The 7 Points of Write: An Essential Guide to Mastering the Art of Storytelling, Developing Strong Characters, and Setting Memorable Scenes (8 page)
Authors: Daniel Middleton
Tags: #Language Arts & Disciplines, #Composition & Creative Writing, #Bisac Code 1: LAN005590, #Bisac Code 1: LAN005540, #Bisac Code 1: PER019000
As a writer, you will have to learn how to describe settings in a vivid way. Through the setting, you want to draw powerful feelings from your readers and plant strong, clear images in their minds. In the opening scenes of a Movie Book we released in 2011 called
Long, Cold Winter
, we get just such a scene, which paints a vivid picture of the New England forests the main characters drive through to get to a remote lodge.
The winding back roads they had traveled since setting out at six o’clock that morning had provided a panorama of constantly changing and breathtakingly beautiful scenery. The forests were full of late autumn’s lush colors, and clusters of red, orange, and yellow made for a dramatic vista. Between the collage of colors, evergreens filled the hills and valleys with splashes of emerald and jade and purified the air with their clean, piney scent.
New England is known for its stunning fall colors, and that is played up to great effect in the above scene description. Anyone who has driven similar roads in autumn will readily identify, and those who haven’t will long to after reading the above.
If dialogue plays a part in the scene, you want to expand on the setting further by interspersing descriptions of it within the dialogue itself and through the eyes of your characters. This way, the setting is not just a pretty backdrop, but an integral part of the scene. Going back to
Kill Factor: Serpent Head
, we are presented with a nighttime scene in the beautiful French Riviera, where two characters, who have just met, are walking toward a popular marina as they feel each other out. The scene description that follows places us directly in the setting:
The night air was crisp and sweet as it drifted in from the Mediterranean. As they talked, the two walked down to the marina and strolled along a crowded avenue before turning onto a narrow wharf that jutted out into the harbor. Several yachts were moored on either side of them, and they appeared unoccupied. When they came to the end of the wharf, the brisk, salty air of the French Riviera blew against Magenta’s face as she admired the night sky. Above them, the moon’s enchanting glow cast down its silver radiance, which shimmered atop the waters of the harbor.
There is no mistaking where these characters are or what the night air feels and smells like, but you don’t have to spell that out in great detail, as it is already implied. As the scene continues, more dialogue is exchanged, and then the female character’s attention is drawn elsewhere:
Egli was looking at her profile, since her attention had been drawn to something out on the water. When he looked in the direction in which she was looking, he said, “In that case, what kind of conversation do you propose?” A yacht was anchored in the distance, a few lights shining along deck windows on its starboard side. They could hear what sounded like a faint commotion drifting toward them from the boat and music trailing through the air.
“Do you think they are giving a party?” Magenta asked, changing the subject.
The scene description that is interspersed in the dialogue actually becomes a part of the conversation and is therefore an integral part of the scene. What’s more, we are seeing it through the eyes of the characters. The next example is no different:
“Perhaps. There are scores happening all around us as we speak,” said Egli, sweeping his eyes over the buildings that rose out of the mountain landscape behind them. “We can go to one if you’d like.
As we can see from the above, dialogue can come to life if it is interspersed with actual setting information. For instance, in one of your conversations someone might place a cup down on a “Corian” countertop, or characters might be talking in an outdoor café setting when one of them notices a couple walking by and describes clothes that place us in the 1920s. Be mindful, however, that you do not want to intersperse random descriptions that are not integral to the plot or scene in question, or else do not go into great detail about people passing by. They can merely act as a time stamp or a moving backdrop that brings your setting to life. After all, the idea is to have the scene be as real and fleshed out as possible, which means sticking to details that bear that out and not straying from them.
With time and practice, you will begin to get a good sense of when and where to intersperse scene descriptions, how to create rises and falls in dialogue, and, in fact, how to apply all of the lessons contained in this book. But it will take just that: time and practice. Learning how to write, and write well, is not something that happens overnight. It will take a great deal of dedication and desire on your part, but it is possible. And the seven
Points
I have laid out here are just the start.
Here’s to powerful storytelling!
C
ONCLUSION
Y
OU WILL NOTE THAT
the
7 Points of Write
are not a set of rules based on a paint-by-numbers writing system; rather, they are a set of principles, or literary philosophies, culled from years of editorial experience and publishing know-how. They are not a magic pill that will grant you writing expertise overnight. Everything that is presented in this book is essentially a primer, a jumping off point in your extended quest to achieve storytelling greatness. It is up to you, the writer, to apply these principles in your everyday writing and study your craft.
While this book is aimed at fiction writers, particularly those interested in writing novels, we run a publishing company with a unique set of rules. For one, novels tend to run between 75,000 and 100,000 words, so we don’t refer to our books as “novels” or approach fiction writing from an industry standpoint, where a plot has to take up a week’s worth of material (if one were to read at a normal pace). Through 711 Press, we instead publish what we call Movie Books, which contain stories that are meant to be consumed in the same amount of time it takes you to watch an actual film or television show. And while the mediums differ, our Movie and TV Books apply the same storytelling conventions used in film and television productions. Certain themes are explored, plot arcs are carried over, and characters are given room to develop and grow as the narrative unspools during the course of your reading. But all this doesn’t take a week to experience, since our books, as I said, take the same amount of time to read as watching a movie or television show does.
So what is said herein is really for those who want to tell organic stories that form out of natural events you recount in a seamless narrative. We don’t believe in paint-by-numbers writing formulas or exaggerated word and page counts that force writers to artificially inflate their stories for the sake of minimum requirements, which only creates novel “filler.” If you have a story to tell, tell it. But let it happen naturally, or as naturally as possible. You can learn how to do that with practice and study.
Also, be aware that the experience gained from actually writing a novel or a series of stories cannot be replaced or replicated. You have to be in the moment, knee-deep in the creative process to allow these seven
Points
to take root. A writer writes, period. No matter how many workshops you attend or how many books you read on writing, it will take actual practice to learn your craft and become good at it. In fact, in order to become good at anything—scuba diving, driving a car, riding a bike, speaking a new language—it doesn’t matter how many lessons you take. What really teaches you is experience.
As I’ve said, great writers aren’t born, they’re made, and just about anyone can learn how to tell a compelling story if they have drive and direction. Most importantly, however, you have to be a student of storytelling, and that means imbibing it in all of its various forms. Go to plays, watch movies and TV shows, listen to audio books, and read, read, read. Read as often as you can, and as diverse a collection of material as you can. Read newspapers, how-to books, novels, short stories, and pay attention to how the words flow on the pages, where punctuations fall, and note the points that are being brought forth. Pay attention to themes and narrative flows and how the story is unfolding or building, and concentrate on dialogue exchanges and word usage. Read at least seven times the amount of writing you achieve in one day (seven paragraphs for one paragraph of written material, seven pages for one page you write, etc.).
Note also that the world itself is your school, so study the people and things around you. You can glean valuable information by doing so. This is what great painters have done. Life is actually speaking to you; life is always teaching you, but you have to be open and attuned to the things that it’s showing you. Your eyes have to be open, and your ears have to be open. Say you want to write a hospital scene; instead of researching where tubes go, what machines are in the room, or what the medical terminology is for this and that, first tap into a past experience that involves a hospital setting and relive that experience through your scene. Think about what it felt like when a close friend or relative was sick. Remember what you felt inside, and let the emotions flow through your fingers. In short, learn from life, listen to life as it speaks to you, and tap into the things you’ve seen and experienced firsthand. In time, you’ll begin to write with ease, and words will form wonderful sentences right before your eyes, and those sentences will combine to form paragraphs that will convey meaningful thoughts and interesting ideas to your readers.
Before you know it, you’ll have a book on your hands, and one that contains a very compelling story that is all your own.
A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR
D
ANIEL MIDDLETON BEGAN
his career in book publishing in 2001, by proofreading and copyediting galley proofs for a small Brooklyn-based press. Since that time, Mr. Middleton, in addition to editing a variety of works, has developed a love of graphic design and has become an accomplished book designer in his own right, heading up a book design company he launched in 2005 called
Scribe Freelance
. Through his company, he has had the good fortune of working with a number of successful self-published authors and small presses with unique offerings.
Recently, he decided to parlay his collective publishing experience into a new publishing company,
711 Press
, which has released this publication and will focus solely on new works of fiction.
Daniel Middleton resides in New York with his loving wife and adoring daughter.
