A to Z: Jargon

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



Beyond keeping your story straight and characters likable, you've got to know your own Jargon.  If you're writing a story based in the real world, this would fall under doing your research and knowing what you're talking about. If you've made up your own world, well, you should probably also know what you're talking about.

Make sure you keep special words for technology, races, planets, gizmos and magical things straight. They need to be spelled the same, capitalized or not, italicized or not, used correctly by whomever is using them and possibly in a different manner by characters who don't. Write down the rules for the thing-which-you-have-created so that you, as the Creator of Worlds, make sure those things follow those rules and don't become McGuffins, plot holes, or any other point of weakness.

The things that you create should have purpose and meaning to the plot or character. Don't create or use spiffy words for the sake of tossing them around. If you're going to pull in some technical jargon the reader has to Google to follow the story, it better be worthwhile in the grand scope of things.

Have you spent days/weeks/months creating the most detailed galaxy and know everything about all seven plants and their collective fifteen moons, the nearby asteroid belt, and the two stars that keep it all habitable? That's great, but if your story only involves one of those worlds and has a legitimate reason to mention maybe two others but we never go there, we probably don't need the chapter of world building it would take to share all of that. Stick to what is necessary for the story. Adding a little more for flavor is fine, but don't drag down the pace.

 I once created a bunch of spiffy items with rules and special words, only to realize I could get by with two of them for flavor and the rest weren't necessary to the story at all, fun as they were to create and awesome as they might be in my own mind. That epiphany led to a lot of hack and slash editing. As writers we love to create things, but we also must learn when to cut them. (Tune in tomorrow for more on that.)

Today's post breaks down to a simple: Know thy shit and use it wisely.

Have you created something nifty only to cut it later?

A to Z: Introductions

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



Introducing your story to a reader starts at the beginning.  There are four beginnings we're going to touch on today, but we'll start with the obvious: The beginning of the story.

When editing, you want to make sure your story is starting at the actual beginning of the story. This point will depend on your genre and your voice, but generally this isn't where your character is waking up or taking in the picturesque scenery. It's where something is happening.

When writing that first draft, we start where we think the story starts, but that doesn't mean we were correct. Take a good look at the whole story now that its finished and make sure its the closest to that something moment.

The something can seem like a delicate balancing point. I don't mean where someone is suddenly on fire or a car crash / gun fight / bar brawl, but the point where the thing that launches your character into the story happens. Something interesting. It doesn't have to be huge with fireworks and flashing lights, but make it catchy. Make us want to know more about the character, situation, or world around them.

Next up: the beginning of your chapters. If you're switching POV with each chapter, make it clear which head we're in in the opening sentences so we're not floundering. While I enjoy a good mystery, whose head I'm now in isn't one of them. Make it clear if we've jumped to a new setting or advanced a significant amount of time from the previous chapter. And again, we should start with something interesting happening.

Now we're going to get nitpicky, take a look the beginning of your paragraphs. Do three in a row start with the same person's name or word? Time for some rewriting.

Maximum picky level: start looking at the beginning of your sentences. Last week I picked up a book where every sentence in the long opening paragraph began with "He". You would be correct if you guessed that I put that book right back on the shelf. Also watch for starting a sentence with the same word that ended the last one. It's distracting when reading.

Have any story introductions that drove you nuts or a favorite to share?

A to Z: Holes in the plot

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



Nothing ruins a good story like plot Holes.  You're busy writing a scene and thinking ahead to the next and the next after that. Perhaps you're consulting a carefully planned outline, or you're going off a rough idea in your head. Maybe, like I often am, you're pulling words from the ether, wondering where the hell your story is headed. In any of those cases, it's easy to get ahead of yourself and miss resolving or explaining something along the way.

As a certified pantser, my preferred method of combating plot holes is two-fold. I don't have an outline to start with, but after the first draft, it's time to make one. Going through each scene from chapter one to the end and writing down what happens, how it's resolved and the motivations of your characters along the way is a great way to make sure you've filled in those holes before the story moves on to other eyes.

Even then, you've probably still missed a few things.

It's hard to believe that is possible, knowing the story you've spent months/years with like your best friend, but yeah, it happens. Why? Because you've spent too much time with your best story friend to see the flaws.

Step two of the plot hole filling process: shipping your best story friend off to a pair of fresh eyeballs who are bold enough to tell you what is missing. Meaning, probably not your mom or your actual best friend. This is something that would be caught in a developmental edit, but if you're hoping for a publisher, it would be in your favor to catch this stuff before your story goes into submissions or it may never make it into an editor's hands.

What's the biggest plot hole you've discovered either in your own work or a book you've read?

A to Z: Good Guys

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



We covered the bad guys, but what about the Good Guys? And yes, I'm going to acknowledge that we've met our requirement for G and go forward calling them protagonists to save what little sanity I have.

You know your protagonist well. They've been speaking in your head for months/years. You know they're favorite color, that they have a secret craving for salty foods, and prefer comfortable clothes over fashion. But you may not have noticed that they shrug all the time and say half their dialogue with a smile. That they have paragraphs of dialogue lines and everyone else is relegated to three word responses. We seem to know every detail of what they are wearing but everyone else is just a talking head. You may be showing a smidge of favoritism to your protagonist and may need to take a pass or two to spread the love to your other characters.

On the other end of the spectrum, you may know your protagonist so well, that you're not taking the time to share some of those endearing facts with the rest of us. This can make your protagonist hard to like as they ram their way through the plot "because I'm telling you they're super awesome!". We need to be shown what kind of person they are throughout the story, especially in the opening chapters where we should be getting attached to them.

Some things that make a protagonist relatable - a.k.a things you can do to make readers not hate your protagonist (because I don't know about you, but I've read a few books where I'm cheering for the antagonist to win by chapter three).

• Give them a flaw or three
• Let them doubt themselves now and then
• Let them make mistakes
• On occasion, have them say what's on their mind rather than just think what they should say.
• Make sure they are taking an active role in accomplishing their goal rather than relying on others
• Give them one thing they are good at, even if its just being in the wrong place at the wrong time
• Don't be afraid to make them a bit quirky, funny, odd, sad...anything that makes them feel real.

What is your favorite character quirk or thing that you like to know about a protagonist?

A to Z: Check Your Facts

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



Checking your Facts is yet another step of the editing process. Beyond doing research, if your story requires it, I'm talking about making sure one and one equal two all the way through your novel. This pass is best to do after you've had some time away from your piece so you can visit it with fresh eyes.

Six guys walk into the bar, but only five are involved in the brawl you write once they get inside.

Her name is Sara at the beginning of the novel, but Sarah by the end.

It was morning when they left the city. Eight hours have passed on our adventures and now we're sitting down to a tasty lunch and no one is overly hungry.

A space ship attaches to another and attacks. It is defeated. The war goes on. Are we flying around with that thing still attached?

Your character was grievously injured, but in the next scene they are fine. It's a miracle!

Your character sleeps naked. They get up suddenly from bed to deal with a situation, and no one says anything...or maybe you should give them a second to get dressed.

There are a myriad of these little details throughout a story that need to be looked over. Does everyone's hair/skin/eyes remain the same color? Do they magically change clothes during scenes? Did that important thing in the pocket of their coat, suddenly appear in the pocket of their pants when they needed it?

Is your spiffy technology accessed by a hand print on a panel in scene six or scan like in scene twenty-two?

Sometimes (very often) we get engrossed in writing and forget to keep track of these things. Which is why it's important to pay attention to them during your editing passes. Take notes. I have a notebook for just such a purpose while I'm editing, jotting down any names, facts and numbers that seem important as I read so that I can verify them throughout.

Now that you've seen some of my goofs, what's the biggest/funniest thing you've overlooked while writing?

I'd love to visit your blog and see what you're up to with the A to Z Challenge. Please be sure to leave a link with your comment.