Mimicry Exercise Experiment #1

Today is day 1 of giving the mimicry exercises a go.

I chose Marian Keyes’ Anybody Out There? which is written in first person, past tense. (It’s a great book. I’ll do a book review on it next week.)

Basically, I typed out a page and a half in Word (single spaced) straight from the book. I got a feel for how she interspersed action with telling. The telling was great, by the way. Just a few sentences here or there, nothing drawn out. Enough to let the reader know what was going on and getting us from point A to point B in fast form. BUT there were also these wonderful tiny details. Such as:

At lunchtime I tried to get my nails done, but when I took off the bandages and revealed them to the manicurist she went green and said they were far too short for acrylic ones to be fitted. When I returned with the bad news Lauryn behaved as if I was lying.

The fact that the manicurist turned green and Lauryn behaved as though the character was lying, is great. Those are small details, yet they take those two ‘telling’ recap sentences memorable. They show us about her nails–they really are nasty and not all the way grown out yet (she lost them). It also shows us a bit of Lauryn’s character and what she values. (Lauryn is her boss.)

In past tense telling, I had been fearing the use of ‘was’. Even though the class I just finished on showing and telling with Shannon Donnelly where she demonstrated there is a time and place for telling, I still fear ‘was’ and ‘had’ appearing in my work–in case I overuse them. Strangely, I have also felt as though I am unable to use first person with past tense. (It could just be my story where first person and past tense don’t work together.) However, Keyes does it well and provides an excellent example of it working well. In fact, I can’t imagine this story being in anything but as the reader needs that closeness to the heroine.

So, that is what I learned from Keyes’ pages. The next step was to continue on, imitating her style and voice. It was really cool because it just flowed. Her style. It felt easy. Except for the whole ‘where the heck should the plot go?’. That was hard. What to write? The style was there, ready for me to play with–I was grooving in first person, past tense–but where should I go with it? Ack!

Having a pro ‘guide me’ through the switch ups between action, telling and dialogue was wonderful. Playing with those switch ups is something I am going to practice. (It doesn’t have to be big and scary!)

The other thing that felt good while mimicking Keyes, was allowing that closeness of the heroine’s thoughts and feelings into the story. Bam. Right there on the page. No held punches. And in past tense. I liked it.

Tomorrow, another mimicry. Stay tuned.

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Mimicry Exercises

Something that keeps coming up as a way to strengthen one’s writing voice is mimicry. I resisted the idea for some time, then tried it out. Sort of. I wrote out a page or two of a favourite writer to get a feel for how she was handling things. I discovered all sorts of things I hadn’t picked up as a reader or as a reader reading as a writer looking for clues. It was a valuable exercise. However, I haven’t tried true mimicry. It seems like it would be really, really difficult.

However, the universe seems to have a different idea. It keeps bringing mimicry up. I can’t ignore it any longer. That would just be rude. Plus, a piano could fall from the sky.

Here’s what literary consultant Jeffrey Moores had to say about it during his April 29th AQ chat. He said:

Mimicry is one of the best exercises in writing — read three pages of Alice Sebold, then write one page in Alice Sebold’s voice. Do this daily with a different writer, and see how your prose is affected in the long-run. Don’t try to write blindly. “Feel” others writing and emulate in order to explore.

At the time, I sort of shrugged it off, as yes, I tried typing out a few pages of my favourite chick lit writer, it was good, imitating someone’s style seems too difficult. Take too much time. Lots to do…balh, blah, blah.

Then the universe hit me again. This time through James N. Frey and his book “How to Write a Damn Good Mystery”. Here’s how he sells the exercise:

Every day when you sit down to work, you take a good prose a writer’s work and you copy it. That’s right, you type it out, word for word. Do two or three pages: You will not only get a feeling for how good stylists use words, you will feel the timing and rhythm of their prose and the snap, crackle, pop of their dialogue. Next, write a page or so in imitation of what you’ve just typed. That’s right. If you’ve just typed an outdoor scene with a lot of action, you write an outdoor scene with a lot of action, trying your best to write it in the style of the piece of writing you’ve just copied. After a while you will find you can imitate this style at will; now try another author and another, until you can imitate various styles and voices any time you like…And soon you will find your own distinctive voice.

This week, I’m going to give it a whirl. I’ll keep you posted on what I discover. Want to try it too?

Character Catch Phrases

Okay, I’ve got a new one for you aspiring writers.

What are your characters’ catch phrases? Do they say “ah” a lot when they are nervous? “Damn the asteroids” when they are aggravated and things aren’t going well?

Think of the boss in the movie Office Space. What does he say? “Rrrrriiight. If you could just go ahead and…” Memorable. Grates on the main character, doesn’t it? It has purpose, that catch phrase. It also makes a character identifiable. Who says “Doh!” “Don’t have a cow, man”? Yep, Homer and Bart Simpson, respectively. If you have catch phrases that make your characters distinguishable, there is one more spot in your work where you can skip dialogue tags. Sweet.

Not every character needs to have a catch phrase. In fact, overdoing them can hurt your work and ruin what you are attempting.

For fun, here are a few catch phrases. What images come to mind when you hear these catch phrases? What kind of person says this? What do they look like? Talk like? Dress like? What are their hobbies?

* Bogus!
* Whatever
* Damn the asteroids
* That’s what she said
* God will get you for that
* You got it Pontiac
* Where’s my Prozac?

Tips on choosing and using a catch phrase:
- Don’t overuse it. Even 3 times in 100,000 words can be enough if used appropriately.
- Use it appropriately. In a ‘stellar’ context that makes sense and adds to the scene you are creating. Don’t throw it out there willy-nilly.
- Use it purposefully. Have the catch phrase add to the scene, what’s going on as well as that character and the sense of him/her that you are creating.

In other news, the University of Ottawa says we should avoid catch phrases in our writing unless quoting others as a stale catch phrase can be considered <gasp> cliche. So be careful young grasshoppers or the cliches will getcha.

Repetitious Dialogue Tags

When you write a story, your probably going to need some dialogue tags so your reader knows who is speaking. Yes, I know, voice should make it clear, but there are times when it is necessary to place those tags. So, how do you make them non-intrusive for your reader? How do you make them so they aren’t repetitious? Do you tag action onto them or leave them as ‘he said/she said’?

Good question. It is one of those things that really depends on the genre, author voice and other factors. I won’t get into those minor debates as really it depends on the piece. Here are some ‘rules’ I stand by:

1) Don’t repeat/echo what was said in the dialogue: “This looks great, Nash,” Beth complimented. She had complimented him with ‘looks great’, you don’t need to insult the reader by ‘telling’ them that she is complimenting him.

2) Don’t get repetitious with the whole ‘said’ thing: “Wow,” she said. “Yeah,” he said. “I like it,” she said. “Me too,” he said. You slow down the text in cases where you have too many dialogue tags. Depending on the situation, you may be able to reduce the tags from four to none. If not, then one. You don’t want to lose the reader, at the same time, you don’t want to bore them and slow things down.

3) Switch it up: “Wow”, Beth said. “Yeah.” He nodded. “I like it,” chimed Alice. ”Me too.” Beth walked to the fridge. If you have to use tags as there are many characters in a scene and they can’t be taken out or ignored somehow, mix it up so it doesn’t get boring. Add to the scene. Mix up the ‘said’s, mix up the names and actions.

4) Careful with adding action: “Oh my God!” she screamed and backed herself against the wall. In this case you could argue that the action has been weakened by being tacked onto the dialogue tag. We know because of the exclamation mark, that there is some action happening. Let’s let the reader into the story by removing the dialogue tag. How about: “Oh my god!” She backed against the wall, her face drawn tight. (You are showing more and allowing the reader to interpret emotions, etc and thereby allowing them involvement in the story.)

5) Avoid adverbs: “She ran away with him,” she said quickly. How about: She blurted, “She ran away with him.” (Adverbs weaken. Reminder: adverbs end in ‘ly’ and explain the verb (doing word).)

6) Drop the tags when you can. (Self explanatory and touched on in #2.) Where you can, allow the dialogue to flow without interrupting by stating who is saying what. If it goes on for awhile, make sure you break it up with some action or slide in a reminder on who is who.

7) Don’t get too fancy: “She ran up the hill,” she blurted. “Why’d she do that?” he yelled. “Because she was running from Jack,” she explained. “How come?” he queried. If you have replacements for ‘said’ becareful you don’t have too many in one place as they slow down the reader (saids are so popular because readers can skim ‘said’ without slowing down to think about who is saying what).

Those are some basics that will keep you on the right track. Good luck.

Focus, Focus…Theme!

When I wrote one of my stories, I didn’t know what the theme was while I wrote it. Or rewrote it. Or rewrote it again. It lacked focus and it was incredibly frustrating writing my query letter. What the heck was my story about anyway? I had all these great events, but where did they go and why were they there? What was I trying to illustrate? How come I could get it all to pull together?At some point I kind of figured out my theme, but then I had more rewriting to do to make sure I illustrated it. It was a loooong haul. And I had the wrong theme. Yeah, I know. The things we learn on the journey to writing a cohesive story, right?

And then, bang. I got it. I had been looking at each scene in a new way and how they related to each other and suddenly I knew what my theme was. Everything instantly became clearer. I could focus. I could see where things were flawed, not holding up their part of the bargain, where they were right on. And was my query letter ever easier to write after that!

So, if you are looking for a way to focus a manuscript you are editing, or working on a new story, don’t underestimate the power of knowing your theme to pull everything into focus.

New Year Writing Workout #9: Feeling, Hearing, Seeing

You know, since I lied to you once, I may as well do it again. Isn’t that what exercise instructors are all about anyway? Three more, two more, one more. Andddd ten more, nine more….

I know I promised to let you off after #7. Then I added another yesterday to make a total of 8 exercises to help you whip your writing butt into shape for the new year. Since I’ve been editing and another thing came to mind, I thought, oh heck, may as well throw this one on thee ol’ blog up as well. Why? Because it will make you a better writer, of course. (Not because I am inherently evil.)

This one, is more of a tip than an exercise. What I want you to do is to look through your work, and search for spots where you used the words I felt/she felt/he felt and I hear(d)/she hear(d)/he hear(d) as well as I see/saw, she sees/saw, he sees/saw. (Kind of sounds like a tongue twister, doesn’t it?)

Found one in there somewhere? Here’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to remove the feeling, seeing or hearing word. Why? Because when you pop those words in there, you aren’t allowing the reader to experience the sensation first hand. In fact, you are elbowing them out of the equation by filtering that sense through the character. When a reader is allowed to sense it themselves, it triggers their empathy/sympathy/identification for the situation, bringing them deeper into the story.

Examples:

Before: I felt the rain falling on my face, cooling me off. After: The rain fell on my face, cooling me off. 

Before: She heard a loud thump and jumped as she reached for the door. After: A loud thump caused her to jump. (It helps too, if you make sure the action (thump) comes before the reaction (jump), just like in real life.)

Before: He saw her take out the knife and wield it at him. After: She took out the knife and wieded it at him.

So there you go, a nice easy writing tip that won’t strain your writing muscle one bit. Easy-peasy. Aren’t you glad I didn’t stop at #7?

Enjoy!

New Year Writing Workout #8: My, His, Her, Their

Ha! I lied. I have one more writing exercise for you. I was doing edits yesterday and this HUGE flaw leaped out at me. I couldn’t make myself wait a whole year before sharing it with you guys. So put on your warm-ups, it’s action time!

Whether you’re writing first person, third person or whatever, sometimes it’s easy to slip a few extra possessives in there. In my first person stories, I noticed that I use ‘my’ a lot. As in: I went into my kitchen and got out my pots and pans to make my Killer Brownies. Yeah, Stop the bus on that one. With a little rearranging, we can make it stronger. Sometimes, you need the odd ‘my’ in there. For example, say this was the beginning of a new scene. We might want one ‘my’ in there to demonstrate that this is her house. You know set the scene for the reader and all that good stuff. However, those three mys in one sentence are killer.

After edits: I wandered into the kitchen and slowly brought out my pots and pans. It was Killer Brownie time. There are many different ways to rearrange to eliminate the ‘mys’ as you can see above. Play around and see what works for your story and your voice and what you want to achieve in your scene.

What about ‘his’, ‘her’ or ‘their’? Same thing. She went into her kitchen and got out her pots and pans… Blah. Fix it up! She stormed into the kitchen and began slinging pots and pans…etc.

Now that you know what to watch for, see if you fall victim. Some places, you can’t get around those possessives, but in some places you can eliminate the excess. Go forth and eliminate, it’s always reduction time.

Enjoy!

New Year Writing Workout #7: Comparison

Okay, last writing workout and then I’ll let you off the hook until next January. Maybe. No promises as I may circle around to check up on you. If you haven’t kept your writing butt in shape, I may be forced to post more exercises.

Moving on…comparison. Similes. Metaphors. Analogies. They all have a place in writing.

To quote Noah Lukeman (my hero) from his book The First Five Pages, “Comparison is one of the few devices that really put a writer’s skill in the spotlight because it offers the most room for a writer to “turn it on”, to indulge the limits of his creative expression.” A picture is worth a thousand words and at times, you want that reader to see exactly what you or the character sees. Paint that picture. Lukeman claims that “the proper use of comparison will enable you to cut a tremendous amount of description (which inevitably slows the book down). It will save you literally pages of work and make for a much tighter read.”

Have I sold you on the idea yet?

Some things to watch out for when you are placing comparisons in your work: too many comparisons or not enough (about one every two to three hundred words or so is probably okay); bad, cliche or overused/common comparisons (although they could have a place depending upon your work); comparisons that are not specific (make distinctions in your comparisons to aid in the picture you are painting–such as what type of tree or what type of bug?); using the wrong word or an imprecise word in your comparison.

Here’s an exercise borrowed from Noah Lukeman. Pick an item from the room you’re in and come up with five similes and five metaphors for that item. Examples: The fig tree looked like a man reaching out to grab the passerby. (Simile) The fig tree was leafless, like a stake in the ground. (Metaphor) If you want more exercises on this, check out his book, it’s great.

To add to the feel and tone of your work, you can ensure that your comparisons echo the theme of your book. For example, if one of the themes is death, your comparisons can echo that. (Just don’t over do it.)

Enjoy!