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Archive for the ‘Book Writing’ Category

by Marjorie J McDonald

When deciding on a topic to write or speak about gather the information you want to present to the reader or audience. Place the information in categories relating to various aspects of your topic. From there, sort the information into level of importance from most important to least important in being able to communicate about your topic.

You then can determine what would actually contribute to presenting your topic clearly and what would be extra information that could add some value. Then determine what information would subtract value from your subject or fall into rambling about the subject.

Next, begin to gather the main points of your topic by putting them in order of what the reader needs to know first and then continue to what they would need or want to know last. You will be introducing your topic, giving information about your topic and then explaining to your reader or listener why this information would be of value for them to know.

Sort the main points into an outline. When you have the major part of the outline in place begin to add to those main points just enough extra information to increase the descriptions and give value to the topic so your reader or listener would feel like it was helpful additional information to understand the topic.

Write down your information and add just enough to keep it interesting and maybe, at that point, just a few extra tidbits that would add but were not really necessary. This way you will be staying on topic and the reader or listener will be able to determine if they want to find out more about the topic you have presented to them.

If you just stay with the main facts with limited extra information the reader or listener will value your presentation more and can then easily determine if getting more information would work for them. They will appreciate your ability to present information and stay on topic. It shows respect for their time and that places you as a writer or speaker higher on their list to come back to you for information in the future.

And now I invite you to join me for a series of writing exercises to help you discover your areas of interest in writing as well as increasing your creativity. You may access these exercises by visiting http://www.freecreativewritingstrategies.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
You also may enjoy visiting my blog at

http://www.creativewritingmadeeasy.com

by Mervyn Love

The element of suspense if something readers love. It may be heavy, and it can also be light, but when you add it into your story, your readers will keep reading until they get to the resolution. And isn’t that what you want?

But my biography, or my non-fiction book on train spotting doesn’t need suspense, surely? Oh, yes it does. But more about that later.

Let’s consider the two most usual types of suspense.

First there is the ’signpost’ suspense. This is where something happens, or is said, or is described that hints at some outcome, pleasant or unpleasant, in the future. Here is an example:

‘I was shown into a dimly lit room. On one wall hung a painting. It was grimed with age, but I could make out the shapes of two people, a man and a woman. The man was holding a short sword in one hand, and as I looked, I felt a strange uneasiness creep over me. Why this was so I couldn’t tell just then, but I wanted to leave that room and never come back.’

The reader will get the message that something about this painting forbodes ill for the future in the story. Notice the phrase ‘just then’, this tells the reader that later he or she did find out. It’s a signpost, a hint of dark things to come. Your readers will keep reading to find out what it’s all about.

Next there is the ‘up to their eyes’ suspense. The Indiana Jones stories, as well as many others, show the hero or heroine ‘up to their eyes’ in some desperate physical situation that is life threatening, or at the very least may seriously damage their health. Impossible car chases and underground passages filled with rats come to mind. If you want to keep your readers frantically turning pages you need to keep them in fraught situations throughout in order to build up the suspense.

Sometimes the suspense is a little less fraught with physical danger. For instance in a romance story you can keep your readers in a state of agitation which hangs on whether the heroine is going to marry the rich squire or turn him down for the penniless farmers son.

What about the biography or non-fiction book? Believe it or not, the same applies to them. For example:

‘When I was 17 I longed to join the Army and fight for my country. So I went down to the recruiting office, lied about my age, and got enlisted. If only I had known what this decision would have made to my life and to that of my parents, I would never have been so rash.’

You can see that readers will want to find out how this decision changed all those lives.

‘One of the most serious forms of blight is orange spot. Many gardeners say it can’t be cured but I’m going to let you into my own secret cure later in this chapter.’

It’s a good idea to plan at what point the suspense occurs and at what point it is resolved. In all probability the object of suspense and it’s resolution in a short story may be the reason for the story in the first place. In a book you may want to have a series of suspenseful situations throughout. Make sure these suspenseful episodes vary in intensity, though, as we don’t want readers in a state of near apoplexy from cover to cover!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mervyn Love offers writers advice, resources, competition listing, markets and much more on his website. Go here: http://www.writersreign.co.uk Subscribe to his free Article Writing Course here: http://www.writersreign.co.uk/WRac.html