Tag Archives: writing tip

The Nitty-Gritty of Writing: That Pesky ‘s

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I’ve decided to create a series of posts to channel my inner Grammar Nazi, and to hopefully help people with their writing. I blog about writing tips of all sorts, but I haven’t yet gotten into that tedious subject of spelling, grammar, and word usage.

It’s not fun, but it’s necessary if you want to move your writing past the rough draft stage. Please note, that if your main concern right now is pushing past your writer’s block, or developing your main character, don’t worry too much about spelling and grammar at this point. But if you’re wanting to put some polish on that story before you submit it, or that essay before you turn it in to the teacher, or that blog post before you hit publish, this might help you.

My subject for today is the apostrophe s. A lot of people seem to get confused about the proper use for an apostrophe, and especially an apostrophe s. So here’s the deal: an apostrophe is that little mark that looks like a single quote mark that appears in words like don’t, I’m, and McDonald’s.

The apostrophe has two functions: it can represent a letter or series of letters that is missing from a word or phrase, and it also can represent a possessive.

In the case of “don’t” and “I’m,” the apostrophe is replacing the missing letter from the pair of words “do not” and “I am,” respectively, thus creating a contraction. In the case of “McDonald’s,” it indicates that something belongs to McDonald—as in, McDonald’s Restaurant.

This possessive apostrophe s is what trips up a lot of people. In English, the plural for a word (usually) has an s on the end, so many people get these two s word endings confused. I’ll lay out some examples:

Correct:

I saw the cat’s toy. (I saw the toy that belongs to the cat.)

The car’s rear window was broken. (The rear window belonging to the car was broken.)

I’m going over to Antonio’s to play video games. (I am going over to the home of Antonio to play video games.)

Incorrect:

I saw the cat’s toy’s. (The toy’s what? The color of the toy? The painted smile on the toy?)

The cars rear window was broken. (“Cars” with no apostrophe is plural, meaning that “was” should be replaced with “were.” And “window” is still singular. But that’s a subject for a different blog entry.)

I’m going over to Antonio’s to play video game’s. (What belongs to the games of Antonio?)

Here are some common misuses of the apostrophe s that I see:

We sell DVD’s! (You sell something that belongs to a DVD? Oh, you mean you sell multiple DVDs.)

The dog shook it’s head. (This translates into “the dog shook it is head,” which makes no sense. And even though “its” would be correct and is possessive, there is no apostrophe. More on the inconsistencies of English in another post.)

Lets go! (Technically, this is an incomplete sentence. It might be the last part of a phrase like “She slides down the rope and then lets go.” But I think what you meant here was a contraction of “Let us go.”)

Grammar goofs and incorrect apostrophes are not a big deal on your Facebook status or your text to your brother. But for a blog post, an article, a report for school, a brochure that represents the face of a company, etc—try to double-check your possessives and your plurals. Get a friend to look over it—sometimes an extra pair of eyes can help.

I hope this grammar rant was helpful to you! English is confusing even to us native speakers. I hope I helped to clear up a little confusion about a language of inconsistencies!

Keep the purpose in mind

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I’m a firm believer in writing just for the sake of writing. Writing what’s on your heart. Writing for yourself first and foremost, and never mind if anyone ever reads it or likes it.

These are all valid reasons to write and should never be ignored or abandoned. But if you want to move on to the next step—like getting published, entering a contest, or writing a blog—you need to have a goal in mind.

I’m hardly an expert in any of these areas—though I do have a few months’ worth of blogging under my belt now, at least. But all of my current writing endeavors have a purpose behind them.

I’m still writing what’s in my mind and my heart. I’m still writing for myself and writing what I want to read. But now, I’m starting to write for others, as well.

I started this blog with the intent of it serving a two-fold purpose—to share my (limited) writing knowledge and experience with other budding writers, and to share my own personal writing journey and ideas and inspirations.

Even if your blog is truly nothing more than a personal journal that you’re willing to share with the world, chronicling your hopes and fears and daily activities, that’s fine. If that’s your purpose and that’s what you’re doing, then you’re walking the path you set for yourself and accomplishing your goal.

If you want to get a story published one day, then whenever you work on that story, keep that goal in mind. If you’re still working on your first draft, there’s no need to worry about tight sentences, correctly-spelled words, and such—that will come in the editing phase. And if your goal is to get published, then yes, there needs to be an editing phase. Probably more than one. Keep that goal in mind as you write and as you edit.

If you’re writing a story for a contest, or for entry into an anthology or e-zine or something similar, remember that as you write. What is the plot/content supposed to be, or what’s the maximum word count? Again, some of these details can be hammered out during editing, but keeping the goal in mind during the first draft can make the whole process more streamlined.

Write for fun, and write what you love. But if you dream of sharing your work, selling your work, growing as a writer—don’t forget that as you write. Focusing on your purpose will keep you on that road.

What’s your purpose with your writing?

Overcoming Writer’s Block

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I don’t believe in writer’s block. Yes, I believe that writers can get stuck, frustrated with, disillusioned by, and tired of their writing projects. I believe this because I’ve experienced all of these things.

However, “writer’s block” to me sounds permanent and insurmountable. And it is most certainly neither of these. So whether you’re experiencing writer’s block, writer’s pause, frustration with your characters, or uninspired by your plot, there is a way out. Here are three tips that I use when I get stuck.

Go for a walk.

Or a run, or a swim, or vacuum your house. In other words, do something besides sitting there staring at the blank page. Physical movement helps—it gets blood flowing, and distracts you. And if you haven’t cleaned in a while, well, then you’re killing two birds with one stone. Double your productivity! But seriously, I do some of my best thinking while I’m doing physical tasks that require very little conscious thought, such as vacuuming or talking a long walk.

Recently I’ve been stuck on my current WIP (work in progress). Not blocked, just not sure how to proceed. I know the ending of the story, and a few key events that I want to have happen—I just didn’t know what the next few scenes needed to be. Going for several longs walks helped me to sort out ideas; sometimes I purposefully brainstormed, other times I just let my mind wander.  But it helped, and I now have a clearer picture of where I need to go.

Write a future scene, or one that won’t be in the book.

If you’re stuck like I was, knowing some of the future of the book but just not where to go next, then write a scene out of order. I do this periodically, whether I’m stuck or not, usually if I’m hit with an idea for scene or event.

But it’s also a good exercise to try to keep your mind on your characters and your WIP, while letting your mind get away from that part that’s got you stuck. Whether the scene is a complete scene or not, or ends up in the final draft of the book or not, doesn’t matter. Sometimes, it’s the very act of writing that will loosen things up and get your creative juices going again.

Read a book or watch a movie.

Sometimes I read a favorite scene from a book or watch a favorite movie to get myself inspired, and sometimes just for a plain distraction. This is not to say that you should just spend all of your allotted writing time reading or vegging in front of the TV, but viewing someone else’s creativity can help you with your own.

For me, my go-to things to watch when I get stuck or am feeling particularly uninspired are the Lord of the Rings movies or The Chronicles of Narnia. These are my favorites in both the book and the movie realms, and—especially with Narnia—some of my greatest sources of inspiration ever since childhood.

I don’t take ideas right out of these works, but to me, Tolkien and Lewis were some of the greatest fantasy storytellers ever, and simply witnessing their genius gets me excited. I do have to exercise some discipline, though. I don’t want to spend three nights watching movies I’ve seen before, and feeling very inspired, only to realize that I’m way behind on my writing goals because I’ve been watching movies instead of writing.

Discipline and temperance are key, but don’t be afraid to use someone else’s ideas to break loose that block in your own mind.

Does anyone else have any tried and true techniques for getting past those blocks, getting unstuck, or getting re-inspired? Please share!

Writing Exercise – Christmas with your Characters

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For the month of December, my posts will all be Christmas-themed, just to be festive (or annoying, depending on your point of view). You can love it or hate it, celebrate it with joy or celebrate a different winter-time festival—but either way, Christmas is here and so is its impact on our culture. So I figured it would be appropriate if my blog reflected that.

I love Christmas (just in case my regular readers hadn’t picked up on that yet!) And every year starting about mid-November, I get a strong urge to write a Christmas story, or at least a Christmas scene, even if the current project I’m working on has nothing to do with Christmas.

I often do write at least a partial scene that involves Christmas, and it can be a fun and insightful writing exercise. Especially if your story does not involve Christmas, writing a Christmas scene with your main characters can be a way to learn something about your characters that you may not have known before.

For example, if your story takes place most anywhere on earth sometime during the past 2,000 years, it’s likely that at least one of the characters has at least heard of Christmas, right? So what might that character’s Christmas traditions be like? Take a moment and just imagine, and then write it down.

Does your character come from a dysfunctional family where no one gets along and holiday gathering consist of arguing and watching  TV? So what if that character was invited to a classy Christmas party with their new spouse’s happy, well-adjusted family? How does your character react?

What if your Native American character is just learning to trust the ranchers who moved into his territory, and they invite him to spend Christmas day with them on their new farm? Does he just watch through the window as they bring a tree into the house and sing songs around the old piano, or does he go inside?

Really, this writing exercise doesn’t even have to be about Christmas at all. Use a different holiday—any holiday. Or some other special event—a wedding, a football game, a concert, a family reunion.

This sort of writing exercise works best if it’s about an event that is not part of the plot of your story. It’s intended to get you to explore a side of your character that you hadn’t thought of before, to add depth to their personality and background.

So if your story is about a teenage boy who follows his two favorite bands all over the country in hopes of becoming a rock star one day, then writing a scene with him at a concert would be important for the story, but not a unique exercise.

But for a crime drama about a hardened cop who’s forgotten how to enjoy himself, writing a scene with him at a concert might be a way for you to discover what your character is like when he unwinds.

Or send the rock star boy or the hardened cop home to the grandparents house in the country for Christmas. Now what does the character do?

If you’re taking some writing time over the holidays, then try this exercise with one or more of your characters. It doesn’t have to be about Christmas, or any other winter-time festival. Just put your character in some setting that is logical for their life, but may not occur in the actual plot. And then write!

Spend some quality time this holiday with your characters, and get to know them a little bit better.

And have a merry Christmas!

World Building, part 2

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Last week I covered three guidelines for creating a convincing world in fantasy and science fiction. I’ve got three more to add to that list.

1. Do your research

This may seem counter-intuitive or unnecessary for something that isn’t real anyway, but some of the best sci-fi and fantasy is well researched before it’s written.

My post on natural laws in the previous world building list could be part of this “research” aspect. Things have to make logical sense within the world that you create.

If you have an alien planet with a gravity of ten times that of earth’s gravity, chances are that the dominant species on that planet will not be humanoid up-right bipeds. A creature with a human-like form and physiology would not be able to withstand the intense gravity. Let your creativity flow, but do a little research first.

For another example, let’s say you’re writing a fantasy story about a medieval-like kingdom battling an invading army. Both sides are using bows and arrows, swords, horse-drawn chariots, and the like. However, if you have an army of women bounding through the treetops, swinging from branch to branch shooting at the enemy with longbows, you might want to stop and do some research.

Longbows can stand six feet high, and shoot an arrow with enough force to pierce through thick metal armor. The bows are much too large and heavy to be wielded by someone bounding through the treetops. This is not to say that you have to become an expert on medieval archery to write a fantasy battle (I probably got some of the details wrong myself in that little illustration). But my point is that a little research on some of the key topics could save you embarrassment later.

2. Names and Languages

Many writers like to invent languages—or at least words and phrases in other languages. Most of us aren’t as adept as Tolkien was, writing several full-fledged dialects of his Elven language. But inventing a few words, or even a system of grammar and syntax, can be a fun challenge and can add a layer of realism to any fantasy story.

Character names should reflect the language, if there is one, and should definitely reflect the setting and the culture. Just imagine how jarring and inappropriate it would have been if Tolkien had tossed in a Braedan and an Emma in with Elrond and Galadriel, or a Josh and Mary in with Théoden and Éowyn.

In my current WIP, I haven’t invented any languages, but I do have characters from several different cultures—and the names are distinct to each culture. One set of creatures—the rulers of the woodland areas—have names that reflect who they are: Forest Dreamsong, Moon in the West, and Summer River. Another kind of creatures have names like Sydämen-Syöjä, Iku-Turso, and Ajatar. There’s no confusion as to which character might belong to which culture.

3. Consistency and Continuity

This is really the most important of all of these world building guidelines, I think, and one that I’ve mentioned repeatedly. No matter how much research you do, or what natural and cultural laws you establish or how many names you invent, the key is to be consistent.

Many readers can forgive a glaring lack of research if the element still fits within the context of the story and is consistent throughout. But I can almost guarantee that readers will be less forgiving if you forget halfway through your story that your alien race breathes only methane. Or if the kingdom in your epic fantasy forbids women to wear purple, and the princess goes out in a violet gown and no one bats an eye, the readers will notice and wonder about it.

With sci-fi and fantasy, you can build any kind of world you want, and that’s what makes those genres so fun. Just remember to establish the rules of your world, do a little research to make those rules believable, and then stick with it! Continuity keeps even the most absurdly fantastical story together.

Any other world building guidelines or suggestions you’d like to share? Please comment!