My Star Articles: Fiction Writing

Showing posts with label Fiction Writing. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I Passed The Test: Time to Cheers

Image by found_drama via Flickr

From the time I started sharing my articles at Wikinut, my writing has improved . This year 2011, I published 200 articles. There are 17 articles I wrote about Saudi Arabia – this includes my personal experiences in the Kingdom. Another 9 articles about Business and Business Opportunities. And then another 46 articles about writing – this includes my personal experiences, humor, guides, tips, jokes, true stories, short stories, funny stories and poetry. And another 12 articles about health, general health, wellness, managing health care, alternative medicines, diseases and infections, diets and nutrition.

I also had written articles about religion and other affiliations, columns and opinions and news and entertainments and so far I published 15 articles. And then I published 10 articles about family, parenting, teenagers, education, languages and relationships. Also 8 articles about money, money saving tips and making money and another 7 articles about history, culture, social trends, nature and plants. In addition, also I wrote 40 articles about reviews of websites, social networks, and book marking sites, web marketing, emails, blogs and blogging.

Also I wrote 7 articles about fiction writing and 10 articles about science, math and numbers and numerology. I also published at least 11 articles about philosophy, logic, Ethics and reasoning. These include also 8 articles about celebrities, people, music, performers, artists, singers and authors.

Approximately 511 days to write my first 200 articles at Wikinut under the following categories: Articles about Saudi Arabia, Business, Writing, Health, religion, Opinions, News, Family, Money saving tips, History, Reviews, Fiction writing, Science, Philosophy and Celebrities. It took me Five Hundred Eleven days looking for ideas and additional information to support my articles. Now I can say I passed the test and it is about time to CHEERS!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Five Hundred Eleven Days on Writing My First 200 Articles at Wikinut

Image by Paul L McCord Jr via Flickr

For over a year now I am writing at Wikinut, I honestly can tell you that the site is an awesome place for your online writing activities. The site will pay for your awesome articles to share on their site but you have to see to it that they are originally written by you. All articles submitted for publication are moderated by real people. I even considered Wikinut as an Institution for Learning. From the time I started sharing my articles with the site, I have observed that my writing has improved drastically. So far, I have already published at least 200 articles on their site. The below is a summary of the 200 articles published at Wikinut – if you have the interest to read them – they are open for your visits, views and comments.

Articles about Saudi Arabia – this includes my personal experiences in the Kingdom.

Articles about business, business opportunities such as:

Articles about writing – this includes personal experiences, humor, guides, tips, jokes, true stories, short stories, funny stories and poetry such as:

Articles about health, general health, wellness, managing health care, alternative medicines, diseases and infections, diet and nutrition such as:

Article about religion and other affiliations:

Remarkable Religions in Philippines

Articles about columns and opinions such as:

Articles about news and entertainments such as:

Articles about family, parenting, teenagers, education, languages, relationships such as:

Articles about money, money saving tips, making money such as:

Articles about history, culture, social trends, nature, plants such as:

Articles about reviews of websites, social networks, book marking sites, web marketing, emails, blogs and blogging such as:

Articles about cracking the short story – tips and guides such as:

Articles about science, math and numbers, numerology such as:

Articles about philosophy, logic, Ethics, reasoning such as:

Articles about celebrities, people, music, performers, artists, singers, authors such as:

It took me approximately 511 days to write my first 200 articles at Wikinut under the following categories: Articles about Saudi Arabia, Business, Writing, Health, religion, Opinions, News, Family, Money saving tips, History, Reviews, Fiction writing, Science, Philosophy and Celebrities. it took me Five Hundred Eleven days looking for ideas and additional information to support my articles. I can say, I passed the test and now it is about time to CHEERS!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Descriptions Bring The Story Alive

Image via Wikipedia

Descriptions provide color, shape, texture and tone. They help make the scenes real. Expressive writing is a powerful tool for adding atmosphere and excitement. It sucks the reader into the story, playing with his emotions. A good writer should have the ability to capture the essence, the spirit of what he is describing as well as just its physical appearance.

Descriptions are vital part of prose. Without knowing how the characters and settings look, we cannot visualize them. The tales become populated with vague, fuzzy people living in an indistinct land. It is difficult to see them clearly. Descriptions of people, era and locations paint in the fine detail help bring the story alive.

The secret of creating powerful and truthful descriptions is observation. A writer should train himself to look for the unusual. One careful observation can alter our perception of a character or a place. The longer the piece, the more descriptive passages you can have and the more involved they can be. This is particularly true of literary magazines tales or radio stories which depend very much on atmosphere and the slow build-up of tension.

In stories between 1,500 and 2,000 words the narrative should be free of unnecessary images. It needs sharpness, movement and pace. Only use a long description if you have a lot of information to put over. Aim for striking images with the minimum amount of words. Three-word descriptions are particularly powerful. Do not get too lyrical and gush with purple prose. Do not let descriptions bog down a story or complete for attention with the plot.

Use simple, easily understood words and direct, clear-cut images. Choose adjective and adverbs with care. Use them sparingly. Be subtle – make the description an unremarkable part of the fabric of the story. Do not tell events – show them happening. Use your descriptive powers to take your readers inside the hero’s head. Help them share their feelings. Do not give background information in huge dollops. This slows the story. Drip information like a leaky tap.

Describe places, people and events as they are seen through the main character’s eyes. Use all five senses. Make the readers feel the sensations the hero is experiencing. To inject excitement give your work a hurtling, breathless feel. Ensure that your sentences get shorter as the story builds to a dramatic climax. Do not fall into the trap of being too economical when describing a person. Give the readers all the information that is crucial.

Ensure that character backgrounds are as different as you can make them. The more stark the contrast between them the better. Many writers find it helps to base their characters on real people – but change a few details to stay out of trouble.

It is okay to use photographs of people or places as an aid to your imagination. Describe what you see. Give the readers a chance to get to know each character a little before introducing the next. Never bring in more than two at a time. Only include people who are going to be vital to the plot – those who have something to say for themselves.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Is Dialogue Really Necessary--part Two

Image via Wikipedia

When we hear the characters speak we experience the events in the story as they happen. We are there in the thick of the action. But when characters do not speak, the writer has to put over the missing dialogue in other ways - usually in long, fussy descriptive passages and clumsy, intrusive explanations. We are no longer involved in the story, we are listening to a narrator recounting the adventures in a flat, static, second-hand summary that others considered a poor substitute for a ring-side seat on the action.

A story needs a dynamic dialogue. Most of what we say in an average day is boring, repetitive and commonplace. Short story dialogue cannot afford to be any of these things. It is the key phrase, the vital speech that brings tension, humor or drama to the piece. It is the writer’s equivalent of the journalist sound bite. To prove it, consider which of the samples has more impact:

A. ”I hate you,” Leah screamed, waving the knife in Paul’s face. I’ll make sure you never betray me again. I’ll make sure you never look at another woman…ever!”

Edging back, he gulped. “L-l-look,” he stammered, “can’t we be calm and talk about this? You don’t need the knife.”

B. Angrily Leah confronted Paul, waving a knife in his face. She told him he would never betray her again with another woman. He backed away nervously, asking if they could talk it out. He told her that she did not need to threaten him with a knife.

A and B contain the same basic information but one is exciting. At A, there is life, danger, emotion when Leah screams in rage. While B is not dramatic – in fact it reads like the minutes of a committee meeting.

Dialogue has three main functions:

To move on the action of the story. “Honey, sit down. I’ve got a surprise for you. It wasn’t indigestion after all…I’m pregnant!”
To reveal more about the characters. “Love you? I could never love anyone poor.”
To inject excitement. “If you don’t hand it over, I’ll kill you – so help me!”

In all these instances, dialogue is providing information – not just slavishly mimicking speech. If your dialogue is not telling the reader something crucial about the action, the characters or the atmosphere, it should not be there.

Also fiction writers should not fall into the Hello trap. Beware having your characters waste their dialogue on routine greetings and pleasantries. There is no need to have them wishing each other good morning or asking: how are you keeping these days? It is surprising how much space in a short story you can gobble up with people saying hello and goodbye to each other. It is amazing how much such greetings kill the pace. Also do not allow characters to rabbit on pointlessly just for the sake of hearing their own voices. Unless a conversation is emotion-packed and plays an important part in moving the plot forward, leave it out.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Ingredients Needed to Cook a Good Short Story

Image via Wikipedia

To hold the reader’s attention your hero must face a crisis or dilemma that demands his immediate and full attention. Overcoming it should be tricky or awkward. Not overcoming it will have serious repercussions. There is a strong likelihood he will fail. And the solution he devices has to be unexpected and ingenious.

In short a short story must have a plot that is strong enough to sustain interest. There must be incidents - a chain of events. There must be a crisis to be resolved. There must be a drama and actions to follow!

A common error is to confuse the basic set-up of the story – the opening crisis or situation – with the plot. The plot is what happens from there – how the events unfold.

A good basic structure looks like this: Introduction – main character faces a worrying conflict/problem/dilemma, Middle – in flashback we learn of the background and events that led up to the conflict and Ending – the conflict is satisfactorily resolved.

Another workable structure is to have a hero who has a goal he desperately needs to achieve – and then put obstacles in his way.

There is No Right or Wrong Way to Plot a Story

Fiction writers should realize that there is no right or wrong way to plot a story – just different ways. As long as your tale holds the reader’s attention, entertains and delights, then the method you use to achieve this end is as valid and effective as anyone else’s.
Some fiction writers do all the hard work in their heads, mulling over ideas, developing them, trying out different permutations until they come up with a workable storyline and then rush to write them as swiftly as possible.
To add the flavor a story should show conflict which is about anything or anyone that upsets the smooth-running of your main character’s life. It can be internal such as a crisis of faith, a fear to be overcome or a problem created by a flaw in the character’s own personality.
Good drama looks at what happens when the extraordinary occurs. It shows how people feel the unusual and unexpected circumstances. Aim for a nail-biting finish. Keep the readers holding his breath until the last word.
The more you place your hero in jeopardy the stronger the tension. Tingling anticipation and dread will hold readers glued.

Make Your Stories Light, Positive and Up-beat

Readers want to be taken out of themselves for a few minutes, whisked off to a world where exciting and intriguing things happen. They want their fiction to be different – more Technicolor than real life. They read to escape drudgery and dullness, so always try for setting and plots that break away from the commonplace and mundane.

The plot is the most important factor in a short story and nothing – but nothing should hold it up or challenge it for the reader’s attention. See also if you can have a circular or return ticket plotline where the story brings you back to the point at which the narrative started.
Also readers can get enough depression at home with red bills, ringing phones, noisy neighbors, demanding kids and grumpy spouses. They don’t need or want to read a depressing tale, so make your stories light, positive and up-beat.
Another way of plotting is the shaggy dog story. The writer builds up conflict, piles on suspense and then unexpectedly produces a comic punch line. Always try to deal with topics in a way that leaves the reader feeling uplifted and full of hope.
Have storylines that show characters taking charge of their own destiny and standing up for themselves. There is no such thing as an original plotline so it’s important that you find a new treatment that will make a storyline crackle with originality.
Keep the readers guessing. The more choices your hero has, the less predictable the storyline becomes. And having a simple theme to your story is great but don’t set out to give it a moral. You’ll end up a sermon or a piece of propaganda!

Another way of dreaming up plots is to look at proverbs and well known sayings and investigate what associations they spark in your mind.