A Stupid Writing Rule

Recently, there has been some discussion on social media about "writing what you know." Some believe a writer should only write what they know. This is a stupid rule.

If writers followed this advice, we wouldn't have any historial stories, fantasy, futuristic stories, or sci-fi.

Better advice is to write what inspires you and do your research.

I'm more uncomfortable writing a contemporary story than a historical one. Technology changes so much that I can't keep up with it, and I feel out of touch with modern times. I must have an old soul. I'd rather spend time researching historical periods to write about.

I've never been to Scotland, but I've written more than one story set there in medieval times. I read travel blogs by people who'd visited the places I wanted to use for my settings, and I read Walter Scott books with detailed descriptions of these areas. Google Earth was also really helpful. I even found sites dedicated to historical Scotland with specs for hill forts. Written accounts by various monks also helped me get a feel for that time period. There are also archaelogical websites that have a wealth of information.

Writing what you don't know is possible.

www.kelleyheckart.com

Monday Musings: Too many rules can kill a good story

Don’t have a prologue, don’t use ‘ing’ words, don’t use adverbs, don’t use ‘was’ or ‘were,’ don’t use that, when, once or as—don’t, don’t don’t… Grr. How many writers out there have heard one or more of these? Just about every writing group I’ve been involved with has said all of the above, especially about never having a prologue. I have stories with prologues—published ones. Breaking that rule didn’t seem to hurt me. With all the restrictions, how is a writer supposed to be creative?

It can be stifling to have to follow a bunch of rigid rules. It can also take the feeling out of your story. These words are around for a reason. The key is knowing when to use them and not to overuse. Some stories need a prologue. You do what is right for your story.

Here’s my advice:

Learn the rules but write what feels right and use balance—don’t do too much of one thing. Balance is the key to a well-written story.

I’ve discovered that worrying about the rules too much can take the feeling out of my writing. This is especially true while writing the first draft. In fact, I think some of my earlier writing is better because I wrote more from the heart and worried less about rules. Let it go and let the words flow. Worry about revisions later.

But letting go can be the hardest part. Just take a deep breath and go for it. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that it’s wrong to use any of the above taboo words or techniques.

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Balance is the key to a great story

Balance is the key to life and it is also the key to writing a great story. When I refer to balance in a story, I’m referring to things like varying sentences—long sentences followed by short ones, not starting every sentence with the same words. I’m also referring to not repeating words and phrases, creating descriptions that add to the story without overpowering it and adding body language tags to sections of dialog so you don’t have “talking heads syndrome.”
To help me remember to balance out my stories, I compare writing stories to writing songs. A song has different parts and instruments; all the layers have to be balanced to work. Writing is also like baking. When baking something, you have to have all the right balance of ingredients—too much of an ingredient or not enough ingredients will have an effect on whatever you are baking. Some writers also compare writing to weaving.
The easy way to remember to balance out your story is to remind yourself that too much of anything in a story will throw the story out of balance.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Writing difficult scenes

Being a writer means I can make up stories and the fates of my characters are in my hands, but it also means writing those scenes that are hard the write. I’m talking about the scenes that go against my own beliefs or the scenes that make me squeamish. As a writer, I have to put aside my own feelings and do what is right for the story and the characters.

This is different for each writer. For me it’s difficult to write scenes that involve an animal death. I hate to see animals die. I won’t even watch a movie if I know an animal will die. But sometimes these types of scenes are important to the plot. That still doesn’t make them any easier to write. I would never kill an animal or even a person for no reason. The plot has to be moved forward in some way by the death.

I’ve had to write a couple of these scenes. In one book, a dog’s death brought the hero and heroine closer. In another soon-to-be released book, the animal death was symbolic and also true to the time period in regards to sacrifices made to the gods. This scene was really difficult to write and I almost deleted it, but then decided I had to stay true to the time period and to the story. It was a necessary scene. My editor agreed. This type of scene may upset some readers, but that’s a chance I had to take.
Writing that difficult scene isn’t always easy to do, but a writer needs to put aside his or her own feelings and stay true to the story. After all, it’s our job as writers to move the story forward, not to write what we want or to coddle the reader. Sometimes those difficult to write, heartbreaking scenes are the ones that resonate most with readers.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/ Check out my long hair hotties!
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604
A Greek vampire, Celtic kings, vengeful goddesses, an ancient faery curse…

All three books of my Dark Goddess trilogy are available in Print and Ebook. Set in Dark Age Scotland, I mixed history with a Samhain/Beltaine myth that revolves around an Irish clan and the goddesses Brigit and Cailleach.
http://kelleyheckart.com/BookShelf.html

Writing fiction—don’t forget the Goal, Motivation and Conflict

The GMC or Goal, Motivation and Conflict are the most important ingredients in storytelling and somehow I started a story and forgot all about the GMC. I had my basic idea and characters, but when I started working on the story, I forgot to pin down the three main points. It didn’t take me long to realize that my story had no where to go because my characters had no specific desires or wanted to gain anything and nothing was holding them back. No GMC = no story.

First, the goal is the one thing the main characters want. The goal needs to be something that they want so badly they will do anything to get to that goal. The goal should be important enough for characters to act against.
The motivation is why the characters want what they want—the drive and back-story. Anything is possible for a character as long as the writer explains why to give the reader enough motivation to give the story credibility. The writer needs to know their characters well so that the actions stay in character and are justified and clear to readers. When a character wants something bad enough, the reader will too.
The last piece is conflict—why the characters can’t get what they want, the trouble, tension and roadblocks that are preventing the characters from achieving their goals. Conflict drives the plot and motivates the characters. There are two types of conflict—external and internal. External conflict can be a person, an intolerable situation or an act of God. Internal conflict is inner struggles within the characters.
I find it helpful to have character charts for my main characters. Here is an example of a character chart that I use to help me get to know my characters so I can define their goals, motivation and conflict:
Character Name:
Sun Sign:
Race:
Age:
Height:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Skin Color:
Weapons:
Religion or Beliefs:
Dilemma:
Goal:
Motivation:
Conflict:
His secret:
What would destroy him:
What would help him survive and be better:
Bad Trait:
Good Trait:

Happy Writing!

Kelley Heckart

'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Three different women, one ancient curse…
http://kelleyheckart.com/winters_requiem.html

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Looking forward, not backward

I have always been one to keep moving forward. If I left a job and had the opportunity to return to that job, I declined and decided on a new opportunity. I applied the same rule to boyfriends. If I broke up with a guy and he asked me to give him another chance, I didn’t. Perhaps I was too harsh, but maybe not. Maybe I was right to move on to a new guy, a new experience. I find myself applying this rule to my writing as well.

Now that I have seven novels finished—six published and one contracted, I have been thinking about the next phase in my writing career. One thing I have pondered is whether I should go back and re-write/re-release my first couple of novels. I keep having this thought that I could make them better since I am a more experienced writer now. But my rule of ‘keep moving forward’ is standing in my way. And maybe I should follow my rule.

If I decided to re-write and re-release some of these earlier novels, then precious time and energy that could be used to start and finish a new series and/or new stories would be wasted. A little voice inside my head is telling me to move forward, to put out new stories. I think I should listen to that voice.

Kelley Heckart

'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/ Check out my long hair hotties!
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Three different women, one ancient curse…
http://kelleyheckart.com/winters_requiem.html

Technorati Tags: kelley heckart,self-help,life lessons,looking foward,writing