Action scenes

Some of my novels, especially Second Nature, have a lot of fast-paced action.

Here are a few important things to keep in mind when writing action scenes:

• Action scenes need immediate action. That means they’re not the place where you include flashbacks or other jumps in time. Keep the action linear. Cause, then effect. Action, then reaction.
• Characters don’t stop to think or reflect a lot.
• In action scenes, most sentences are fairly short. While you shouldn’t create scenes where all sentences are long or all sentences are short, in action scenes or scenes with high tension, the sentences become shorter. You can even put in a few sentence fragments. This is especially true for thoughts. No one thinks in complete, long sentences when he or she is scared.
• Keep paragraphs mostly short too. Start a new paragraph every time the action shifts from one character to the other. Frequent paragraphing makes the reader’s eye move faster down the page. The pace increases.
• Be careful with “as” constructions and participles. Both imply that the action happens at the exact same time, simultaneously, not one after the other.
• Use a minimum of words to pick up the pace. Unnecessary words slow down the pace.
• Choose powerful verbs that convey a sense of fast movement (e.g., smashed, clanked, etc.). Replace slower-moving, weak verbs like stood, was, etc.
• Don’t neglect the senses and physical sensations. No long descriptions, but give us enough hints to make us feel we’re right there. Let us experience the main character’s exhaustion or pain.
• Make sure the actions are physiologically possible. Keep track of the relative position of the characters.

Please leave a comment if you can think of anything else that might be important when writing action scenes.

cultural difference 29: phone

If we answer our phone, most Germans say their names, not just “hello.” The advantage is that you immediately know whom you’re talking to, even if you called a house phone.

By the way, the German word for cell phone is “handy” – maybe because they can come in handy

cultural difference 28: May tree

No, this isn’t a clever German invention to make sure the cat doesn’t sharpen her claws on the poor Christmas tree

What you see here is a May tree.

Putting up a May tree in the village square on May 1 is an old tradition in Germany and some other European countries, apparently reaching back to the 16th century. It’s a celebration of spring.

Traditions differ slightly from region to region. Sometimes the May tree is a pole with a garland on top; sometimes it’s a fir that’s partially stripped or put on top of the pole.

Sometimes, there’s a rivalry between villages who try to steal each other’s May trees and only give it back after a “ransom” (mostly beer) is paid.

In some villages, young men also put a smaller May tree in front of their (potential) girlfriends’ houses. If the young woman removes the tree before May is over, it’s a rejection.

And I just found out that Munich has a gay May tree.

reader e-mails

A fellow writer recently pointed out that listing all the mistakes and things that you have to keep in mind while writing can actually become frustrating and intimidating, especially for new writers.

And she’s right.

You might start to wonder why the heck would any sane person choose that kind of “hobby” (if you can call it that) voluntarily?

My answer: Because writing is not just hard work. It’s a passion, and it can be a lot of fun and very, very rewarding. Nothing is quite as satisfying as finishing a scene, a chapter, or even a novel and knowing it’s good. Or re-reading one of your stories years later and finding that you still like the characters. Or solving a plot problem that seemed insurmountable. And don’t get me started on how it feels to actually hold your published novel in your hands. I think I had a permanent grin on my face for about a week

And then there are the readers. Over the last few years, I had a lot of overwhelming reactions and wonderful e-mails that I keep for re-reading when I have a really bad day.

Today, I got one of those special e-mails. A reader from Russia contacted me. She read Second Nature and then discovered my author’s bio. One sentence caught her attention:

I also enjoy learning new languages. Russian is my latest project. I haven’t found any online stories using the Cyrillic alphabet to help me learn, though.

The reader from Russia promptly sent me links to Russian lesfic stories. How great is that? Not that my Russian language skills are anywhere near a level where I could actually read those stories. But still, it’s great to be part of a world-wide community and to have readers from all over the world contact me.

So thanks to all readers, wherever you are! You are part of what makes writing so special and so rewarding.

cultural difference 27: dogs

In Germany, dogs are welcome almost anywhere. If the dogs are well-behaved, they’re allowed in cafés and restaurants. Some restaurant owners even bring them a bowl of water.

Dogs aren’t allowed in stores that sell fresh food, though, including grocery stores. These stores often have a sign that says dogs have to stay outside, and you’ll often see a dog waiting in front of a store for his owner to return.

cultural difference 26: popcorn

In Germany and also in some other European countries, many people prefer to put sugar on their popcorn. You’ll rarely find popcorn with salt, and I’ve never eaten popcorn with butter.

So I’m curious… what’s your favorite kind of popcorn?

MS Word: readability statistics

Microsoft Word provides you with readability statistics that give you a rough impression on how easily readable your story is. Here’s how you activate it:

In MS Word 2003:

• click “tools”
• click “options”
• choose the “spelling and grammar” tab
• select “check grammar with spelling”
• check “show readability statistics”

In MS Word 2007:

• Click on the Windows button (top left corner)
• click “word options”
• click “proofing”
• select “check grammar with spelling”
• check “show readability statistics”

In MS Word 2010:

• click “file”
• click “options”
• click “proofing”
• select “check grammar with spelling”
• check “show readability statistics”

After you run a spell/grammar check, readability statistics will be displayed.

The statistics will let you know your average number of sentences per paragraph, words per sentence, and characters per word. It also gives you the percentage of passive sentences, the Flesch Reading Ease, and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

The Flesch Reading Ease score measures how easy or difficult your text is to understand. 90-100 would mean that an 11-year-old kid could easily understand your text. 60-70 means a 13-15-year-old can understand the text, and 0-30 is best understood by university graduates.

The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test lets you know the US school grade level readers need to understand your text. A score of 7 means a seventh grader should be able to understand it.

For example, this blog post has 20% passive sentences (“statistics will be displayed”), a Flesch Reading Ease score of 50.8, and a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 10.8. The first draft of Hidden Truths has 1% passive sentences, a Flesch Reading Ease score of 87.7, and a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 3.9, which means even a child could read it.

Well, except for the more explicit scenes, of course

writing and learning style

In the past, I blogged about how being “left-brained” vs. “right-brained” influences writers.

I imagine that their cognitive or learning style influences writers and readers too. Literature describes at least three different learning styles. Visual learners prefer learning through images, diagrams, demonstrations, handouts, etc. Auditory people learn best through listening to instructions. Kinesthetic people prefer hands-on experience and experiments.

There are a lot of sites online where you can test your learning style, for example this one. The program that tests hemispheric preference also indicates whether you are visual or auditory.

I talked to a lot of writers who are visual writers. They describe seeing scenes unfold like a “movie” in their heads when they write. Personally, I’m not a visual writer at all. I don’t have that movie. I think in words, not images. I always considered that a disadvantage.

But then I discussed it with one of my critique partners, whose first drafts have few visual details. I thought that might be because she’s not a visual writer either. But it turns out it’s the opposite. She’s a visual person and has vivid pictures in her head, so she tends to forget putting them on the page in the first draft. Putting the images into words isn’t always easy. And when the “movie” stops, many of the visual writers battle writer’s block.

Auditory writers often say they hear their characters. Entire dialogue scenes might come easily to them.

Our cognitive style influences us as readers and beta readers too.

Strongly visual readers might need just a few setting details, and their imagination will take off. Less visual readers might need more details to be able to “see” the setting.

When I was working on Second Nature, I had a test reader who’s strongly visual. She sees novel plots like movies in her head. During the whole story, she continually asked me “How did he say that?” and “How did she sound?” For her, there were too few auditory clues on the page, while auditory readers might be able to imagine sounds and voices without a lot of cues.

So, are you a more visual or more auditory person? Does it influence your writing or reading?

cultural difference 25: computer keyboards

German keyboards have the QWERTZ layout, just as most other Central European keyboards. It’s jokingly referred to as a “kezboard.”

The arrangement of keys makes sense, because German has few words with a “Y.” The “Z” is needed much more often. Also, we have many words that have a “tz” sound, e.g., Katze (= cat), so it makes sense that the T and the Z appear next to each other on the keyboard.

Oh, by the way, the above is a picture of my keyboard. I sent many a keyboard to the Eternal Scrapyard when the letters wore off the keys, so now I finally bought a keyboard with laser-etched (and back-lit) keys.

Books on writing

Over the years, I have read a lot of books on writing. I know you can’t learn writing from a book. The only way to learn how to write well is to write, write, write… and get some feedback from editors, beta readers, reviewers, and readers. Still, books on writing can be helpful too.

Here’s a list of my favorite books on writing.


COVERING ALL ASPECTS OF WRITING:

• Stein on Writing by Sol Stein
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King (this doesn’t just cover editing. If you get just one book on writing, get this one)
• Don’t Sabotage Your Submission by Chris Roerden (densely written, full of information, but probably not for the beginner)

CHARACTERIZATION:

• Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress (this also covers point of view).

PLOT:

• Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
• Story by Robert McKee (probably not for a beginner but rather for more advanced writers)
• Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain (great information on plot, but not for beginners)

DESCRIPTION:

• Description by Monica Wood

POINT OF VIEW:

• The Power of Point of View by Alicia Rasley (the author is an editor who also has a great blog)

LESBIAN FICTION:

• Lavender Ink: Writing and Selling Lesbian Fiction by Fran Walker with Andi Marquette, Nann Dunne, Sacchi Green, and L-J Baker (gives a pretty good overview of fiction elements in general and lesbian fiction in particular)

GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, and STYLE:

• Woe Is I by Patricia T. O’Conner (it’s well written and funny)
• Grammatically Correct by Anne Stilman (less fun to read, but very informative)
• Write in Style by Bobbie Christmas

DICTIONARY, THESAURUS, STYLE GUIDE:

• Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition)
• The Synonym Finder by J.I. Rodale
• The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition)

So, fellow writers, do you read books on writing? If yes, which ones are your favorite?