– Terms

Posts related to Terminology

Info Dump

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There are basically two kinds of Info Dumps: relevant and irrelevant—both are bad, but one is worse. We’ll discuss both, then see if we can help you with the one you might actually be able to use. Don’t get me wrong here…information is important, but how you reveal it to your readers makes the difference between a satisfied reader and one who drops your book in frustration…never to pick it up again. Readers who never finish reading your book aren’t likely to mention it to any of their friends…at least not in a good light. Remember, you don’t have time to tell everyone how wonderful your book it…you have to depend on a few readers telling others who then go on to tell even more.

Irrelevant Info

A lot of research usually goes into just about any writing you do…even for a short story (though maybe not for Flash Fiction). The problem is that many authors, once they’ve found some interesting knowledge, want to share all of it with their readers, but that just won’t do. Most of the acquired facts may play a part in creating the story, but they aren’t part of the story. Those facts need to be left on the author’s desk…in the back corner…the far back corner.

One of the problems some authors have is in descriptions…extraneous descriptions. Do we really need to know what colour the walls of the kitchen are? Do we need to know what kind of shirt the MC is wearing? Do we care? That’s the first question you should ask yourself: Does the reader care about this info? If it’s only so you can picture the scene in your head, then it may not be important. Let the reader picture it the way he wants…as long as it fits into the story.

If those unimportant descriptions get to be pervasive, we call them Purple Prose, but even a smaller amount of description that doesn’t move the story along can be distracting, and you don’t want a distracted reader. Keep him interested, keep him involved, keep him reading…all the way to the end.

I’ve heard some authors of historical fiction complain that the info is needed…to set the time period. The problem often is that they make those details more important than the story itself. Overwhelming your readers with historical facts doesn’t make for happy readers.

Relevant Info

Description is necessary for the reader to visualise things, but just some…such as beginning each chapter by setting the scene—only enough info to get things going. If the chapter continues from the previous, then only a minimal reminder may be needed. Just make certain that the description is enriching the story…not leaving it in the dust, taking over, being more important. Remember that even if the details are important, you still can’t just dump them on the reader.

So how do you get these descriptions into the story…without dumping? We’ve all heard the rule to ‘sprinkle’ the info throughout the story. So how do you do that? Easy, just remember that the story is why the reader has even picked up your book, so keep it front and center. Keep the action going and let the description add to what’s happening.

Interrupting the flow, the action, the dialogue, with too much description can bring your story to a grinding halt, pulling the reader out. Instead of experiencing the story, they are now standing next to it, on the outside, looking in. That’s not saying to avoid description completely. The scenes do need to be set, the characters depicted, the action explained, but not instead of seeing the characters doing something.

A few authors have tried to avoid narrative interruption by having the characters talk about the action, explaining what’s happening. When characters break the fourth wall and start telling the reader anything, even indirectly, we call that As You Know, Bob. Another place where characters talk too much is when they tell the reader exactly what they’re thinking, known as On The Nose Writing. If the reader can’t figure out motivations from characters’ actions, then interrupting the story to tell certainly isn’t going to help.

Describe…But Judiciously

Use as much description as necessary…but no more. Avoid excess, especially if it doesn’t add. Don’t let the characters talk about anything they normally wouldn’t discuss. Keep the action going, keep the reader interested…and most especially, keep writing.

Avoiding Clichés

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Welcome back to another year at Turner Editing. We’re going to continue posting helpful hints and suggestions to assist writers, but we’ve changed up the topics this year. We’ll keep the Terms category (as there are still a few folks confused about the jargon), but we’ll be replacing the Printing topic with a Marketing one (for those ready to take on the next aspect of writing). We’ve also swapped out Grammar for one covering the Writing process (for those who need the bigger picture). The last topic, Shortcuts, seems to have been exhausted, so we’re going to look at and review some Software that may make your writing easier.

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.—Samuel Johnson, creator of A Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755

Just as a clarification for those new to this site, let me explain about our naming and numbering scheme. You’ll notice that the posts have a topic and level indicated. This one is “Terms, 1 Introductory”. That means it is a first level discussion on some terminology. The other levels are “2 Basic”, “3 Advanced”, and “4 Excessive”. When you get done reading any post, if you’re still confused, let us know. We hope to be able to answer all your questions and be your source for writing information.

New Terms

This year, when we’re doing the Terms postings, we won’t be just listing or defining some new words—instead we’ll explain in more detail and show how to use (or correct) certain aspects of writing. We mentioned some of the expressions last year (in which case, we’ll link the two posts), but we’ll also add in a few fresh ones that have come up in questions and discussions with various clients and readers.

At the end of last year, we gave short definitions of a bunch of terms (Writing and Editing Terms #1, #2, and #3), specifically mentioning some issues to avoid. Well, now we’re going to expand on one of those items to avoid: Clichés, and their friends Metaphor and Simile. I’ve seen too many good stories that have been spoiled by some stale clichés, yet the fix is relatively easy…once you know what to look for, so we’ll start off with a definition, then dive right into the remedy.

What Exactly Are Clichés?

When someone puts together a phrase that succinctly expresses a thought, it gets repeated. The problem is that the best such phrases get repeated a LOT. Once one gets repeated too many times, and everyone knows it, it becomes a cliché. It once had the power to catch attention and fill in a gap in language, but now, due to over use, it is weak.

Writers write what they know, what they’ve read…unfortunately, what usually comes to mind are those trite little phrases. It’s so easy to just throw it in there…everyone knows what it means, but that’s just the problem…everyone knows. It’s no longer a bright spot in the literary world. It’s now a worn out, tired old, ready to be replaced expression…and maybe you are the one to replace it.

When you have something fascinating to say, see if you can find a fresh way to express it. Surprise us with the connections you make. Make us stop and smile at the wonderful way you take us along with you into the story.

What are Metaphors and Similes?

Very similar, both metaphors and similes relate things that aren’t usually connected—in a metaphor, you say that something is something else…in a simile, you just say that they are similar to each other.

  • Metaphors
    1. His eyes were blue ice.
    2. Her hair was a river of golden flax.
    3. His muscles were mountains on his arms.
    4. Her smile was a bow, made to launch cupid’s arrows.
  • Similes
    1. His eyes were as blue as ice.
    2. Her hair flowed like a river of golden flax.
    3. His muscles bulged like mountains on his arms.
    4. Her smile curved upwards, like a bow made to launch cupid’s arrows.
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.—George Orwell

As you can see, you can use either one to say the same thing, so you get to pick which to use. The problem with both is that although once evocative upon creation, as soon as they start getting used and reused again and again, they both can become clichéd, so your task is to find new and interesting ways to connect things, and someday, we’ll be quoting you.

Writing and Editing Terms #3

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Well, the year is coming to an end, so this will be the last Terms posting and will have to include all the words and phrases we have left over. This is the third posting in this category, so you might want to go back and read Writing and Editing Terms #1 or Writing and Editing Terms #2. If your interest lies more in getting ink on paper, then you’ll want to read Printing Terms. If you prefer to chat about how language works, then consider Grammar Terms. This time we’ll begin with some features that you may want to include in your story, then go over a few elements that are good to consider, and yet again, we’ll be finishing up with a few avoidances.

Parts of a story

  • Prologue—Introductory section that sets up the story, usually set in a time well before the story itself (also may be an extract from part way through the story, such as just before the climax)
  • Epilogue—Closing section of story, similar to a Prologue but ties up story threads and reveals characters’ lives after the story
  • Black Moment—Third point in plot (also known as Darkest Point), MC has been defeated, all is lost
  • Foreshadow—Planting hints early in the story suggesting events to occur later (see also Red Herrings)
  • Flashback—Short narration revealing some information to the reader that took place in the story’s past
  • Backstory—Information about characters or world, known to author and occasionally included in story
  • Setting—Time, place, and situation of story to establish context (be certain to reveal early enough to avoid assumptions that might turn out to be wrong later)

Details in the Story

  • Red Herring—False clue to mislead reader, must be logical and fit in the flow but allow the reader to mis-anticipate later action
  • Chekhov’s Gun—Dramatic principle requiring details to be relevant, per Anton Chekhov, if a gun is mentioned over the mantelpiece in scene one, it must be fired by scene three or it shouldn’t have been mentioned at all
  • Telling Detail—Information revealed that may seem minor at the time but may lead to understanding the characters better
  • MacGuffin—Plot device that moves the story along without being relevant in and of itself
  • Tension—Significant, dramatic elements of the plot that move the story along (as opposed to a MacGuffin)
  • Stakes—Potential rewards or consequences of MC’s actions, resulting from success or failure of plan
  • Description—Giving the reader an idea of the surroundings or characters with vivid sensory details

Items to Avoid

  • Shaggy Dog Story—Long winded story full of irrelevant details that ends with a whimper instead of a bang, often with a pun (see Roger)
  • Author Intrusion—Comments in narration not in the POV of any character, author telling us what we should think about the situation or the characters
  • Product Placement—Mentioning details that don’t add to the story (unless you’ve got them as a supporter!)
  • Pleonasm—Use of extraneous words not necessary for meaning, sometimes a style issue

Well, that seems to wrap up Terms postings for this year. We’ll see about addressing some of these terms next year…in more detail. Look for the postings that include the terms you’re most interested in.

Writing and Editing Terms #2

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We’re going to continue our listing of various terms used in the writing, editing, and publishing industry. If you missed last month’s entry (Writing and Editing Terms #1) or are more interested in Printing Terms or Grammar Terms, you might want to check out those posts. Here we’re going to continue listing expressions that may be new to some writers, this time with addressing how writers write, then a few expressions that focus on story internals, finally finishing off with a few more items to avoid. As the list seems to be even longer yet, we’ll have to save the last few for next month (Writing and Editing Terms #3).

Writing Approach

  • Style—Author’s manner of expression including word choice, grammar structures, literary devices, and language use
  • Tone—Attitude of author to reader, characters, or events in the story, may be sarcastic, pessimistic, cheerful, etc.
  • Voice—Persona author adopts to tell story
  • Plotter—Writer who creates a story in a general outline form before filling in the details
  • Pantser—Writer who creates a story without pre-thinking (by the seat of the pants)
  • Outline—Short bullet points summarising content of story, often used to create TOC

Story Flow

  • Beat—Important event or turning point in story, also pause in speech or action
  • Action Beat—Description of movement by speaker of dialogue, included in the same paragraph as the dialogue
  • Dialogue—Spoken conversation between characters, denoted by quotation marks
  • Internal Dialogue—Thoughts of POV character, denoted by Italics
  • Dialogue Tags—Indication of who is speaking, may also include Action Beats (also Speaker Tags or just Tags)
  • Transitions—Control of flow through story, no action happens without reason

Problems to Avoid

  • Mary Sue or Marty-Stu—A character who is able to do everything with unrealistic abilities, usually a stand in for the author (autobiographical, ha!)
  • Burly Detective—Over use of reference to characters by description (“the burly detective”) in a futile attempt to avoid using character’s name or pronoun, involves the use of multiple different terms to refer to the same character: Frank, he, her boyfriend, the driver, the sergeant, or the tall, slim man
  • On The Nose—Writing style that is too straightforward, also characters that reveal in dialogue exactly what they are thinking or feeling
  • Cliché—Over used and trite term or phrase that has lost its power
  • Dead Metaphor—Similar to cliché, a metaphor that has lost its intensity due to over use

That’s quite a list, but there’s more to follow. See you next month!

Writing and Editing Terms #1

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A lot of jargon and quite a few abbreviations exist in the writing, editing, and publishing industry, so we’re going to take a moment to dispel some of the fog and shed light into the crevices. We have a whole post on just Printing Terms and another one on Grammar, so this time we’ll focus on the Writing process. Rather than have an alphabetical list, we’ll start off with a few abbreviations that may be new to you, then delve into the writing process itself, and finally finish up with a short list of things to avoid. As the whole list is too long to include all here, we’ll continue with this topic next month (Writing and Editing Terms #2).

Abbreviations

  • MC: Main character—central character whose actions and adventures the reader follows
  • ms: Manuscript (usually lower case)—unpublished, final copy ready for editing
  • mss: Manuscripts (plural, also lower case)—in case you have more than one going on at a time
  • WIP: Work in progress—the story currently being worked on
  • AKYB: As You Know, Bob—a method of info dump via dialogue, often stilted and awkward for the characters
  • TOC: Table of Contents—occasionally used in fiction, almost required for non-fiction

Creating the story

  • Pre-writing—Steps taken before starting to write the story itself, can include Brainstorming, Researching, Mapping, and Outlining, often used to create characters and build the story world
  • Brainstorming—Collecting ideas without regard to feasibility, hopefully some will become useful later
  • Researching—Discovering facts to create story environment
  • Mapping—Drawing the story world to envision any distances, locations, or natural obstacles that may become relevant
  • Outlining—Listing short bullet points to summarise content of story, can be used later to create TOC
  • Creating Characters—Listing details of characters, often written up on a sheet inspired by Role Playing games
  • World Building—Creating the story world (whether fictional or not) to give the reader a feeling of actually being there, can include culture, language, landscape, and history to allow consistent backdrop for story—important for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Historical stories where the story world may not be familiar to the reader
  • Zero Draft—Writing step that precedes First Draft, total story dump without regard to practicality
  • Rough Draft—Early draft of work that has not yet been re-read by author
  • Draft—Sequential versions of story as revisions are made, numbered as work progresses

Problems to avoid

  • Info Dump—Excessive description, backstory, or other information that doesn’t push the story along
  • Head Hopping—Changing POV character mid-scene
  • Purple Prose—Excessively descriptive writing, overloading the reader with irrelevant details (also Flowery Writing)
  • As You Know, Bob—Characters being forced by the author to discuss things they would already know in the story world for the benefit of the reader

These are just a few terms…we’ll continue the list next month. See you then!

Story Elements (Setting)

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Where your story takes place is sometimes just as important as who is in it. In fact, some folks say that your setting is just another character, but remember, the where includes not only the location, but also the time and environment. Location can include the room they are in, the town, the region, the country, and in some cases, the entire world. Time involves time of day as well as time of year. When you consider the environment, remember to take into account the geography, culture, society, and weather.

We’ll tackle each of these now:

Location

Does the story take place in a small town or a large city? Is it a place we already know or will you have to describe everything?

Picking the right spot can affect the mood of the whole story. Consider the difference between a small, dark mining town, under the domination of a harsh taskmaster and a bright, airy townhouse in a skyscraper.

Time

Midnight in the middle of winter is different from morning in early spring but so is dinner on a fall evening. A story in 500 BC is going to be poles apart from one in the 19th century…and how different will the 23rd century be?

Again, the mood will change depending on time…early colonialism compared with interstellar exploration. What technologies will you be allowed to use, or even mention? Cell phones? Quill pens?

Also consider the passing of time throughout the story. Do we start in the Industrial Age and progress to visiting other planets? Or does the entire story take place in one afternoon? It makes a difference.

Environment

Are we on a beach? Or at the top of a mountain? Is it rainy or hot and dry? Do folks congregate socially? Or does the upper-class insist that the peons remain in their homes unless working?

How many folks live in this area? Are multiple families crammed into small apartments? Or do the children have to play with their siblings as the nearest neighbour is hundreds of miles away?

Do the characters hail from displaced natives? Or are they part of the conquering hoard?

World Building

If your story isn’t in a time or place that we all know, you may need to give descriptions that are more detailed. If your story takes place in a new and exciting world, one straight from your imagination, then you will need to spend some time fabricating everything before you even get started on the story (or stories!). Building a whole world can involve creating a new planet, a new city, a new society, even a new language. Maybe you will have to rewrite some laws of physics to make your story work.

Whatever it takes, spend some time creating a setting for your readers to enjoy.

Story Elements (Theme)

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There are some ideas that are especially useful to fiction writers, but many can also make a non-fiction book an enjoyable read, and that’s important if you want the reader to glean the valuable information you have to share. In this post, we are going to cover one of the elements of a story: Theme. We’ll give due diligence to the other elements in other posts.

Yes, the destination is important (so is the ending of your story), but as is often said, the process of getting there is paramount, so as vital as your ending is, you need to remember that your story is all about the Journey to the Transformation of the Hero. When you are writing your story, you need to keep in mind why you are writing it: the Theme, or the Focus of the Story, or the Most Important Point. Whatever term you use, the concept has to run through the entire story.

You may hear folks tossing the term “Theme” about as if it’s something complicated, but it’s really nothing more than a technique of approaching the Transformation, allowing the Hero to be fundamentally changed and resolving the problem in a predictable manner. To understand it better, take a look at the list below.

Theme Examples

  • In the Rags to Riches theme, the Hero has to pull himself up by the bootstraps, and is transformed by his hard work.
  • In the Underdog story, the Hero is portrayed as being gutsy and good, being transformed through spirit, hope, and belief.
  • The Accidental Hero (my favourite) is thrust into his role by accident or circumstance and is transformed through realisation.
  • Often used is the Lesson Learned theme, where the Hero faces many challenges in life, discovering that it is true that only fools refuse to learn and is finally transformed via self-discovery.
  • Rather intense is the Failure and Redemption theme, forcing the Hero to respond to failures, showing his true character as he finds that coming back from failure is powerful, transforming with fire.
  • Finally, there is the Hero’s Quest (the most talked about), common to all societies, all countries, all time. In this theme, the Hero develops the internal strength to conquer all obstacles, no matter how seemingly impossible. This is the theme of many epic tales as the Hero is transformed by triumph.

There are plenty of other themes (including Forgiveness, Success, and Honesty), but these few are enough to give you an idea of what you’re aiming for.

To help you stay directed, you may want to print the Theme out (in big letters) to hang over your monitors. That way, if you come across a scene that doesn’t support that Theme, then just toss it (not completely, of course…save it elsewhere, because that scene may just belong in the next story). Keeping your theme in sight will give your story a feeling of intent, a cohesiveness, a raison d’être as they say.

Keep plugging away at it, and you’ll only get better!

Story Elements (Action & Solution)

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This week we’re going to examine two more of the Story Elements: Action and Solution. We’ll also touch on a bit of non-fiction: Memoir.

Most of the action in a story will be as a result of the conflicts the Hero has to deal with, whether they are Physical, Mental, Emotional, or Spiritual. In any case the action is there to drive the Hero towards the end of the story and his eventual Transformation.

The best kind of action is one that your reader will find not only logical, but also familiar, something the reader himself might do (or might have done) in the same situation. The easiest way to force those actions is to find conflicts that you’ve personally endured. Many such experiences are common to all, so that way the reader can connect with the Hero (and you, as well). All the action should be there to move the story forward towards the satisfying conclusion.

And as to that conclusion, the main object there is to answer the Story Question (posed by the Inciting Incident in Act I). The only good ending is the one the reader accepts as plausible—yet didn’t expect. That type of ending will be supremely satisfying to the reader, but you need to remember to avoid giving away the end when you’re sprinkling all those red herrings throughout the story. Lead the reader, but don’t reveal all, until the very end, showing how the Hero has changed. We want an ending that will get the reader running all around, telling friends, family, and even strangers how wonderful your book is.

I had mentioned Memoir in the intro…so how is memoir different from any other story? Not much, really. It has all the same fundamental parts: Heroes and Villains, Conflict and Conquest, Failure and Triumph. The only thing is that it is easier to write! The plot is your life, the characters are you and your friends (or kin), the action is what you did when you encountered conflicts, and the solution is where you are now, after surviving all the struggles of life.

So, go ahead and tell us a story, whether based in fact or only loosely connected to reality. Either way, the reader will be entertained and might even learn some important concepts along the way.

Story Elements (Plot)

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Today we are going to examine the shape of your story…how the plot guides the structure. If you are looking for a discussion of the different types of plots, we will cover that in a later posting on Theme that covers much of that topic.

As you may know, some writers prefer to have the entire story outlined before beginning to create the content—then there are the pantsers who write by the seat of their pants…not knowing what’s going to come next until it happens (my style), but even those of us who don’t outline before writing at least have a clue of how the story is going to go. That basic idea is shaped like a skewed bell curve (remember statistics class??). It starts out low, slowly builds up, then reaches a peak before heading back down for the end. There are five points that determine the shape of the story and divide it into the classic three act structure.

Graph showing Standard Bell Curve and Plot Curve

Act I is the beginning, consisting of the Introduction (first point). In this part we get to know who our characters are, where they are, and something about their boring lives. It ends (hopefully quickly) with the Inciting Event (second point), kicking the story into full gear and creating the Story Question. This is the question in the back of your reader’s mind which he looks forward to solving by the end of the story. You don’t want to spend too much time in this act, rather try to hook the reader with the big change right up front, then move directly into the next act.

Act II is the main part of the story, where all the Rising Action takes place. This act should take up at least half your story, with the Hero trying and failing, again and again, each time with greater and greater peril to his life (or the lives of his friends). The threats can be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, but our Hero can only seem to succeed as the tension increases with each attempt. This act ends with the Darkest Point (third point), where the Hero has obviously been defeated, all is lost, no way out. You can also include a suggestion of the climax, a bit of a cliff hanger to get the reader back after the commercial break. (Oh, wait, this isn’t on the tele yet…or is it?)

Act III starts off with the Climax (fourth point), quickly followed by a bit of Falling Action. The Climax is where the Hero decisively overcomes the ultimate crisis. Make certain that what he does seems valid from all the work he’s done—nothing magic here to rescue him. The Falling Action allows time to clean up a few loose ends, tie up subplots, and understand the results of our Hero’s actions.

The story finishes up with the Resolution, or Dénouement if you prefer (fifth point), where life gets back to the new normal, but nothing can be as it was before—the Hero has a new life to live.

Story Elements (Characters)

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Characters are important, but how important? Well, if you have no characters, then there is no story, and according to some folks, they are more important than even plot:

“An idea has no worth at all without believable characters to implement it; a plot without characters is like a tennis court without players… Personality. That is the key, the drum, the fife. Forget the plot.”—Chuck Jones, an animator of such characters as the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote

That’s pretty important, but who do you include? Populating your story with people who feel real will help humanise it, so consider what roles you will need:

  • The Hero (protagonist), often the POV character, needs to show courage and willingness to sacrifice for the greater good in the face of danger and adversity.
  • The Villain (antagonist) opposes the Hero, either physically, intellectually, or emotionally, and he doesn’t need to be a single person. The government, a crowd, even the environment could be the villain. He often has a helper: The Tempter.
  • The Tempter works in the shadows, manipulating the Hero and trying to convince him to join the dark side.
  • The Sidekick, the Hero’s helper, is an unconditionally loving friend. No matter how bad things get, the Sidekick thinks the Hero is right—Sancho Panza in Don Quixote.
  • The Mentor acts as the Hero’s conscience, guiding him toward the right path…guiding only, not controlling. The Hero has to make his own choices—Gandalf in the Hobbit stories.
  • The Sceptic doesn’t believe in the Theme, he doesn’t support the Hero’s goal, and he doesn’t mind getting in the way. He has his own agenda—Han Solo in Star Wars.
  • Love Interests add much to the fullness of a story, whether boyfriend, girlfriend, or even a pet animal of some sort. This character can add a whole subplot (or even the main plot…romance stories?). Their relationship isn’t necessarily solid, as the villain is constantly interfering, trying to distract the Hero from his goal.
  • Finally the Spear Carriers, bit parts, filled in by folks who walk on, give their lines, and walk off, never to be seen again. Just one of the masses adding to casts of thousands. Still important, but mostly as information givers. Let them have their moment in the spotlight…then move on.

Not all those roles will be needed in all stories, but any character you have can be lumped into two types: Emotional and Logical. Emotional characters follow their gut, often acting before thinking, and help the Hero by making a decision that a thinking person would never have even considered…and often fail, spectacularly, by leaping without looking.

On the other hand, Logical characters plan ahead, look for common sense solutions, and answer questions with facts. They are useful, but the Hero may find that the head needs to listen to the heart to work at its best.

Keep a good balance, and your story folks will not only seem real, but also be talked for years to come.