Writing 101

By Barbara Weitzner

God created the heavens and the earth, but even He realized He needed some kind of plan instead of just creating stuff willy-nilly.

Before you begin to type, read “Stein on Writing,” available at the library or Barnes and Noble. This is an easy to read guide for beginners with lots of practical advice.

Join a writer’s group at your local church or library. Don’t rely on family advice. They think everything you do is wonderful.

To help your creative stimulation, arrange a set time agreed by family to allow you uninterrupted silence.

Develop your own original style, or “voice.” When you have finished a chapter, read it aloud— you will hear your awkward sentences, repetitions and lack of cadence.

Listen to people— note their inflections. This will help you to write, “People speak,” and well-forged identities so your characters don’t all sound alike. This will also help you to eliminate “he-she said,” and develop distinct personalities.

Read Elmore Leonard, a master of dialogue. He also authored Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing.

Avoid stiff, overly literary sentences with too many commas. Keep index cards with each characters statistics. This will avoid Susie having red hair on page 20 and blonde hair on page 200. Mentally put your arm around your protagonist and say, “I hear you, man. Because this is how I feel when I’m creating you. When I’m not typing I miss us hanging out together, and it gets lonesome.”

Keep a note pad with you all the time, yes, even at your bedside. Good ideas can be forgotten by the time you are able to sit down and record them.

Don’t try to impress your editors with big words. If you have to look it up, delete it.

Enter as many short story contests as you can. Start with the no entry fee college literary magazines. I found the editors favored themes with people who were unbearable, insurmountable or inscrutable. Ordinary folk didn’t cut the mustard. (But this is strictly my observation.)

When you are certain your story is complete, invest in a professional editor. Unless you are Phillip Roth, you need your work evaluated and polished. Be sure to verify his (her) credentials.

Last but not least, develop an interesting query letter. This is not a synopsis of your plot. The opening paragraph should be short and tempting. Editors read thousands of queries, so make sure yours will immediately catch their attention. My query for “The Most Glorious Thing Ever,” began with, “A couple meet in a bar. He buys her a drink. He can hardly believe his luck. She’s gorgeous and fun. Where could it lead?”

My query received twenty-two replies.

Don’t become discouraged. Believe in yourself and keep at it.

Good luck!

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Barbara Weitzner's novels, The Most Glorious Thing Ever, The Parradine Allure and A New Start have been published by Solstice Horizons. Her short story, Please Wake Up was published in Soundings Magazine. Her article, Never Too Late appeared in the September issue of Southern Writing. Her articles have appeared in Breezes, a South Florida Magazine. Her short story, First Love appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of Gemini Magazine. Her short story, On The Veranda will soon be published by Crimson Cloak Publishing. Her short story, An American Christmas will be published in November.

TENSION on Every Page

By Creston Mapes

There are notes, small and large, taped all over my computer and desk. They hang from my lamps, stick on my phone, and pop out of my pen holder. They’re reminders:

“Things get worse.”

“Turn up the heat.”

“Don’t take the reader where she wants to go—give her stress, strain, pressure!”

“Discombobulate the reader!”

“The secret of breakout plotting is TENSION on every page.”

These reminders are just a few that I’ve written down from favorite books and websites about how to write page-turning fiction. And I refer to them often when I’m writing. In fact, I have a folder two- to three-inches thick entitled, “Writing Tips.” It includes pages of notes I’ve taken from those favorite books and websites, all about writing good, solid, exciting fiction that keeps readers hooked from cover to cover.

When I come to a place in the manuscript where I don’t know what’s going to happen—which is often, because I like to work with a barebones outline—I simply start looking around at my notes, the ones hanging everywhere. If that doesn’t work, I get out the old “Writing Tips” folder and simply begin reading.

Much of the great advice comes from The Complete Guide to Writing & Selling the Christian Novel by Penelope J. Stokes; Stein on Writing by Sol Stein; On Writing by Stephen King; Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass; The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing by Meg Leder, Jack Heffron, and the editors of Writer’s Digest; and Plot& Structure by James Scott Bell.

One of the notes sticking above me reads: “You must not come lightly to the blank page.”Another: “Writing…this is just another job like laying pipe or driving long-haul trucks. Shut the door and get to it.” And another: “Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don’t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord my God is with you: He will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly (1 Chronicles 28: 20).”

I also get revved up and inspired by cranking up some of my favorite music. Usually, within a song or two, I am ready to set the reader on her ear with some jaw-dropping twists and turns.

So, take notes when you’re reading those books on the craft of writing fiction. Print out the articles and tips that inspire you. Crank up the music and get motivated to give the fiction reader what he really wants: tension on every page!

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Creston Mapes is the author of the thrillers Fear Has a Name, Nobody, Dark Star, and Full Tilt. A journalist, copywriter, and editor, he works from his home-office in Atlanta for some of the nation’s top media companies, Christian ministries, and nationally-recognized corporations. His early years as a reporter inspire many of his novels. CrestonMapes.com

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