc. My myth is Beauty and the Beast. I think Presents novels are perfectly suited to B&B — nasty hero not quite what he seems, transforms into handsome prince with the heroine's love, happy every after.
Yeah, gets me every time. 🙂 Whether it's a military commando or an international tycoon, my beast is transformed by love. That's it in a nutshell. The lay of the story may be different — military guy helps heroine escape from and find killer versus tycoon getting revenge on heroine for leaving him and almost ruining his business — but the man is, at his core, the mythical Beast in pain. The heroine helps him peel away those layers and find his true self.
If you're a writer, what's your myth? Can you look back over your work and spot one particular myth at work? Do you perhaps have two myths or more? Look for the core elements and think about it. It's fascinating!
Apr 10, 2008 | Contests, Revising, Writing |
Today, you can see what the editors think about my winning chapter and synopsis. Click over to I Heart Presents and have a look! This is truly a master class in romance writing!
Apr 9, 2008 | Contests, Writing |
The synopsis is up today over at I Heart Presents! I can already tell you the story has changed a bit since I wrote that, per editorial suggestions. The book will still be a surprise, so I'm not worried that my whole plot is laid out for all to see.
This is such a great opportunity for writers to see exactly what the editors like and don't like as they guide you through the top three entries. Tomorrow there will be an editorial critique of my entry. And though I have my notes already, I'll still be fascinated to see what they have to say on the blog!
