When Writing a Novel, Details Do It.

When Writing a Novel, Details Do It.

by C. Patrick Schulze

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My father-in-law attained the rank of Major General in the Air Force. This guy had not attended college, let alone graduated from The Air Force Academy. Both of which are required for one star, let alone his two. Yet, despite his lack of education, this guy somehow rose to the third highest rank in the military. Not an inconsequential accomplishment.

One day I asked him the secret of his success and he offered two lessons I've not forgotten to this day. His first rule? "No harm no foul." In effect, take care of your people. His second rule? "Details do it." He said with everything he passed to his superiors, he ensured the correctness of even the tiniest of details. Of course, each boss promoted him as they knew his work was of the highest caliber.

So it is when we write. Details do, indeed, do it.

Imagine a scene where a character does something as simple as exit a car. Does the guy step out of the vehicle? Does he jump out, slide out or even fall out of the vehicle? It makes a difference, don't you think? If one gets out, he may have decided to pick up some milk on the way home from work. If they jump out, a level of tension is indicated, is it not? And if he falls out, all sorts of doors are opened here. Did he slip? Is he drunk or even dead?

The secret is in the specific words you choose for your nouns, verbs and adverbs.

I pay attention to the specificity of my nouns and verbs when I edit. During my first draft, I just write what comes to mind. Later, I review my nouns, verbs and adverbs to ensure they are particular to my scene.

Here's a example from my emerging novel, "Born to be Brothers." In this scene, I wanted to show man and beast at odds with each other. Here's the sentence as it read in my rough draft.

"The man walked behind a mule and snapped the reins to encourage his animal."

After editing, it read as follows:

"The man plodded behind an old mule and snapped the reins again and again to encourage the sluggish beast."

You can see in this sentence how the added details enhanced the image. First, "walked" became "plodded." Plod insinuates the man is tired and worn whereas "walk" does not necessarily do so. I also added the words, "again and again" to indicate the mule did not accommodate his driver. Finally, I changed, "animal" to "sluggish beast." Again, a much more effective picture, don't you think?

Yes, my friends, the details within your writing do indeed do it. If you pay close attention to your details, you'll find a much more effective story will emerge for you.

Now, does anyone care to share how they changed a simple detail and it made a marked difference to their novel?

Until we speak 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 Increase the Pace of Your Writing

As you learn how to write a novel, you’ll find conflict is the key tool used to develop the readers’ interest. Today, I’ll talk about how to accelerate the pace of your words thus increasing the tension within your novel.

The first writing technique to consider is the amount of white space on the page. Imagine a sheet of paper filled with text, one line after the other without breaks.  You can visualize how this would overpower to 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 faster rhythm if for no reason other than the speed they flip the pages.

I alluded to the next tip in the last paragraph. Write in short, choppy sentences. These should be meaningful, of course, but quick lines make for quick reading. Quick reading makes for a fast tempo. Don’t try to break up long paragraphs with short sentences as it’ll come off as just that, poor paragraph structure. Each line, short or otherwise, must stand on its own.

Fragmentary sentences also work well to increase the speed of reading. The judicious use of them can be quite effective. In those nail-biting situations you create, fragments will increase the excitement. Always. Every time. As here. I urge caution, however, for overuse of fragments can get out of control if you’re not careful. 

Use shorter words to increase the tempo of your story. Anything that slows your reader will slow the pace of your scene. For example, must you use the word, “unsympathetically?” These six syllables read slower than its synonym, “cruelly,” which has only two.

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.

Use strong, specific verbs and nouns. (How many times have we heard this one?) Consider someone who dreams in nightmares in contrast to someone who is haunted by nightmares. I think you can see the power in the word, “haunted” when compared to, “dreams.” As to verbs, consider the difference between someone who “falls” to someone who “collapses”. “Collapse” is a much stronger verb, assuming it fits the scene, as it implies a more precise action. This precision with your words is what you seek.

Don’t retell information. Just get to it. Your reader already knows what happened in prior chapters. To loop back to an earlier point in your story will simply slow things.

Use active voice. “He was going to fight it out,” reads slower and with less strength than, “He determined to fight it out.” You may wish to read my earlier post on the verb, “to be.”

Look to the pace of your novel and your audience will find it a more interesting read.

Might you have any tips to share?

As always, I wish you best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze