Struggling with your memoir?
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Struggling with your memoir?
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I find that a lot of writers get stuck when it comes to the task of writing a scene. All of a sudden they start to question themselves: Where do I begin? Should I describe the interior of the stone cottage? Talk about the dank smell? Maybe start with a line of dialogue? I want to share several of the best ways I’ve discovered for starting out your scenes. Before I get to that, here are a few temptations to avoid:
1. Don’t describe the weather: There’s a reason that “It was a dark and stormy night” has become such a cliché: It’s because it’s not a very good starting sentence. In fact, talking about the weather is often a sign of a writer who doesn’t have anything else to say—much like those who talking about the weather in real life! Of course, there are some exceptions. If you are writing a book about Antarctica or the Bahamas, by all means, mention the weather. But if you bring up the weather, be prepared to really describe the weather. In other words, don’t mention the weather in passing as you go on to describe other things. If you bring up the weather, be prepared to talk about biting cold or blissful warmth or unending rain for at least a paragraph. Mentioning the weather in passing doesn’t add to a reader’s experience of your event. In fact, a reader usually glosses over the weather unless you take at least several sentences to truly make them experience it. 2. Excessive setting details: I have lots of writers who will take qualm with this tip. I’m not saying to never describe the place where your event is about to take place. What I am saying is not to use setting as a fallback because you have nothing else to write about. You don’t have to describe every place in detail in your book just as you don’t have to describe the look, smell and feel of every taxi your narrator gets into. Sometimes a person just gets into a cab. 3. Don’t name everyone in the room: Another trap I see a lot of writers fall into is to start out their scenes with a list of everyone who is present at the beginning of a scene. It’s Thanksgiving dinner and they tell us that they are at the table with their mom and dad, their sister Jenny, their brothers Bob and Jim, their sister-in-law Sara (the one who’s married to Bob), as well as Bob first wife Sally and his second wife Laura. Okay, I went on a little too long there for comedic effect. But I often see writers give long lists of names at the very beginning of their scenes. Instead, mention your characters one at a time as they become important to the scene. Now, let's go over important tips to start your scene: 1. Put us inside your head so we know how you feel. Let’s say your scene is about getting fired. One way to start out your scene is by letting us know how you felt right before that. You might have that first cup of coffee at your desk, thinking to yourself that it is going to be a great day. If it’s the day of your wedding, maybe you’re having doubts. You put on your dress wondering if you’re making the right decision. By putting us inside your head at the beginning of the scene, you also create suspense. Your reader already starts to suspect that something is about to change. 2. Summarize the main event. Every scene needs to contain an event, something that will happen at the end of the scene to give it a reason to exist. A great way of starting out your scene is to mention the main event in your very first sentence. Let’s say that the primary event in your scene is a car accident. If that’s the case, you can start out the scene by bringing up the accident. In other words, you might write something like, “The day I got into a car accident also happened to be Valentine’s Day.” Once you have summarized your main event (you could use anything from a sentence to a paragraph), then go back and start the story of the accident from the chronological beginning. “I was at the drive-in ordering breakfast wondering what James had planned for the day.” By telling them what the scene is going to be about, they’ll then have the patience to hear you out from the very beginning of your story. I hope that helps you better understand how to write your scenes without falling into clichés or overly describing the setting and characters. Happy writing!
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What are the most common mistakes writers make when it comes to their prose? In this video, Wendy Dale talks about traps that tend to "cheapen" your writing as well as how to avoid them. Anytime something that happens in your book, your reader wants to live through that event in the form of a scene. But what if you don’t remember? Your first instinct might be to just leave it out? Here’s why leaving it out might not always be the best option. Take this example. Let’s pretend you wrote this in your story:
That was the day Hakim and I broke up. Two days later, I was feeling better. And a week later, I went for an interview at a new job. *** Wait, you and Hakim broke up? Even if you don’t recall exactly what happened, writing it this way makes your reader feel left out because it was mentioned in passing. It also feels like your story is moving too quickly. Anytime something happens in your book, you need to include a scene. Your scenes allow a reader to be transported, allowing them to become part of the story and forget they're reading a book. But back to the question—what if you don’t remember? The solution is simple, but most people miss out on this because they’re thinking of their scenes in the wrong way. They feel the need to include everything that happened. You don’t need to do this. Instead, the way to “remember” is to cut straight to the main event that gives your scene a reason to exist in the first place. Going back to the example about being broken up with, let’s say it took place at a party. You don’t need to include that you drank too much, ate the worst pizza of your life, overheard two women talking about you, or ran into an old friend from high school. Here’s how to rewrite this and cut straight to the main event. It was at Jessica's party that Hakim decided to break up with me. One minute I was sipping on a margarita. The next I was staring at Hakim dumbfounded, trying to take in what he had just said. I repeated his words back to him, “You're moving to Mauritania? And you don't want a long-distance relationship?” Apparently, along with his new job, he was starting a new life, one that would not include me. *** This wasn’t a long scene. It only took six sentences to have you live through the moment with the narrator. Here’s one more example. My mother came to visit and we got into a huge fight over Soren’s education. Later that week, she called and we reconciled. *** Again, this example isn’t letting the reader live through the story with the narrator. If you don’t recall the details of this moment, go to the main event and create the scene: I had hoped for a peaceful visit with my mother. However, it only took two hours for us to begin fighting. I made the mistake of bragging about Jenna's straight A's which gave my mother the chance to bring up Soren’s education. We hadn't thought much about nursery school. Jim was busy with his new job and I'd been working on a new oil painting of a baby kangaroo trapped in its pouch, which some might have seen as a metaphor for a daughter's relationship with her mother. But my mom was adamant that we start on the application for Norton Preschool as soon as possible before the enrollment period closed. All of her friends had kids who had been there and apparently those kids were now grown up somebodies. From her point of view, it was either Norton Preschool's guaranteed future or life on the streets fishing dinner out of grocery store dumpsters. *** Notice there is no dialogue or description of the furniture in the living room and what anyone is wearing. Instead, there’s plenty of subjective writing, which puts the reader in the narrator’s head and makes the scene more interesting and relevant. To recap, remember these three rules: 1. Anytime you mention an event in your book, include a scene. 2. Scenes are where readers are transported and live through an event with the narrator. 3. Scenes don't have to be long. Sometimes it's better to jump right to the event instead of having a long setup that recounts every little detail. I hope this makes your good writing even better. Happy scene writing! Are you using flashbacks in the wrong way in your book? I see so many writers try to incorporate flashbacks the same way they are used in the movies—as a person remembering a time from their past. However, flashbacks in memoir don’t work this way. Flashbacks are not memories. A flashback is a story from your past that is relevant to the main storyline. In other words, your narrator is not remembering this time. Instead, you are jumping to a previous time period briefly because you have an anecdote from the past that is relevant to the scene you were already in. The most important thing to remember about flashbacks is that they exist to make a point. The flashback makes the same point that you are making in the scene in your main storyline. If you don’t make this point, it will get your structure off track and your reader will wonder why you’re including the flashback in the first place.
Here are two things you need to get into a flashback: 1. Something has to happen in your main storyline. 2. Make a point that is relevant to the flashback and related to what just happened. Does that sound confusing? It won't by the time I'm finished giving you the examples. Here is an example from “Somebody's Daughter,” by Ashley C. Ford. "I rested my forehead against the bus window, careful to avoid the red bar warning that this was an emergency exit. One time on a bus ride before this one, my grandmother told me that if I fell asleep against the bar, I might slip out of the window and into the road before anyone would notice I was gone." **** Let's look at how she gets into the flashback using the two rules I outlined above. This is what happens in her main storyline before she gets into the flashback. “I rested my forehead against the bus window, careful to avoid the red bar warning that this was an emergency exit.” This is the point that relates what just happened to the main storyline: “One time on a bus ride before this one my grandmother told me that if I fell asleep against the bar, I might slip out of the window and into the road before anyone would notice I was gone.” Here is the rest of the flashback: "As she said it, I could see it—my small sleeping body tumbling from the side of the bus falling into traffic, smashed into the road, and all the bus patrons, driver included, continuing toward the Hoosier State, with no sense that a little girl who had just been real and alive beside them, was now dead and gone behind them. I taught myself to sleep lightly, to feel the difference between the window and the bar on my face. As I tried to sleep, now the light vibration of driving down the highway soothing me, I dream of the tea set I'd left behind, and the farm where I could be anything and anywhere I wanted with a little imagination." *** This is another sample from “Where You End And I Begin,” by Leah McLaren. As you read it, think about something happening in your main storyline and then make a point to get us into the flashback. Let me set up the scene just a little bit for you. Leah’s hamster Adrian was just found by her dog in the snow. The sample starts with her mother speaking. “Oh, Leah, I don't think he's going to make it. The best thing to do would be to put him out of his misery.” This is what happens in the main storyline—her mother suggests putting the hamster out of its misery. “What? No!” “Maybe you should call your father.” I'd once watched my dad place an injured sparrow behind the tire of a Celica in reverse. He was gentle with animals, but he'd worked weekends at a funeral home in high school and wasn't squeamish about death. He said it was cruel to let an animal suffer. Adrian was suffering. I could see that. “There must be something we can do.” My mind raced. The highlighted text is the point that the author makes to get us into the flashback because it’s related to what is happening in her main storyline. *** Here is the final example from “Wild,” by Cheryl Strayed. While reading it, see if you can pick out how Strayed gets into the flashback with a point, and what the event is. The doctor shook his head and sadly pressed on. He had a job to do. They could try to ease the pain in her back with radiation he offered. Radiation might reduce the size of the tumors that were growing along the entire length of her spine. I did not cry. I only breathed. Horribly. Intentionally. And then forgot to breathe. I fainted once—furious, age three holding my breath because he didn't want to get out of the bathtub, too young to remember it myself. What did you do? What did you do? I'd asked my mother all through my childhood, making her tell me the story again and again, amazed and delighted by my own impetuous will. She’d held out her hands and watched me turn blue, my mother had always told me. She waited me out until my hands fell into her palms and I took a breath and came back to life. Breathe. “Can I ride my horse?” my mother asked the real doctor. She sat with her hands folded tightly together and her ankles hooked one to the other. *** What happens in the main storyline? I did not cry. I only breathed. Horribly. Intentionally. And then forgot to breathe. What is the point that got us into the flashback? “I fainted once—furious, age three holding my breath because he didn't want to get out of the bathtub.” Strayed’s point is related to that event that is going to set up the flashback. This is what gives her flashback a reason to exist. Here’s a quick tip—make a point at the very beginning of your flashback. Doing it this way will make the flashbacks relevant in your readers’ mind, and they won't ask, “Why is the author telling me this?” Wishing you successful flashback writing! And remember this: Flashbacks are not what your narrator remembers. Worried that your memoir isn't exciting enough? Does your life feel like the kind of story that pretty much everyone has? In this video, Random House author Wendy Dale talks about two ways of ensuring that you're writing an interesting memoir. And as a bonus, she also gives a few tips on writing comedy as well. “Use strong verbs.” If you’ve ever been given this advice, run. Or should I say, “Gallop and flee!” This is the kind of writing suggestion that sounds great at first because it seems like an easy fix. Supposedly, all you have to do is change your verbs to make them stronger and voila, your writing is instantly better. Here’s the truth: too many strong verbs can make your writing feel insincere and hyperbolic. Also, you might unintentionally change the meaning of what you’re writing.
Take the word “walk,” for example. Verbs that could replace “walk” could be slink, saunter, meander. The problem is, slinking is very different from meandering. Someone who slinks across the room is probably a person who isn’t trustworthy, while meandering creates a feeling of being unpreoccupied. So, just replacing a common verb with a stronger one doesn’t always make your writing better. Sometimes it creates a connotation you don’t really want. One of my personal pet peeves is a character who “nibbles” on something. Whenever I read this, I know that the writer was trying to think up a strong verb to replace the word “eat.” However, people who nibble either aren’t very hungry or they are excessively dainty. It’s not the same as just eating. Another thing to keep in mind is that cheap romance novel writers LOVE strong verbs. Apparently they were the ones who really took this advice to heart. Look at all of the strong verbs in this sample from Highland Treasure: “Here now!” Baron Monmouth protested, scurrying to his feet to chase after them as Rory led Alec through the large, as Rory led Alec toward the large keep doors. “What of FitzAlan? I told you he had a complaint he wanted you to look at.” “I had no agreement with FitzAlan,” Rory said, with unconcern, as he yanked the door open and strode out into the biting wind. It felt more like January or February than late November, and he could smell the promise of snow in the air. It seemed winter was coming early this year. “But I paid you a small fortune!” Baron Monmouth charged after him down the stairs. Maybe Rory is very angry and these strong verbs help express that. But to me, it just sounds like the writer is trying too hard. It feels kind of over the top. Strong verbs tend to take me out of the story and make me focus on the words on the page. In the books I really love, I don't notice the writing unless I make a conscious effort to do so. Instead, I am simply transported. Here is a sample from Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, and as you might expect, it's not loaded with strong verbs. He fought the evergreen for a better look, hampered more by his laughter than by the branches. Ruth jumped up as quickly as she could and covered her breast, dropping her son on the floor, and confirming for him what he had begun to suspect—that these were strange and wrong. Before either mother or son could speak, rearrange themselves properly, or even exchange looks, Freddie had run around the house, climbed the porch steps, and was calling them between gulps of laughter. Here is this same sample that is rewritten with strong verbs. See if you can feel the insincerity. He battled the evergreen for a better look, vanquished more by his laughter than by the branches. Ruth leapt up as quickly as she could and shielded her breast, relinquishing her son to the floor, and confirming for him what he had begun to suspect—that these were strange and wrong. Before either mother or son could consult with one another, rearrange themselves properly, or even exchange looks, Freddie had galloped around the house, ascended the porch steps, and was bellowing at them between gulps of laughter. *** I much rather prefer the original version. I hope you feel the difference. May your writing be footloose and strong-verb-free! Hi Guys! Last week I discussed why using emotion words—happy, sad, confused—don’t convey emotion. Today, I cover the bad advice of using bodily sensations like, “my hands were sweating and my heart started pounding,” to express emotion. I think of it as a cheap way to show emotions. Writers often make the mistake of assuming that if their heart is racing, readers will automatically understand their fear. But physical descriptions aren’t an effective way to show emotion. A better way to do this is to put us inside the narrator’s head, like you’re reading their thoughts. Romance novelists love using bodily sensations in their books. Here’s a sample from Highland Treasure: Gasping with relief as she made it off the last step, Elysande collapsed to the cold stone passage, every muscle in her body trembling with exhaustion. Elysande swallowed the bile rising in her throat and nodded grimly. She would walk if it killed her. Cold creeping down the back of her neck, she let her skirt drop and straightened, ears straining. At first there was nothing. While you get a description of Elysande’s physical state, you don’t get any introspection. And as a result, you, as a reader, aren’t affected emotionally.
While romance novelists love using bodily sensations, you’ll find them used very sparingly in the works of respected authors. To help you understand the difference between cheap writing and Nobel-prize-winning prose, first take a look at the following text: There were butterflies in his stomach. He looked around for a mirror so that he could see his own face, yet a twinge of anxiety caused his hands to tremble. His breath was shallow and his nerves were on edge. Finally, he gave up and lay back in bed, his heart pounding. What you just read is the “romance-novel-writing version” of Toni Morrison’s prose. Did it work to affect you emotionally? Here is the original version from the novel Sula, which has no bodily sensations. Instead, Morrison puts us inside the character’s head: Laced and silent in his small bed, he tried to tie the loose cords in his mind. He wanted desperately to see his own face and connect it with the word “private”—the word the nurse (and the others who helped bind him) had called him. “Private,” he thought, was something secret, and he wondered why they looked at him and called him a secret. Still, if his hands behaved as they had done, what might he expect from his face? The fear and longing were too much for him, so he began to think of other things. That is, he let his mind slip into whatever cave mouths of memory it chose. *** Hopefully you feel the difference. Don't you think what Morrison did was so much more effective? I’m not saying to completely get rid of bodily sensations in your writing, but avoid excessive use. There's a limit to how many heart poundings and stomach clenchings your reader can take before your writing falls flat and lacks impact. Instead, put us inside your narrator’s head. Wishing you lots of productive and emotion-filled writing. 🙂 It's so frustrating coming across writing advice that is terrible, tips that will make a person's book worse instead of better. So how do you know what advice is good and what advice to steer away from? Random House author Wendy Dale explains the difference in this video, using comparisons between the prose of Nobel-prize-winning author Toni Morrison and the romance writing of Lynsay Sands. My favorite authors never use a single emotion word—happy, sad, angry, confused—you know the rest. So many writers think that packing their memoir with emotion words is what will get a reader to feel that same emotion. However, this is not actually the case.
Let me show you why with an example. The text that follows is full of emotion words. But how much do you really feel when you’re reading this text? Sample 1: Hope dying in her chest, Claray turned her uninterested gaze to see three men on horseback crossing the drawbridge. Guests arrived late to the wedding, she supposed, unhappily, and shifted her attention toward the chapel. The witnesses to her doom were made mostly of MacNaughton soldiers and a very few members of the Kerr Clan. It seemed most did not wish to be part of their laird's betrayal of his own niece. “The Wolf,” her uncle muttered with what sounded like confusion. Claray glanced sharply back at her uncle to see the perplexed expression on his face. *** Using lots of emotion words is what I like to call “shortcut writing.” This is the kind of writing used in pop thrillers and cheap romance novelists, but it doesn’t work for memoir. In fact, the book I took the previous text from is titled The Highlander Takes a Bride. Take a look at this second example and notice how it feels different to read. Sample 2: Laced and silent in his small bed, he tried to tie the loose cords in his mind. He wanted desperately to see his own face and connect it with the word “private”—the word the nurse (and the others who helped bind him) had called him. “Private,” he thought, was something secret, and he wondered why they looked at him and called him a secret. Still, if his hands behaved as they had done, what might he expect from his face? The fear and longing were too much for him, so he began to think of other things. That is, he let his mind slip into whatever cave mouths of memory it chose. *** In sample two, we get a very different kind of writing, the prose of Nobel-prize-wining author Toni Morrison. Notice how Morrison didn’t use words like sad, happy, joyful, or upset. Granted, there are two emotion words in the paragraph—fear and longing—but they’re used as nouns. These words aren’t shortcut writing because they do not take the place of the character’s thoughts, which is what works to affect a reader emotionally. Good memoir writing makes us feel like we are inside your narrator’s head. When we read your narrator’s thoughts on the page, we can’t help but have an emotional experience. (Quick note: In fiction, you can put us inside the head of your narrator and your characters. In memoir, you only want to do this for the first-person narrator.) So who would you rather sound like? The bestselling author of the Highland Brides romance series or a Nobel-prize-winning author? Wishing you lots of happy writing. 😁 Subjective writing is what transports your reader. But how do you make the writing subjective when telling another person's story? Random House author Wendy Dale gives three tips for accomplishing this effectively in this video. |
AuthorA Random House author offers tips on writing your own memoir. Archives
May 2024
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Memoir Writing for Geniuses.
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