For
those of you who are interested, here
are a few of the highlights from the first
two days. For those of you who are really
interested, I hope to do the series again
next Gen
Con (although the topics might change
a bit, just for fun).
Form
Versus Function
The Beginning: Work extra hard
on the beginning of your story. If the
story doesn't get good until page 3, no
one will ever get to page 3.
Style:
Don't force flowery language. Let that
come naturally. Let your favorite writers
become your teachers; as you learn and
practice what you learn, your own voice
will develop.
Description:
Description is your toolbox -- your ally.
Use color, smell, and temperature to set
your scene. But don't describe the mood
of a place. The other things will give
an impression of the mood all by themselves.
Touch, taste, sight, sound, smell -- include
at least three senory descriptions per
scene to make sure the reader is really
placed right into your story.
Plot
Versus Character
Once you have your story idea, here are
four useful questions to ask yourself
as you construct the piece:
Thus
you have an idea: "A world where
magical teleportation is commonplace."
You ask: who will this hurt? You answer:
guards protecting the king's castle. So
you make your main character a guard.
His motivation? Protect the king. What
can go wrong? Assassins teleport into
the castle to kill the king, and the guards
have to stop them -- that's the plot.
Story success? Either the guards succeed
or they don't.
It's
a simple story example, but you can see
how you might build a much bigger story
in the same way. The first question is
probably the most important one. Make
sure you always choose the right character
as your point of view character. You wouldn't
tell the story of Star Wars with
an Uncle Owen or a stormtrooper as the
main character (that might make a good
story, but it would be a very different
story).
Cliches:
Remember that you're writing to an audience
as well read as you are. If you've heard
this one before, so have they.
Foreshadowing:
Give the reader a clue ahead of time.
If the readers say to themselves, "Oh
yeah, I remember a mention of that about
that thirty pages ago," the impact
of whatever you are presenting becomes
more powerful. If the villain shows up
with a long-lost, powerful magical sword
that the hero recognizes, make sure the
sword has been mentioned before, so the
reader recognizes it, too.
Don't
Create a Story that Meanders: Make
sure everything that happens is important.
Be able to tell your story in a single
sentence. The entire Lord of the Rings
series can be summed up in a sentence:
"Little hobbit defeats huge evil
by destroying a ring through his own courage
and perseverance, and with the support
of his friends."
World
Building
Research. If you present facts,
make them right. If they are made-up facts,
make them consistent. (But never let the
truth get in the way of a good story.)
Exposition:
How do you get this information across
to the reader? Avoid blatant exposition.
Don't have your characters tell things
to each other that they clearly both already
know. People don't talk like that. "As
you know, Bob, we've both belonged to
the wizard guild for ten years now, and
we help protect the city from invaders...."
Be
ready not to tell us everything.
If the name and background of the abbot
of the largest monastery in the city isn't
important to the story, don't tell us,
even if you know it. Every time you give
a detail or a fact, ask yourself whether
it is important.
You
don't have to show us everything. The
reader will fill in the gaps. But be aware
of this -- be aware of the gaps. If readers
are going to fill in the gaps incorrectly,
head them off at the pass. If castles
in your world float in the air, are made
of metal, or have wheels, don't just say
"castle," or the reader will
assume a real-world castle.
Magic
Is magic in your world rare or common?
Powerful or subtle? Good or evil -- or
neither?
You
might not immediately consider the effect
of magic on these areas of your world,
but the presence of magic (or level of
it) can have a great impact on the following:
