Three Tips to Activate Your Writing

by Martina Boone

As I completed my judges’ forms for the The Sandy literary contest this past weekend, I had to examine why I usually knew after the first paragraph whether or not I was going to enjoy the story. And it wasn’t just the idea that grabbed me or made me give a mental sigh.

Some manuscripts (and books!) are technically written well. The writer has followed “Strunk” rules–no unnecessary adverbs or adjectives, no cliches, no passive voice–but the writing is so bland that, even if the plot is exciting, I have to force myself through the first thirty pages. I start craving details. Other manuscripts make me feel like I need a shovel to unearth what’s going on in the story under all the layers of words. In either kind of manuscript, I have a hard time “picturing” the scene. It may just be a personal preference, reading is very subjective after all, but I have to be able to see a story to really like it. To love a story, I have to understand how what I’m seeing feels to the characters.

I recently read a critique that Jeanne Lyet Gassman did for a writer who had written a 400,000 word novel. In two tips, Jeanne neatly summed up a lot of the thoughts I had while judging the contest, so I asked her for permission to repost some of those here. I’ve edited them to make them a little more general, and added a third tip about imagery and emotion.

Bottom line? You can activate your writing and reduce your word count in three easy steps:

Anchor your scenes around an active, emotional image. Make sure your scenes aren’t taking place in empty space, give your characters something to do while they are talking to each other, and make sure that the things they interact with in the scene give them the opportunity to reveal both character and emotion.
Be selective in your descriptions. Make sure there is one specific, central image in each scene or paragraph. If you are in a forest, we don’t need to know every single type of tree in the forest, but at the same time, we need to know the kind of tree the protag is sleeping under.
Let your verbs do the heavy lifting. Reduce the number of passive and being verbs, including: is, was, were, could, seem, might, appear, etc., and make the verbs themselves more descriptive to eliminate the need for adjectives and adverbs. Instead of “she was walking quickly,” which is a linking verb of being with an adverb, you could use “she walked quickly,” which is an active form of the same basic verb coupled with an adverb. An even better fix is simply “she jogged,” which is a precise verb that eliminates the need for the adverb.

Happy writing!

Martina

For more info and tips from Jeanne:
http://www.jeannelyetgassman.com/
http://jeannelyetgassman.blogspot.com/

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Mar 31, 2010

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Craft of Writing | Martina Boone | Scenes

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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