Writers in the Storm

Laurie Schnebly

When you think about the three elements needed to braid your story together, you probably think of plot and character first.

That makes sense. If you had to write a book using just those two items, you could do a pretty good job of keeping it interesting and entertaining.

Sure, readers might be even happier if they get to see your voice. And the way you describe the setting. And the kind of dialogue your characters use. And the humor, the drama, the tension, the emotion, the -- well, all those other colorful things.

So why aren't those other things as big on the Must-Have list of items to consider when writing your book?

Maybe because we're all writing such different types of stories.

It's not just the plot which makes 'em different, although that certainly contributes.

Nor is it just the characters which make 'em different, although they certainly contribute as well.

But what really sets one book apart from another is how that plot and those characters come together.

Let's call that the situation.

Think about it. If your story is about the heroine facing ninja assassins, it's in a completely different league than your story about that same heroine facing her prom date falling for her best friend

And that's completely different from a story about James Bond facing ninja assassins, or Bond discovering that his prom date (hmm, his casino date?) is falling for HIS best friend. (Hmm, who would that be?)

Anyway, you get the idea. The plots, whether they involve ninjas or a prom date, take an enormous shift when you envision them involving Cinderella or Bond.

Just as the characters, whether Cindy or James, vary tremendously depending on whether they're facing assassins or a love tangle.

Or -- just imagine it -- both.

 

Those are basic scenarios, sure. And basic characters whose personalities we already have a pretty good idea about...but you see what a difference the situation makes?

That's the third strand of your braid.

 Maybe your heroine is a wanna-be Cinderella at the office party.

Or maybe she's a ninja assassin.

Maybe she's an elderly widow who bakes cookies for the neighborhood children.

Maybe she's forced by a wizard to put arsenic in the cookies.

Maybe she's a cop looking for the poisoner.

Maybe she's a nurse looking for the antidote.

Maybe she's a terrified mother looking for poisoned Emily's favorite doll.

Maybe she's Emily, all grown up and looking for a BDSM costume party.

 

Notice how all these situations move your story into a whole different category?

 

 

Each one of them contains a character and a plot idea you could transfer into some other book...but just think how that story would change.

This is where the magic comes in. The situation -- or even, to use a broader term, the genre -- influences your plot and characters to such an extent that it might be considered the most important element of your story braid.

What happens once you've got your strands?

 That depends on when you get 'em.

 

Some people start by planning each one, knowing their situation and plot and characters before they ever start writing. ("Yes, this'll be about the cop looking for the poison-cookie baker but falling in love with the evil wizard's innocent niece.")

Some people start with a situation ("Okay, this'll be about a BDSM costume party") and shape the plot and characters to fit it.

Some people start with a character ("I want to write about a nurse who dreams of making a difference") and build a plot around that person, while others start with a plot ("What would happen if a wizard made people carry out his dastardly schemes but got overthrown from within?")

All those ways of building a story work just fine. But sometimes the elements don't quite line up as smoothly as we'd like.

 

Prize-drawing question: What do you do?

When parts of your book don't line up as neatly as you want them to, what's the first thing you try? Or the second / third / 26th / whatever?

It's fine to mention techniques that HAVE worked for you, and also things that HAVEN'T. Because you know how we all operate differently? Something that didn't quite do the job for you might be the perfect "fix" for a writer who reads your comment!

 

 

 

So if you have any tips you'd like to share, please pass them along. (And if you'd rather I didn't quote you in next month's class on Your Plot-Character-Story Braid, just mention that in your comment.)

Thanks.

Laurie, who is always intrigued at seeing how other people do it

 

 

 About Laurie

Laurie Schnebly Campbell always loves teaching a brand-new class, so when a writer asked about "braiding" she was delighted at the chance to explore an untouched subject starting September 1 at WriterUniv.com's http://bit.ly/BraidClass.

Although she enjoyed braiding her own books, including one that beat out Nora Roberts for "Best Special Edition of the Year," she enjoys teaching even more. That's why she now has 15 novels on her bookshelf with acknowledgments from authors inspired by her classes!

 

Describing clothes on characters isn’t nearly as fun writing an action scene. But let’s face it, clothes and their condition say as much about our characters as they do on real people.

Thankfully there are ways to sneak clothing descriptions into a scene without sounding like a fashion magazine.

When ever possible, let clothing and the character’s appearance leak into the scene as a bystander.

Clothing descriptions as a bystander to body language is used a lot.

 Example: She sat, smiled and nodded her head. Beneath the table, her damp fists crushed the delicate silk of her evening gown while her kid boots tapped a rapid rhythm. This doesn’t sound like a description of clothing at all and yet the sentence shows the reader what the woman is wearing.

 Clothing descriptions as a bystander in an action scene is not the norm. Usually they just slow down the action and are better avoided. UNLESS, the type of clothing is important to the action.

Example: Set up: In my book Love and Fortune the heroine is a distraction while a group of Yankees soldiers surround a band of weary Rebels. Her attire is important to this scene.

 The dancer was one with the music … She raised softly curved arms, and a myriad of gold bangles jangled to the rhythm of the mounting beat. Only her green feline eyes were visible above the diaphanous red silk draped loosely about her head and across the lower half of her face. A red peasant blouse slipped down one shoulder, sparking the imaginations of her hushed, gray-uniformed audience. Inky tresses swirled about her undulating hips, hips that invited a man’s caress. … She pivoted abruptly and dashed into the oblivion of the night. Gradey started to rise, but the clicking of rifles being cocked and aimed froze him in place.

 Then of course, there’s times when a character arrives on stage, requiring a quick description of their appearance and little more. For those times, the word lists below come in handy. Knowing the exact name of a fashion also saves words and gives the reader an instant picture: Hobble-skirt, mini skirt, peasant blouse, cravat, kid gloves, pea coat, dickey etc. [That list of coats, shirts, skirts, neckwear, hats, shoes etc with their definitions will have to wait for another blog.]

Note: Don’t waste time and words describing an unimportant character who makes only one appearance in the book. Lengthy descriptions imply the character is important to the story.

Below is a list of my fashion terms for women and men. Keep in mind that descriptions of men’s attire should lend themselves to masculinity and durability with a bit of suave thrown into the mix.

By themselves these terms sound like they were taken right out of a fashion magazine. Their beauty is more evident when they're used to trim a wordy description to a concise expression.

Following the men’s list are words and phrases for the “Less Than Presentable,” “Getting Dressed” and “General Synonyms for Clothing.”

General Fashion Terms for Women

…added drama
Accented with
Accentuated waist
Accessorized
Aesthetic quality
Bold detail
Characterized by
Charming
Clean lines
Contrasted
Cut generously
Daring creation
Dazzling sparkles
Deep pleats
Delicate and lacy
Displayed her assets
Dominate stripe
Eccentric designs
Essential elements
Exotic
Figure fattering
Fitted, tailored to fit
Flair for the spectacular
Flaring
Floaty and sheer
Flowing
Form fitting
Frame the face
French cut panties
Fresh, spring colors
Fullness
Graceful silhouette
Great daring and originality
Harmony
Harsh tones
Height of propriety
Highlighted by
Hot little off-the-shoulder number
Indulge herself with
Latest crazeLavished with ruffles/lace etc.
Lively print
Luxurious silk
Made a statement
Masterfully rendered in
Mode of dress
Modified the hemline
Motif of *** swirled around the hem
Noble simplicity
Ornate
Ostentatious extravagance
Outlined – figure, hem, sleeves
Piping detailed the
Plunging neckline
Portray the rich variety in design
Prestige of the label
Provocative
Prudish length
Rare
Richly decorated
Romantic
Rounded collar
Sashed at the waist
Savvy cut
Shabby chic
Shapeless
Shapely Profile
Silky scarves
Simplicity
Slim lines
Soft, supple
Spectacular style
Stunning
Stylistic melange
Taste
Thin as a Vail of tears
Trailing
Trends
Trimmed
Velvety soft
Vogue

General Fashion Terms for Men

All about comfort
Black, a logical choice for a man of noir
Convenient
Conventional
Cushioned inner soles
Dapper old gentleman
Decadent open collar
Durable
Expensive leather had some miles on it
Geared to a man’s needs
Generously cut
Hand-crafted
Handsomely tailored
Heavy duty
Indispensable
Intricately tooled
Lightweight
Long range wear
Moves from boardroom to elegance ease
Nattily unkempt
Relaxed fit
Sharp and dynamic
Sharp front pleats
Sporty elegance
Step out on the town shoes
SturdyTie upstaged his silk shirt
Traditional
Well groomed

Less Than Presentable

All flash and no dash
Beauty blight
Bedraggled
Blowzy over-done
Boots with newspaper stuffed inside to cover the holes in the soles
Clothes painted on her
Donned grubbies for yard work
Dress gone limp in the heat
Dressed like an unmade bed
Dressed like he’s fleeing a fire/the devil
Ensemble clashes
Flamboyant colors clashed
Foul-smelling socks
Gaudy/gauche
Gowns cut to see level
High water pants, flood pants
House dress that looked like a slipcover
Huge hat with a hectic array of
If she’s class, it doesn’t show on her back
It’s called the tacky cut
Jeans deliberately torn and frayed
Miserably shod feet
Misshapen straw hat perched at a jaunty angle
Motley hat tilted over one eye
Nondescript
Off-beat/kinky/Bohemian/hippie/beatnick
Old mossback cares nothing for fashion
Patched hand-me-downs
Poured into her jeans
Resembles Rummage Sal
Scandalous
Shabby as a
Shows more of her self than she does style
Tattered cast-offs
Teen uniform: jeans, scruffy T-shirt, dirty sneakers and no socks
Threadbare/napless/frayed/holey/dilapidated/misshapen
Vermin ridden/lice fleas/bedbugs
Whites that looked gray
Wretched condition

Getting Dressed

Array
Attire
Bundle up
Change into
Clad
Cloaked
Costumed herself
Doll up
Don
Dress fit to kiss
Dress to the nines
Dude up
Equip
Garb
Get beautiful
Get glitzed
Getting ready
Glammed
Gown up
Groom
Gussy up
Invest
Make ready
Outfitted himself
Primp
Rig up
Shroud
Slicked up
Slip on or into
Snaz up
Spiff up
Spruce up
Suit up
Swaddle
Swath
Wrapped in

General Synonyms for Clothing

Array
Attire
Best bib and tucker
Bling Bling – jewelry or sparkle added to clothing
Costume
Doodads
Drapery
Duds
Ensemble
Evening dress, wear
Fashion
Finery
Flashery
Floordrobe – clothes left on the floor
Frippery
Frocks
Garb
Garments
Garmenture
Gear
Getup
Gladrags
Grubbies
Guadery
Guise
Habiliment
Hand-me-downs
Number – as in wearing a sexy number
Outfit
Rags
Raiment
Regalia
Rigging
Suit of clothes
Suit up
Sunday-go-to-meetin’
Swag – accessories sometimes jewelry or gifts
Threads
Togs
Trapping
Trousseau
Uniforms
Wardrobe
Weeds
Wraps

About Sharla

Sharla has published three historical romances and her fourth, How to Fell a Timberman, is impatiently waiting to be formatted for Kindle.

When she’s not writing and researching ways to bedevil her book characters, Sharla enjoys collecting authentically costumed dolls from all over the world, traveling (to seek more dolls!), and reading tons of books.

You can find Sharla here at Writers In The Storm, on Twitter at @SharlaWrites or on Facebook.

 

 

Catherine Spangler

Hello all! I’m thrilled and honored to be included in the Writers in the Storm Blog community. Since I write science fiction romance and urban fantasy romance, I thought we could discuss creating alternate worlds and world building, and the elements needed for “other-worldly” romances.

Building an Alternate World

There are a number of other-world scenarios:

1) A complete other world, not set on Earth. This could be science fiction, fantasy, dystopian, futuristic, basically any type of story. These stories would occur on other planets, in other galaxies, and so forth. A good example would be my science fiction romance books, the Shielder series. Also, Catherine Asaro’s Skolian Empire series and Linnea Sinclair’s SF romances are in settings other than Earth, as are many other SF and futuristic books.

2) A hidden world within our actual world. Many stories about witches, vampires, shape-shifters, faeries, etc., take place as secret societies on Earth that most humans don’t know exist. My urban fantasy romances, the Sentinel series, are an example. J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood books and J.R. Rain’s Samantha Moon books are two more examples.

3) Other-world societies coexisting on Earth with human societies. Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, where the angels rule the humans; Kim Harrison’s books, where the supernaturals live apart from the humans; and the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, are good examples.

4) Stories set on Earth, but with scenarios that are not normal for our world as we know it. This could be time travel, or traveling between Earth and other planets, set in the future, or apocalyptic. Such stories could be classified as paranormal, science fiction, futuristic, dystopian, and more.

In creating your world, you can basically do whatever you want, but there are some requirements.

1) You need to create the rules and parameters of your world: Planet specifications (if applicable), types of people and creatures, their physical characteristics, their powers (and how those powers or any magic works), languages, society mores (how the characters mate, how they survive, how they deal with criminals, etc.), technology, weaponry, and many more details.

2) Most importantly, once you create your world, you must be completely consistent throughout your story. You should follow every rule you have established. If you need to deviate from that for any reason, then you should have a very plausible explanation.

I faced this challenge while writing the fifth Shielder book, Shadow Fires. The hero was a Leor, and the Leors were a fierce and savage race. The heroine, a Shielder, agreed to marry the hero, as part of a deal to save two Shielder colonies. Since I had introduced the Leors in previous books and established their culture, I was bound by those parameters, and found myself writing about situations that were unsettling and certainly wouldn’t be my reading preference. Yet I had to be true to the world and the story. Shadow Fires was the hardest book I’ve ever written. It also received a RITA nomination! I believe that was in part because the story was real and honest, based on the world I had created.

You have to be consistent in your world.

Two reference books that I have used and recommend are oldies but goodies:

• How to write SF & Fantasy by Scott Orson Card
• World-Building (A writer’s guide to constructing star systems and life-supporting planets) by Stephen L. Gillett

There are many more good books out there that can be helpful for world building.

Writing Your Paranormal, Science Fiction, or Fantasy Romance

While there can be substantial differences in your worlds and societies from normal settings on Earth, the rules for the actual story are the same as they are for all stories. Good writing is good writing is good writing.

No matter what the world, your story should have the following elements:

1) Strong, believable characters. Your main characters should each have goals, motivations, and conflicts that drive both the characters and the story. They need to be fully fleshed-out characters with whom the reader can identify, for good or bad. Debra Dixon’s book, GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict (The Building Blocks of Good Fiction) is one of the gold standards for GMC.

2) You need a strong, believable, and logical plot to drive the story. Contrivances have no place here. Going back to GMC above, find ways to motivate the events that happen in the story. Make them a natural outgrowth of your characters’ motivations and actions, or those of your societies. You can write almost anything if you motivate it properly, and the reader will go right along with you.

3) Emotion. You must engage the reader and make him or her care about the characters and what happens to them. Since we’re discussing romance, and most romances are character-driven, if you’re writing romance, the relationship(s) should be front and center in the story. Even in plot-driven stories, it’s essential that the reader relates to the characters and cares about the outcome.

4) Employ what I call “Quad D”: Details, Description, Dialogue, and Development (story and characters). There will be more about this in my weekly writing tips (see below).

To sum it up:

Build your world and populate it with your characters, stick like glue to the rules of your world, and then write your story like every other well-written story, no matter the setting or the time period or the world. Good story telling transcends all genres.

Thanks for having me on the blog!

Do you enjoy world building, or find it challenging? Do you think world building differs between genres or remains pretty much the same? Any questions you'd like to ask Catherine?

About Catherine

Catherine Spangler is a national bestselling and award winning author of the Sentinel series (urban fantasy romance) and the Shielder series (science fiction romance). She is a two-time Golden Heart finalist and a RITA finalist and has received numerous other awards and honorable mentions.

She is an active member of Romance Writers of America and her local chapter, Dallas Area Romance Authors. A frequent speaker at writers’ groups and conferences, she has taught workshops on the creative process, writing techniques, writing paranormal romance, and goal setting.

Catherine lives in north Texas with her husband and a menagerie of critters. She loves reading, taking naps on the sofa with a good football game for background noise, eating chocolate, and playing poker.

Don't miss Catherine's newly released book Shamara, the third book in her Shielder series. She posts a weekly writing tip each Tuesday, so please visit her at her website, Twitter or Facebook.