How to Ensure Your Readers Suspend Disbelief

by C. Patrick Schulze

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To write FICTION is to write lies, is it not? And yet, though our readers have full knowledge we lie to them, they must, and do, willingly suspend disbelief with every NOVEL they enjoy. How does that work?

If we get right to the nub, the secret to a good novel is this willingness to suspend disbelief, isn't it? Here's evidence of that. Would you enjoy a novel that contained an exciting plot, magnificent characters, compelling conflict and effective dialogue, if it's base premise said, without equivocation, all humans are vile, worthless creatures? Probably not.

Why not?

Because no author will ever convince you all people, including you, are contemptible and have no value whatever. It's simply beyond belief.

Herein lies one secret to have your readers suspend disbelief. It's important writers understand there exists an unspoken agreement between him and his reader. This agreement says the reader will suspend disbelief, to a point, and the writer won't go past that point.

What "that point" is, differs by genre. For example, if you write a modern day romance, readers won't believe the lovers met on an interstellar cruise ship. In contrast, if you write sci-fi, it's a distinct possibility the character's could meet on a cruise to the moons of Jupiter.

This leads us to the first skill a writer must master if his reader is to suspend disbelief. Your novel must stay true to its genre. That is, if something must be true in your genre, you maintain its truth throughout your novel. The secret to the truth of your genre is research.

The classic example in historical fiction is the roman centurion who checks his watch. Watches didn't exist in that day, so it's use is untrue to the genre. Another example is the detective story where the chain of evidence doesn't exist.

The next principle to which an author must adhere goes by the technical name, "Step Away from the Stupidity." That is, if it simply can't be, don't try to push it on your readers. A good example of stupidity is trying to convince your readers no humans having intrinsic value. Readers won't buy it. If they can't make a logical leap to where you want to take them, they won't jump.

Consistency is yet another key to have your reader suspend disbelief. Consistency of character, plot, magic, rational and all the rest must transpire though the novel for the reader to accept your lies as fact, at least for a time.

Last night I watched a rerun of Friends where Rachel came on to Joey and Joey backed off. Where else in that ten-year series did Joey back down from a close encounter? And that's the point. All of a sudden, Joey's character changed without explanation, and a bit of the consistency suffered.

The real secret to the willing suspense of disbelief is found in the phrase, "Details do it." People believe what they can see, so paint that evocative verbal picture. Be sure to infuse enough real details to enhance the believability of your false ones. If you have an odd character, make him three-dimensional by infusing him with attitudes, emotions and other characteristics real people might have. The same applies to setting and any other aspect of your novel that bends the bonds or reality.

Now for one last thought to ensure your readers suspend disbelief. If you can't write a story in the first place, people won't belief anything you have to say, period. Your best weapon to convince your readers to suspend disbelief, is to learn how to write.

Now, what did you read that made you stop suspending your disbelief?

Until we speak again, know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, "Born to be Brothers"

How to Find the Story Within

by C. Patrick Schulze

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In my recent post, HOW TO OUTLINE A NOVEL, a couple of people mentioned they have trouble moving forward with their manuscript. This post is offered in an effort to help them move their story forward.

There are a number of reasons why the words don't come to us. One reason is the phenomena called Writer's Block, which always goes away. However, I think the one that's more common, but less acknowledged, is writers don't know how to build upon an idea they already have. They don't know where to start.

The good news? The story is there. You only have to find it.

If, by chance, you don't have an idea with which to build your story, here's a good article on HOW TO DEVELOP A STORY IDEA.

If you do have an idea, one method to bring out your story is to make yourself familiar with The Hero's Journey. Basically, The Hero's Journey gives you a twelve-step process for storytelling. It helps you develop your plot, or what happens to your characters. The Hero's Journey fits any genre and will result a compelling storyline if you follow it.

The Hero's Journey creates a framework with which to build your story. In effect, it is your outline. You just fill in the blanks. Here's some additional information on THE HERO'S JOURNEY.

Another method to bring out the story from within an idea is to write your story backwards.

Here's the trick. Try not to think of A to B to C. Think C to B to A, with C being your ending.

To do this, begin with your final scene and then write the scene that immediately precedes your ending. Then write the scene before that again and again until you've got your story. A question to ask yourself is "What had to happen to get me to point C or B or A?"

Think of that in this way, if your story idea tells you the hero gets the girl in the end, think backward to what made her want him in the first place. Then, think back before what convinced her to want him, to what he did to make her think that way. Before he did that, what did he do to make himself known to her. Each of these events is now a scene, or possibly a chapter, in your novel.

Of course, you don't have to write out the scenes as you develop them. Brief descriptions of what is going to happen is all that's necessary at this point.

Once you've got your story written backwards, the next thing you do is add conflict to your scenes. Conflict is the character's emotional reactions to the action they experience. (It's not the explosion, it's the character's emotional reaction to the explosion.) Read more about CONFLICT in this article.

Let's consider the "Boy Gets Girl" story I used as an example above to illustrate this idea.

When you figure out how he made himself known to her, insert some action and conflict to spice up that scene. For example, maybe they were passengers in the same bus when it crashed. The crash is the action. He became known to her when he pulled her from the flaming wreckage. Toss in some emotional reaction to his saving of her and you're on your way.

Regardless how you attack this problem, until you have your story, ignore everything else. Don't worry about dialogue, setting or whatever. Don't even flesh out your characters. Focus only on the story. Once you have that, the rest should fall in place.

What suggestions do you have to create a story from an idea?

Until we meet again, know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, "Born to be Brothers"

How to Pitch an Agent

by C. Patrick Schulze 

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You know what's more difficult than writing a NOVEL? Selling your novel to an AGENT. It's one of the more daunting aspects we writers face.

By nature we writers live in world more solitary than most. We sit alone and clack on a keyboard for hours on end. And welcome the opportunity. It's this aspect of our collective personalities that tend to ensure our strengths lie in areas other than finding an agent to represent us.

However, there's not as much to landing an agent as you might think. All you have to do is sell them on your book. And all that takes is ninety seconds. You can do anything for ninety seconds, right? In four words I'll tell you how you do that.

Fill the agent's needs.

Not enough? Okay. Allow me to outline the agents needs for you. This get a bit deep, so hang on. They need good authors to represent.

Now that I've done the hard part for you, how might you fulfill their needs?

One secret, after you've written that high quality novel of course, is your book pitch. It's that ninety second synopsis of your novel.

Keep in mind a pitch has only one function. To make and agents think, That's interesting.

To convince anyone something is "interesting," you've got to be able to tell them about it. In our world of writing, we explain our books and novels with a book pitch.

With an effective pitch, I'll bet you're eighty percent or more on your way to publication.

So, how to put our ninety seconds of fame to good use? Here's a simple way to do that.

Think of your pitch as your verbal sales brochure. If you've ever studied brochures, you know they say very little but feel very good. That tells us our verbal brochure, our pitch, should be infused with an emotional tug of some sort.

Remember our old friend, CONFLICT? Yep. He comes into play here, too. The secret to your book pitch is conflict.

That is to say, if you want to pitch an agent, just give them a short summary of your PLOT. Mention first what the protagonist desires, why he wants it what keeps him from it. If you get nothing else in, it's okay. It is nice if you give them word count, genre, target audience, etc. If you don't have the time, they'll ask if they're interested.

Now for a couple of other things to keep in mind.

First and foremost, nothing happens until you make it happen. Go to the writers' conferences and set appointments with agents. Pay a reasonable fee if you must.

Keep your pitch itself short. Think three sentences and ninety seconds, tops.

Can you read your pitch to them? Sure. It answers their questions whether you recite or read it. Tell them before you pull out your cue cards, though.

Be sure to point out any connection you have with the agent, no matter how small and to let them know why you chose to speak with them.

If you're not sure how to write your pitch, begin your first sentence with the word, "when" and your second sentence with the word, "can." That'll usually put you on the right track.

Of course, you know this is a business meeting, so treat it as such. Be polite, professional and considerate.

And for my final recommendation, always remember, my friends, fortune favors the bold.

By the way, I've got a joke for you.

How do you pitch an agent?

Why, you wind up and toss 'em.

Until we meet again, know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the now-at-the-editors novel, "Born to be Brothers"

How to Write Your Novel's Hook

by C. Patrick Schulze

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We've all heard how important it is to begin your NOVEL with an effective hook. The reason, of course, is your novel's hook helps potential readers make many of their decision about your book. Be it AGENTS, publishers or readers, everyone seeks out these first few words and these lines make a lasting impression.

When I focused on that first paragraph, I spent a great deal of time to research how to write my novel's hook and I thought I'd pass along some of the better tips I found.

By the way, I just made up these hooks as I wrote this article, so cut me some slack if they're not up to par, okay? After all, there's just examples.

1. You may craft an opening that sets a mood. This is the method I employed in "Born to be Brothers" when I wrote, "Something was about to die."

2. One alternative is to pique the reader's curiosity. "I always wondered how it felt to die."

3. You might pen a line that compares two things not normally associated with each other. "Jackson couldn't decide if he should go to his father's wedding or his mother's funeral."

4. You can have your main character perform an action. "He mumbled to himself as he lifted the pocket watch from the dead man's vest."

5. You may wish to indicate something is about to change in a radical fashion. "I felt my body grow lighter as it began to blend with the fog."

6. Why not begin with an intriguing person or place. "The countryside looked as if an artist had painted his fondest vision."

7. One choice is to have a character speak about an unusual situation. "Yep, I seen it all. It exploded and blew that guy to kingdom come."

8. Another option is to offer your reader something unexpected. "The aircraft crashed into the ground with a fiery explosion. Then the pilot stepped out and dusted himself off as if it was all in a day's efforts."

9. You might open your novel with dialogue. "Are you ready to tell me about it now?"

10. Yet another opportunity lies within immediate conflict. "She knew she'd get in trouble even as she clinched her fist." I'm working on my next novel and this is how it starts, at least in the first draft.

11. A strong hook can begin with an emotion. "I hated that man from the moment I met him."

12. Yet another opening hook might be to offer your reader a puzzle. "I wondered how could a human being shrink so much in one night?"

13. Have you ever thought to startle your reader? How's this? "I never knew humans tasted like chicken."

Of course, there are any number of other methods by which to create your novel's hook, and you can even combine two or three of these ideas for maximum effect. Regardless, your goal is to draw your reader into the story and you've got only one chance to do so. Best of luck with it.

Now, does anyone have a hook they'd like to share with our readers?

I hope by now you know, I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of now-at-the-editors novel "Born to be Brothers"

How to Develop a Novel's Plot

by C. Patrick Schulze

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There are any number of required elements one must infuse into their novel to make it successful. However, few NOVELS will succeed if the authors does not know how to develop a novel's PLOT.

Plot is defined in many ways, but for the sake of this article, I'll say plot is those sequential events that transpire within your novel. You know what I mean. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, girl tells boy they need a break, boy meets some young chippy at the copy store for a one-nighter and girl lords it over boy's head forever. (Sound familiar?)

So, how might one develop a novel's plot?

Allow me to present a formula, if you will, that may help with this task. If you follow the steps outlined here, you'll end up with a story, every time. Let's get started.

1. Begin with the proverbial hook. Make it so exciting they want to read more.

2. Show your main character's normal life. What is it he's about to lose?

3. Introduce your villain, even if he's not identified as such.

4. Introduce your third wheel and other lesser characters.

5. Introduce the hero's problem or desire. He wants something. What is it?

6. Show how the villain plans to thwart your hero. There's a reason they call him the villain.

7. Show your hero's flaws. What is it about him that will keep him from his goal?

8. Give your hero an irresistible shove and move him away from his normal life to face the required challenges that keep him from his want.

9. Get your hero moving on the path toward his goal.

10. Toss in a few unexpected obstacles or characters who try to deter him from his goal.

11. Have your hero fail in his attempts to move forward. He must realize he cannot reach his goal without assistance.

12. Have your protagonist meet any number or sort of allies and teachers. They give him the tools, whether physical, mental or emotional, to accomplish his goal.

13. It may be time to toss in some comic relief.

14. Your hero should progress toward his goal now that he's attained allies and experience.

15. Uh-oh! Your hero faces another terrible ordeal which he is unable to overcome.

16. More new skills are learned so the hero can move forward on his quest. This may mean new allies or old one who help in new ways.

17. Now, your protagonist must move forward on his own. In effect, his allies can help no more.

18. More comic relief? Maybe, maybe not.

19. Your hero comes to the conclusion he is unable to make his desires a reality. He feels he has failed.

20. But wait! There's more! Something or someone appears and helps your hero get back on track.

21. Your hero again moves forward on his quest.

22. The Big Bad Wolf appears in all his evil glory. Even though he'd been introduced earlier, his true wickedness now comes to light.

23. The hero is defeated, but not killed, by the Big Bad Wolf.

24. Some new and necessary tool or strength is found by your hero.

25. Your hero realizes he must lose something of value if he is to defeat his antagonist. Will he lose the girl if he continues on his quest?

26. Your hero grows in wisdom and realized what is important and what is not.

27. With this evolution, your hero determines to get back into the game.

28. Your hero faces the Big Bad Wolf once more and this time defeats the villain. 

29. But wait! There's still more! The hero doesn't realize it, but the villain is not really dead and the bad guy rises to attack once more.

30. The good guy finally kills the evil doer.

31. Everyone goes home and we find out who gets the girl, the jewels, the weapons, the knowledge or whatever.

32. Everyone lives happily ever after. Ah, except the villain, of course.

Keep in mind this outline is universal in nature. The formula works regardless the genre of your novel.

Must you follow this outline in perfect sequence? Not at all. You can mix up the order and even delete a couple steps if it works for you novel.

The secret, of course, is to create a scene from each of these points. If you do, you've got yourself a general storyline.

What questions to you have as to how to develop a novel's plot?

Until we meet again, know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, "Born to be Brothers"

How to Increase the Pace of Your Novel

by C. Patrick Schulze

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Did you know CONFLICT is not the only tool you have to increase the pace of your writing? Of course, the more forceful the conflict, the faster the pace. However, there is another important concept available to help ramp up the pace of your writing. The second most important technique used to increase the pace of your writing is the rise and fall of tension.

Tension is different from conflict in so far as conflict is your character’s emotional reaction to the challenges he faces. In contrast, tension is the emotional strain placed upon your readers. It’s a bit of hostility you interject into their lives.

So, how does a writer place emotional pressure on a reader? Alfred Hitchcock presented this concept at it best when he said, “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”

In my own mind, I see this concept in a scene where two characters sit at a table. Unbeknownst to them, there is a ticking bomb strapped beneath it. The reader knows the bomb is there and when it’ll blow, but the characters do not.

Can you see how a ticking time bomb, real or metaphorical, can propel your tension?

Okay, now for some tips on how to increase the pace of your writing.

1. Use sentences and scenes and chapters that leave them hanging.

2. Tension, like conflict, should ebb and flow through your novel. Think of a line chart that grows ever upward in consecutive peaks and valleys. Your tension should follow this same path. It should always build, then fall, then rise to the next higher level. After you slow the tension, make something happen, and soon, to regain your momentum.

3. DIALOGUE is a great tool to increase the tension of your writing. Not only are you able to use your characters words but also how they say what they say.

4. Quick lines make for quick reading. Quick reading makes for a fast tempo and greater tension.

5. In those nail-biting situations you create, sentence fragments will increase the excitement. Always. Every time. As here. I urge caution, however, for overuse of fragments can get out of control.

6. Consider the amount of white space on the page. Imagine a sheet of paper filled with text, one line after the other without breaks, from top to bottom and side to side. You can visualize how this would overpower the reader. Think instead of a page loaded with choppy sentences. This creates a great deal of white space to the right and makes the page read faster. Your reader will feel the increased rhythm if for no reason other than the speed by which they flip the pages.

7. Shorter, simpler words increase the tempo and the tension of your story. Anything that slows your reader will slow the pace, and the tension, of your scene.

Number 8 is one of my favorite sayings. “Be cautious of argot your middling might not twig.” That is to say, don’t use terminology your average reader might not understand. When you force them to take their mind off the story and focus on individual words, their reading slows in dramatic fashion. So does the pace. That goes double for medical thrillers and the like where difficult words are normal.

9. Strong, specific verbs and nouns can also increase the tension. Consider someone who dreams in nightmares in contrast to someone who is haunted by nightmares. How about someone who “falls” as compared to someone who “collapses.” These examples show how a single word can increase the tension of your novel. Therefore, seek precision with your words.

10. Use active voice. “He was going to fight it out,” reads slower and with less strength than, “He determined to fight it out.” Read this ARTICLE to learn more about active voice.

Now, might you have any tips to share?

As always, know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be Brothers”

How to Write Imagery

by C. Patrick Schulze.

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Welcome back, everyone. It’s nice to have you here again.

We, as fiction writers, have an obligation to take our readers to unknown and interesting places within worlds they would or could never imagine. And imagery is that tool we use to take them there. How to write imagery? It’s not as difficult as you might think, and today I’ll offer some tips and techniques on how to write imagery that I hope you’ll find useful.

Imagery is defined by Dictionary.com in part as, “the formation of mental images.” Imagery is all about painting the proverbial mental picture.

Imagery can be one of the most important aspects of your novel. Let’s look a simple example, shall we? What type of picture do you see when I mention rain? Now think about rain that races sideways, propelled by a howling wind. Both pictures typify rain, but the second is much more powerful, don’t you think? These powerful pictures are what you seek with your imagery, for they will engross your readers in your story.

A common error among aspiring writers is they describe their setting as they might a photograph. The average writer just writes the various things he sees. This method tends to offer a dry, formulaic image, bog down the story and dampen a reader’s enthusiasm.

Instead, an author may attempt to write in a way that incorporates his images into his character’s actions. This next example, typifies how a writer might do this.

"He strode into the stone building and noted the poor quality of the landscape. Once inside, he wondered as to the purpose for the narrow windows which allowed little light to enter the rooms."

Now, here are some general tips on how to write imagery into your novel.

1. Paint your verbal pictures in nibbles more than great gulps of information.

2. A rule of thumb says to put no more than three sentences together when describing your scene.

3. Use your characters’ senses. Here’s your example.

He tiptoed farther in and noticed an odor waft up from beneath the floorboards.

4. Pepper your dialogue with imagery. That is to say you might allow your characters to impart images of things that happen when they speak. “I can’t seem to stop these goose bumps from rising, no matter what I do.”

5. Use strong verbs that convey action. Words such as twirled, jumped, scurried or plotted exemplify mental pictures by their nature.

6. If you can find a way to use ordinary things in other than ordinary ways, your imagery will come alive. What if you wrote about an automobile that pulled a tow truck or a short kid who is able to spike in volleyball? These seeming contradictions will ensure your imagery jumps off the page and into your reader’s memory.

7. Think small. Have your characters take note of the smallest details in your setting. Could you make use of the tiny nubs on the treads of a new tire? When might you point out the indentation at the bottom of a wine bottle? Can you employ the scratches on a cell phone screen in your novel?

8. Similes and metaphors are powerful tools to enhance your imagery. In my current novel, one character has hair as gray as a coming storm.

9. Personification is a useful tool when you create imagery in your novel. That is, give human-like qualities to something nonhuman. Here’s an example. “The breeze whispered through the woods.”

10. Not all of your imagery need be of the beautiful. In fact, readers will often appreciate just the opposite. In my second novel, the character all my female readers liked the most was the tall, chiseled hunk who fell for the dumpy farmer’s daughter. Without variation, they said they liked him for his love of the unattractive woman, not his good looks.

Do any of you have other examples as to how a novel writer might employ more compelling imagery? I’d appreciate your suggestions.

As always, know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be brothers”

How to Write Conflict into Your Novel

by. C. Patrick Schulze

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Welcome back, my friends. It’s nice to see you again.

Conflict is critical to any good story. In fact, it makes your story worth reading and is the key component that weaves all the elements of your novel together.

The secret to CONFLICT is found when tension builds between two opposing forces then explodes. To translate that to your characters, conflict rests within the moral choices they make when placed in unusual situations.

Think of it this way. A daughter tells her father a lie, but the father could not care less. Where is the excitement? Where is the energy? Where is the conflict? The conflict is found within the father’s reaction to the lie, not within the lie itself. Now imagine this scene if the father gets angry about it and slaps his daughter. The lie builds the tension and the slap explodes it. All of a sudden, we’ve got a much more interesting event, don’t we?

Now for some general tips on how to write conflict into your novel.

Conflict begins and ends with desire. In your storyline, have your hero want something or someone he can’t have unless he completes some great struggle.

Too much conflict, or too little, will distance your reader. This is a delicate balance to achieve, but you can’t bore your reader with too little conflict or exhaust him with too much.

Two major points of conflict will most often carry your novel. One internal and one external conflict point is all you need. For example, a hero’s lack of confidence might be the internal conflict, whereas his need to save the girl from the dastardly Dr. Dowrong might exemplify the external conflict.

Use conflict to vary the pace of your novel. Think of a graph where you have an upward trending line that looks like a mountain range that always grows to the right. Can you see those peaks and valleys? That line represents the pace of your novel and the peaks represent your major conflict points or those times of greatest conflict. You get a peak at every serious point of conflict and a valley whenever your hero solves that specific issue. He then faces another peak and so on until he reaches his major confrontation with the big bad wolf.

Every CHAPTER in your novel should have someone wanting something. To say this another way, every chapter requires conflict. This may be as simple as a young girl who wishes her mother would allow her to walk to school, to the reactions of your hero as he is thrust into battle.

The essence of growing conflict, and thus tension, is choice. Your HERO must be forced to make choices to keep him moving forward on his quest. If you also offer your protagonist conflicting alternatives, it keeps your tension at a higher plane.

Your conflict must have a final goal in mind and that goal is most often the growth of your hero. This evolution can be emotional, physical or any other “-al” you wish, but the purpose of all this running around is to, in the end, have your protagonist come out a better person.

End each chapter of your novel with a cliffhanger, or conflict that is about to peak. This need not be as grand as your hero’s pending death, but leave a question in the readers’ mind. They’ll want to know more.

Fear intensifies conflict. Your hero must face his fears, so include fright at judicious points within your manuscript.

Use DIALOGUE as a major tool to build your conflict. If used effectively, dialogue increases the emotion, the tension and tragedy.

Are there any aspects to conflict about which you’d like to hear more?

Until my next post, you know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, "Born to be Brothers"

10 Tips on How to Improve Your Writing

by C. Patrick Schulze

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Nice to have you visit again.

I am in the middle of wrestling my manuscript to the ground and find I learn something new every day. With that in mind, I thought I might offer all my writer friends some general writing tips on how to improve your writing. Outside of the first tip, these aren’t offered in any specific order other than what came to mind at the time.

Let’s begin with what I think is the secret to success as a writer: persistence. As a father, the mantra I imposed upon my poor daughters was, “Practice, practice, practice.” (Though grown, they still make fun of me about that one.) In any case, as with every profession, the more you do it the better you become.

2. Invade your readers’ senses. This means when writing you find opportunities to have your characters use their five, or as some say, twelve, senses. When your characters smell the honeysuckle, so do your readers.

3. Diamond’s are not a girl’s best friend. Well, I think it was Marilyn Monroe who informed all men that diamonds are indeed a girl’s best friend, but for women writers, (and their male counterparts), it’s verbs. The strength and exactness of the verbs you choose is the most powerful tool you possess to elevate your writing. The best verbs bring emotions or pictures to your readers’ minds.

4. Create interactive settings. That is, write in such a way as to have your setting come alive. The first time I took my writing to my critique group, every person mentioned a visual I had in my story. They commented on a scene where a boy reached up to grab his father’s shotgun from over the mantel and I wrote about the glow from the fire as it warmed the boy’s legs. It is those inconsequential images that paint those all important and powerful word pictures that immerse readers into your story.

5. Backstory belongs in the back. When I learned how to write backstory into my novel, I had to rewrite large chunks of what I already had on paper. Those long-winded paragraphs about what happened before my character came into my story became short, concise inserts within the story.

6. Bodies have language, too. Think of a person who has received astonishing news. What might they do at that time? Inhale? Shriek? Curl a lip? So might your characters. And best of all, readers love characters’ body language.

7. Conflict is king. Conflict is much like a drug drip in a hospital. That happy little bottle always hangs around and you get to dial it up whenever you want to. Conflict, not action mind you, but conflict is the power behind your novel.

8. If conflict is king, characterization is queen. Every novel rises and falls on the backs of those people who populate your novels. Effective characterization is a difficult skill to master but when you do, even you’ll fall for your books.

9. Knowledge is power. By this I mean, your writing has more strength if you give your readers the knowledge they require. It’s more interesting if your characters know the bomb is about to explode as this creates tension in your reader’s mind. As Alfred Hitchcock said, "There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it."

10. Give ‘em what they want. Your readers read for a reason and as a writer you should know that reason and cater to it. The lesson here is to learn your market. Write to satisfy your readers’ needs and not your own.

What tips might you like to share with my readers?

As always, know I wish for you only best -sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be Brothers"

How to Write Scenes in a Novel

by C. Patrick Schulze

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Great! You’ve developed these wonderful characters who stand primed to flit about your magnificent setting and, boy-oh-boy, do you ever have an idea for a storyline. Well, it’s all for naught if you can’t compile these things into scenes and string those scenes together to make your story awe your readers.

Imagine, if you will, a lustrous string of pearls. The first gemstone compliments the next, which balances with the rest. Strung together they lay upon a woman’s neckline to bring forth her natural beauty and give her a radiating sense of elegance. Now imagine that necklace where the jewels are a hodgepodge of odd sizes, hues, luster and even quality. All of a sudden we’ve taken the best of nature and the best of man to make them into something less than pleasing. The same thing happens with your story if you don’t pay as much attention to your scenes as you did with your characters and setting.

Let’s get started.

To begin, you may wish to know some people recommend you consider what the characters want to happen, what they need. Personally, I disagree. I believe if you first determine where you want to go and what steps you must take to get there, your characters will follow.

It’s important to know an effective scene requires emotion, action, dialogue, characters, conflict and setting. Of course, it’s primary component is the conflict your characters face.

Next, determine what has to happen in a scene to move this part of the story forward. Don’t worry about what could happen or what should happen. Be concerned only about what MUST happen. Now that you know what must happen, figure out who must be in the scene to make it work. Put only those characters into it and leave out everybody else.

At this time, use only two or three sentences to write your scene. That’s all you need at first.

Next you determine where this scene takes place. It may be obvious after you asked yourself what must happen, but if it isn’t, fix the setting into your mind. Consider that events happen in places one might think out of place. Think of a teacher and high-school student as they discuss the child’s grades. You’d assume this would happen in the classroom, most likely after class, right? Why not have this discussion take place at a racetrack or better yet a bar. Now that would perk the scene up, don’t you think?

Now consider how it all ties together. A classic secret is to begin as late in the scene as possible. Regardless, this next beginning almost calls out for recognition as it naturally piggybacks off the ending of the previous scene. However, give this a bit of thought, too, and see if you can’t punch up your creativity just a bit. For example, your student and his teacher are talking at the races when one scene ends. The next scene might typically start the following day in class. What if this second scene started as they watch the school burn down? The oddity of your settings may just give your novel a unique and imaginative spark. After all, why should all the surprises come at the end of a story?

The next thing you might want to do is visualize your scene as if it were in a movie. If you can see there, it’s probably got some strength to it.

After all this, now’s the time to pen what many call a scribble draft. It doesn’t have dialogue, setting or anything beyond simple physical actions. Make is a bare-bones outline. It’ll sound something like this:

     Jack runs down the hill

     Jill runs after him.

     Jack falls down the hill, and drops his bucket.

     Jill does too and screams as she tumbles.

     Both land in a heap at the bottom of hill.

After all that, now guess what you get to do? Yep, first draft. It time to put fingers to keyboards and clack away.

You may find it useful to write your scene first with only the characters’ physical actions and nothing more. When you close your eyes and “watch” your scene take place, look for those areas that stutter or slow the pace. Those are the parts that need work. After you’ve “seen” it play out, go through this process again, this time with the dialogue. Does it “hear” as well, too? If not, you know what needs work. Do this a third time with your setting in mind and you’re good to go.

The real secret to a good scene is visualization.

After you string a few scenes together, reread them and ask what’s the worst that could happen if this scene or that were omitted in whole. If the basic storyline is unaffected by the missing scene, it’s unnecessary and should probably be cut from your manuscript. 

Yep, it’s a lot of work, but you’ll get that beast wrestled to the ground and your story will emerge. Good luck.

Here’s a couple tips many find useful. Write your last scene first and the first scene second, at least in outline form. If you know where you need to go, the steps to get there will become much more obvious.

If you remember, I recommended you first write out your scenes in just two and three sentences. If you do, put all these mini-scenes on the same piece of paper, a file of its own. Make a copy of that document before you expand them into full scenes. This is the start of your synopsis. (You’ll thank me one day for this tip!)

Until we speak again, I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be Brothers”

How to Make Your Writing Come to Life

by C. Patrick Schulze

Listen to a PODCAST of this article.

Have you ever gone to a park on a clear spring day, sat on a bench and closed your eyes? Doesn’t the world change when you do? The sound of children laughing seems to dance into your consciousness. The leaves begin to sing with the breeze and the sun teases your skin with a warm glow. Why hadn’t you noticed this before?

Because when you close your eyes, you become dependent upon your other senses.

So, too, is should be with your writing.

When we write, our goal is to transport our readers to another world, one in which they have never, and can never visit. To make your writing come alive, write in the same manner you experienced that day on the park bench; with your senses. Some say you have as many as twelve senses, but we’ll stick with the basic five for today’s article.

Of course, the primary sense we use in life and in writing is sight. If you read any novel, it will be loaded with imagery that involves how things appear. The secret to make your writing come alive, however, is found in the combination of sight and the other four senses.

In my opinion, the unsung king of our senses is smell. It is the gateway to our memory and can transport you anywhere; mom’s kitchen, the market in Marrakesh or your first grade school room. It is, therefore, a powerful tool to enhance your novel’s imagery. The problem with smell is it’s the most difficult of the senses to imagine. The trick then is to add visual elements to your “smell” narrative. For example, if you wish to portray a beach scene, if you add the sun, the water, the cry of gulls and so on, the sense of smell is better employed. Another useful aspect to the sense of smell is the wide range of odors available to the writer. It’s use ranges from a stench to a perfume and everywhere in between.

Another sense that carries a great deal of association is taste and is often used in conjunction with the sense of smell. Taste is also easily employed to delve into a character’s emotions and can be as powerful as smell in evoking a reader’s reaction.

Hearing is, of course, a primary tool in your arsenal of weapons to bring your writing to life. Its power comes to light when you wish to create atmosphere. Think of that scene on a beach mentioned above and imagine how it is altered if waves crash upon the shore or lap against the sand. As with all senses, it has a wide range of applications from the crushing boom of waves during a storm to the soft buzz of a hummingbird’s wings. Here’s a tip you don’t hear too often. To create the best action verbs, combine hearing with touch.

Last, but certainly not least, is the sense of touch. This sense carries with it the language of love and of loathing. It, too, has a great depth of emotions and feelings.

The real secret of how to bring your writing to life is to combine the senses in the correct combination. The use of too much sensory imagery can overload your reader and shock or even bore him. You should consider the use of all five senses every time you have the opportunity but find the correct and timely combination of some of them to bring true life to your writing.

One way to determine which senses to employ with any given scene is to return to our park bench. Close your eyes and imagine your setting. What senses jump out to you first when you do this? Scribble a few words that relate to this image because these are probably the senses to use for that scene. After this, choose the most powerful two or three images that came to mind and then ensure you use the strongest and most specific words to describe the scene. By the way, this is the time for metaphors and similes.

The secret to writing that comes alive is the combination of senses your readers can imagine from your words. Without a healthy dose of sensory narrative, your novel will most likely lack the propulsion it needs to send it up the best seller list.

Do you care to share how you’ve enhanced your sensory writing skills?

Until we speak again, know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be Brothers”

How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

by C. Patrick Schulze

List to a PODCAST of this article.

With the emergence of self-publishing as a viable form of authorship, it behooves the writer to learn how to market his work for maximum success. One of the initial steps you should consider is blogging. Once that marketing piece is in place, you then need to drive readers to your blog.

Here are some basic steps you can take to do just that.

Publish regularly. You should author articles and post them to your blog as often as possible, but no less than once a week.

Learn how to title your articles. Determine what terms and phrases people use to find information on the Internet and use those to title what you write. I first started with Google Adwords and then began to keep a database of those terms and words people use to find my blog. Can you guess what the number one phrase is?

Populate your blog posts with subscription options. Most of us are aware of the RSS feeds but you might also consider an email subscription service like Feedburner.

Try some article marketing. Think about writing article for sites like EZine or Scribd.com and others. As long as you place a link to your blog in the article, it’ll drive traffic to your blog.

Offer to guest post for other bloggers. Just this past Friday Elizabeth S. Craig was kind enough to allow me to guest post. Of course, she’s posting on my site in just a few days. These reciprocal arrangements encourage people to read both blogs so it builds readers for each party.

Consider if you should place a link under your email signature. Now everyone who sees your emails will be exposed to your blog. And you never know who knows whom.

Link your posts to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and any other social networking sites to which you subscribe. As long as they serve your target market, it’ll help build your blog.

You may wish to add a button that allows your reader to retweet your posts. This encourages their followers to find you. I’m been remiss with this but will pick it up this week.

Read other blogs within your market and comment on them. People do tend to read article comments and everyone who does will see the link to your blog.

Build an email list of people who visit and comment. Send an email announcement to each of these people whenever you have a new article posted.

You might also implement share buttons on your blog posts. If you allow your readers to connect with you on various social networking sites, it’ll generate word of mouth advertising for you. One person did this for me on Stumbleupon and I received more than four thousand hits in one day, by far my best day relative to hits.

If this is a topic that holds interest for you, keep an eye out for this blog as I’ll be doing more on this subject soon.

So, what are your favorite tools to drive readers to your blog?

Until we speak again, you know I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze

Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be Brothers.”