Guest Post

HAVE A BOOK TO PROMOTE? Lyrical Pens welcomes guest posts. Answer a questionnaire or create your own post. FYI, up front: This site is a definite PG-13. For details, contact cjpetterson@gmail.com cj

Sunday, January 6, 2019

Writing strengths


cj Sez: I’m a visual person (is that a right brain or a left brain thing?), and that shows up like screenplay scenes in my writing. 

Scenes and dialogue are the least complicated for me to write.

   I enjoy creating the details that permit my readers to visualize where the characters are and what they are seeing. I try to keep my details sparse and incorporated into the flow of the scene’s action. I don’t tell the reader the office is small and crowded. I’ll let the character do that by having her desk chair bump against the wall when she stands up or spins around to retrieve a document from her printer that’s sitting atop the three-drawer file cabinet near her left elbow.

   Writing dialogue is another favorite. I especially like it when I can create almost an entire scene with dialogue and need to use only one or two “said” tags. It works well with two characters, and with a bit of finessing, also works with three characters. 

Dealing with personal introspection / emotions / internal dialogue is more difficult for me since I “see” the action in my stories, something akin to movies in my head. Narrative doesn’t exist in movies unless there’s a voice-over, so I tend to use very little of it. I’ve been told and I do understand I need more narrative in my novel, so I’m working on expanding my use of internal dialogue.

By the by, my scenes also incorporate at least one of the five senses—sight, smell, sound, taste, touch—as well as journalism’s five “Ws”: who, what, when, where, and why. I also add the “H”: how.

Okay, I’ve confessed. Now it’s your turn. What is your writing strength or weakness?

///

I don’t use Wordpress, but I know a lot of people who do. I understand there’s been a change in the product that’s driving some users crazy. Perhaps the information on the Writers in the Storm blog about the new Gutenberg version will give you some helpful pointers.  https://writersinthestormblog.com/2018/12/working-with-the-new-wordpress-layout/

That’s it for the first post of 2019…amazing, isn’t it?    2…0…1…9    Wow.
You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj
Deadly Star is free on Kindle Unlimited at the time of this post.  Review: "cj petterson has crafted a tale of murder, espionage, and romance which builds to a dramatic and satisfying conclusion. With a gift for well-written dialogue and a deft touch at creating suspense, Ms. petterson delivers a must-read story in Deadly Star."

Drop me a note to sign up for my quarterly newsletter: cjpetterson@gmail.com  
Find my books on

2 comments:

  1. I don't have much to add, since your strengths pretty much align with mine. Thanks for the WordPress alert! An organization I belong to has a new WordPress site. Ugh!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The article about WordPress was very helpful. Thanks for the link. Like you, I thoroughly enjoy writing dialogue. It's fun to get into the heads of the characters and spill the personalities across the page along with parts of the story.

    ReplyDelete

Your turn! Got a question or comment? The author would love to hear it. (Comments are moderated to reflect the Lyrical Pens brand, so please keep it clean, else it gets dumped into that little chamber pot in the sky.)