Writing 101: Hitting Them Over the Head

There's a well known episode of "Star Trek" that depicts a conflict on a planet that is being visited by the crew of the starship Enterprise. The people on the planet are embroiled in war. One group of people has bright, white skin on the left side of their bodies and black skin on the right side. The second group has white skin on the right side and black on the left. Because of this, they are gripped in bitter war. And as we know, "Star Trek" aired in the 1960s, during time of great racial strife. And this is what we call hitting readers (or viewers) over the head with a metaphor.

  

Also known as being heavy-handed, hitting your readers over the head with your point is a sure way to get that point across. But is it also a sure way to annoy your readers?

Beating a Dead Horse

There are lots of metaphors for overstating a point, even when it's a plot point in a story. That's because it's a thing that many people don't like.

However, re-stating a plot point is a truly time-honored tradition in storytelling. The oldest stories ever told were not written down, they were passed along orally, spoken aloud into groups. In order to make sure specific information is stuck in listeners’ minds, storytellers would repeat the same information over and over again. This style of storytelling can still be seen as a lingering tradition in many of the oldest written stories. Homer's "Odyssey," for example, is repetitive on several points.

 

There are tens of thousands of words in the average book and certain information will stick with some readers and not with others. If you want to make sure that they retain specific points of information, repetition is the best way to make that happen. However, you can be repetitive without being boring.

 

You can present the same information over and over again but in different ways, using different words. If it is important to know that a character is a coward, for example, show the readers a cowardly act committed by this character. You can also show the reader the character's thoughts about the event afterwards and in this fashion, show the cowardly action again in a slightly different way. There are many ways to give the readers the same information. You can also do it through dialogue by having a character relate a story to another character and have the character repeat the tale, using somewhat different words, to yet another character. 

You can also use an extremely transparent metaphor, such as the one used in the "Star Trek" episode mentioned above, to make sure a point sticks out. When the point is thinly-hidden like this, you won't need to use repetition to get the point across. Readers may roll their eyes, but you as the writer don't have to worry that they won't "get it." They will.

Sometimes, hitting readers over the head may be a necessary evil. But if you do it well and craft a story that readers love, they won't mind.

Writing 101: Reading the Classics

Classic literature. This is a phrase that everyone has heard and most everyone can name at least one story that's considered a classic. They're the biggies, the books you have to read in school, the authors who are studied and regarded as something beyond regular writers. But honestly...who's got the time to read them all?

That's Classic

Outside of school and the occasional Hollywood blockbuster, classic literature doesn't get discussed much. However, classic stories are actually everywhere. Many authors, books and TV shows borrow from the classics, borrowing the plots, characters and settings to re-work them for a modern audience.

This has happened way more times than anyone can list and way more times than you realize. That adorable love story with Renee Zellweger. That suspenseful TV show about the wronged woman seeking revenge. From the fun rom coms to the dramatic films about frenemies, cases of mistaken identity and children switched at birth, many of these seemingly fresh pieces of entertainment are based on stories that are decades, centuries, even millennia old already.

With even a cursory look at Greek literature, you may come to realize that there are no new plots. They wrote some of the most salacious stories and they truly ran the gamut when it comes to human emotion. The themes, plots and morals found in classic literature can't be beat. This is why so many authors use them to create new stories. This has been done throughout history, with everyone from Virgil to Dante to Shakespeare to Helen Fielding borrowing from the classics. 

Studying from the classics and even borrowing from them from time to time can be a great way to write a new beloved story. If all the plots have already been written, won't you be forced to repeat them anyway? Greek myths, Sumerian legends and writers like Dickens provide lots of rich plots, great settings and strong characters that are truly timeless. Re-working these classic themes and stories into new material is a time-honored tradition. For many writers, it can be a great way to deal with writer's block as well. Once you've got the main themes and characters already in front of you, the rest is a lot easier.

Writing 101: Writing About Race

The issue of race, or more specifically racism, is everywhere right now. Well, actually, it's always been here -- but there are times when it gets talked about and it's felt more keenly than other times. And in this particular moment in history, racism and race are being talked about everywhere. For writers, this begs the question do you talk about race in your books? And when you do bring up race, are you doing it the right way?

Amtec Photos / Flickr

Race and Writing

Have you ever read a book where all the main characters are described with specific features -- brown hair, blonde hair, green eyes -- but only one, or maybe two, characters are ever described with a specific skin tone color? This actually happens all the time in books...though you may not have really noticed it before. 

When one character is singled out for being Black, or Hispanic, or by any color at all, it suddenly becomes glaring if none of the other characters are described by their skin tone. It suddenly makes every other character presumably white, and it suddenly means your book is operating under the presumption that white is such a dominant race, it's only worth pointing out if someone is non-white. Which may not even be true -- perhaps all the characters in your book are Black. 

So, how should writers be handling race?  It's up to every writer to decide how to mention the issue, or whether or not to mention it at all. But for the sake of sensitivity and equality, there are probably two options that stand out as the best. One option is to mention every character's skin tone and include this when their physical appearance is described in the book. Another is to describe skin tone for none of the characters. Hemingway did not describe the appearance of his characters or even mention what they looked like, which certainly didn't harm his stories at all. So don't think your books will somehow be lacking if you fail to include this information about appearance.

Ultimately, of course, every word on the page should be of the author's own choosing. Don't write it if you don't feel good about it. Include it if you think it's important. And if your book is about race or if race is an issue in your book, then you'll want to note this detail about your characters because it's a central theme of the story. But if the goal is to move toward a place where race isn't an issue, maybe the right move is to leave this detail ambiguous. 

Race is a tough subject to tackle. It's tough to talk about and it's tough to write about. But that's okay. Authors will help set the tone for the discussion and help the world move forward so that maybe, race won't be such a polarizing issue in the future.

Writing 101: Palette vs Pallet vs Palate

Homonym pairs are bad enough. When you've got three words that sound alike but have different spellings and different meanings, you may want to just give up and forget that the words palette, palate and pallet exist at all. But they do. And even though it may be difficult to learn which one to use when, you still want to have these words in your writing toolkit...because your language can never be limited.

Palette

A palette is a range of colors. It's also that thing an artist uses when they're creating a painting, like Bob Ross and his famous big palette. Think of an artist and their palette when you think of this word. Think of all the colors on the palette. If you're writing about the colors of the rainbow or the way the sky looks during sunset, you're going to be using the artistic word palette to describe it.

Palate

Do you have a good palate for flavor? Have you ever eaten a fancy, multi-course meal and been given a dish to cleanse your palate? The palate is the roof of your mouth. That's why it's so often used with references to cuisine. Palate refers to taste or to the mouth itself.

Pallet

A pallet is a frame, usually made of wood, that's used to carry and transport items. They're found often in the construction industry.

Writing 101: Do You Know Your Characters?

You know how they say that every villain is the hero of his or her own story? Well, every single character in your stories is the main character of their own story. And as an author, you have to have a pretty good idea of what their story is like. You need to know every single character in your story. You have to know who they are and why they are who they are. So...how do you do it?

Knowing Your Characters

Authors have an intimate knowledge of their main characters. Their thoughts, their backstory, their hopes and dreams. But as an author, you should have this information for all of your characters. Every character in your story, no matter how minor, matters in their own story. You need to know what drives them and what makes them who they are. Otherwise, the actions your characters take and the words they say may not make any sense.

It helps to create a character sheet to remember essential facts about each character in your story, like what their names are and what they look like. While you're jotting down quick notes about hair and eye color, include essential elements of their personality as well. Keep your notes as short and to the point as possible. You don't want to read for 40 minutes every time you want to write a chapter.

If you don't know every character inside and out, you can't write every character in a believable way. Know why each character does what they do and says what they say and you'll be creating a well-crafted, well-written story. Because if you don't know your characters, none of your readers can know them, either.

Writing 101: Gray vs. Grey

They say that life, like writing, is full of shades of gray. Or...are they shades of grey? Why is this word spelled two different ways? What's the difference between the spellings? Are you sure you've been using the right one? It's time to settle the debate between gray and grey once and for all.

Shades of Gray Grey

There are many word pairs in the English language, words that sound the same or look the same but have different meanings. Do gray and grey fit into this group? 

The simple answer is no, they don't. By any spelling, grey/gray means the same thing. This word, whether it has an e or an a, always refers to the color that's created when you mix black and white together. In any shading, gray is grey.

The only exception to this rule is brand names. Earl Grey tea, for example, is always spelled with an e. Canada's national bird, the Gray Jay, is always spelled with an a. 

So why do two spellings of the same word exist? Grey with an e is more commonly used in British English, which is spoken in England. Gray with an a is used more commonly in American English. If you're an American writer, it's more proper for you to use gray spelled with an a. While it may not seem like a big deal, some editors can be sticklers about this.

Always use the right spelling of every word you want to use, even when the difference is small. After all, there has to be some reason there are two spellings of the word gray/grey -- even if it's only to give us something to talk about!

Writing 101: Stationary vs. Stationery

The moment you use the wrong word in your writing, you make yourself look like you have no idea what you're doing. The trouble is, it's really, really easy to use the wrong word. The English language is stuffed with word pairs that sound alike and may even be spelled similarly, but they have two different meanings. Knowing how to use these words properly is something every writer has to learn...because there are lots of readers who already know the difference.

A or E?

So when it comes to stationary and stationery, which word is the right word for the sentence you're trying to write? They sound exactly the same and they're spelled exactly the same, with just one letter's difference. But that one letter changes absolutely everything.

Stationary with an A means that something is immobile and unmoving. A stationary object is sitting still. Think of it as pushing a heavy object. What sound might you make while you're doing that?

Correct: "aaaaaa!!" To remember that stationary means not moving, think of yourself screaming "aaaaaa" while trying to push a heavy object.

Stationery with an E refers to pretty paper, envelopes and mailing supplies. In the digital world, this word is becoming less and less common. So think of stationery with an e this way: email replaced mail. Stationery with an E is paper mail, which no one uses because of email.

You may come up with your own tricks to remember the difference between the two words. Whatever helps you remember will work, as long as you remember the difference. Using the wrong word will hit a sour note with every reader and every editor, so do your best to avoid it by always using the right word.

Language is always evolving and changing, but the differences between word pairs is stationary and set -- so when you're writing out that nice letter on stationery, make sure you're choosing the right word!

Writing 101: Let's Talk About Reptition

There are very few hard rules in writing, rules that cannot be bent or broken in any way. Many writers have taken great delight in breaking the so-called rules of good writing, to much success. But even in the art of writing, there is one thing you should never, ever do. Do you know what it is? Because I just broke that rule to make a very important point.

No matter what, you should never repeat the same word twice. No, not even when it's separated by punctuation. It's never okay and it's always going to make you look like a bad writer.

Getting Repetitive

There are rules in writing. You must capitalize names and the first word of sentences. You must end sentences with some kind of punctuation. Every writer knows the basic rules. But there's another you must always follow because it always looks bad if you get it wrong.

Don't repeat words. Never at any point should the same word appear back-to-back, not even when there's a period between them. We already covered the importance of never saying "that that" on this blog, but it's worth talking about the importance of avoiding all word repetition. Every editor will cringe, every reader will flinch and every time you do it, you will look like you don't actually know what you are you doing!

Sentences can always be re-worked. Words can always be moved around. Everything can always be changed. And if you've got the same word appearing back-to-back for any reason and in any way, change it!

This is a rule of writing that must always be observed. Whether it's a name, a special word or anything else you're using, don't repeat. Stick to that rule and all your writing will be better for it.