Tag: Jack Smith

The Expository Opening to Novels

Writing Tips

Guest Post by Jack SmithWrite and Revise for Publication

A strong opening to a novel is, of course, important.  If the opening is boring or off-putting in any way, the reader is likely not to read on.  It is true that some readers will be patient and hope things pick up, but naturally you can’t count on that.   There are four basic opening types in fiction: exposition (I mean by this expository prose), description, narrative summary, and narrative scene.  They are all used by published writers, and one isn’t better or worse than the others.  What’s important is deciding which works best in your novel.

Exposition, as a rhetorical mode, means explanation.  Writers are sometimes steered away from an expository opening for fear of mere telling. Who wants to read a long, boring presentation (or telling) of background information setting up the story?  Readers want to get directly involved in the conflict; they want to be pulled in.   But don’t fear the expository mode—instead, work it to your advantage. Continue reading

Your Novel’s Language: How Can You Beat the Blah?

Writing Tips

Guest Post by Jack SmithWrite and Revise for Publication

You have an interesting and compelling premise for your novel.  Your logline is snappy and fetching.  Your characters are complex with complex relationships between them.  Your plot is lock-step, every thread tied up.  Your setting is interesting.

Yet the writing itself isn’t working—it seems drab.  A sample of ten to fifty pages will most likely not get past the agent or editor.  Great idea, but needs considerable work.  Give this thing some flair.

And so now is the time to do some major fine-tuning on the language itself.

What can you do?  There are probably fifty things, but consider two general areas:Continue reading

Setting: Context & Picture

Writing Tips

Guest Post by Jack SmithWrite and Revise for Publication

When we think of a novel, we think of a story.  We think of characters moving through time, growing due to conflict, coming ultimately to some sort of realization, undergoing some sort of change—maturing in some way.  We think of plot.  We think of theme.

We also think of setting.  One thing that makes some novels memorable is a richly developed sense of setting.

A novel must have some sort of setting, or physical environs, where characters move and have their being.  Two questions come up.  1.) How important is setting in a given novel? 2) How do you go about creating setting?  The second question is related to the first because in some novels, if setting is not a major force, you shouldn’t do very much at all.  But if setting is really important, and if it’s important to create strong visual pictures of place, you have a choice of depicting it with a few brush strokes or really describing it in vivid detail.  Continue reading

Fine-Tuning a Manuscript–Comma Usage

Writing Tips

Guest Post by Jack SmithWrite and Revise for Publication

In fiction what is “correct” is what works—what creates strong characters, drives the story, and creates the appropriate tone.  This applies to grammar and mechanics as well.  I’ll have to admit, I do tend to be a bit schoolmarmy about the conventions of grammar and mechanics, but I also recognize when it’s important to depart from the standard handbook.  A bullet train of comma splices might be desirable if you’re attempting to capture run-on thought.   No punctuation at all might also be.  When I’m editing my own work, as well as the work of others in my role as Fiction Editor for The Green Hills Literary Lantern, I tend to notice the following kinds of grammatical issues: subject-verb agreement, pronoun reference, misplaced modifiers, and, of course, matters of punctuation, which includes commas, semi-colons, colons, apostrophes, parenthesis—and more.

I’ll limit my comments here to commas.  According to strict handbook rules and conventions, where should you use commas?Continue reading

Developing Thematic Ideas in Your Fiction

Writing Tips

Guest Post by Jack SmithWrite and Revise for Publication

I tend to like fiction that can be read on several different levels.  It’s not just a good story; it also points to abstract ideas of various kinds—to themes beyond the literal level of character and plot.  Perhaps it suggests something about the nature of evil, about personal identity, or about the nature of freedom.   How heavy should the machinery of idea be?  Naturally, this depends on what your purpose is and who your audience is.  I won’t take that question on here, but I will say that there are several thematic techniques that can work seamlessly with story.  You don’t have to trowel on ideas like icing on the cake.

What are these techniques?  I’ll deal with three.Continue reading

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