You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat others when there is an imbalance of power. A person in a service job often has very little power because he or she is constrained by the fear of punishment from the employer. The customer, on the other hand, has no such fear and some interesting dynamics come into play.

A good writing technique to show a character’s true colors is to put him or her in a situation where the balance of power is tipped in his or her favor. How does the stay-at-home mom treat the cleaning lady when she wins a free week of maid service? Does she treat the maid like a queen or is she a royal pain? What about the salesman that buys his client a $500 bottle of wine? Does he give the waiter a generous tip or leave a snarky note instead?

Even if you only do this as a thought project, giving your characters power is an excellent way to get to know them.

What is setting credibility? It is credibility derived from accuracy. Let’s say you are writing a story that is set in New York City. It’s our detective story. In the second chapter, you have the detective walk about the World Trade Center. Unless you’ve set the time of the story before 9/11, you’ve just described buildings that no longer exist. Not only is it bad taste, but the inaccuracy has shot a hole in the credibility of your story. So, how do you avoid this problem?

Many writers will only go with settings that they know. This approach has its benefit in the fact that your inherent knowledge of the area means mistakes should be easily avoided. There is, of course, a secondary benefit in that you really don’t have to do much research on the setting since you already know it. For us lazy writers [we know who we are!], this cannot be understated!

Get more help figuring out the setting of your book with this Elements of Fiction Writing workbook. Click to buy from Amazon.

What about settings you don’t know? What if you’ve never been to New York City, but are ready to write the greatest detective novel ever? The simplest answer is to go to New York and spend a few months there to get familiar with your setting. The problem, of course, is few of us have the money or time to do this. Being a writer may be touted as glamorous, but it hardly pays well unless you are a big name.

This makes research the best approach for the majority of us. There are obviously many different ways to do research. The Internet is a great tool, but just make sure the information you have is both timely and accurate. Another great tool is, believe it or not, to rent travel documentaries on the location. You can get them through Netflix or your service of choice. Again, make sure you know when the film was shot.

To add extra credibility to your setting, try research unique characteristics about specific locations in your setting. Let’s say an important part of your story takes place in a hotel. Try to pull up pictures of the hotel online by searching the “images” function of any search engine and order brochures from the hotel. Once you have all the information, note as many unique, small details as you can about the hotel. Now write them into your story. Readers will note those details and your story will become far more credible. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

The setting of your story is incredibly important. Collecting the details surrounding it is not always the most glamorous task, but it is a critical one. Get it right and your story will benefit.

About the Author

Thomas Ajava writes for NomadJournals.com – your source for writing journals you can keep notes and diaries in.

[Thumbnail image courtesy of Public Domain Pictures]

After stumbling around without a consistent technique early on like most novice writers, I eventually developed a method of writing that has never failed me. It’s made my creative life easier, less stressful, and kept writer’s block completely at bay. Of course, every writer has a different creative approach, but once I developed this particular process, my writing experience became so much more fun and exhilarating. I should state that most of my writing is non-fiction (instruction and text books with a lot of interviews) although I’ve used the method for fictional writing like scripts and screenplays as well. The method also works well for other creative endeavors that I do, like writing music, and audio and video editing. So here’s the method that works for me.

Perfection Not Required

First of all, I believe that the biggest problem for a writer (or any kind of creator for that matter) is trying to be too perfect too soon. It’s human nature to want the very first things out of your mind to be stellar, but creating generally doesn’t work that way, at least not for me. Creating with my method is a multi-step process, requiring enough time to adequately undertake each step. There are no short-cuts, but that’s also what makes it so liberating. There is no need to be perfect, and therefore you don’t expect it right away. The day I realized that I didn’t have to write something close to the final product when I first sat down was the best day of my creative life. The pressure was off and the creative juices flowed from that point on!

So if you don’t expect a document worthy of a Pulitzer right off the bat, just when do you expect it? In my method, I need at least 3 completely separate passes, preferably on different days, on any particular piece of work. The portion that I work on is manageable, which means essay, article or chapter length.

Brain Dump

On the first day, I write strictly stream of consciousness, not worrying too much about punctuation, spelling, formatting, extraneous details, or precision of the idea. All I’m interested in is getting as much of that idea (or ideas) down as I can. If I can’t think of a word or phrase, I’ll just mark it with an “xxx” so I can come back later and search for the perfect fit at that time. If there’s research material that has to be inserted, I spend as much time getting it in the document as I can at this point (which may get quite tedious), because the whole idea is to just get as much down on the page as possible regardless of the form. As a friend of mine so eloquently puts it, I “talk to the page”. Over the years, I’ve actually gotten better at making this first pass a readable document, but I still wouldn’t dream of showing it to anyone in it’s first-day manifestation.

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By the way, I don’t consider this first pass complete until it covers the entire article, essay or chapter, so this pass might take several writing sessions over the course of several days, although I try to finish it the first time I work on it.

Refinement

The second pass (almost always on a completely separate day) is for document refinement. This is where the ideas, formatting, spelling and punctuation are all put in place. This pass usually requires a fair amount of rewriting, since the stream of consciousness writing of the Brain Dump can be just words around a seed of an idea. Now the seed has to flower, so much of the creative work happens here as the ideas are expanded into something interesting and readable. There’s usually also a fair amount of cutting and pasting as compatible ideas are grouped together to tell the story.

Polishing

The third pass (also on a separate day) is for polishing. Usually I find myself adding descriptive adjectives, turning a phrase differently, making everything as understandable as possible, and providing the piece with a hard ending. Sometimes I also find myself completing a task that I procrastinate on, which is writing the intro to either the article or a chapter. I personally find writing intros difficult, but I’ve discovered that if I leave it to the end they sometimes (but not always) write themselves, perhaps pushed along by the now completely formulated idea in the rest of the piece.

Fine-Tuning

If the third pass requires a rewrite due to inclusion of new information or addition of an intro, I’ll probably take a 4rth pass as well, and rarely maybe a 5th, but by this point the changes are very small (a word here, a phrase there). Although it’s possible to fine-tune endlessly, I usually declare the piece complete at this point and await any corrections from an editor.

As I stated earlier, this method has done me well and has completely eliminated any pressure from writing, provided I have enough time. I’ve also found that I write best and stay the most focused in the morning. My writing is a little on the foggy side at night, so unless I’m under the gun, I try to make sure that I complete what I intended before the day gets long.

Maybe this 3 day method of brain dump, refinement and polishing won’t be your cup of tea and that’s okay, since everyone eventually discovers their own best way of writing. Regardless of the method you find works best, as long as you remember that perfection only comes with time and work and is not a product of your first pass, you’ll be way ahead of most other writers and on your way to doing your best work.

About the Author

A long-time veteran of the music industry, Bobby Owsinski has produced and composed for records, motion pictures and television shows along the way. Currently a principle in the DVD production house Surround Associates and content creator 2B Media, Bobby has also penned hundreds of articles for many popular industry trade publications and has authored several books that are now staples in recording programs in colleges around the world including “The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook”, “The Recording Engineer’s Handbook”, “The Audio Mastering Handbook”, “The Drum Recording Handbook”, “How To Make Your Band Sound Great” and “The Studio Musicians Handbook”. His next book, “Music 3.0 – A Survival Guide For The New Music Industry” is due out in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

A frequent moderator, panelist and program producer of a variety of industry conferences, Bobby has served as the longtime producer of the annual Surround Music Awards, and is one of the executive producers for the “Guitar Universe” and “Desert Island Music” television programs.

Visit Bobby’s Blog at http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/ and his website at http://bobbyowsinski.com

Well, a scene is a discreet and specific part of a story. It has a beginning, middle, and an end. It takes place in a finite period of time. Generally there is one or more characters present. And, something happens in the scene. It is helpful to think cinematically if you are having any trouble with this definition. Think about movies and stories you have really liked and told your friends about. “Hey, remember that scene in Jaws where the head falls out of the submerged boat… Remember that scene in the Lord of the Rings (the book), where Golum bites Frodo’s finger off…” A good scene is memorable.

So, how do we get in trouble with scenes?

Jack Bickham shows you how to make your scenes hard hitting to keep readers reading. Click image to buyon Amazon.com.

First, I think that when we do not have a clear idea of what the scene is about, it is difficult to write it. In other words, if you are humming along with a clear idea of what a scene is really about, it is probably not that hard to write it. Sure, you may debate how to best write it, but you probably can get it down. So, the first step in writing a troublesome scene is to figure out what the scene is really about – explore what the scene means and what needs to happen. How do you do that?

Here are five steps to writing a troublesome scene and moving your story forward:

1. Figure out why you have the scene in your story in the first place. More than likely, you have a need for a character to get from point A to point B, or you need something to happen – either an action, a decision, or an insight. If there is nothing important that happens in the scene, then maybe it doesn’t need to be there. Ding! Eliminate unnecessary scenes and your writing will be crisper and tighter.

2. Decide what characters have to be in the scene and what each of them wants or needs. Remember, you want tension in every scene in your story, whether that tension is overt and visible or subtle and hidden. Tension is achieved by characters wanting different things, having different goals, coming into conflict or having conflict within themselves.

3. Decide on a location and a time for the scene. The more specific you are, the easier the scene will be to write. I am not advocating that you have to write a detailed spreadsheet out (unless you are into that kind of thing, as Ridley Pearson is), but having a clear vision of location and time makes for clear and precise writing.

4. Figure out how the scene will start and how the scene will end. How will you know when the scene is over? What has to happen? Try this: write the very first line of the scene and the very last line of the scene and see if that does not open up your writing. Even if you know you will discard either the opening or the ending, framing the scene will help you construct it.

5. Write the dialogue first. Seriously, if you are stuck on a scene, don’t worry about description, exposition or even action. Write the dialogue first and then go back and fill in everything around it.

If you have never written this way, give it a try. Writing is about choices and constructing a layered piece of work (my belief). Dialogue is one of the less complicated things to handle if you know your characters even moderately well. If you are feeling bogged down or blocked in a story and you are just not sure how to handle a difficult scene, try and break it down and approach it in a systematic and methodical way. Some scenes are easy to write and you flow from one to the next in a linear way – you are in the zone and the story is just pouring out almost effortlessly. If that is the case, just go with it, and remember to thank the writing gods and goddesses. But when it is not going so well, take a deep breath and try the steady, measured approach I’ve outlined here. Maybe in the end it will all get rewritten and tossed, but having a system to use on the tough scenes means that you can always advance the story.

About the Author

Rocky Cole is a professional counselor and freelance writer. More information on freelance and creative writing can be found at http://www.ColeWriting.com.

Point of view is a serious and often overlooked part of writing, frequently taught in only the most rudimentary way. Usually in the seventh grade, we learn that it is the character through whose eyes or conscious we view the scene and the corresponding quiz consists of matching first, second, third and omniscient POV to the correct definitions. Then it’s all over.

Rarely does anyone even question this. It’s unusual to hear someone say ‘I only read first person point of view’ or ‘I really like third’. Most of us prefer good writing regardless of the POV. But it isn’t so much the specific POV as the quality. It’s difficult to take a concept as simple as ‘my story’ versus ‘his story’ and discuss quality, but after reading a handful of books you’ll probably agree, quality is an issue.

As a writer or a reader, you are probably more familiar with the kinds of point of view than the general public, but a quick recap is a solid idea. In first person POV, the main character is ‘me’. ‘I meandered down the dark path and I shivered’. If ‘you’ are the main character, then ‘you’ are in second person POV which is probably the least common type. Third person may be the most common POV. In this set-up ‘he’ or ‘she’ is the person whose head we are inside. ‘Jason nervously hid the roses behind his back. As soon as he pushed the doorbell, his hand immediately slipped back in his pocket to rub the small velvet box. He forced a smile as Violet appeared in the doorway looking as nervous as he felt’. Omniscient POV is another commonly used tool – in this case the reader can know what is going on inside all the characters heads. So we would not only see Violet at the door, we would know that she suspected what Jason had in his pocket and was aquiver with her own excitement.

This is where it gets sticky. Writers fail when they mix their points of view. And the best way to keep from mixing POVs is to know how to identify it, how and when it happens and keep a clear eye out so it can be avoided or fixed. It is important that when we are in Jason’s head, we stay there. Jason standing at the door can’t know how Violet is feeling; he can’t know she suspects he has a ring. A lot of authors (perennial favorites, too) are violating this convention and still getting published. But it’s a huge pet peeve to a lot of readers – enough of an issue that it takes them out of the story as they are reading.

Sherry Szeman shows you how to maximize point of view to engage readers. Click image to buy from Amazon.com

To be fair, perhaps POV isn’t the most important asset of good writing. If we don’t care what Jason is feeling or we can’t visualize the scene around him, then staying in his head isn’t our top priority. Writers who can’t describe and tell a good story aren’t likely to get published anyway. But the public at large likes to know where they stand, and in a book POV is a large determinant of that. Loss or violation of POV is a sin and can bring the flow of the book to a brakes squealing, dust billowing, burnt rubber smelling stop.

There are greater distinctions in POV – both third person and omniscient have sub-categories. (So could first and second, but it’s almost never done.) It’s these subcategories that get authors confused and irritate readers when they aren’t handled well. Third person often isn’t limited to a single character’s POV. Multiple third person is widely used in fiction, in this case you can see out from a handful of different characters’ eyes. The difference between this and omniscient is that you must be in only one character’s head at a time. In order to change POV you must use some sort of writing device (page break, ***, new chapter, etc.) The most common version of omniscient POV is multiple-character omniscient. In this case, like in standard omniscient, the reader can see into many characters’ heads at the same time. But we are limited to a handful of important characters. (This sub-category is more widely used than true omniscient that enables a look inside all characters – even the guy who gives our heroine back her change at the gas station and is never seen again.)

Multi-character omniscient POV is often violated by random (or even useful) glimpses inside a non-key character’s head. Unless this is done throughout the entire story, a side glimpse is a violation of the construct that the reader has put together from the story to that point. The reader won’t put together the set of rules that the writer has determined, he will only gather from what he has read to that point. So if there have been no prior side glimpses, then we can’t add one in chapter five. It is not all right to violate this just because the information is key; authors must stay true to the standards they have set at the beginning of the story. Another way to disseminate the information must be found.

Both standard, completely omniscient POV as well as the multi-character version, sometimes suffer from the psychic, all knowing power of the reader bleeding over into the characters. Because the reader knows that Violet anticipates the ring in Jason’s pocket, Jason now also knows what Violet suspects. Or worse, it is unclear what Jason knows. Authors must keep track of what each character sees and understands and never inadvertently give away unavailable knowledge. Jason must stay on pins and needles and believe that he is surprising Violet out of the blue. It may even be wise to add lines or information that clarifies this to the reader.

Multiple third person POV suffers from similar issues. Although it is less likely that Jason will learn that Violet suspects he has a ring, it does happen. Far more often though, the crime is that the author knows Violet is on pins and needles, and even though we are in Jason’s chapter/section, suddenly we get a chance to see how she feels. And the readers get upset.

Read the following paragraph opening: Kelly stood looking at Charity, a small smirk upon her face. Both women knew the storm was coming, but neither of them was willing to say it. Kelly spoke first.

This opening is just fine if the POV is omniscient. In this case, we expect to see into everyone’s head and it’s fine not to have cues. However, if this is a new chapter or section in multiple third person POV, we have a problem. While we haven’t violated the POV per se – we haven’t seen into anyone’s head, let alone more than one person’s. The problem is that we don’t know who this section belongs to. Certainly, this could be used as a writing device, but in many cases it seems to simply be an author who isn’t paying attention to what the reader needs. In general, the writer has a minimum of two sentences to establish POV. Why two? Because at that point the reader’s eyebrows begin to pull together, wondering to whom does the section belong. Sometimes the sin isn’t just violation of the established POV, it’s lack of clarity about where the reader is. So, sometime in those first sentences, give us a few words that tell us whose head we are in. We can add to the Kelly and Charity scene – ‘Kelly stood looking at Charity, her anticipation appearing as a small smirk upon her face’. Just a few words tells us that we are in Kelly’s head. Or we could say ‘She knew both of them saw the storm coming . . .’ With very little changed, we have a firmly established POV and a happy reader.

There are other instances where POV is abused, although not necessarily lost. A page break is used to indicate – in most cases – a change in POV. Alternately it can indicate a passage of time or change of venue. In too many cases, page breaks are appearing when none of these things has occurred in the plot. For example, our hero starts a task. Partway through we get a page break, then the next section starts with him finishing the same task. This leaves our reader confused while he figures out where the author is going, as the page break has indicated to him that there was a change. It will take a few sentences and occasionally a full page to figure out the story wasn’t where he thought it was. Anything that does this removes the reader from the story, and therefore reduces the quality of the writing. If the space can be filled with a phrase connecting the two parts, then a page break is unnecessary. In this case, ‘After Hero-Man finished tying up Super Bad Guy, he . . .”

Lack of clarity about POV is another problem readers suffer with. Maybe because POV conventions aren’t followed as well as they should be, readers are wary and want to be reassured. Try this -’Charity stood in the doorway, surprised to see Kelly there, although Kelly knew Charity should have remembered the pact they’d made ten years earlier.’ And the POV goes to . . . it’s difficult to tell. Ultimately, the scene belongs to Kelly. Why? Because ‘Kelly knew’. Charity was ‘surprised’, but while we can see someone else’s surprise, we can’t know what he knows, unless we are in his head. So the POV here wasn’t violated, it was just confusing. All the writer has to do here to clarify is add one word – ‘Charity stood in the doorway, looking surprised to see Kelly there’.

Violation of the writer’s own construct is just as confusing to readers. A classic sci-fi book tells the story in third person from the main character’s POV. But a third of the way through, we suddenly are in the sister’s head. A small while later we are in the brother’s head, although after a few visits, we don’t go back again. We pass POV back and forth between the main character and the sister, until the book again deviates from this construct. One small section is written in the POV of another character who, until this point, has been a minor player. This is insanely confusing to the reader.

Readers appreciate clarity in POV. Remove confusing wording. Add phrases that help determine viewpoint. And set up section or chapter openings to establish POV within the first two sentences. In addition to this, writers can further establish POV by use of language. Lindsay, from the Midwest, sits on a ‘couch’ and carries a ‘purse’, while Southern Leslie sits on a ‘sofa’ and clutches her ‘pocketbook’. Russian born Nick doesn’t use idioms in his speech or thoughts.

There are no real laws about POV. If a writer wishes to violate the conventions so be it. If a new character, who will be giving us a new POV, needs to be introduced late, then the author should establish that POVs will be coming in throughout the book. Regardless of the chosen POV, or violation thereof, the writer should stick to what he has established. Watching for mishaps or possible confusion will cut down on POV problems, but mostly writers don’t spend enough time considering POV when they are planning characters and plot points. POV should become predetermined rather than happenstance. Always, the POV of the story should be established early and held tight.

About the Author

A.J. Scudiere is a suspense/thriller writer who has published a handful of novels and short stories. AJ’s first novel, Resonance, has been made into the World’s First AudioMovie. AJ holds degrees in Psychobiology and Physiological Science. Listen to AudioMovie Tracks, get free chapters, short stories and AJs Newsletter at http://www.ajscudiere.com