Editing (When the Real Work Begins)

Who likes editing? Well, good for whoever raised their hand. I, however, do not. It's annoying, all the rules about where a comma goes, which word goes first, and all the bloody rules that no one ever is taught in school! (Like when making pauses in dialogue, it's not ... its dot, space, dot, space, dot, space. If you knew that, kudos to you.) I will admit I am not one for grammar and the technical rules in writing. That's okay. That's where spell check, editors, and editing software come in. I will share what I have learned about editing and hope it will help you.

First, find someone who is smart, you trust, and will honestly tell you if a sentence doesn't make sense at all. DO NOT pick someone who says you did a great job. Yes, that's always nice to hear, but an editor is not there to build you up. A good editor will take your written work, break it apart, and rebuild something wonderful. It is always good to have more then one editor. One will notice things the other doesn't, and vise versa. Also, its good to have someone in your marketed age group to read it. Be sure to read what you've written at least twice before sending it to an editor.   

Next, know and except you will have several mistakes on every page. It's alright. Don't freak. Be happy there are a lot of highlighted sentences, because if the editor did not notice it, an annoyed reader will. Mistakes are how to learn anyways. 

Listen to your editors. They know more about editing then you do (that's why they're called an editor and you're the writer). A second opinion should always be accepted warmly. 

Once everything is edited, read the manuscripts over again. I always read it out loud. If that doesn't work for you, at least read the dialogue out loud. People mess up dialogue by adding to many beats (action between dialogue) or not having a clear rhythm throughout the character's words. Make sure everything's how you want it to be. Shoot for perfection and you'll land close. After everything is done, read it over one last time. Yes, its time consuming and hard and draining and you think you'd rather be writing and bla, bla, bla. 10% of making a book is writing it and 90% is editing, designing, and printing it. Even if you're not publishing your written work, the 10% and 90% applies just the same.

There are several editing software for writing and I will only touch on four; StyleWriter, WhiteSmoke, Pro Writing Aid, and Autocrit. What each of these programs does is it reads through a document and records everything. Each counts how many times a word is used, which words should be erased, if something is grammatically incorrect, and so forth. Most suggest different words if another is needed, create graphs to show the length of sentences (which should all be of random lengths by the way), and dialogue tag (he said, she said) tracker. 

If you consider writing as a career, I highly suggest getting one of these programs. Pro Writing Aid and Autocrit offer free editing services, however it is limited. They have advanced programs, but, of course, it takes money. As for WhiteSmoke, I have not heard that many good things about it. I have not personally used it, but found it did not offer as much as the others. As for StyleWriter, there are three package deals you can get. This is the most thorough program and gives a lot of information about you story. It is not necessarily made for creative writing, as the other ones are, however it still can be useful. I suggest researching through all and finding the one that best fits your project.    

Well, there you have it! If you think you're amazing at editing, still have at least two to five other people read what you're working on. I'm not saying you’re dumb and can't edit correctly. Everyone thinks his or her book is amazingly written and is blind to the details. Another set of eyes is always a wise decision.

Happy writing! 

How to Write an Epic Hero and Villain: Part 2

A while ago, I posted a blog about how to write an awesome hero (How to Write an Epic Hero and Villain: Part 1).

But now it’s time for the fun part; the villain. Dun! Dun! Ddduuunnn!

I like villains. I think most people do. I did a survey at my high school and found the most liked character was the villain. Heroes are always the same; they're mostly good and they win and save everyone in the process. The villains thought . . . they're all a little different and they do what everyone wants to do.

In my mind, there are three main of villain to choose from: there is the villain who knows what they're doing is wrong and hates it, the villain who believes what they're doing is right, and the villain that knows what they are doing is wrong, but does it anyway with a smile. There’s other types of bad guys, but here’s something to get you started.

Now, the villain who knows what he/she does is wrong and hates it is, in my opinion, not a cool bad guy. They are being forced into doing something by someone else. That someone else is stronger than the villain, therefore the mystery person is the true nasty person. The hero has a chance to save the secondary villain from the true villain, thus uniting, and somewhat not being at odds with one another anymore. Conflict, then, is closed as they focus on overtaking the mystery person who once controlled the villain. Understand?

Then there's the villain who believes what he/she is doing is right. These ones are fun because it is extremely difficult to stop someone from finishing what they believe with all their heart it good. The hero would have to convince the villain’s core belief, how they see the world, and who they are is bad. People don't take things like that lightly and it would be hard to stop/convince such a person. On the flip side, if a villain believes what they are doing is right, that means they have some morals of right and wrong. Yes, screwed up morals, but morals none the less. Because they acknowledge there is such a thing as wrong, there is a chance they can be convinced their actions are bad.

But! There's the villain who knows what he/she is doing wrong, doesn't care, and loves it all the same. This, ladies and gentlemen, is evil in its purest form. This villain cannot be convinced their ways are wrong because they already know. They also cannot be convinced to change because they love what they do. Their drive is not greed, or vengeance, or lust (though it can be the secondary reason). Their primary drive is to have fun. It’s all a game to them. Just a game that everyone else should play. A sick minded individual you could say.

As I said with the hero, a villain must be believable. There must be a reason behind what they do. And it can’t always be revenge! That’s like one of the most common villain traits! It’s a cliché and overrated. Pick something else.

Just as heroes should have a bad side, most villains should have a good side. Some bad guys are straight up wacked and have nothing good about them, but for the most part there should be at least one good thing about the villain. They should love and care for their mom. They like to plant flowers. They’re good with kids. They like fish and care for them. They enjoy opera and dreamed of singing on stage someday. Again, there must be a reason behind their good traits. (Their mom was the only one who loved the, flowers are pretty even when it rains, kids are innocent and can’t see the villain’s darkness, he/she relates to fish, trapped and confined to a tank, and the only compliment they ever got was they sang like an angel.)

By the way, villains aren't fearless. Somewhere along the lines bad guys are written as heartless fiends who don’t feel anything. Villains can be afraid too. They can doubt themselves and hesitate.

These are just options. Please make a unique villain for the world to fear/enjoy. Without them, a story’s empty.

Happy writing!

Exercise:

Pretend you are a villain.

Write down all the things you honestly would do if you were a bad guy. Below each dastardly thing, wright the reason why you’d do it. Below the reason why, explain. Dig deep.

“But I’m a perfect person, Heather. I’d do nothing wrong.”

Everyone’s got something, even its littering on the road.

Next, create a villain with similar traits (you wrote your villainous side first as an anchor to keep this exercise close to reality). Dig into their past, see what makes them tick, and don’t exaggerate. Keep it believable.

Once you’re done, write a scene with your new, amazing villain and have someone read it. What do they think?

Have fun with this. Remember, a villain’s someone who does what we all want to do.  

Pictures Say a Thousand Words

Your opinion matters. A lot. And that's what I need right now; your opinion.

By Christmas this year, Lord willing, I'm going to publish the first book in a new trilogy; "Hearts of Glass: Shattered Lives". The photo shoot for the book cover went wonderfully and two of my amazing friends, Katie Arnzen (the genius behind the camera) and Mikaela Martin (the beautiful poser) helped a great deal.

Here's where you come in.

Below are three of the pictures that could be the book cover. I can't decide between them. Pick which one you like and go to my Facebook page (Heather R. Acquistapace - The Word Artist), like the page, then like/comment on which picture you want to see for the cover. There's other pictures from the photo shoot too and if you like them, please leave a comment.

Thanks so much for your vote!

How to Write an Epic Hero and Villain: Part 1

Good vs. evil.

That's what it's always about; stories of conflict between two things, may it be man, nature, or beast. The hero and villain are what shape the story and without them, there is no tale. Both characters SHOULD be deep, real, and have a reason behind their choices of good or evil. Too many stories these days just have the hero as good moral Jo that saves people without hesitation and evil Frank who always wears black and never smiles. But that isn't a worthy hero/villain. There's not depth to that. So! Do you want to learn what makes a superb hero and dastardly villain? Good. Buckle up. Let's begin.

We'll start with the hero. The next post will be about villain. The definition of a protagonist (hero) is the main character of a drama or other literary words and the leader/principal person in a movement/cause. That's all a hero has to be: some dude or chick who has enough morals, guts, will, and so on to challenge ______. We all know that, don't we?

Here's the kicker that separates some good guy from a person we revere. First, as I have said several times before, make the characters real (read about how to do so in my How to Make Unrealisticness Real blog). Make the hero as real as you can. For instance, have you ever met anyone who would risk their life for a stranger? If so, great. But most likely you have not. People aren't naturally heroic. People are self-center, self-indulging, and uncaring life forms. So, how do you make a realistic hero? They must have a believable reason behind their urge to help/save/fight for _____. What is their motive? "Well, Heather, that's silly! They have the common good in mind!" Give me a break. No one's like that.

Do they help others because that's how they build themselves up? Are they so afraid to let people see who they really are, they constantly help/save/whatever so people see only that side of them? Do they base their identity on what good things they do?

Or. Are they really not that good at all and do good things to pay off a debt, are being forced to help others, or want something in return?

No one's a natural hero. Everyone has their little dark secrets; desires that would surprise most. To make a hero real, you must give them flaws. Too many heroes are flawless, but in real life no one’s like that. What does the hero do wrong? Who do they hurt? What are their insecurities? That's a big one, insecurities. We all have them, no matter how hard we try to hide it. Insecurities make people do odd things, things that don't fit their personality, things that change who they are from the inside out. The hero, or any character for that matter, should mirror that.

Clichés are stupid. The hero doesn't have to get the girl/boy. He/she doesn't have to be attractive. They don't have to be related to the villain in some way or another. The hero’s parents don’t have to die or a loved one be gunned down by the villain. And, IF they are victorious, there doesn't have to be a party. Do something new. Please! You have an amazing imagination and can come up with exciting, fresh things! No more stale endings we've all seen a thousand times! You and the hero can do it. I know you can.

A hero can be anyone, even bad people, who decide to do what’s right for a moment in time. The key is to find the balance between complete chivalry and accurate responses to the story’s events. It’s a tricky balance, but you’ll find it. Always ask yourself, is the hero’s actions realistic? That’s always the best question. You’ll find the balance, though. I know you will.

Happy Writing!  

Exercise:

Look up real events in which a person risks their lives to save others. Watch/read what they did, interviews with the person and what they think of their actions, and how others react.

Take a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle, and wright on one side the modern hero’s common traits (work, family, were they live, their place in society, where they went to school, etc.). On the other side write the uncommon things they do/did (what made them a modern hero). Brainstorm what compelled the person to disregard their own safety and help others.

Use what you find to write a more compelling and believable hero.   

  

How to Write a Story

How do you write a story? When I talk with people about writing, I found the majority have a story to tell, but don't know how to begin. I'll be honest with you, writing is difficult. But! Not impossible.
How I think of and develop a story is by asking a lot of questions. Think of yourself as a historian and you are looking for a detailed account during such and such a time, in which your story took place (AKA view your story as history, not some tale you came up). It is up to you to discover it for only you can write it! Discovery comes with questions.
First, there is initial inspiring question (which I call the What If Factor); the question that the story is built on. Throughout the creation of the story, this question holds all things together. Examples of this are: What if buried treasure was cursed and those who stole it never die? (Pirates of the Caribbean) What if vampires are real and a normal high school girl fell in love with one? (Twilight) What if toys came to life when children left the room? (Toy Story) This is the first building block that is set on the foundation of the story. It also is a very cool question to come up with. I like to sit back, on a long drive or something like that, and let my mind ask anything it wants. Most of the time its crazy, but unique ideas are what people are looking for. Something new. Something fresh.
Once you have the What If Factor, start asking more questions. For teaching purposes, let's say my what if question is: What if animals suddenly could talk? (Oh! wouldn't that be cool!) My next question would show me the bare bone outline of the story. What are people's reactions to animals talking? Would people hate them? Love them? Worship them? Would a few want to kill them all? Would others want to bring them into society as if they are equal with humans? Would their be animal prejudice? What about the animals? Are they surprised they can talk? Are they happy? Sad? Afraid? What do they say? Do they want to be equal with humans or do they want to still live in the wild? Basically, what is the effects of animals talking?
Let's say the world is divided; some people think animals should become equal to humans, and others think animals are just animals and should be treated no less. Great! Division! Without conflict, there is no story, so stir up the chaos, the revenge, greed, tension, whatever's going to make your conflict. Now that we know there's division, how does that effect the world? It's all about cause and effect, cause and effect, and with every cause, there is an effect that should further the conflict in the story to keep it going.

Zoos would have to be shut down. Everyone would become vegetarians and millions of people in the meat industry would be out of a job all over the world. Animals, now with a say, could decide if they wanted to work in the field or in an office. Homes, buildings, transportation, businesses, and day to day living would be made differently as to accommodate animals' size, abilities, habits, and needs (and, being the amazing writer you are, you have to come up with different jobs, transportation, building designs, and so on. Don’t just say things have changed, show what specifically and how).
Hunting would be illegal. What if the people who don't see animals as equals hunt them anyways? What is the penalty? Would the people who threw out unwanted puppies, hunted, flushed goldfish, and so forth before animals could talk going to jail? Are the animals mad at the people who neglected them, beat them, used their family as food? How do they respond?
Can you see the hostility? The tension in the air? Good. Next you ask yourself a very important question. Why? Why write this story? What is the point you are trying to make? Do you want to convince your reader animals are not treated fairly? Is this a book about rights as a whole, not just animal rights? What are you trying to teach, say, persuade? A story without a hidden message is fine, but if there is meaning behind the plot, it will stick in the readers mind even more.
Now that the bare bone outline of the story is figured out, we dive even deeper. Who is the main character? Is it an animal? A human? Is there two main characters, one human and one animal? What is their opinion of the situation? How do they respond to the chaos around them? Are they angry? Overwhelmed? Unsure? What do other people/animals say they should do? Do they agree or disagree? Do they brake the law and kill the humans/animals who have hurt them in the past? Do they riot? Do they hide in a cave/house? Remember to make the characters as realistic as possible as to make the story believable, which you can read how to do in my How to Make Unrealisticness Real blog post.
Once you have the characters, the setting, the conflict, its time for the nitty-gritty details. What are the detailed effects of the character(s) small discussions? How far will they go to follow what they believe? Do they doubts what they believe? What makes them doubt? What or who blocks their goals, believes, way to success, survival, etc. How will they overcome the obstetrical (i.e. villain)? Will they overcome?
To find the end of a story is not by picking a nice, warm fuzzy scene where everyone rides off into the sunset. The end is where all the causes and effects come to a close, no matter how bad or good it is. Yes, its good to end a story in a happy way, but some story were never meant to end in a happy light. In my Hearts of Glass series (which the first book will be published by the end of this year) ends in a odd way. I tried to write it so that everyone good wins, but all the causes and effects said no. The effect is not a typical ending. Sometimes the ending is bad, but you can still make it good. The very last feeling you give your reader is what they will remember. Think of Braveheart, Titanic, or Gladiator. All of the heroes die in the end, but the movies end by giving the audience a happy feel. Braveheart and Gladiator end with the heroes dying to be at peace with the woman they love. Titanic ends with Rose making peace with Jack’s death.
This is a brief  overview of how to create a story. If you can't seem to discover an angle to your tale, keep asking questions. The answers are there, just keep looking. The more you ask, the more you will discover, the more you'll know, and the clearer your story will be. Yes, it takes work, but everything beautiful takes time.

Happy writing!  

Words: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

What makes a good book? Yes, there must be character development. Yeah, yeah, and don't forget an interesting plot that sucks readers in and won't let them escape. But what about the little things? The words. I want you to imagine a story is a living, breathing animal. Words are the cells, pages the body systems, chapters the body parts, and the story is the whole being. What if the cells of an animal are all discombobulated? Then everything else will be off. Likewise, if the individual words in a story are tweaked the wrong way, everything else will be wrong. I don't want that. For anyone. So! Listen up! Here's the good, the bad, and the butt ugly words you should/shouldn't use.

First of all, the number one rule of writing is to NEVER make your reader work (besides figuring out who done it). They should never struggle to understanding the point you're trying to make. Always keep the number one rule in mind. If you brake it you louse readers.

Also to keep in mind, stories are to be shown, not told. You can read more about this in my Don't Tell Me, Show! post. In the 1800's, everyone wrote stories in a tell fashion. Things have changes and no one wants to read a story that's told. With this said, there are several words you should never use in your writing. Telling words such as adverbs (-ly words) and present participle (-ing words) are sappy writing. Don't say "they slowly walked down the road" (which everyone seems to do and I don't know why!). Instead, replace "slowly walked" with a word that is precise and, in a way, tidy writing: "they strolled (sauntered, patted, trudged, moseyed, lingered, etc.) down the road". Adverbs are unnecessary and lead to sloppy writing. Yes, you get the point across and an average reader will not see a problem. However! Because you want to be the best writer you can ever become, you will not use adverbs! You will replace them with more effective words! Please! And besides, it’s fun to find words that deliver the point the best.

As for -ing words, avoid them the best you can and replace them with past tense words (-ed). Sometimes I have to use them (because I can't think of anything else or I'm plane lazy). Don't use it often, though.

Dialogue Tags (this is fun stuff here)! Dialogue Tags are the "he said" "she said" phrases. I have been told different tactics about Dialogue Tags and know that every writer has their own method. I'll tell you the three methods I've heard and you find your way. First, spice Dialogue Tags up with, occasionally, using words other than "said". Words such as asked, yelled, cried, screamed, muttered, whispered, snorted, laughed, and a host of others. Readers get bored with seeing "said" every time someone speaks. Change it up. Second, don't use Dialogue Tags at all. Instead of using them, put a character's action in its place, either before or after the dialogue itself. It can be the character's gestures, where they look, if they clear their throat, body language, and so one. Third, have a combination of the two (which is what I do now). Use Dialogue Tags once every 4-5 times an indication of who’s talking is needed. Otherwise, describe the speaker's actions. Make sense? Good.

Last, there are a lot of words and phrases that are just weak sauce. There's several in the sentence you read a second ago. Can you see it? Let's start with the weak words. There are two.

It is "just" and the second "that". WEAK! If I took them out of the sentence, you would still understand my point. Now, the weak phrases. There are two.

"There are" and "a lot." Its weak and I don't need them. Here is how I would rephrase the messed up sentence: "Lastly, curtain words and phrases are weak sauce." Is it easier to read the second sentence version? Most of the time, a sentence needs to be broken down and reshaped to be perfect. Rule of thumb, if a word is not needed, get rid of it!

To clear the air, I follow these rules when I write stories, but not in my blog. I write my blogs as though we're having a conversation. Speaking of how I talk, words used in dialogue is another realm of discussion (which I will share in a future blog).

I hope this helps! Happy writing!

Exercise:

Pick one of the topics I touched on and select one of your written works. Correct it according to the rules you've learned and see how it turns out. Please tell me what you think! I love feedback!         

Epic Writing Music!

I like to listen to music when I write. That's just what I do and I think others are the same way. The hard part is finding music that 1. does not jumble your thoughts so that it's impossible to create, 2. long enough to not be bothered by looking for another song, and 3. something inspires you to make new realms and adventures.
I thought I would share some of my favorite music selections. The first four are at least one hour long, if not more, and the last six are some of my all time favorites. I hope you enjoy them and, PLEASE!, share some of the things you listen to.

This one's AMAZING! Long, good vocals, and a music that makes you want to take on the world!

This one's more upbeat, more in your face, more WILD! And, it's 5 whole hours long. Epic. 

Here is a selection of calm music, good for poetry, happy writing scenes, and editing.  

Have you ever heard of Two Steps From Hell? If you haven't, then you've never lived! Click on the link to check out their YouTube channel. All of their music is amazing because they make songs for movie trailers (aka the songs are so inspiring they make you jump right off your feet and go on an epic quest to a distant land!) 

Below is a list of songs that I love. They're all from Two Steps From Hell. Listen if. . . .

 . . . you want to run headlong into battle.

 . . . be a knight on a mighty steed!

 . . . dance to the sound of triumph.

 . . . write with a peaceful, joyful mind.

 . . . feel hope and acceptance.

 . . . pee your pants. 

Enjoy and don't forget to comment on what songs you write to!