Month: August 2012

Finding Characters

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Characters in novels are not usually boring. However, if you are writing your first novel you might find yours to be dull. I’ve been writing for a while now and realize believable and lively characters are key for a good book, no matter what the story is about.

The idea from this post came from a conversation my wife and I had with a neighbor. She and her daughter invited us to their house for a party. We’re new to the neighborhood and some people have been here for forty plus years. Our neighbor who is throwing the party said she invites every one every year. She told us that she invites a neighbor four doors down from her and each year he says “you cut down my trees”, then shuts the door.

You see, she lives in a row of houses built sixteen years ago and they mowed down his view of the forest to do it. That got me thinking, he could be a great neighbor in a story.

Here are ten places you might find characters. Although don’t be too odd and stare at the poor person forever. It might be a comment or a brief interaction, but characters are everywhere. Obviously, tread lightly when doing this and never use a character to insult someone. We all have our subtleties of personality that could propel a story.

  1. Family
  2. Friends
  3. Work
  4. Supermarket
  5. Gas Station
  6. Restaurant
  7. Neighborhood
  8. Church
  9. Books
  10. Movies/Television

If you are struggling to find the right character, pay attention to them in your daily life and the media you consume. I am sure they will pop up somewhere.

Cheers,

Bob

My Grandma Evenhouse

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized4 Comments

The prompt for this week at Julia’s place is titled Legacy. It does not have to contain the word, but needs to be about the theme of legacy. Below you will find mine. I dedicate it to my Grandma Evenhouse.

My grandmother passed nearly two years ago. Even at the end she remained very sharp and waited until my brother flew in from Florida to depart this world.

I write this because she always encouraged me in my writing. Every time I saw her she asked me how things were. One Christmas she gave me a little notebook because she said I reminded her of my grandfather who had passed a few years before.

If she were here now I would introduce her to my daughter Clara and proudly tell her they share the same middle name: Mae.

Cheers,

Bob

There Are No Rules

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing Tips4 Comments

Every workplace and country has laws or rules to help maintain organization and create clear paths that dictate how the societies or companies run. This produces efficiency. With a novel however, there are no such laws. I’ve done some research. And I’m proud to break some molds for you, if there were any.

As you construct your novel, I suggest you write what you wish to write and adhere to the three simple rules listed by W. Somerset Maugham below:

 There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are -W. Somerset Maugham

What do I mean by this? Certainly I am not saying to merely write as you please? Yes I am. And does this mean I am suggesting you disobey all grammatical rules? No, I am not.

Novels have always been about voice. What do I mean by that? Simply think of your favorite books or writers. Are they your favorite because of the topic they write about or what the novel entails? Sure. Are they also your favorite because of the style they employ? Most certainly. Charles Dickens still appeals to millions for that reason.

So what are some of the rules you may destroy? Let me list my three rules to dispose or employ at your will, but not without some reflection.

Exclamation points – Have at them! Some writers or experts might shun them and say they are childish and don’t belong in a professional manuscript. A work containing such nonsense could not possibly be considered literature. Really? Again, think about Dickens and in particular Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. She exclaimed all of the time. Albeit if all of the characters needed exclamation points it would be horrible. So, yes you can use them. Why? because Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling, Dickens, Bradbury, etc, do. Just be careful you don’t overuse them. Be sure they are there because they must be. Meaning, they fit the character, the scene, the point of the story.  In the end it is the publisher’s formatting you have to adhere to, not some pretend writer with a blog or hack literary novelist.

Adverbs – WHAT! Yes. Calm down, calm down. I didn’t insult the literary masters of the past. Did you read the quote above? Seriously (pun intended). There are times when I am supremely annoyed when reading a book where every piece of dialogue ends with sardonically, seriously, intentionally, hurriedly. There are ways to omit adverbs. But think about it. How many novels have you read where the character said something charismatically? I believe (and don’t take my word for it, pull some books off of the shelf and see for yourself, they’re in there) that as wordsmiths, they are okay to use. Sort of like the note above regarding exclamation points – moderation is best. You are welcome to use them. Is there an uncanny way of utilizing this rudimentary tool of vocabulary? No, there is not.

Qualifiers – These little devils are often overused. Here are the most common qualifiers in English (though some of these words have other functions as well): very, quite, rather, somewhat, more, most, less, least, too, so, just, enough, indeed, still, almost, fairly, really, pretty, even, a bit, a little, a (whole) lot, a good deal, a great deal, kind of, sort of. Most of these need to be removed in your manuscript, however there are times when they can provide clarity when multiple characters are involved in conversation. Again, these are everywhere in literature, so if used please be sure to do so in moderation.

Obviously I am a novice writer so I am sure there might be cries and objections in the comment section below. However, I would recommend that before you take a rule to heart from a so called authority or critic, go to the text. Review your favorite novels and novelists and see if and how they employ these devices. Survey works in the particular genre you are writing and see how they are used in today’s novels. Does the rule still apply?

Write well and write free my friends.

Cheers,

Bob

Why You Should Always Promote Your Work

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing TipsLeave a comment

When I started writing I didn’t like to talk about what I was working on. I was shy because I wasn’t even sure what I was writing exactly, as my story was still taking form. I was hesitant to share my work because when you tell people you like to write in your free time, questions get asked – and I fumbled for answers. I hated sounding uninformed about my own work, especially if I were talking with someone who has writing credentials because I would always get a look that meant they thought I wasn’t serious about writing.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I find it hard to pigeon hole my work. Everyone has an opinion and the novice writer can be one negative comment away from scrapping their work altogether, even if it is good.

But, after stating all of the above, I submit to you to become an expert in promoting your work. How? See below.

  1. Talk about it with your family, friends, and co-workers. This helps you refine your elevator pitch. That way if someone important in the writing community asks you, you are prepared.
  2. Write a synopsis or two or a hundred. I once shared my book idea with a friend at work and a co-worker overheard and ask, “Oh, what movie is that?” That made me smile.
  3. Think about your target audience. Maybe even pitch it to a family member who might fit this demographic.
  4. Develop a one minute presentation about your work.

Now there are ways this can be done, with respect for people’s time and space. There are also ways to do this to annoy the heck out of people, see here. Be sure to know the line and only offer the information if asked.

Why? What is so important about doing this? Because in the normal humdrum of life, you never know who you could strike up a random conversation with while on the bus, plane, work meeting, dinner, etc. They could be a regular Joe like you and me.

Or, they could be an agent looking for a book like yours.

Cheers,

Bob

On By Robert EvenhouseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Here is a post by my friend Josh. It might be a bit shameless to reblog it because he referenced me, but this is something I struggled with for quite some time. There were parts of my book (and still are more) that I needed to kill. I liked them, slaved over them, but they were like a stray note in an orchestra. They just had to be weeded out. I think this is what Hemingway was talking about when he talked about a brave and true story.
Cheers,
Bob

joshmosey's avatarJosh Mosey

Twice this week, and for the first time ever, I have run across the phrase “kill your darlings”. Apparently, this is a common phrase in the writing world and I show my ignorance by not knowing it.

The first time I heard it, I was writing with my buddy Bob and trying to bend this week’s 100 word story to my will, but I couldn’t get it to work. I knew the story that I wanted to tell, but I was having trouble fitting it into the allotted word count. I asked Bob for help and told him that I needed more words to achieve the effect that I wanted.

“What about changing your first sentence?” he asked. “It’s pretty wordy.”

“But I like my first sentence,” I said.

“Kill your darlings, Josh,” he said.

In the end, I rewrote pretty much the whole thing.

And then this morning, I…

View original post 106 more words

Short Story from Julia’s Place “Would Seven Prove To Be Too Much”

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized5 Comments

I put a post about this word challenge on my blog last week without much of an introduction. This post is an entry in a writing contest at Julia’s Place called the 100 word challenge. It is a wonderful way to hone your skills, be choosey in your word selection, and try to be compelling in a brief amount of space. It’s sort of like tweeting a story or a writing sprint.

Titled: Don’t Be Like This Guy

Dirk put the phone down wondering if he was jeopardizing his chances of landing an agent.

He’d been calling all day asking for Mrs. Swenson of Swenson Agency Limited. However, she did not return his calls nor did Veronica her assistant.  He wondered if Veronica was actually taking his messages because he could hear her drumming her fingers along the desk, especially after the sixth call.

But this is what being an author is about, right? You have to do this to get published, don’t you?

So, Dirk pick up the phone, breathed a heavy sigh, and dialed again wondering, would seven prove to be too much?

Write today!

Cheers,

Bob

My Meeting with an Agent

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized10 Comments

Last week I said I had something important coming up this week. It was yesterday, my meeting with agent Ann Byle of Credo Communications. 

That was a day that I had been waiting for my entire writing career: The opportunity to talk with some one professionally about my novel. It was more encouraging that I could have imagined.

My novel is high adventure fantasy and I was not sure how that would be received as their publishing house is not known for that genre. However, after talking with her she asked for chapters and said she’d read them.

I don’t know where this will go. But I am thrilled to get this chance and will keep you all informed. As our meeting came to an end I asked Ann what I should be doing to promote myself now. Here are five things she recommended I do:

  1. Get a website
  2. Join a Fantasy Writers of America group or something similar
  3. Outline all seven books of my series so I could pitch the series to a publisher
  4. Think about endorsers and who I would want them to be
  5. develop a marketing plan

Now, a lot of these items are not exactly the most fun things to do. Writers write, don’t they? Yes, but successful ones promote, advertise, and otherwise market themselves and their book.

The writing part is not over, but I am beginning to think that getting a book published is 1/3 writing and 2/3 marketing, promoting, and speaking.

Keep writing.

Cheers,

Bob

 

Get Serious About Your Work, Writer

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing Tips6 Comments

Today is Monday, the start of a new week that will be filled with success and failure. The key for the part-time writer is to find, well, time.

There are many distractions that can stop you from reaching your writing goals, or any goal for the matter. There are places where you will want and need to give time: family, friends, and work (maybe not!). There are optional activities that will require time eventually: Laundry, dusting, cleaning out the garage, power washing the house or car. And finally there are those things that suck us into the whirlpool of time wasted: television, internet, movies, and other mindless (but tremendously fun) entertainment.

Stop here. I am not trying to be a motivational speaker, but perhaps I am being one now. There are many times I have to remind myself what I am. There are days when I have to seek out a hour to write, whether that is in the morning at 5:30am or at night from 12am until 1am.

I write this not to make you or I feel guilty but to focus on the task at hand. Time is irrevocable. Once spent, there is no getting it back. While Mr. Phelps’s or Mr. Bolt’s Olympic events will be tremendously entertaining, I am positive that they did not get to where they are now by watching the latest episode of _____ every night.

So today, take television, sleep, and even reading off the mantle. Take writing, if it is your dream, and put it in its proper place.

Write sometime this week.

Cheers,

Bob

A Helpful Writing Contest

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing contest2 Comments

Yesterday I posted my 100 word challenge. It comes from the site Julia’s Place (here) and I’d like to mention it to my readers. I believe her contests are tremendously helpful for the writer trying to hone their skill and if you are a writer trying to reach the next level of the craft, sign up and try next week’s prompt.

The 100 word challenge makes you be selective and confines your writing, forcing you to exercise your writing muscles. The premise is, you are given a few words and they need to be included in the 100 words you write. Then follow the instructions to post your link on her site.

See yesterday’s post for an example.

Special thanks to Josh Mosey for bringing them to my attention.

I apologize for the short post, but I have something I am working on.

I will inform you all next week.

Keep Writing – 1000 words this weekend? You can do it!

Cheers,

Bob