NaNoWriMo Advice: Louise Dean Says Short Sentences Can Be A Powerful Tool
As we reach the final few days of National Novel Writing Month 2017, Louise Dean, author and founder of online writing course Kritikme.com joins me to share her insights into why using short sentences is a powerful tool when writing a novel. Thank you for joining me today Louise. Over to you.
Short Sentences. (BANG!)
Creating Impact.
We can’t always be poetic. We cannot always find a new way of saying things. But if we offer visual images in short sentences, we can create an effect on our readers that is an assault on their senses. Think Bob Dylan.
One short sentence hard on the heels of the last is a highly engaging way to write. It forces the reader into a world that is unfolding with immediacy, speed, possibly danger. Wham. Slam. Bang. Things are happening fast as in an emergency. The story is unfolding. The reader is alert.
Short & Sweet
The most economical short story writer of all time is probably Raymond Carver. With his precise, punchy prose, he conveys in a few words what many novelists take several pages to elucidate. In stories such as ‘Fat’ and ‘Are You a Doctor?’ he writes with understatement about suburban disenchantment in mid-century America.
I’d like to share with you the two things that made his short stories works of art.
- At the end of every short story – as in the first chapter of a novel – EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.
- Carver’s genius was to incorporate here what happens in the last chapter of a novel which is the narrator is facing life after him or her – THE ANNIHILATION OF SELF.
These themes can be served, should be served, in staccato sentences for great power.
Make it shorter.
‘Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. ‘To be or not to be?’ asks Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The longest word is three letters long.’ Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut employs a choral technique from the songbook of modern music too, with repetition of an almost biblical phrase ‘So it goes’ throughout Slaughterhouse-5.
When Kurt Vonnegut uses that sentence again and again throughout Slaughterhouse-5, setting it against the backdrop of one of the worst tragedies of WWII — the firebombing of Dresden — the fatalistic attitude of that short sentence provides a hard contrast to the horrific details of Dresden.
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My Writing Ramblings: Reflections on National Novel Writing Month 2015
Wow. We’ve reached December. My countdown to Christmas has begun. My Christmas Card list has been made (and they sit on the side waiting to be done.) I have my beautiful Christmas tree up (nothing like a real one) and I can legitimately sing Christmas songs without getting funny looks from people (well, kind of. My singing is terrible.)
This time of the year also means that National Novel Writing Month is once again over for another year. I always have a mixture of emotion when I finish NaNoWriMo. On the one hand, I am relived and pleased that it is done. 1,667 words a day is a lot to commit to and it is easier said than done to reach on a daily basis when all you want to do is curl up and sleep or have family commitments or in my case, a holiday. On the other hand though, I am sad it is over. By now, I am in the bubble of the NaNoWriMo thing. I have got into the swing of my story. It is around now that I am past the moments where I have found it hard going and the threat of my laptop meeting my wall have been temporarily suspended.
by A Moment With…Talli Roland
Day thirty of National Novel Writing Month. Earlier, author Julie Cohen took us through her editing process and now Talli Roland talks to us about her experience with self publishing.
Self-publishing provides another route for authors to get their books directly to an audience. I think it’s wonderful to be living in a time when authors have choices. No longer do they need reach readers through a publisher – they can decide what is right for them and for the book.
I had a wonderful relationship with my publisher, but as a small independent, their distribution reach was limited. Most of my sales were ebooks, and I’d spent a great deal of time building up my platform. It made sense for me to go out on my own, hire a cover designer and an editor, and keep my profits. It was very scary jumping ship – jumping off the ship! – but I’m so pleased I did.
It’s been an amazing journey – hard, challenging, and somewhat obsessive – but I’ve really enjoyed having control over everything from cover to content to timelines. And it’s been wonderful to make living from writing, too. That said, like any business, sales can fluctuate, depending on many factors. You don’t have the security of an advance from a publisher, so that can be a little daunting.
by A Moment With…Julie Cohen
This is it. Day thirty of National Novel Writing Month. Well done to all who have finished, good luck to all the people who are still going and if you didn’t manage it, you’ve still got words written that you didn’t have when you began which is fantastic. Today, Julie Cohen joins us to chat about her editing process (she uses Post-its and I have to say I like her style.)
After I’ve finished the first (very rough) draft of my novel, I usually have a list of all the things I want to change. I write it all down as instructions to myself.
After that, I often spend some time analysing what I’ve written. I find that Post-Its are really handy for this. I outline the entire book, event by event, using colour-coded Post-Its for each story thread. Then I arrange in them in order on the wall, or on paper.
This method lets me see all of the story at a glance. It can make it much easier to understand where you’ve got problems, and to see where new parts can fit, or irrelevant parts need to be cut.
Here’s a picture of one of my novels after it’s had the Post-It treatment.
Julie is the best-selling author of Getting Away With It and Dear Thing and Where Loves Lies (which was released by Bantam Press on 31st July.) To find out more about Julie, visit her website: http://www.julie-cohen.com
by A Moment With…Jane Fallon
Jane Fallon’s books include Getting Rid of Matthew, Foursome and Got You Back. Her latest, Skeletons was released by Penguin earlier this year. She’s also a producer whose credits include Teachers and This Life. On day twenty-nine of National Novel Writing Month, she talks to us about supporting characters:
Your supporting characters create your world. They’re your colour and texture. Without them your book will feel two-dimensional and flat. Every character, however small a part they play needs to feel authentic and alive. It’s always a temptation to try to use shorthand to get across a character who is only going to appear a few times in your book. Everyone understands a cliche. But if you do that your reader is going to lose their sense of disbelief. You’ve asked them to immerse themselves into the world you’ve created so it’s important that world never feels cliched or flimsy. Make sure they’re as real as your leads.
Lesser characters can also be like a breath of fresh air – light relief, a pause from the intensity of the main story. They can throw a different light on your main characters. allowing us to see our heroes in a different way. They are what makes us feel we have entered a world that exists whether we’re there or not. Don’t underestimate them.
To find out more about Jane, visit her website: http://www.janefallon.co.uk
by Book Club
