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18
Jun
The Novelist: Common Pitfalls of the Beginning Writer—Part 2: Language
Nina Munteanu
author The Novelist: Common Pitfalls of the Beginning Writer—Part 2: LanguageAre you just starting to write? Or better yet, nervously thinking of sending your cherished tome out? You may wish to do one more round of edits and apply these five things that I guarantee will improve your story:

1. Voice: This is the feel and tone that applies to the overall book (narrative voice) and to each character. The overall voice is dictated by your audience, who you’re writing for: youth, adults, etc. It’s important to give each character a distinctive “voice” (including use of distinct vernacular, use of specific expressions or phrases, etc.). This is one way a reader can identify a character and find them likeable—or not. In a manuscript I recently reviewed, I noticed that the characters spoke in a mixture of formal and casual speech. This confuses the reader and bumps them out of the “fictive dream”. Consistency is very important for readers. They will abandon a story whose writing is not consistent. So, my advice to this writer was to pick one style for each character and stick to it. Voice includes what a character says. It incorporates language (both speech and body movements), philosophy, humor. How a character looks, walks, talks, laughs, is all part of this. Let’s take laughter for instance: does your character tend to giggle, titter, chortle, gafaw, belly-laugh? Do any of your characters have conflicts with one another? Either through differences in opinions, agendas, fears, ambitions… etc. One learns so much from the kind of interaction a character has with his/her surroundings (whether it’s another character or a scene).

2. Point of View (POV): Many beginner’s novels are often told through no particular POV. Many first manuscripts often start in the omniscient POV (that of the narrator) and ever so often may lapse into one of the character’s POV briefly. This makes for very “telling vs showing” type of writing (not to mention being inconsistent again). 90% of writers do not write this way because it tends to be off-putting, it distances the reader from the characters, and is very difficult to achieve and be consistent with. Most writers prefer to use limited third person POV (told from one or a few key characters; that is, you get into the head and thoughts of only a few people: all the observations are told through their observations, what they see, feel and think). This bwriter06 The Novelist: Common Pitfalls of the Beginning Writer—Part 2: Languageonds the reader to your characters and makes for much more compelling reading. I would highly suggest you adopt this style. That’s not to say that you can’t use several POVs… just not at the same time; it is the norm to use chapter or section breaks to change a POV.
3. Passive vs. Active Verbs: beginners often use a lot of passive verbs (e.g., were, was, being, etc.). Some use too may modifiers. Try to find more active verbs. Many writers fall into the pattern of using verbs that are weak and passive (and then adding a modifier to strengthen it…it doesn’t). Actively look for strong, vivid verbs. This is a key to good writing. I can’t emphasize this enough. For instance, which version is more compelling: ‘she walked quickly into the room’ or ‘she stormed into the room’?

4. Show, don’t tell: this is partly a function of POV and use of active verbs. Once you change to 3rd person, much of this will naturally resolve itself. An example of telling vs. showing is this: [He was in a rage and felt betrayed. “You lied, Clara,” he said angrily, grabbing her hand.] instead, you could show it: [His face smoldered. “You lied, Clara,” he roared, lunging for her.] Telling also includes large sections of exposition, either in dialogue or in narrative. This happens a lot in beginning writer’s stories. It takes courage and confidence to say less and let the reader figure it out. Exposition needs to be broken up and appear in the right place as part of the story. Story is paramount. “Telling” is one of the things beginning writers do most and editors will know you for one right away. Think of the story as a journey for both writer and reader. The writer makes a promise to the reader that s/he will provide a rip-roaring story and the reader comes on side, all excited. This is done through a confident tease in the beginning and slow revelscribe The Novelist: Common Pitfalls of the Beginning Writer—Part 2: Languageation throughout the story to keep it compelling. Exposition needs to be very sparingly used, dealt out in small portions.

5. Unclutter your writing: There is a Mennonite adage that applies to writing: “less is more”. Sentences in early works tend to be full of extra words (e.g., using “ing” verbs, add-ons like “he started to think” instead of simply “he thought”). Cut down the words in your paragraphs (often in the intro chapters) by at least 20%. Be merciless; you won’t miss them, believe me, and you will add others later in your second round of edits.
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Category: beginning writer, books, editing, literature, novel, novelist, writers, writing, writing tips  7 Comments
31
May
Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
Nina Munteanu

bannedbooks Bookseller burns books to protest low readership

WOW! I can’t believe I’m still on this train of thought…but, thanks to blogger Joshua Varney (Cubicle Denizen), who sent me this news clip from the Houston Chronicle, I couldn’t help myself…It is so…well, you decide what it is. The story that ran in the Chronicle May 28, 2007 told of a Montana used books seller, Tom Wayne, who, after trying to give away surplus books from his store to no avail decided to burn them instead.

“This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today,” Wayne said as he lit his first batch of books outside his store. He quoted a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts that revealed a reduction in ‘reading for pleasure’ by adults from 57% (in 1982) to less than half. Having supposedly exhausted his efforts to divest himself of these surplus books, Wayne added about the book burning, “…it’s a good excuse for fun.” AAK! Why don’t we just roast some marshmallows while we watch and tell ghost stories…

One of the horrified spectators, Marcia Trayford, paid Wayne $20 to carry away an armload of books. “I’ve been trying to adopt as many books as I could,” she said. Among them, ironically, Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities. I found it ironic, too, that she used the word ‘adopt’, which breathes life into each book, echoing what Ray Bradbury said in my previous post.

When Josh fed me this story, he mentioned e-bay, charities, etc. Surely Wayne hadn’t even begun to exhaust the possibilities for finding these books a home! What about shipping them overseas? Another spectator suggested that Wayne “made the point that not reading a book is as good as burning it.” I’m sorry, but I don’t get that message at all. Wayne’s inept and destructive act of futility only further illustrates a feckless mentality that unwittingly condones censorship and lack of reading. He would have elevated himself to a hero and made a more powerful statement to America if he’d done something positive instead; presented a solution instead of a feeble complaint.

I liked the comment to the story by patrickindallas the best: “It has finally been proven. Just being around books does NOT increase intelligence.”

Thanks for the story, Josh!
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  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
  • services sprite Bookseller burns books to protest low readership
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Category: book burning, books, literature  3 Comments
26
May
Banned Books–How many did YOU read?
Nina Munteanu

banned books2 Banned Books How many did YOU read?

This Friday, in keeping with a literary theme, I’ve linked you to a Forbidden Library. This library boils overful with an oozing cornucopia of ‘demoralizing’, ‘blasphemous’, ‘racial’, ‘offensive’, ‘obscene’, ‘anti-Communist’, ‘Satanic’, and ‘anarchistic’ literature. Ah, yes, you say! How subversive. Check it out! Its librarian, Janet Yanosko, has indexed books by author and title with explanation of why the book was banned along with her own amusing rather pithy remarks. You’ll find books that people found offensive like:

  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: a book on censorship gets censored!

  • James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl: promotes drugs and disobedience

  • Where’s Waldo by Martin Handford: for nudity

  • 1984 by George Orwell: for being pro-communist

  • The Lorax by Doctor Seuss: because it criminalizes the logging industry

  • Zen Buddhism: selected writings by D.T. Suzuki: because it portrays Buddhism as appealing

  • Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut: for its foul language

Books have been banned (and burned) on many occasions by many societies over humankind’s history of existence for various reasons. Books considered critical of governments or societies with power were a common target. So were books that dealt with criminal matter or promoted views counter with popular worldviews, or were considered distasteful or disturbing.

The Bible, the Qur’an and other religious works were banned (and burned) over the years. In Medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church dealt with dissenting printed opinion through a program called the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (index of prohibited books). Okay, here’s a partial list I got off Wikipedia with reasons for banning. I’ve bolded the ones I’ve read. How many did YOU read?

  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: for portraying animals and humans on the same level
  • The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine: banned in UK for blasphemy in 18th C
  • All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remaraque: banned in Nazi Germany for demoralizing and insulting the Wehrmacht
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell: banned for anti-Stalin theme
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: banned in some U.S. schools for use of racial slurs
  • Bible: banned by the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in Catholic Church
  • Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: banned in South Africa for using the word ‘black’
  • Brave New World byAldous Huxley: banned for centering around negative activity
  • Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: banned for sexual content
  • Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: banned in some U.S. schools and libraries for sexual situations, immorality and other themes of impropriety and anti-Christian sentiments
  • Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: banned in U.S. during McCarthyism
  • Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel: banned because of hardcore graphic sexual content
  • The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: banned in anti-Communist countries during the Red scare
  • Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak: banned in USSR for criticism of the Bolshevik Party
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: for issues on censorship
  • For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway: banned in Spain during Francisco Franco’s rule for its pro-Republican views
  • Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: banned in part of U.S. because of the use of the word ‘nigger’
  • Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: banned in some U.S. schools for use of the name God and Jesus in a vain and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual references
  • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift: banned in Ireland as wicked and obscene
  • Hamlet by William Shakespeare: banned in Ethiopia
  • Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: banned in some U.S. school libraries for use of witchcraft and supposedly Satanic views
  • King Lear by William Shakespeare: banned in UK out of respect to King George III’s aleged insanity
  • Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence: banned in U.S. and UK for obsenity
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: challenged in part of U.S. for depicting graphic violence, mysticism and gore
  • The Lorax by Dr. Seuss: banned in parts of U.S. for being an allegorical political commentary
  • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury: challenged in U.S. for profanity
  • Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler: reproduction and sale is forbidden outside Germany, Austria and Netherlands for promoting Nazism
  • Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory: challenged in UK as ‘junk’
  • 1984 by George Orwell: banned in USSR for political reasons; banned in U.S. for being pro-communist and for explicit sexual matter
  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: banned in some U.S. schools and libraries for promoting ‘euthanasia’ and for profanity
  • The Odyssey by Homer: Plato suggested expurgating it for immature readers and Caligula tried to suppress it for expressing Greek ideals of freedom
  • On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: banned in various places for promoting the evolutionary theory
  • Paradise Lost by John Milton: listed on the Indx Librorum Prohibitorum in Rome
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: challenged due to racial themes
  • Ulysses by James Joyce: banned in U.S. for its sexual content
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: banned in southern States and Czarist Russia for racist portrayal of African Americans and use of word ‘nigger’.

Okay, so I read a lot of them. Does that make me a subversive? How about you? I find it interesting to note that books published as recently as “Harry Potter” are banned as wicked or even evil.

This all begs the question of what art truly is and should be. Susan Sontag suggested that “real art makes us nervous.” The genius of art skirts the edge of propriety and comfort to ask the questions that help us define our own humanity. Oscar Wilde remarked, “an idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being an idea at all.” Benjamin Franklin suggested that, “if all printers were determined not to print anthing till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.“

Henry Steel Commager eloquently stated that, “censorship…creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” John F. Kennedy further added that, “…a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

Lillian Hellman, who was subpoenaed to appear before the House of Un-American Activities Commitee in 1952, exclaimed, “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.”

Live and write from the heart.

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  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
  • services sprite Banned Books How many did YOU read?
Category: banned books, censorship, friday feature, literature, writers, writing  12 Comments
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