Category: Writing Tips

The ‘or don’t’ is the important part. Writing a sequel is something most writers wonder about, plan for, or find sneaking up on them, but one can actually start a brand-new story as if it were the sequel (see George Lucas’s A NEW HOPE . . .).

By treating your new story as the sequel to another story, you are catching up a reader on the world you have created, as well as creating mysteries and allusions to events and actions that should spark your reader’s interest.

Alternatively, if the story you have planned but are struggling to write, perhaps you avoid its obstacles by making it the past and forging ahead with the aftermath of that adventure.

Another great example of a sequel-type story that isn’t a sequel is FRIEREN BEYOND JOURNEY’S END, which sees an elf joining a new party of adventures while reconciling and recollecting her previous party, which defeated the Demon King.

By embracing the idea that your characters and world have already experienced some great adventure, you create a shorthand of world-building and depth to call upon, just like much of current history is informed by the past.

Sometimes a scene in a story can take on a life of its own. You might get carried away with dialogue or details, but when you read it over it becomes a slog. There are many ways to shorten the scene to improve pacing and reader interest.

1. Use an arbitrary word count and trim until you reach that total. While this can work, it won’t necessarily make the scene more engaging.
2. Eliminate the beginning. Drop us into the dialogue or details. Try cutting the first page out entirely and then look for the most interesting line to begin the new scene on.
3. Reduce the chapter to three sentences. What? That’s not all. Once you rewritten the scene in 3 sentences to convey the purpose, seek out the parts in the scene that convey those three points without repeating them.
4. Use a different narrator or point of view. Certain characters see the world differently and are likely to relay their view of what occurs more succinctly than others.
5. End it sooner. You might have the perfect ending, or that perfect ending is hidden within the scene. Try cutting the final three paragraphs and keep going until you reach the most impactful line to transition to the next scene or chapter.

I deal in a lot of placeholders, often writing INSERTWORD or naming a character after their role such as: VILLIAN. READ MORE HERE. But sometimes I do have the names when I start. I might not be entirely sold on the character’s name, but inevitably come to know them as such after spending months calling them that.

This creates a perception of that character in me that can blind me to what a reader reads. What is actually there about the character? What is missing, stuck in my head but attached through this name?

One way to check for this is to rename the character (and let the story rest for a month or so). When I return, this name sneaks up on me. Who is this character that I now feel like I’m meeting for the first time?

You can always change the name back if you prefer the previous name, but this will hopefully allow you to see your story through a new lens.

Ever read something that reads like a screenplay… or worse, you’re the guilty writer?

While I often have fun creating dialogue-only short stories, and this style can teach you how to include critical physical details in speech, sometimes our characters talk too much. Creating either an exchange that should be cut or feels directionless to the reader.

Other times it seems logical at first to relay information from one character to the next, but if the reader has read it before, they shouldn’t have to reread it.

Beyond simply deleting what is said you have options I call it: SPIT.

1. SUMMARIZE
   • Have your narrator sum up what is said, i.e. “Bill told Dan everything that happened the night before.”
   • In first person, you could sum it up, “I listened to him rattle on about a strange night. I laughed when he mentioned the fish people.”
2. PARAPHRASE
   • Have the narrator explain what is told, using less conversational language– yes, this is an info dump, and I am often surprised by really well-written infodumps that didn’t waste my time with banter or were overly descriptive.
3. IMPLY
   • By jumping forward in a conversation, you can imply that things were said. Whether it’s the end of the conversation or moments later.
   • You can also jump ahead and have a character ask if the other heard anything they said, and then shift to a paraphrase or a ‘I stopped listening once you said . . .’
4. TRIM
   • Cut out every other response or really edit the conversation down to what needs to be there. In our everyday lives, people talk too much too often, and it can be enticing to mirror that in our writing, but when people ramble, so do the readers’ minds.

Either way, it’s a good idea to strike a balance between dialogue and description. And sorry for the acronym, but it should make it memorable . . . right?

Having an art background is something that often leads me to apply those strategies to other things–like writing.

If you are like I once was, finding that perfect word to start a story is like staring at a blank canvas. The only way to break that block is to make a mark.

But it’ll ruin that perfect blank canvas!

Sure. Maybe.

But if we’re talking about writing, it’s one word, and you can, and you will change. Start writing. Get to where you wan the story to go, and then come back and fix that opening line.

Always remember, your first words are you sketching. they aren’t they aren’t set in stone.

But take this further. With drawing starting with a sketch, sometimes it goes a step before that where a thumbnail drawing is produced to get an idea of what the overall image should be shaped like. Think of you writing in this way. Design the overall short story, lay it out physically, and then go back and fine tune those lines until it is complete.