Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. — George Washington
Can personality type affect your writing style?
ESTJs excel at relating objective, fact-based information. They carefully schedule their writing activities so they can finish before the deadline. Adept at presenting a logical argument, they like to take a stand in their writing. They systematically develop their ideas, complete their project, and move on.
Show me someone who never gossips, and I will show you
someone who is not interested in people. — Barbara Walters
What can your personality type tell you about your writing style?
ESFJs excel at relating fact-based information based on personal experience. They prefer writing about topics that affect people in tangible ways. ESFJs may begin a project by discussing it with others, but seek solitude for the final draft to avoid distractions.
Over the past six weeks, I’ve been doing something I rarely do in the evenings: watching television. Mainly the History Channel and NatGeo—I’ve learned a lot about how the earth was formed and what John of Patmos was really writing about in the Book of Revelation. I suppose I could feel guilty that I haven’t gotten as much writing done as I otherwise would have. But I don’t.
Why? Because writers need to replenish. It’s easy for writers to get locked up in their own heads. If their inward focus becomes too extreme, they won’t have anything interesting to write about. Or they’ll keep writing about the same things over and over again, with no new ideas to freshen their work.
By exposing myself to subjects that I rarely encounter in my own life—like earth science, history, and theology—I reignite my curiosity. I doubt that I’ll have use for these subjects in my writing. But they’ve gotten me thinking in new ways about human resiliency. Will our race be wiped out by a giant asteroid hitting the earth, or perhaps by an epic battle between good and evil on the fields of Megiddo? I’m skeptical.
I believe humans can, and will, overcome anything—maybe not as individuals, but as a species. The record of our time on earth demonstrates how we continually adapt to the challenges we face. This is what drives me. At the core of my fiction is a fervent belief in human resiliency—a belief I want to share.
It’s good for writers to be reminded of why they write—and to remember that the themes that permeate their writing grow out of other, seemingly unrelated parts of their life. New ideas and experiences nourish you as a writer. Take the time to embrace them.
Do you have any tips on how writers can renew their creativity? Leave a comment!
Self-publishing has made it easier than ever for authors to get their words into print. However, many authors of self-published books have little or no training in page layout. The design principles of desktop publishing can help you improve readability and customer satisfaction. Help build a loyal following with these six techniques:
1. Use white space.
When you’re paying to publish a book, every square millimeter is precious real estate. But white space isn’t wasted space. White space gives the readers’ eyes a place to rest. More importantly, it gives their mind a place to rest, so they can reflect on what they’ve read. This enhances the learning process so that readers will retain more.
When it comes to writing, rules can be a wonderful thing. They help ensure consistency, and they relieve writers from having to make endless decisions about mundane questions like which punctuation mark to use. Sometimes, though, usage rules can get in the way of clear communication. In creative writing or informal communication like email, writers have the freedom to reject those rules if they don’t find them useful.
The rules say to use a question mark in the following situations:
At the end of a direct question: Whose meatball is that?
To express doubt or uncertainty: Leona was born in 1960[?], which would mean her current age is 49.
To express confusion or disbelief: You call that a sandwich?
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, a “courtesy question” does not require a question mark. For example, “Will you please remove your shoes before entering the sanctuary” is a statement, not a question.
In Modern American Usage, Bryan Garner puts it this way: “A question mark follows every question that expects an answer.”
Sometimes, though, I expect an answer even if I don’t phrase the sentence as a question. Consider the following: “I wonder if I have time to stop at the post office before lunch?” This is the reverse of a courtesy question: it’s a question phrased as a statement. What I mean is, “I want to stop at the post office before lunch. Do you mind?” But this phrasing makes it awkward for someone to say, “I’ve got a 1:00 meeting. I was hoping everyone could be at the restaurant by noon.” So I cloak my desire in an absent sort of wondering to make it easier for someone to tell me no. Continue reading “Breaking the Rules: Question Marks in Dialogue and Informal Communication”→
I hate to contradict Rodgers and Hammerstein, but the beginning is not a very good place to start. Whether you’re writing a biography or describing a bird, the best place to start is with the most interesting features.
Before naturalist Roger Tory Peterson came along, a typical description of a robin started at the tip of the beak and ended at the tip of the tail. It wasn’t until you were halfway through the description that you learned a robin has a red breast. Peterson changed that. As the inventor of the modern field guide, he used descriptions that focused on distinguishing characteristics, so birders could accurately identify different species.
Likewise in a biography, start out with what makes the individual unique. Here’s an example of a rather uninspiring biographical note from a portrait at the San Diego Air and Space Museum:
Wernher Von Braun
Rocket Scientist
Born Wirsitz, Germany, 23 March 1912. As chief scientist at the Peenemunde
Rocket Center in Germany, developed the first long range ballistic missile, the V-2.
Before I even get to the interesting part (that he invented the first long-range ballistic missile), I’ve already stopped caring. Impatient readers might stop reading. I’d rewrite this note as follows:
Wernher Von Braun
Rocket Scientist
Developed the first long range ballistic missile, the V-2, while chief scientist at the
Peenemunde Rocket Center in Germany. Born Wirsitz, Germany, 23 March 1912.
In the very first sentence, give readers something to care about. Capture their imagination. Propel them into the second sentence, then into the third. Today’s readers filter the mass of material that confronts them. You have a few seconds to convince readers that your story, article, or paper is worth their time. Don’t waste a sentence. Don’t waste a word. Compel them to read.
With NaNoWriMo coming to a close, it’s time to start thinking about editing your first draft. Here are some tips to help make your dialogue sing.
Use boring dialogue tags
Many beginning writers look for alternatives to said, such as stated, exclaimed, averred, or expounded. The problem is, these alternatives draw attention to themselves and away from the dialogue. Generally, it’s best to stick with asked and said. They’re invisible, so they don’t sound repetitive to the reader. That doesn’t mean that you can’t occasionally use words like whispered or interjected where relevant. But be judicious. Continue reading “Dialogue: Getting to the Point”→
In honor of NaNoWriMo, I’m tackling a subject that many beginning novelists find challenging: sex scenes. Sex scenes require finesse and attention to craft, but they don’t have to be difficult to write. Just keep in mind the purpose that they serve.
Like any other scene, sex scenes must do the following:
advance the plot
develop the characters
create a mood
leave the reader wondering what will happen next
Sex scenes work best when much is left to the reader's imagination.
Sex scenes do not require detailed description of the action. One of the cardinal rules of writing fiction is that you should never tell readers something they already know. Readers already know that characters have certain body parts, and that during sex, those body parts will interact in certain ways. Unless you want to stress something that’s unusual about the body parts or the interaction, you can avoid mentioning them altogether. Implication is sufficient. The readers’ imagination will fill in the rest.
What does interest readers is how the characters feel about the action. Are they blissful, bored, insecure, or confident? Is the protagonist hoping that this is the man she’ll spend the rest of her life with, or is she mentally composing a grocery list?
As in any other scene, sensory detail is important. Again, you don’t have to tell readers what sex feels like; assuming that you’re writing for adults, most of them already know. Instead, choose details that are specific to the character. Does the protagonist notice that her lover’s sheets are cheap and rough, whereas she’s used to 300-thread-count cotton? Does that make him less attractive to her? Or does she think he just needs a good woman to teach him about the finer things in life? If the latter, do you, as the author, want this to be a warning sign to readers that the protagonist is blind to how incompatible the couple is? Or do you want to show that they complement each other—that they’re both open to growth? Focus on how the action of the scene ties into the larger action of the novel.
Sex scenes can be emotionally intense. They often show characters at their most vulnerable. They can be turning points in a relationship or a novel. Remember that sex scenes are about character, not about sex, and approach them without fear.
The only hard-and-fast rule of creative writing is that there are no hard-and-fast rules. For every writer who swears that you must have an outline to organize your ideas before you begin a story, another one says that outlines are useless. Organizing your ideas is what a first draft is for.
A first draft is the clay from which the finished work is molded. It’s not supposed to be any good; it’s for the author’s eyes only. The author must have the freedom to write a first draft without a critical eye challenging the flow of ideas. For most writers, the notion of showing a first draft to a critiquing group is counter-intuitive. But some beginning writers working on the first draft of a novel may benefit from the feedback of a critiquing group. Whether the benefits outweigh the risks depends on the author—and the critic. Here are some things to consider before sharing your raw manuscript.
What are your goals?
A critiquing group is not a support group. Yes, providing support is one of the critics’ roles; but their primary job is to give constructive feedback, identifying what’s working and what’s not in your manuscript. In the beginning, hearing this feedback can be traumatic. The first time I read through critiques of my work, all I saw were the negative comments. On the second read-through, I noticed that there were positive ones as well. Yet my brain hadn’t even processed them: it was as if I were reading them for the first time.
Your primary goal when seeking critiques should be to learn how you can improve your work. If it’s praise you want, show your manuscript to your mom or your best friend. Members of a critiquing group aren’t doing their job if they’re not honest. Continue reading “Unearthing the Clay: Pros and Cons of First Draft Critiques”→
This question plagues new writers who worry that their manuscript will automatically be tossed into the Rejection pile if the layout is wrong. Other new writers view formatting as self-expression; if their manuscript looks outstanding to their eyes in 9-point Monotype Corsiva, then that’s what they use. Besides, they reason, the writing is what matters.
The truth lies somewhere in between. Agents and editors aren’t monsters. They’re people who make their living by representing or buying the manuscripts of writers like us. They care more about the quality of the writing than the way it looks on the page. But they’re also busy professionals with far more submissions than they have time to read. So go out of your way to avoid giving them a reason not to read yours. Continue reading “Manuscript Formatting: Just Do It”→
Can personality type affect your writing style?
Write with Personality 