Fiction vs Nonfiction Part 2

Fiction vs Nonfiction Part 2

         As with the first part of this article, I will present the material in outline form.

First Draft

1. Use correct grammar, mechanics, and structure.
2. Revise as you go (don’t search for errors but be aware and fix any you see).
3. Be sure information/story is presented interestingly, keep reader reading.
4. In fiction, “Show, don’t tell,” rather “show much more than tell.”
5. In nonfiction, be sure to keep on topic.


Fiction Components

1. Plot (longer works also have more sub-plots, can also apply to creative/narrative nonfiction)
2. Character(s)
3. Theme
4. Setting
5. Conflict
6. Crisis / Climax
7. Resolution
8. Conclusion (also for nonfiction)
9. Point of View

Nonfiction Components

1. Introduction ending with thesis sentence
2. At least one or more paragraphs to support each point of the thesis
3. A strong conclusion


Fiction and Nonfiction Combination

1. Narrative Nonfiction or Creative Nonfiction
2. Combination by “fictionally” providing material, such as dialogue, that can’t be proven to happen as written, but which is restricted by facts.
3. Author creatively creates literature that is based mainly on fact, reported, but shapes the material so that it reads like fiction.

8 Cs of Good Writing

1. Clarity
2. Conciseness
3. Concreteness
4. Correctness – includes research
5. Coherency
6. Completeness
7. Courtesy
8. Character (fiction)
http://lessonsbyzabel.blogspot.com/p/fiction-vs-nonfiction.html


      I hope the two parts of this article will be helpful as you begin or develop your writing career. Part 1 can be found here.

 

Home Decorate Your Editing Style

By Suzanne Y. Cordatos

www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com

Whenever an editor or critique partner suggests that cutting a major scene would improve your work, do you chop it with a smile? Is that chunk of writing one of your favorite babies? How long does it take you to craft such a great scene? Hours? Days? Months? When asked to cut the cord, did you expend a lot of energy defending your little bundle of exposition?

Step back. Take a deep breath. Do something different. Let’s re-decorate a room, shall we?

Pick a room in need of attention. Mine is the basement. It recently got walls, floors, a bathroom, bedroom and rec room space, all in need of a color scheme, fixtures, accessories, lighting, flooring, carpet, etc. Okay! Overwhelmed yet? With no idea how to pull together a color scheme, I hunted for a rug, pillow, or curtains for inspiration. I finally found a bolt of fabric that incorporated all my favorite colors and, when the space was finished, would be perfect to make into coordinated curtains. 

The patterned fabric worked well. It became easy and fun to choose colors for walls, trim, flooring and accessories. However, when the space was finished I no longer wanted to use that fabric for curtains. The finished spaces, with the wonderfully coordinated color scheme, needed something simpler at the windows. The pattern didn’t work as I thought. 

Was it a mistake to buy the fabric? No. It served its purpose well, helping me make decorating selections. Its purpose changed, however, as the project developed and changed. Perhaps much like your scene that needs to be (face it) chopped. 

Writing out that scene maybe helped you understand the bigger theme, or perhaps it helped you better understand your character’s motivations. Writing it out was valuable time spent, but maybe it is time to cut the scene from its current crib. Perhaps it has already served its purpose.

QUESTION: 

How do you recognize when a scene isn't working and you need to give it up? Writers spend a lot of time trying to force a favorite scene to work rather than cut it completely and start over with a new approach. I keep a file called "extra scenes" so when I delete it from a work-in-progress I feel it isn't gone "forever." Any other suggestions?

Sparkle Your Words

by Wayne Harris-Wyrick  - guest contributor  

Sometime you may find yourself plodding along on that novel or article and realize that it lacks sparkle.  What can you do to add zing to your words?  Try switching genres.

Prose writing, particularly certain types of articles, is often dry and pedantic by nature.  Or so it often seems.  Even the most detailed account of how to tune up your car need not overflow with boring descriptions.  Yet readers have an expectation when they open the book or particular magazine and start to read your words.   

Try this exercise: write the first chapter of the book or major premise of your article as a poem.  Breathe new vibrancy into your work.  As Richard Pettinger wrote “A good poem should be able to lift the reader out of the ordinary and give glimpses of a more illumining reality, engage the heart of the reader, or offer hope from seemingly painful experience.”  Engage your reader’s heart, regardless of what you write.  Try it as a rhymed poem or an ancient Greek epic poem.  Or perhaps an Elizabeth Barrett Browning love poem.  “How can I fly faster than light?  Let me count the ways.”

Is your exposition flat?  Are you telling instead of showing?  Try writing the entire piece as a screenplay, allowing only dialogue and limited descriptions of the characters’ actions.  Describe your character’s physical appearance as if he or she shared a first-time intimacy with a blind person.  How would the blind lover later describe your character to their best friend the next morning?  She never saw him, so the description would have to include only what she could glean: the sound of his voice, the feel of his skin, or the taste of his lips.  She might relay how he smelled or the texture of his clothes.  Remember: this blind person isn’t giving a fashion report; she is describing a budding love relationship.

Write your science fiction or horror novel as a children’s picture book.  I know, it’s totally inappropriate for young kids, but that’s not the point.  How few words can you use to create your scene?  And imagine the illustrations that would go with it.  Better still, draw them!  Anything you can do to increase your immersion in your own story will make your words more enjoyable to your readers.

Write your YA urban fantasy as a newspaper report.  A newspaper article must have who, what, when and where in the first two paragraphs.  And newspaper editors cut from the bottom up when the article is too long to fit around the ads.  That’s why it sometimes seems as if a newspaper story was cut off in the middle.  Write it out, then remove a paragraph or two and see if it still makes sense.  You certainly don’t want your novel to read like it’s right out of the newspaper, but by going to the extreme of dry writing you may be able to drain it all out of your manuscript.

Whatever you write, use to all the instruments of in the writer’s toolbox.  If you aren’t familiar with all the tools, learn them.  Your readers will thank you for your hard work.

Wackiest Writing Advice I’ve Gotten

by Laurie Boris

Over the many years I’ve been writing, I’ve gotten some excellent advice from teachers, editors, publishers, literary agents, and other writers. But some has been, well, not as helpful. Here’s some of the wackiest advice I’ve gotten. (Note: your actual experience may vary.)

1. Write what you know. Pretty much every writer has been hit with this one. Yes, writing about people, places, and situations with which you are intimately involved might make your writing more immediate and more powerful. (How could Mark Twain have pulled off so many of his great novels if the Mississippi didn’t course through his veins?) But this type of dogma can limit your creativity by forcing you to focus solely on what and whom you’ve been exposed to. What about science fiction and fantasy writers, who imagine worlds so palpable it’s hard to believe they don’t exist in “real life”? How could Gene Roddenberry have created Star Trek or Frank Herbert written the haunting, sandworm-infested world of Dune if they’d stuck solely to writing what had passed by their eyes and ears? Perhaps we could tailor that phrase, as many have suggested, to read, “Write what you want to know.”

2. Comedy doesn’t sell. Augh! And me, a (mostly) comedy writer! Yes, comedy is subjective. This may be why some in the publishing industry are reluctant to take it on. But there sure are a lot of people buying Carl Hiaasen, Janet Evanovich, Sophie Kinsella, Rita Mae Brown, Nick Hornby, and Dave Barry.

3. Adults don’t want to read stories with teen protagonists. A literary agent told me this, as I shopped around a novel with a sixteen-going-on-thirty-year-old protagonist. I think it’s ridiculous. Had she never heard of Holden Caulfield? Or maybe Bella Swan? Twilight readers aren’t all teens. Many of them are mothers of teens.

4. The novel is dead. Are you kidding me? We could argue about the possible passing of printed novels underneath the wave of e-book sales, but story itself? No. We want to read stuff. Sales figures show that. Categories may shift in popularity (vampires this month, cheeky British singletons the next, telepathic zombies after that) but novel sales—especially romance and YA—are not horrible.

5. Women can’t write male POV characters (and vice versa). This is a fascinating bit and I could probably write a whole blog (or two) about it. A teacher of mine, for whom I have nothing but respect and admiration, regularly lectures women writers to stay out of men’s heads. That we couldn’t possibly know how men think, and if we asked one, he’d lie. I have a problem with this. Yes, I’ve read many stereotypical, cardboard or just plain WRONG female POV characters written by men (Steve Martin’s Shopgirl in particular disturbed me), and I imagine you guys could give me a few examples of off-key male characters written by women. But have you read Memoir of a Geisha? Arthur Golden did his research, interviewed geishas, and even made himself up as one so he could get closer to the characters he wrote so brilliantly about. Jonathan Franzen took some heat for writing female POV in Freedom. NPR’s Terry Gross asked him if, as a man, he’d found it challenging to write Patty, his female POV protagonist. Franzen merely replied that he’d grown up around women. So, what’s not to know? I grew up with a father, two brothers, and later, a whole bunch of stepbrothers. And mostly (judging from the feedback of guys who’ve done my crits), my male characters are authentic. Unless they’ve been lying to me.

I hope you won’t lie to me. What is the wackiest advice you ever got about writing, or about anything else?

------------------
Laurie Boris is the author of The Joke's on Me, a contemporary novel NEW from 4RV Publishing. She also blogs about writing, books, and the language of popular culture at http://laurieboris.com.

Eavesdrop Your Way To Better Dialogue

by Laurie Boris

Ideally, dialogue in fiction is supposed to be a representation of how people actually speak. (Extracting the polite greetings and chit-chat and such, unless that chit-chat reveals story or character.) How better to learn the way people actually speak than to listen to them conversing with one another?

Before I get arrested as an accessory to violation of privacy, I'm not saying that you should put your ear up to walls (unless something particularly juicy is going on) or hang out outside of people's domiciles with a shotgun mic. I'm talking about a little public eavesdropping. Don't think you can pull it off without blushing, staring, bladder control issues, or otherwise giving yourself away? Try some of my favorite eavesdropping tips:

1. Observe the natives in their natural habitat. Writing a young adult novel and don't think your dialogue sounds authentic? Go to the mall. Hang out in the food court near a large group of kids. Don't act like a stalker. Just hang out. Don't look at them; it makes them clam up and, depending upon how you are dressed, makes them move away. Bring something to read, preferably something stuffy, non-electronic, and unrelated to anything teenage kids are interested in. You will essentially become invisible.

2. Become a fly on the wall while writing everything down. I keep a tiny notebook in my purse at all times. (It's an excellent habit to get into, since you don't know when inspiration or a juicy morsel will strike. However, if this occurs while driving, please pull over to the side of the road first.) But if I'm going someplace where I know I'll have a long wait, I'll bring my "real" journal. This is especially fruitful while I'm waiting to have my car serviced. I'll get a cup of coffee and make myself comfortable in their waiting area, which is usually crowded. I'll take up my journal and start writing...everything people in the area are saying. Why would anybody question me? I'm simply writing in my journal.

3. Learn the art of reading without reading. This is my favorite eavesdropper tool. If I bring a magazine or book on the train, and actually read it, I won't pick up on the conversation the two women are having behind me about a mutual friend's episiotomy. (Hey, you never know when you might need something like that in a scene.) If I focus on the white space between the lines, then unfocus my eyes, I can hear every word. It's kind of like those puzzles where if you look at them just right, you can see the chrysanthemum in the elephant's ear. Don't ask me; I couldn't see it either.

4. Know that most people are very casual about their public phone behavior. I love banks of pay phones, where they still exist. If you act like you're waiting to make a call (pace about, check your watch, jingle change in your pocket, and for heaven's sake, don't check your BlackBerry, as that's a dead giveaway), you can pick up a boatload of great authentic dialogue. Even more fun is guessing at the conversation on the other side of the phone. Use it as a writing exercise. The advent of cell phones has made one-sided eavesdropping even easier. The rule here is not to approach anyone having a cell phone conversation. That scares them off, and it's just plain rude. These opportunities are usually spontaneous. For instance, you're enjoying a double tall cappuccino at your favorite people-watching spot when Beyoncé starts warbling from the cell phone of the twenty-something sitting near you. She starts an animated and very loud discussion with her BFF about her last date with a married celebrity, a certifiable cretin who picked his teeth at the dinner table, said that Hitler was misunderstood, and ordered lasagna for her when he darned well knew she was lactose intolerant. You are under no obligation to move.

Any good eavesdropping tips you've used to improve your writing and add sparkle to your dialogue? What are some of your favorite pieces of authentic dialogue?

(Laurie Boris blogs regularly about writing, novels, and the language of popular culture at http://laurieboris.com)

Bat Commas or Apostrophes

by Vivian Zabel 

        I was going to write an article about comma usage and then realized I already had: To comma or not to comma. Therefore I chose another grammar/punctuation area to discuss.

         Often writers become confused as to when to use apostrophes and when not to. Apostrophes remind me of comma bats, commas that hand upside down. There are rules that decide where and when apostrophes are used.

Rule 1.           Use the apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is always placed at the spot where the letter(s) has been removed.
          Examples:           don't, isn't
                              You're right.
                              She's a great teacher.

Rule 2.           Use the apostrophe to show possession. Place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession, unless the singular noun ends in an s, then place the apostrophe after the final s.
          Examples:   one boy's hat
                              one woman's hat
                              one actress' hat
                              one child's hat
                              Ms. Chang's house
                    NOTE: Names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form.

Rule 3.           Use the apostrophe where the noun that should follow is implied.
          Example:           This was his father's, not his, jacket.

Rule 4.           To show plural possession, make the noun plural first. Then immediately use the apostrophe.
          Examples:   two boys' hats
                              two women's hats
                              two actresses' hats
                              two children's hats
                              the Changs' house
                              the Joneses' golf clubs
                              the Strauses' daughter
                              the Sanchezes' artwork
                              the Hastingses' appointment
                              the Leeses' books

Rule 5.           Do not use an apostrophe for the plural of a name.
          Examples:  We visited the Sanchezes in Los Angeles.
                             The Changs have two cats and a dog.

Rule 6.           With a singular compound noun, show possession with 's at the end of the word.
          Example:           my mother-in-law's hat

Rule 7.           If the compound noun is plural, form the plural first and then
use the apostrophe.
          Example:           my two brothers-in-law's hats

Rule 8.           Use the apostrophe and s after the second name only if two people possess the same item.
          Examples:     Cesar and Maribel's home is constructed of redwood.
                                Cesar's and Maribel's job contracts will be renewed next year.
                                         Indicates separate ownership.
                                Cesar and Maribel's job contracts will be renewed next year.
                                         Indicates joint ownership of more than one contract.

Rule 9.          Never use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns: his, hers, its, theirs, ours, yours, whose.They already show possession so they do not require an apostrophe.
          Examples:
                    Correct:
                              This book is hers, not yours.
                    Incorrect:
                              Sincerely your's.

Rule 10.           The only time an apostrophe is used for it's is when it is a contraction for it is or it has.
          Examples:   It's a nice day.
                              It's your right to refuse the invitation.
                              It's been great getting to know you.

Rule 11.           The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes.
          Examples:
                    She consulted with three M.D.s.
                        BUT
                    She went to three M.D.s' offices.
         The apostrophe is needed here to show plural possessive.
                    She learned her ABCs.
                    the 1990s not the 1990's
                    the '90s or the mid-'70s not the '90's or the mid-'70's
                    She learned her times tables for 6s and 7s.
          Exception:           Use apostrophes with  letters and numbers when the meaning would be unclear otherwise.
          Examples:    Please dot your i's.  (You don't mean is.)
                              Ted couldn't distinguish between her 6's and 0's. (You don't mean Os.)

Rule 12.           Use the possessive case in front of a gerund (-ing word).
          Examples:    Alex's skating was a joy to behold.
                              This does not stop Joan's inspecting of our facilities next Thursday.

Rule 13.           If the gerund has a pronoun in front of it, use the possessive form of that pronoun.
          Examples:   I appreciate your inviting me to dinner.
                              I appreciated his working with me to resolve the conflict.

          Knowing where and when to use those bat commas is a matter of study and practice.


Vivian Zabel

Writing tips - sentences

by Vivian Zabel

          I hosted the English Refresher 101 workshop with lessons and assignments to help writers remember or learn basic grammar concepts during the MuseIt Online Writing Conference.

         I decided that I should share some of the lessons and assignments with readers of the newsletter. Today's article is about sentences.

         We need to know several things to write good sentences. The first thing we need to know is what a sentence is.

What is a sentence?

         A sentence is a group of words (clauses) which have a complete thought. A clause is a group of words with a subject and verb that go together.

Clauses: a dependent clause (subordinate clause) is a group of words that has a subject and verb but not a complete thought. (a sentence fragment is a dependent clause).
An independent clause (main clause) is a group of words that has a subject and verb and forms a complete thought.

Simple sentence: one independent clause

                             Russel enjoys baseball.

Compound sentence: two or more independent clauses joined correctly with punctuation or a comma and a conjunction

                             March is a windy month in Oklahoma, but it often has bouts of winter weather.
                             March is a windy month in Oklahoma; it often has bouts of winter weather.
                             March is a windy month in Oklahoma: it often has bouts of winter weather.

Complex sentence: one independent clause and one or more dependent clause

                             When the wind blows, the temperatures seem colder.

Compound-complex sentence: two or more independent clauses joined correctly and one or more
                             dependent clauses

                             When the wind blows, the temperatures seem colder, and I don’t want to leave the house.


         We can use a variety of sentence types in writing to make the writing more interesting.

         Some sub-topics dealing with sentence structure include using sentence fragments and run-on sentences.

Stumbling over Sentence Fragments

         When sentences are not correct, are not finely tuned, the quality and clarity of communication is lost. One way to keep sentences from working is stumbling over sentence fragments. A sentence fragment is a group of words punctuated as a sentence but which doesn’t contain a complete thought.

         Let’s examine the following paragraph to discover some sentence fragments:

         Intrepid mountain climbers scaling a tall peak. Climb higher and higher. Up the frozen slopes. When they reach the top. They can look forward to an even more treacherous descent.

         All of the sentence-like-punctuated groups of words in the preceding are fragments except the last. We will keep the paragraph in mind as we look at some ways to correct sentence fragments.

         Sometimes a fragment lacks a subject. Therefore, adding a subject makes the fragment a sentence.

                    Fragment without a subject: Climb higher and higher.
                    Sentence: They climb higher and higher.

         Another way to correct a sentence fragment would be to connect the fragment with a sentence, rewording it if necessary.

                    Fragment without subject or verb: Up the frozen slopes.
                    Sentence: They climb higher and higher up the frozen slopes.

         At times a fragment lacks a verb, perhaps using a verbal or verb without a helping verb. The way to correct this type sentence fragment would be to add a verb or change a verbal to a verb.

                    Fragment without a verb: Intrepid mountain climbers scaling a tall peak.
                    Sentence by adding a helping verb: Intrepid mountain climbers are scaling a tall peak.
                    Sentence by changing a verbal to a verb: Intrepid mountain climbers scale a tall peak.

         At times, a fragment has a subject and verb but doesn’t contain a complete thought. To create a correct sentence, usually the fragment will need to be connected to a sentence.

                    Fragment lacking a complete thought: When they reach the top.
                    Sentence: When they reach the top, they can look forward to an even more treacherous descent.

         Now let’s see how the original paragraph filled with fragments can be a correctly formatted paragraph.

         Intrepid mountain climbers scale a tall peak. They climb higher and higher up the frozen slopes. When they reach the top, they can look forward to an even more treacherous descent.

         A side note, sometimes writers will use an occasional sentence fragment for effect, but only occasionally. The effect is easily recognized by the reader when this practice is used. Otherwise, avoiding the problem is best.

         Finally, once we conquer the problem, we have no more stumbles because of sentences fragments, which could be dangerous on steep, frozen slopes.

Running into Run-On Sentence

         Run-sentences halt a reader because he or she has to stop and decide what the writer means. Run-on sentences are compound sentences joined incorrectly. A run-on sentence interrupts the flow and meaning of what is written.

         All right, I see those confused looks. First of all, a compound sentence is two or more independent clauses joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction, by a semicolon, or by a colon.

         An independent clause or main clause is a group of words with a subject and verb which contains a complete thought.

Independent clause: The boy ran around the house, screaming at the top of his voice.
Dependent clause (not a complete thought}: Screaming at the top of his voice.

         A coordinating conjunction is a word such as and, but, or, nor, yet, or for that joins items of equal value. The conjunction may join subjects, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and/or clauses.

         Now let’s examine run-on sentence problems and how to correct them. The first run-on sentence which we’ll work with is as follows:

Run-on: Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia the deal was mocked as “Seward’s Folly.”

         One way to correct the run-on uses an end mark and a capital letter to separate the independent (or main} clauses into separate sentences.

Separate sentences: Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia. The deal was mocked as “Seward’s Folly.”

         Another way is to use a semicolon between clauses.

Semicolon: Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia; the deal was mocked as “Seward’s Folly.” Note: both clauses must be closely related for this method to work.

         Using a comma and a coordinating conjunction between clauses also works.

Comma and coordinating conjunction: Secretary of State William Seward brought Alaska from Russia, but the deal was mocked as “Seward’s Folly.”

         A final way to correct a run-on sentence is to introduce one clause with a subordinating conjunction (creating a dependent or subordinate clause - a clause not making a complete thought) and use a comma before the new independent or main clause. This combination creates a complex sentence: the use of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Complex sentence: When Secretary of State William Seward brought Alaska from Russia, the deal was mocked as “Seward’s Folly.”

         A comma splice, another type of run-on sentence, can be corrected in the same ways. In a comma splice, the two independent clauses are joined only by a comma. The sample sentence will be the following:

Comma splice: The president of the company found himself in a quandary, the company was going bankrupt.

Separate sentences: The president of the company found himself in a quandary. The company was going bankrupt.

Semicolon: The president of the company found himself in a quandary; the company was going bankrupt.

Comma and coordinating conjunction: The president of the company found himself in a quandary, for the company was going bankrupt.

Complex sentence: Because the company was going bankrupt, the president of the company found himself in a quandary.

         Hopefully, the preceding information will help everyone better understand how to avoid run-on sentences. Running into them hurts comprehension.


Vivian Zabel