Writing Hacks for the Creatively Stunted

Over the years we pick up tidbits of information, useful tips and tricks we think (or pray) will help us through everyday life. Some people call these life hacks. I call these "nuggets of wisdom from people with more time on their hands than me to think this stuff up because I'm too busy worrying how I'm going to do all this stuff to be able to sit down and think of these awesome ideas."

Too long?

So, years ago I started a file on my computer with hacks, hoping I'd be able to use them more and organize my life.

Until I forgot I had a file full of these freaking awesometastic ideas that were supposed to make me wonder-wife and super-mom!

Well the same thing happened to me with my writing life. I'd come across these really nifty hacks or compilations of writing tools and I tucked them away in a file on my computer. And every time I sit down to write words, I never ever think of them. EVER. I forget the folder even exists until I come across one online somewhere and go to save it in that file.

So, as 2016 lays down its carpet of brand new possibilities....I'm digging in to this file folder and sharing with you what I've saved over the years and calling it......

WRITING HACKS FOR THE CREATIVELY STUNTED

1. I found this gem recently. Here's some ideas on how to give your characters a quirk. You want your characters to be relatable and real, and if you give them a humanized quirk it'll help your reader attach to them. Try and think outside the realm of lip biting and nail chewing.

2. Body Language! Showing body language is a biggy. It is important in scene blocking and can also be as communicative as dialogue between the characters. It helps the reader solidify how you're presenting a scene. If your character's lying, we may not know as the reader by her dialogue, but if she's shifting her feet or if he's not making eye contact these help give the reader clues and deepen the point of view.

Another way to use body language is also if your character has an illness or disease or if you've given the some kind of quirk. Let's use anxiety as an example. If you consistently remind the reader she has anxiety, for one, that's telling. But also, it'll stick out like a sore thumb and be hit home so hard it'll annoy the reader. Instead, try showing the results of her anxiety with body language instead.

3. Showing vs. Telling. It's a hard skill to nail for a lot of writers. But I found these cool little hacks of descriptors that helps fill in those blanks when you're trying to bring narrative to life and let the reader experience the scene with the character versus being told.

For instance....Telling - She had long hair.  Showing - Layered mousy brown hair framed the edges of her heart-shaped face, setting off her jade eyes.

      

           

4. And last, but not least, emotions. They play a huge roll in our characters development. And at some point in your book your character will probably hit all six of the major emotions. But in order to take your character deeper and really strengthen their arc, try narrowing in on the different levels each of the major emotions has. As you can see by this nifty chart below, there's far more levels and facets of each emotion. If you zero in on one, it can help you take your character to a deeper point of view and explore.

Happy Hacking....er....I mean writing!

Magical Realism, Fantasy or Not?

One of the biggest steps in the submission process is determining which genre your book falls under. It's important in both worlds of self publishing or the traditional route. You need to know your genre in order to target the audience most likely to be interested, whether it be readers or agents or editors. Although I've seen a lot of incorrectly classified submissions, I've noticed the genre authors tend to get the most mixed up is magical realism.

As an agent that represents both fantasy and magical realism, I find a lot of fantasy authors will submit under the genre magical realism, believing, falsely, it gives their fantasy novel more literary cred or makes it more unique. Or, they simply do not understand what magical realism actually is. I don't blame them. Search the term, and a plethora of definitions pop up that don't exactly make it clear. As Webster's Dictionary puts it, "A literary genre that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction." So does that mean Twilight is magical realism? No. Urban and paranormal still fall under the fantasy umbrella because even though they are set in modern time the reader is brought into a world that is indeed different than our own.

What you do need to know is magical realism has a rich and varied history and is a separate genre from fantasy. If you're not sure which genre your project falls under, than it is most likely fantasy. A boy from our world who finds out he's a wizard and goes off to wizarding school to have all kinds of magical adventures, that's fantasy. A boy from our world who believes he's a wizard but whose story takes place in reality, that is potentially magical realism. Notice I said "potentially." Magical realism is an elusive genre, not for the inexperienced or crowd-pleaser. The best way to get familiar with the genre is to read some of the classics, Like Water For Chocolate, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Midnight's Children, and House of Spirits. You'll find that even though there is a touch of magic, a bit of the fantastic, a sprinkling of the otherworld, these books are completely grounded in reality and the culture they stem from. Magical realism treats magic as if it were rational, just another aspect of our world, not as something otherworldly. Once you understand it, it will become obvious.

Why is this important? Because the average fantasy reader is different than the average magical realism reader. The audience is different, thus the people you submit to will be different, the shelf in the bookstore will be different, the Amazon Bestseller category will be different. I hope this post has helped a little to understand that difference.