My daughter had her doctor appointment today. The doctor poked and prodded and then poked some more. She did really well with not crying as he listened to what looked like every organ in her body. She had that look of “I’m too scared to cry” and I’m sure the fake cheerfulness on my face scared her every bit as much as the stethoscope in the doctor’s hand. But it was the feeling of the teeth that finally put her over the edge into all-out wailing. She cried more from that than from the shots – of course, who doesn’t cry when there are needles around….err, yeah, me neither.

What puts your characters “over the edge” of anger, fear, or tears?

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I have this friend who is a wonderful writer and is sweet and helpful and amazing and any other ‘nice’ adjective you can think of—including smart. Smart, she most certainly is. Oh, and she was taught how to share well. She shared these tips with me and many others, so here I am, paying it forward.

These are Rachel May’s 8 Tips to Better Writing::

1: Read your work out loud.

This one is the most important in RayMay’s eyes. And she’s quite right.

What does this do?: By reading your work out loud, you will pick up grammar mistakes and flow problems. Also, you will hear how your audience is hearing it in their heads. If you trip over a phrase, most likely your reader will as well.

2: Vary your sentence length.

Why is this important?: Sentences that are all the same length tend to make the reader hear your story in monotone. By varying up line/sentence length you add rhythm and flow to your writing. To tell whether or not you have sentences the same length, print out the first page of your story, take a pen or pencil and at the start of every sentence draw a line through the words. When you get to a period end the line. At the next sentence do the same thing. Follow that same system through your first paragraph and subsequent paragraphs. If every line appears to be the same length. Cut some of your sentences down into short ones. Read the entire paragraph out loud to double check that you haven’t taken anything out that’s imperative or shortened a sentence where it should, in fact, be longer.

3: Write great descriptions.

Why is this important?: By writing vivid descriptions, you are involving the reader beyond just words and dialogue. Physically imagine yourself in that particular situation…you already know this I’m sure…but it can’t hurt to remind you.
Also, another way to get descriptions just right is to imagine yourself explaining whatever it is you’re trying to explain to someone who doesn’t have that sense. If I were blind, how would you convey to me a sunset? If I had no sense of smell, how would you convey a scent to me?

4: Dialogue can make or break a story.

Why is dialogue important?: Dialogue is important because when you write great dialogue it adds a whole new level to your story. It gives your characters a voice. Try to think about the people you know—how do they respond to mundane conversations or important conversations? Write dialogue that feels natural. Every person has a different rhythm to their speech patterns; try to give each character a different rhythm to their dialogue. This will help the reader differentiate between your characters.

5: Make (-ing) your friend.

Why are -ing words important?: Sometimes starting a sentence with a gerund helps to add a different feel to a sentence.

Example:

She ran as fast as she could to catch the bus, but still missed it.
Despite running as fast as she could, she still missed the bus.
Running as fast as she could didn’t matter, she still missed the bus.

Basically these sentences are pretty much saying the same thing in different ways. Determine which way flows better with the sentence before and the sentence after.

6: Make each chapter stand on its own.

What does this mean?: This means that a person should feel intrigue in each chapter. That if I picked up your book and turned to chapter 14, I should feel the pull of your story as strongly as if I started from the beginning. And every chapter should end with a hook so that it compels me to read the subsequent chapters.

7: Characters with a point.

What does this mean?: I’m not saying that your characters should have pointy heads or have daggers coming out of their skin. No. I’m saying that you should not introduce a character that has no point. Why? Because if you introduce a character without a real point to push your story along, we as the reader are thinking, “well all that time we spent reading about that unimportant character was wasted.” So, if you have superfluous characters in your story, as cruel as this sounds, KILL THEM. No will notice and no one will care. Well, you will. But your readers will thank you for it.

8: Add moral dilemmas.

Why should you do this?: When I was in school my writing professors told me that stories, especially YA stories and children’s stories, should have a moral. Make sure if you’re writing for the children genre or YA genre that there is some sort of lesson to be learned. Take a cue from Aesop’s Fable’s and Charlotte’s Web. They have a moral. Even the more complex YA tales have morals—they may not be as easily defined as say, a Dr. Seuss tale, but they are there. I promise you!

Hope these tips help you! I know they did me.

What tips do you all have? What are your writing secrets?

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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I just completed the semi-annual clean-out of the fridge (can you tell it’s on of my least favorite things to do?). I discovered some Tupperware that I’d forgotten I owned jammed at the back of the fridge behind the parmesan cheese and bacon bits. I also swiped off the caramel from the bottom shelf that by some scientific marvel was solid and gooey at the same time.

I could not quite force myself to rummage through the piles of condiments that have multiply faster than an alien force taking over the world. So we still have teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, A-1, Worcestershire, Dijon mustard, spicy brown mustard, yellow French’s mustard, ketchup, mayo, and green hot sauce jumbled together.

What’s in your character’s refrigerator?

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No story from me this week.

Instead, I’d like to hear how your characters met each other. What were the first words they spoke?

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My grandfather built a rocking horse for me when I was a toddler. It has survived through years and years (no – I’m not going to tell you exactly how many years) in storage. We have brought it out for my daughter to use and I like to think I was as much a daredevil on it as she is. She tries to get it to tip backwards, and stands up while she’s rocking it.

Seeing her ride it has made me appreciate that gift from my childhood even more.

What is your character’s favorite childhood memento?

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I woke up yesterday morning to a wonderful storm. The kind that flashes lightning through the clouds to light up the night and pours rain down to cleanse everything. The kind of storm I like to think only happens during monsoon season. And only in the desert. The electricity zinged through the air and made me wish I could sit out on the lawn and let the warm water drench me in those pre-dawn hours. Nothing beats a summer storm. 

How would your character react to a storm?

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