Sensory, My Dear Watson

Meh. Not all titles can be winners. Anyway, I, being quite young and only in middle-school, have just participated in an writing competition. My entire team was very nervous, and we were all sort of bunched together, anxious for the competition to begin. My friend gets us in a huddle and we exchange a last few words.
"So I was writing a few days ago, and I decided to put a little bit more detail. I tried to use the five senses. And it was whole a lot better!"

Sensory, my dear Watson. (I'm corny, aren't I?)

The whole point of a book, particularly a fantasy book, is to pick up the reader, make him leave his world, and come to yours. "If a reader picks up a book, and stays where he is, there is no point to the book." However, when you use descriptions, when you use sensory, you force the reader into seeing, feeling, tasting whatever you're trying to show.

5 Senses:

Sight- This one is mandatory, as well as slightly tricky (hey, no one said writing was easy.) Anyone can describe. That's easy, as well as boring. Nobody wants to read "the sky was blue, the road was black. I saw a kid on a bike." Ick. Go a step beyond just "describing." Is there anything that strikes out to your character? Is there something out of the ordinary that would catch the character's eye? Also, never neglect the power of adjectives. Back to my less-than-perfection example. What kind of blue? Stormy, dark, lonesome, mean? What kind of black? Tar, brown, what? Describe! The readers aren't looking through your eyes! Shove in front of them!

Sound- Sound can be a nice mood creator. While the "everything was completely quiet" does get kind of boring, if you can figure out how to fit it nicely into your work, it'll help in the long run. Creaking floors and door equal old, ancient, and spooky, while the jubilant sound of laughing voices can help you create a nice, happy mood. Sound isn't entirely necessary, but is a good thing to have.

Smell- Again, this was not entirely necessary, and you're not actively sniffing around. However, using sharp words like "putrid" or even "sharp" to describe something will really stick in the mind of your reader, making your story even more memorable. Again, this one is entirely necessary, and it is possible to overkill, but also a nice help to your story.

Taste- This one can be fun. Try to think of the worst thing you've ever eaten, and then make a list of adjectives to describe that taste. It's kind of fun, trying to think of all the offensive words you can think of. This goes very well with Smell, especially if your character's eating something. While your character is definitely not going to describe what his spit taste like when he's not eating, it can still make your story more memorable in the mind of your reader.

Touch- I hate sticky things, particularly syrup. It makes my skin crawl, and you can never quite get rid of that sticky feeling. You are always feeling. Adjectives again. (They just keep showing up!) What does that dog your character's petting feel like? Is he sweaty and wet? Or is it's fur smooth and nice to touch. What about the gnarly feel of sandpaper or bumpy bark of a tree. In order to touch something, you have to be there, doing it. If your character is doing it, and actually feeling something, the readers are forced to feel it with you.

Sensory, My Dear Watson

-Twain   

    

The Writing Thief

It's been a month since I last posted.

Ick.

I need to get on here more often even if it no one else gets on here (Though I guess you're reading it, so that's a start.)

My last post, about the Elements of Magic, was a dud, I apologize. Next time, I'm actually probably either have the entire story, but broken into smaller posts, and then post it. And of course, if I could get other author's on here, all would be swell.

So, I do not disclose my real name, for obvious reasons. My pseudonym is the simple name of Twain, courtesy of Mark Twain, which was also a pseudonym. (Wow, I sound really proper all of the sudden.) It got me thinking, though. I'm a writer of fantasy, much different from the genre Twain's genre, but he is still is (or was), a great author.

Immature poets imitate. Good poets steal.

Now, apply this to writing. Pure out copying is plagiarizing, which is illegal, and bad. However, if you take a good idea from a book, and tweak it to your liking, it becomes yours. A good example of this is characters. Let's take the Percy Jackson Series. What if you really like the main character, Percy Jackson, and you want to use him in your story. Go ahead, use him.

Now, before you start whining that's that plagiarizing, I'm going to tell you. It is.

At first.

Take the character, and incorporate him into the story. Unless you are doing the same exact world of Percy Jackson, you can tweak the character(s) into your own.

Immature Authors imitate. Good Writers Steal

-Twain    

Elements of Magic: Short Story Part 1

Flames flickered down my hands as they died out. The rush of the battle and my Mana gone, I suddenly felt very tired and slow. The bridge was nothing more than a a few burning charcoal logs held by a thin string. It snapped as I watched, sending the entire contraption down to the sea.

The villagers looked weary, particularly at my hand where bits of flames still hung. I wondered what I looked like to them. A stranded teenager, in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, and pack. My face was black with soot and dust, and smoke filled my nostrils. Some of the villagers approached me, something looking at me in awe, others in horror, and others trying to avoid eye contact whatsoever.

One of them of them, a small, slightly fat man, bowed a little as he approached. "Are you...the Fire God?" He asked in slow, but clear English. He didn't raise his head. The other followed suit, bowing their heads. I was a little shocked at the turn of events, especially since I burned down their bridge, but I wasn't about to disappoint them.

"Sort of. The "Fire God" is my father." I explained. The man relayed the message in the village's language. The crowd's tension eased a little, glad not to be in the presence of a mighty being, but they had seen what I could do, and remained where they were.

"You...are...half-god?" The man asked.

I'd never thought of it that way. Actually, to be completely correct, I was 3/4th God, but that would probably be too confusing, and I doubted they would still be this friendly if they knew I was part "Death God"

"Yes, I guess you could say that."

The man shouted, and the whole village cheered. Suddenly forgetting to stay away from the ultra-powerful being, I was being swarmed by hundreds of the villagers. They cheered and kissed one another, and the crowd gradually shifted to the Town Center.

(I'll continue this later)

  

Magic is Might

Today is Friday the 13th for all you superstitious writers. Speaking of superstition, I've decided to write about magic, and how to use it. 

NOTE: I, Twain, am more of a Fantasy writer, than anything else. If we can get more authors who are better with other fictional genres, we can have each author specialize in writing about that genre.

Anyway, back to magic. Magic is fun. It's different. It creates interesting plot lines and characters. But, you have to be careful. You have to make the magic in your world believable. 

Yes, I know that sounds weird. Magic is supposed to be strange and mythical, which is fine. But if you have a character that can dissolve the world in seconds without any consequences, you're going to have a few readers shelving your book.

So, how do you make it believable?

NOTE: These steps do not have to be in order 

Step 1: Incorporate magic into your world. 

When you make magic part of the world, your setting, it becomes more believable. If it's just as easy to find a baker as it is a talented magician/sorcerer, then the whole world isn't gawking at your character because he just shot lightning out of his hand. Now, there are exceptions to this. If you want NO magic in your book, besides your character, you have to think of a logical reason as to why.

Step 2:  Set limits to magic.

This is a biggie. Newton's Law of Motion. With every action, there is an equal, but opposite, reaction. There has to be consequences to using magic. If any old wizard could shoot unlimited fireballs out of his hand, why isn't everyone doing it? Does he ever stop?  

I've heard of a thing where Wizards, when they used magic, completely destroyed life around them, literately sucking energy from plants. This caused a hatred of wizards, unless they could learn to control it.

In my book, for instance, magic is energy. There is this thing called Mana that flows through every living thing. Wizards have more Mana than the average person, and they have the ability to manipulate Mana. To them, the manipulation of Mana is magic.

The consequence, therefore, is that whenever they use magic, it cost them energy, and they feel like they've been drained of it for a while after a long session of magic.

Step 3: Make a way to stop magic.

This is more of my thinking than actual "How to write Fantasy", but I think it's important. Back to my example at the top of Step 2. There are bound to bad wizards, one who want to take over the world, kidnap the girl, whatever floats your boat. So, how do you stop them?

In my book, there is a solid/liquid metal that if it comes into contact with a wizard, their Mana manipulation freezes, and they can't use Mana as long as it's touching them. What I'm basically saying, give magic it's weakness. There needs to be a way to stop it

So, rehab:

Step 1: Incorporate magic into your world

Step 2: Set limits to magic

Step 3: Make a way to stop magic  

Old Advice

I think the biggest mistake that I see amatuer writers make is not conforming to the age old saying:

Show, Don't Tell. The thing I hate most is when I see people use "You see, Daniel had special powers..." If the whole book is about Daniel's special powers, you have to show them, possibly by having David do it himself.

Let's say Daniel had the power to rewind time temporarily.

"Daniel walked down the cafeteria, looking for an empty seat, the sloppy joe jiggling on his tray with energy. He noticed he was walking towards the 8th grade "section" of the cafeteria, and quickly changed course.
A little too fast. His feet slipped underneath him on the wet and milky cafeteria floor. His tray flew upwards, going in a large arch towards the 8th graders.

Daniel watched in horror as the sloppy joe smeared into the face of a beefy 8th grader. The entire school froze as the boy wiped the BBQ off of his face. He started to stomp towards Daniel, who was still transfixed. He grabbed his shirt, yanking him off the floor.

Daniel snapped to focus. He felt his energy dissapear, and the world start to rewind. The boy set him down, and marched backwards. Daniel himself moved positions as the sloppy joe flew back to him. He looked at the 8th grader, doing their same conversations, and walked towards the 6th graders.

What's better?

The above example or, "You see, Daniel had the power to rewind time..." I really hope you think the 1st one.

So, try to use the Old Advice

Show, Don't Tell    

The Wonders of Writing

Stephen King proclaims that: "Writing is mental telepathy...even though we are in different times, and place, I can give you a picture, and we will both we'll be thinking the same thing."

A castle, with wizards, and knights. Dragons roam the countryside, guarding their treasure hoards. Pirates scourge the Great Seas, claiming loot from unfortunate sailors. Wars are fought, battles lost and won.

This is what I want. To spread imagination, to let aspiring writers to achieve their dreams.

To Write