Tag: Fiction

Posted in Writing

Writing Like Others

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Have you ever observed someone else do something very well and wished you could do that just like them? I’m a writer, so I’ll pick on writing. There are some pretty talented writers out there. J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Tess Gerritsen, just to name a few, are some them. We would all like to write like them. Truth be told, no one can write like them because no one else is them. I am me, so I can only write like me. You are you, so you can only write like you. We are all different, thank God. If we all wrote like the each other, stories would be pretty boring. What we can do is improve our writing to be the best us we can be.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com
Posted in Emotions

Story Tension

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Tension within a story is the sense that something ominous/foreboding is around the corner. What are some ways you can create tension within your story?

Forms of Tension

  1. Increase conflict between your characters.
  2. Make the situation worse for your character(s). Ahh, the tension of the task. Don’t make what your characters have to do easy. Don’t allow them to get what they want right away.
  3. There is tension in surprise. Readers like to be surprised, whether it’s good or bad. Prolong it. Keep stringing them along until just the right time.
  4. Create an air of mystery. We all love a mystery.
Posted in Starts

Learning Blowout

Posted on by L. M. Montes

If you are in the beginning stages of learning how to write fiction, DO NOT…I repeat… DO NOT inundate yourself with too much information at one time. You will get overwhelmed and risk putting out that learning “flame”. Take one topic, for example characterization, and learn a little about it each day. Take small bites. Trust me on this. Also, taking fiction writing class works just as well.

Posted in Scenes

Starting a Scene

Posted on by L. M. Montes

In fiction, there are 5 ways to start a scene

With Action– Hook the reader by providing something about the character. Maybe their past, choices they’ve made, their desires. It will depend on the story you’re writing. Make sure it flows with the plot.

With Summary– Not all writing within a story is showing. There are times you need to tell, too. This is where that comes in. When necessary, and when the story calls for it, begin a scene with some expository writing. Make sure it’s relevant and prepares the reader for forthcoming events.

Introduce Your Narrator– What you’re doing here is introducing your narrator to your readers. Open readers up to the narrator’s mind. What makes them interesting?

With Scene Setting– Describe a scene. I like to call this introducing what’s coming with visual flavoring particles. What you’re doing here is giving the reader a visual setup of the environment within the scene that will then lead to the action/reaction within it. It’s setting the stage, in other words. You’re just doing it with description.

With Dialogue– There is nothing like starting a scene with tense dialogue or, what I call, inviting dialogue. It’s the type of dialogue that invites the reader into it to become a part. It’s done in such a way that engrosses the reader, and they won’t put your story down.

Which of the above you choose to begin your scenes will depend upon your story and its the flow.

Posted in Emotions

Character Reactions within a Story

Posted on by L. M. Montes

When throwing the unexpected at your characters, it’s important for those characters to react in a way that’s realistic to the situation. If you don’t, the reader is going to end up rolling their eyes or pause in their reading and scratch their head in wonder, which you don’t want. You want your readers to be into your story and to keep going with it. Worse, they could put the story down and never finish reading it.

If you aren’t sure if your characters’ reactions aren’t what they should be, have someone else, like a test/beta reader, read it first before publishing it to the world. Get their feedback. It’s important.

Examples:

Unrealistic: A couple of your characters, let’s say to John and Kevin, are out hunting Big Foot, a.k.a. Sasquatch. They are walking through the forest at night then hear the snap of twigs. They stop and look around. Sasquatch jumps out in front of them and they start laughing.

Realistic: The same characters scream, when Sasquatch jumps out at them, and they run. (Be more creative with their terror besides screaming and running. But you get the idea.)

Unrealistic: One of your characters teleports for the first time in their life and they react as though they’ve been doing it all their life. (Trust me, that’s not a realistic reaction.)

Realistic: The same character teleports for the first time in their life and feels feint afterwards. (Here again, get creative with this.)

Overall, you want your readers to enjoy and take in the story you took so much time and care to write. You want them to experience it and feel it. So don’t ruin that experience for them by causing them to roll their eyes or put the book down.

Posted in Poetry

Pinkish Hues by L. M. Montes

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Pinkish hues of gradient splendor
spread your colored robes so free,
across the sky a dance you render
for such souls who yearn to see.

A vacuumed hush with mists of dusk
whisper songs of silence floating,
nature’s calm and slowness brusque
gives way to darkness’ dewy coating.

Nighttime shines with speckled lights’
canopy gently dotting ebony skies,
moonlight hovers beams so tight
commanding coverage until rise.

Morning rays o’er the horizon render
with arms caressing soft and free,
pinkish hues of gradient splendor
for such souls who yearn to see.

Posted in Editing

Adverbs and Your Writing

Posted on by L. M. Montes

I have read quite a bit regarding the usage of adverbs when writing fiction. Most of what I’ve read says not to use them. Period. Yet, I still see adverbs in fiction. Can we catch them all. Hmm…maybe. I think the key is to go back through during your edits and look for those and those alone and nothing else. Yes, do an edit just for searching out adverbs in your writing. When you do your initial search for them, circle them, then go back through and rework the sentences they’re in so that they aren’t there at all.

What do adverbs do that are so bad? They make the writing sound amateurish and unprofessional, they take away from any real action going on, and they take away the show out of the “show don’t tell” rule. There are better ways to say/write something.

Example 1:
(with adverb) Jason stepped lightly across the room to surprise Jill.
(without adverb) Jason tiptoed across the room to surprise Jill.

Example 2:
(with adverbs) Max’s harshly spoken words undoubtedly jumpstarted angry thoughts within Jason’s own mind.
(without adverbs) Max spat his words out.
Jason glared back at him, as angry thoughts jumpstarted within in his own mind.

After reading each example, how does each sound to you? The sentence with the adverb doesn’t do much for the reader at all. Plus, the action that should be there isn’t because the adverb throws “water on it” so to speak. But, the examples without the adverb creates more feeling, action, and pictures within the reader and makes for a better reading experience. You may have to play around with the words and create more than one sentence when you move to fix it without the adverbs. That’s ok, as long as it sounds better. Hence, the “show don’t tell” rule.

Posted in Emotions

Adding Humor

Posted on by L. M. Montes

It’s said that in fiction there must be a pet-the-dog moment. These are times within the story where the protagonist (main character), pets a dog (or other vulnerable creature). What this does is sympathizes your main character. At the same time, if the the pet-the-dog moment is done just right, it will add suspense to the scene or the story as a whole. I have done this with the books I’ve written/published. But…..

I like to also add some humor, kind of sprinkled here and there. What this does is show your MC has a sense of humor as well. In addition, it should also add to your scene (see example below the next paragraph).

Below is an example of humor from my new novel The Cross’s Key. My main character, Kyle Stevens, is trying to glean information from one of the other characters who is being rather difficult or evasive. He does a good job of getting what he wants, while creating humor for the reader at he same time.

Why did you not ask it that way before?”

“My other three brothers would have understood what I was asking,” Kyle spat out. “Now, answer my question. Unless you don’t know. If that’s the case, admit you’re ignorant and send me on my way.” The increase in irritation caused his abdomen to rumble. The result was a noise he hadn’t intended.

“Really, you chose now to pass wind?”

Realizing Jarron must be trying to get on his nerves, Kyle relaxed and chose not to play that game anymore. “Yes, I chose now to pass wind, and I’ll continue to do so unless you answer my question.” For a minute, no one spoke. Then, “I can do this all day,” responded Kyle with a cheesy grin.

Do you have to do this every time? No. Only when I feel the need for it. At the same time, I want my readers to get a chuckle/giggle while they’re reading. s

Posted in Books

Book Deal

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Starting today, March 9th and running through March 16th, the Kindle version of my new novel entitled The Cross’s Key is on sale for only $2.99. It’s marked down from $8.99. That’s a savings of 67%. Get your copy of it now before the price goes back up. The link to the book is in the book title above, below, and is also featured on the home screen on my blog.