Category Archives: Writing skills and techniques

Currently writing, NaNoWriMo, Novel progress, Writing skills and techniques

Creating visual imagery

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I’ve been working hard on my novel this past month as part of NaNoWriMo and making great progress. I am at a stage in my novel where my characters are about to enter a labyrinth so I spent most of yesterday sketching a labyrinth on a piece of paper to help me better visualise how my characters will proceed through the labyrinth in my story. I’ve found many times in the past when writing stories I like to sketch elements of my story to help me get a good visual image in solid form. In the past I’ve sketched the layout of the houses in a street, creatures appearing in a story and characters. I nearly always sketch characters for my story, I find it helps inspire me when describing them, because sketching them first allows me to consider all aspects of their physical appearance. As for things like street layouts and labyrinths, I’ve found it helps me keep all the details consistent when I am writing a story.

I don’t know if any other writers out there are inclined to do the same thing, or something similar, but it is just a little something I do to really immerse myself in the story I am writing. I remember when I was younger and I wrote stories I would actually dress my Barbie dolls up as my characters so I could give my characters physical form. I’ve also used the Sims video game to give physical form to my characters too.

In regards to using visual imagery in my current novel, ywriter (the program I’ve been using to set out my story) has a great little feature that allows you to include images in your character bios, location descriptions and even with your scenes. This feature really appealed to me and I have been using it to its full extent. I’ve had a lot of fun googling images I think suit the various locations/characters/scenes in my novel so I can put them into ywriter.

I guess I should stop procrastinating now and get back to my novel… back into the labyrinth I go 😉

Currently reading, Writing skills and techniques

Foreshadowing

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I am currently reading Dan Brown’s latest novel, The Lost Symbol, and this book, along with a recent review I received for one of my online stories, made me really think about the significance of foreshadowing in great novels (particularly of the mystery genre). I’ve always admired writers who can seamlessly include foreshadowing in their stories so that the reader doesn’t even realise the significance until the end when all is revealed. I think I’ve read too many of Dan Brown’s earlier works though and I was looking out for ‘foreshadowings’ from the very first page. I have my predictions on how the novel will end, but I’m still hoping I will be surprised and that I have read the signs all wrong.

That’s the great thing about foreshadowing, when used well the reader won’t even realise the significance and the ending comes as a complete surprise, but then on second reading the reader can pick out those little foreshadowings and realise the answer was there the entire time. J.K. Rowling is another author who I think used this device well in her Harry Potter series of books. A simple example of this is in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry and the Weasleys have a run in with Lucius Malfoy at the beginning of the book, which turns out to be quite significant in regards to the ending. Not only does she use this device within each individual book, she also uses it extremely well in regards to the series overall. Who would have thought that the diary in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets would resurface four books later and contribute to an even more significant part of the plot of the series?

Another device, which tends to go hand-in-hand with foreshadowing, is the infamous red herring. Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling also tend to use these in their writing. A well placed red herring will throw a reader off the scent of the real villain/solution, thus creating that surprise ending that the reader never saw coming.

I saw a spoof of the Harry Potter series recently, which blatantly played on J.K. Rowling’s use of foreshadowing in the series. The Snape character was questioning students on what a Horcrux was (which Hermione answered, of course) and then Snape followed up this question by asking what foreshadowing meant (again answered accurately by Hermione). It was really this little scene that got me thinking about J.K. Rowling’s use of foreshadowing in Harry Potter, and also how other authors are able to use it effectively. As a result of my reflections on foreshadowing I decided to write a short piece incorporating this device to test my writing skills. I posted my piece on an online writing site and was pleased to note that my reviewers were all quite surprised at the end of the piece and had never suspected the subtly placed *item* at the beginning of the piece.

I will be adding a new section to my blog today for short stories and I will be including this piece for you to judge for yourselves (as well as the review that really got me thinking). Of course, having been forewarned will most likely have you searching for the foreshadowing in much the same way I have been dissecting The Lost Symbol for foreshadowings as I read it. Perhaps I will still surprise you.

Edit: You can now check out my page on ‘Short Stories’, including a sub-page with my short story An Ordinary Day.

Writing skills and techniques

A Strong Beginning

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Today I was discussing beginnings on a writers’ forum and I mentioned that I believed the basis of a strong beginning to any story is the ‘hook’. A strong beginning draws your readers into the story and makes them want to continue reading. How the beginning is structured depends a lot on what sort of story you are writing and the genre of the story. Some stories are effective when they start at the end and then go back to the beginning to explain how the characters got to that point. This can be effective as the reader wants to know how the characters ended up there. Some beginnings launch straight into the action so that the reader is thrown right into the middle of the story right from the first few words. Some authors (myself included) use a descriptive passage to start their stories to set the scene or to introduce their main character.

However it is written, the most important part is finding that hook. How are you going to get the readers to want to keep reading? Here are a few of my beginnings where I have tried to hook the reader and the various methods I used:

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Starting at the end

I would never have believed when I woke up yesterday morning that I would be dead only twenty-four hours later.

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Setting up the characters and story

Lleyton waited in his bedroom.

“She’ll be here any second,” he thought to himself.

Lleyton ran his hand through his sleek blonde hair and turned his eyes towards the closed door, willing it to open. He started to become anxious; worried that she would not come at all.

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Introducing the main character

The door creaked open slowly. A man with an unkept appearance and a gnarled face entered the room, his back hunched over as he pushed a bucket and mop in front of him. He sloshed the mop about in the soapy water and proceeded to wet the floor in an even sweeping motion.

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Reflection (of thought)

Peter studied his reflection in the tall, ebony framed mirror. He straightened his black bow tie and smoothed his plain black dinner jacket. He attempted to flatten his dark hair where it stubbornly stood up at the back, but it simply refused to lie flat.

As Peter studied his image reflected in the mirrored glass, he couldn’t help but remember how often he had been compared to his father, Vincent. Peter was the spitting image of his father, everyone had always said so. Peter sighed regretfully. He would give anything for his father to be with him right now, to have him by his side as he celebrated his special day.

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Setting the time period

It had been seven months since the war ended. The few Black Spider Militants that were still roaming free had gone underground. We had honoured the dead and spent months rebuilding our homes and the surrounding areas, which had been destroyed as a result of Manello’s reign of terror and the fighting that had taken place.

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Setting the scene

The dining room denoted wealth. Heavy velvet drapes were drawn over tall narrow windows. Silver and gold plates and goblets adorned antique cabinets. A maid busied herself stoking the large open fire in the corner before disappearing silently out of sight, as though she had never been there. Three young women sat erect at the mahogany dining table, the chandelier that hung from the ceiling casting a dull light upon them.

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Creating an atmosphere

A cruel wind whipped violently against the stone walls of the castle. The grey sky carried a sense of foreboding. A lone figure fought against the elements to gain entry through the wooden front doors of Pickerton House.
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Straight into the action

“Take that!”
Penny Wentworth felt the pain consume her entire body. Her shrill scream echoed around the stone dungeon.
Caroline Fey released the lever and looked down upon the defeated form of Penny with a contemptuous sneer.
“Well girly, you’re not so cocky now are you?” she taunted.

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