Argus's Guide to Better Writing

[Argus Plexus]

Argus's Guide to Better Writing

I will be adding one to two articles a day. I am extremely pressed for time, but I still want to post this, as I believe it will greatly benefit many writers here.

Update: My computer has a drive read error. I will have it repaired, and I will return to this when I do.

T.O.C:
1. Overview
2. Making Your World
3. Sights, Sounds, and Smells
4. Experiencing it for Yourself/Researching
5. Creating a Realistic Species
6. Making Realistic Characters
7. Making Your Plot
8. Making Your Science/Magic Realistic
9. Bringing It All Together
10. How to Edit Efficiently
11. Agents
12. Dealing With the Publisher
13. Magazines and Working Your Way Up
14. Publisher Problems
15. Thanks

I have read many short stories in my short 18 years. I have read a plenty of books. Lots of screenplays. Novels. Novellas. Magazines. There are so many pieces and kinds of literature in the business. People, when they watch a movie, tend to forget that were it not for the screenwriter there would be no movie. Was that movie terrible? Dry? It's probably the screenwriter's fault. Many people, when they read a book, fail to take into account how difficult it is to write a book. People don't realize how hard the publishing business is.

Just to put it in perspective, the highest paid author in the world is Stephen King. He makes approximately $30 million a year. $30 Million. Million, with an M. There are people a few miles away from me on Bald Head Island that could throw around $30 Million without even feeling it in their wallets. Most authors don't make it in the business. We have to cope with the bitter taste of rejection time and again.

Don't let this discourage you, however. Everybody takes that bitter pill once in a while. But that doesn't mean that we can't gain success.

OVERVIEW

I am making this guide to writing because, quite often, I see writing that has great potential but is lacking something and often times lacking several things. This isn't because the author is a bad writer. It is because they haven't yet been fully educated about writing.

Writing, as it stands, is the purest form of human expression. When you write, you are taking a creation which manifested itself in your mind. Of course many people are inspired by something. I myself was inspired to write my current book by listening to a video game score.Though this inspiration is what originally led to your idea, this idea is mainly your own (hopefully).

Knowing this, you can attempt to put the idea on paper. Most people, like myself when I first began writing, just immediately try to put it onto paper. However, this is skipping an essential step in the writing process, and it is the failure to take this long and torturous step that keeps most writers on the ground, and keeps a possible jewel from shining.

I am talking about PLANNING...  

[Argus Plexus]

Building Your World

This should be the first step on your mind. Your world is what your audience sees and hears. What it feels. What it smells and tastes. Your world must be the most realistic part of your story.

Firstly, your world has to have rules, such as laws of physics, laws of a magic system. This is to make the world seem a bit more like home. This can be on Earth, a distant planet, future, past, human, alien, beast, whatever. There has to be rules that the characters do not break.

For example, if your character lives on Earth, or an Earth-like planet, the laws of physics should apply. If your planet is larger than Earth, gravity should be stronger. If it is smaller, then your gravity should be weaker.

Picture the world in your mind. The whole thing. Is it a world of aliens? Is it more like home, like an Earth colony? Is it a world of magic and beasts? Whatever you decide, your world's laws and rules should govern every aspect of it.

Now, you have the rough image in your mind. Now try to go into detail. What lives in this world? What animals? What plants? What possibly intelligent beings inhabit this world? Get that set in your mind. Find pictures that remind you of these creatures, plants, and formations. Print them and post them up on your wall. If it is a world other than Earth, there should be features, creatures, and plants that make it unique. However, there needs to be several things within this world that can remind your reader of home. Of our own planet. This is essential, as the reader needs something to connect with. Something in the story to associate with. This helps to make the reader truly care about this world, and what will become of it.  

[Argus Plexus]

Sights, Sounds, and Smells

Your world now has substance. It is obvious to your reader that it exists now. Now what? What is the next step? The world is there now, but there's something missing.

What is missing is senses. What is your protagonist sensing from the world at any particular time? What does that weapon in his hand feel like? Is it heavy? Is it cold? Smooth? Abrasive?

Telling your audience what something FEELS LIKE is the first step in conveying a particular scene to them. Is hunger eating away at their body? Are they chilled to the bone with hypothermia?

One big thing that seems rather obvious is what something looks like. Explaining what something looks like IN DETAIL is essential for your reader to understand what is going on around the protagonist. What is the architecture of the building you're looking at? How long is the wizard's beard? How does the night sky look? You can be poetic about it too, using metaphors and similes. Like: "Now naked in the vacuum, one could see that the orbital station was massive. It stretched for miles in a large circle. Tens of thousands of people pass through that station every day. At least twenty black, carbon nanotube ribbons reached like thin, outreached hands to the surface." Be creative about it.

Next thing on your list should be what something sounds like. Is it a low rumble you can feel in your skull? A piercing high-pitched ring? Oscillating? Ululating? What is your character hearing? Perhaps the hard mechanical double-click from a Shotgun?

The final and possibly most important piece of the senses puzzle is Smell. Smell is quite possibly the most powerful sense someone can get from a story. Tell me which sounds better:

1 - Mother pulled the door of the oven down with a long metallic creak. She grabbed the mitt from the stove-top and pulled the apple pie from the oven. I could feel the heat from the oven pouring into the room. She set the pie down on the eye of the stove to cool. The fluids bubbled out of the slits in the crust.

Or...

2 - Mother pulled the door of the oven down with a long metallic creak. She grabbed the mitt from the stove-top and pulled the apple pie from the oven. I could feel the heat from the oven pouring into the room. She set the pie down on the eye of the stove to cool. The room was filled with the warm smells of cinnamon and nutmeg. My mouth watered at the thought of devouring it. The fluids bubbled out of the slits in the buttery-smelling crust.

Well? You be the judge.

Senses are key to bringing in an audience. You don't want your audience to be reading the book. You want them to be so immersed in the senses being conveyed to them that they lose themselves. I have read many books where I was reading, but then the book literally melted away and it seemed like I was inside the story. I literally saw the story unfolding in front of me. I was still physically reading, but my imagination was taking these senses being conveyed to me and making them seem real. That is key to hooking an audience. That is the trick the masters use.  

[Argus Plexus]

Experiencing it for Yourself/Researching

One thing that most writers fail to do is research. If you are writing a science fiction, obviously you can't experience space flight for yourself unless you're an astronaut. But what you can do is research experimental technologies, and attempt to predict what will become of them in the future.

One thing you can also do is experience things for yourself. If your character is shooting a sniper rifle, you can go to a gun show and try to get behind a Barrett. There is nothing closer to the truth than a first hand experience. This helps you to convey these senses to your audience with great accuracy, much more than if you simply plugged in conjecture and hearsay.

This simply helps in the process of inserting senses into your writing.  

[Argus Plexus]

Creating a Realistic Species

This is mostly for science fiction writers, but also for some fantasy writers.

The key to making a realistic and believable species is to make their bodies different. They can be humanoid, amorphous blobs, whatever you want. But their mechanics must work. If they're two feet tall, they shouldn't be able to jump entire buildings, unless gravity is low.

Lets say you want to make a species of...lets say intelligent bears. You will want to start off with the basic design of a bear in real life. Quadriped. Very large, lots of body fat, lots of thick fur. Large teeth. Loud roar. Big claws. Very bad if provoked, but otherwise very timorous and gentle.

Next, we'll make it our own. Perhaps you want it to be a Biped instead. Shazam. It now walks on two legs. Give it apposable thumbs? Perhaps two thumbs? One on each side of it's hand. Let's do that. Make them talk. They need to communicate. Or maybe they're telepaths? That sounds interesting. Ought to spice up the plot a bit that way. Make some of the fat go away, and add a little more muscle tone? Boom. It's done.

Biped Bears with one apposable thumb on each side of each hand. Very muscular and athletic. No speech, as they are telepathic, and can communicate directly with each other over long distances.

Now that we have their physical characteristics down, we can move on to what they wear. How about they wear regular clothing? No, that's a bit boring, isn't it? They'd just rip it up with their claws when they put it on. We need something more durable. Something...armored. That's it! How about armor? Fashionably awesome looking and functionally protective. Decide on the architecture of their armor. Does it have very natural curves with silver and gold accents? Is it very angular and geometric with flat black paint covering it's surface? That sounds good. So what do we have now?

Biped Bears with one apposable thumb on each side of each hand. Very muscular and athletic. No speech, as they are telepathic, and can communicate directly with each other over long distances. They wear armor all over their bodies. The armor is angular and geometric, and is painted jet black.

Now, what kind of weapons will they use? Swords? Projectiles? Plasma weapons? Particle weapons? Or perhaps they use magic? Maybe they wield a staff? That sounds good. What is their staff like? Is it long? short? How about we make it as tall as them. That looks good. Now, does it have some kind of crystal at the top, like Gandalf? How about a small red crystal? That looks cool. A shining red crystal. What is the staff colored? White? Black? Green? Let's make it match his armor. There! His physical appearance is complete!

Biped Bears with one apposable thumb on each side of each hand. Very muscular and athletic. No speech, as they are telepathic, and can communicate directly with each other over long distances. They wear armor all over their bodies. The armor is angular and geometric, and is painted jet black. They wield staffs with which they cast magical spells. The staffs are just as tall as them, eight feet on average. The staff is painted jet black to match their armor, and has a shining ruby-red crystal lodged at the tip.

Now, how's that for a character in a fantasy novel? I came up with that in five minutes. I went through a process. First, find something here on Earth to base your character off of. This is just to make visualization easier for your reader, and make your reader connect with the story just a little bit more.

But we have excluded something. And it is this which makes your reader and your character click like Peanut Butter and Jelly. Personality and consciousness.

Your character cannot be an empty shell. You must add consciousness. The best idea is to make your character's personality much like that of a human. Make them act on situations like we do. If your character is a small character, make them act with fear and apprehension in a dangerous situation. Or maybe they are proud warriors like the Native Americans, rushing bravely into battle to protect their homeland. That sounds cool. Let's go with that.

Biped Bears with one apposable thumb on each side of each hand. Very muscular and athletic. No speech, as they are telepathic, and can communicate directly with each other over long distances. They wear armor all over their bodies. The armor is angular and geometric, and is painted jet black. They wield staffs with which they cast magical spells. The staffs are just as tall as them, eight feet on average. The staff is painted jet black to match their armor, and has a shining ruby-red crystal lodged at the tip. They are a proud warrior race, defending their homeland from invaders. They rush into battle bravely. They fight and die alongside each other.

Now how's that for a character? Believable? Do you think that this character would be involved in a worthy story? I believe so. Next, I will go even further into making your characters realistic.  

[Argus Plexus]

Making Realistic Characters

Now that you have a realistic species to build a character onto, you must make an idea come alive. You must give sentience to this blank creation.

The main problem I see with most writers is that they want to make what I call an "Edward Cullen". An almost utterly perfect character. No major flaws. No personal problems. Perfection.

Now, you may say "Hey! I liked Twilight!" Well, I'm not bashing your personal tastes at all. I am simply using a well-known example. Edward Cullen, from my point of view, was an utterly perfect character. I knew who he was completely form the beginning. I knew what was going to happen to him, how he would react, and pretty much knew the whole plot line simply because of this character and the way he would act.

Now, on the matter of a perfect person. Would you want to be friends with a perfect person? I wouldn't. They'd piss me off at every turn. Just they're actions alone would constantly remind me of my own shortcomings.

Second, perfect people in literature. Perfect characters are boring. You know who they are. They have no flaws. No room for development. That is what people like to see in a book. Character development. You can relate to that character better because they do have flaws, just like we all do. You begin to care about that character. You want to know what happens to them in the end. That is what keeps the readers reading.

I don't give a rats a** about a perfect character. I know they'll be fine. They're perfect.

About caring about a character. This device we use is part of...damn, what did my English teacher call it? I can't seem to remember. But, basically it is keeping facts about how a character turns out in the end from the reader. They want to know, but you won't tell them till the end. That is what hooks 'em. What keeps 'em reading.

Overall, you want your character to be just like a real person. You want them to have one or two major flaws. Those could be a bad relationship with someone, or a personal problem. Perhaps they are a racist, and in the end they learn to settle differences. They should also have minor flaws. These can be from having a fear of spiders, or even having problems casting one particular spell. They should also always have goals. They should have one main goal. They can have two main goals if you want, but I suggest sticking with one. These can range form gaining independence from an oppressive dictatorship, or maybe defeating an alien invader. The main goal should be very large in scope, to give the effect of grandness to your reader. To make them feel like the world you have built isn't just what is around the reader. To make it feel like there is more that what is immediately visible. They should also have two or three minor goals. These can range from attaining a childhood dream, to the overplayed "Getting the girl", or even just something like making it to the next town.

Having goals and flaws is what makes a character seem real. One suggestion is to perhaps first model your character off of a real person in your life, and then augment them slightly for originality. However you do it, your character must have flaws and goals.  

[Argus Plexus]

Making Your Plot

Now comes an integral part of your process. The Plot.

What is a good story without a juicy plot? What is a plot? Plot is a string of events strategically placed by a writer to ensnare a reader's curiosity. A proper plot makes a reader keep reading, because they want to know what happens in the end.

That is exactly what the function of a plot is. To keep information from the reader till the end. It is the main part of your book that keeps them interested.

It is best to have one that is original. You want one that nobody has ever seen before. Twists on an old topic is a hard thing to pull off. That's where you have crappy spin off movies.

This is where most old school cliches come in. You want to avoid major cliches. These are a dead giveaway that a writer didn't put much thought into their plot.

How do you make a plot? That is a difficult question. Plots range from science fiction, high action plotlines to soft, slow romantic plotlines. I came up with my most recent plotline by basically sitting down and thinking about what I wanted my book to consist of. Large scale space battles. Action-packed hand to hand combat. Explosions. Passionate love scenes. More explosions. Heart-pumping action throughout the entire book. That's what I wanted.

So I figured what I wanted the book to consist of. Then I looked at the goals of my main characters. You want those two things to determine where your plot will lead.

Next is suspense. You want lots and lots of tasty suspense. Suspense is what keeps your readers reading through any "boring" parts. They want to know what happens, and when you cut off the story to another scene right at the climax of a scene, the reader wants to keep reading.

Overall, you want a plotline that ties up your main character's goals, what you want to see in your book, suspenseful cliffhangers, a series of events that leads up to a main, exciting climax, and an ending that either ties up all the goals of your characters, or opens the plot for a sequel. This sequence of events must make sense. It must be exciting and fresh, cliche free, and must keep a reader interested.

Remember: If you're bored writing it, the reader is going to be twice as bored reading it.  

[Argus Plexus]

Making Your Science/Magic Realistic

This is where many Sci Fi and Fantasy novels fail. They put little to no thought into their technology or Magic system. They immediately think, "Oh, I can just make them do anything I want cause it's magic/super advanced technology! LOLOL!!!1!!" Well, that's not how it rolls in the publisher's eyes.

Let's start with making realistic Science Fiction. Firstly, any technology you introduce in your novel should NEVER be made up. Like, say you want to be able to travel faster than light. What I did is research experimental and theoretical trans-light drives. Most people immediately turn to the Warp Drive, more formally known as an Alcubierre Drive. This form of trans-light movement is only hypothetical, but the math works, and it does not break any laws of relativity. However, a great amount of energy is needed to make such a drive. So you will now need a great source of power. The perfect solution? Fusion Reactors. It is predicted that, with more funding and research, a fusion reactor will be able to put out ten times more energy than is put in. Now, hundreds of years from now, this could be increased to hundreds of times more energy. There is your drive, and the reactors that will power it. And PRESTO! You now have a believable form of Trans-light travel.

What I just did is realize what my characters need to accomplish the plot line I have set. So I researched experimental or hypothetical technologies that are possible and don't break any rules or laws of physics.

What most Sci-Fi writers fail to do is research REAL science and how it works. They think that just because it's thousands of years from now in their novel, that their technologies can magically commit acts of God. That doesn't happen, and your readers will recognize that. That is how you lose true Hard-Sci-Fi readers like myself. Once again, this ties into making your story believable and making it so that your readers can relate to it.

Now, making a believable Magic system is a little less about research, obviously, and more about starting with a basis in what has already been set in novels before your own. Start with the knowledge that your magic system MUST have limitations, or else there will be no real struggle in your story, and thus it will be dry. Really, Magic systems are mostly a personal creation. My only real tips on it is that you should definitely avoid making them too powerful. Make them defeatable, and make them realistic.  

[Argus Plexus]

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