Tag: Story

Posted in Writing

Wielding Words

Posted on by L. M. Montes
Photo by Susanne Jutzeler on Pexels.com

Your pen (or keyboard) is your sword, and the words are the blood that’s shed as a result of wielding your words onto the page. Words have impact. It doesn’t matter what that impact is. Whether they create horror, harshness, love, peace, or fear; they have impact. You are the person in charge of creating that impact. So what kind of thrust to you want to use to create that impact?

You can make something everyday appear abnormal, or you could choose something abnormal or bazaar to appear normal or everyday. It’s all in the words you choose. How you wield your words is up to you. It’s your story, your voice, your personality. Write the words you want to write the way YOU want to write them.

Posted in Characterization

Types of Conflict (Part 5): Person vs. Self

Posted on by L. M. Montes

This type of conflict is between a character and their inner self. Don’t we go through this type of struggle on a regular basis?

Examples include:
1. Lack of self-confidence
2. The feeling of guilt when you do something against what you normally would do.
3. Love conflict: When you hurt someone you love.
4. The struggle of having to do something you don’t want to do but have to do. A great example of this is in Lord of the Rings when Frodo struggles with his destiny of having to destroy the ring.

Other Movie Examples of Man vs. Self
1. Buzz Lightyear in the first Toy Story movie. He’s a toy but doesn’t realize he’s a toy.
2. In the movie UP, Carl Fedricksen the grumpy old man is cynical and struggles with the cynicism that has encompassed him and the adventurous spirit he once was.
3. Tangled. Rapunzel struggles with wanting to stay in the tower or defy her mother and venture outside and leave the tower.

Posted in Writing

The Love of Writing

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Do you love writing? What kind of writing to you enjoy most? I enjoy writing fiction. I wouldn’t mind writing non-fiction, but then I can’t delve into the creative aspects that is so much a part of fiction.

If you love to write, what do you love about it? For me it’s relaxing. Not only that, but I like the writing high when I’ve written something that brings the story home. When I read a book, any book, I am reminded of the love for the writing craft that other authors have. I can see this in their writing. The attention to detail, the well developed characters, the setting(s), interwoven story lines, and much much more. Of course, none of these details runs off the top of authors’ heads. Much thought is given to every aspect of writing a story.

When I visit Twitter, I feel the joy in every author I follow as they talk about their books. Their love of writing comes through their words.

Love your characters. Breathe your story. Embrace your writing. If you love to write? Write. You don’t necessarily have to write a book. You might enjoy writing short stories, or non-fiction.

Posted in Fiction

A-HA

Posted on by L. M. Montes
I Got It!!!

That moment when you’re writing. You stop to think about your main character and brainstorm ideas about what you can do to make him/her a more in depth person. You wonder also about what the major issue will be that he/she must struggle with and in the end will allow him/her to grow.

Posted in Writing

Words of Depicting Emotion

Posted on by L. M. Montes

I’ve talked about emotions before and how to convey them within the story text. But here are some lists of helpful words depicting various emotions instead of using the word(s) confused, sad, strong, happy, angry, surprised, energized, hurt, confident, and fearful:

Confusion
doubtful
embarrassed
lost
hesitant
bewilderment
flustered
perplexed
puzzlement
unsettled
dumbfounding

Sad
crushed
depressed
upset
heavy
mournful
bitter
melancholy
dismal
gloom
glum
heartsick

Strong
secure
sure
certain
ambitious
aggressive
willful
compelling
effectiveness
hardy
dynamic
tenacious

Happy
joyful
optimistic
content
grateful
glad
cheerful
elated
convivial
exultant
jolly
lively

Anger
agitated
perturbed
hateful
furious
livid
mad
bitter
critical
raging
resentful
outraged
disgusted

Surprise
astounded
astonished
amazed
awed
bewildered
curious
marvel
shocked
epiphany
wonderment
eye-opener
unforeseen
unexpected

Energized
active
animated
spirited
healthy
vibrant
renewed
invigorated
inspired
determined

Hurt
betrayed
damaged
abused
rejected
punished
shook
sore
crushed
distressed
disturbed

Confident
assured
convinced
sure
hopeful
sanguine
prepared
successful
brave
certain

Fear
anxiety
scared
terrified
dread
agitated
vulnerable
alarm
angst
fright
distress
foreboding
discomposure
panic


Posted in Description, Setting

Awaken Your Setting: Part 2

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Be sure to include detail within your setting that relates to time. For example, describe a setting that takes place in summer. A summer that is above normal temperatures could pose a threat. Or, maybe it doesn’t pose a threat, but it does give a clear indication of what time of year it is. Maybe the heat is depicted by way of the droopy leaves of the plants on the patio of the house your character lives in. Is it winter? Everyone knows that winter can present risks as well.

Posted in Description, Setting

Awaken Your Setting: Part 1

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Create your setting by way of your narrator’s Point of View. Doing this will also instill feeling into your fictitious place. When that happens, your readers will feel it too, and that’s what you want. It keeps them reading.

Posted in Fiction

The Story Within

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Everyone has a story within themselves. One that’s either dying to get out or one that wants to stay hidden. If you decide to tell your story, tell it. If you want it to remain hidden then do that. But there are two ways to let it stay hidden. You could leave it alone and do nothing at all, or you could tell it but weave it with fiction. No one will ever know. You will know, but no one else will. That is the beauty of fiction.

Pretend

Have you ever played pretend when you were a kid? If so, shuffle through your mental library of pretend scenarios and expand it into a story. This could be a short story or novel. Just an idea in case you need something to write about.

Romance

Maybe you had a romance that ended on a bad note. You would like to write about that, but you don’t want anyone to know. Well, who has to know it was your experience?

Trouble

Maybe you or someone you know got into some trouble. Ohhhh the intrigue that could come from a story such as this. Embellish and expand on it. Create a fictional detective series that centers around it.

Whatever stories lie within that computer bank living inside of your head, use them if you’re so inclined. That is, if you enjoy the art of writing. If not, leave them alone.

Posted in Scenes

Reaction

Posted on by L. M. Montes

You’re writing a scene with an event that should strike your main character as surprising or distressing. BUT instead your character reacts in a way that makes no sense at all. Maybe you had your character have to shoot an intruder and it was the first time they had to shoot anyone. How would a person normally react in a situation like that, if it was their first time having to shoot someone?

Make sure your character who is going through that for the first time reacts the right way. If, for example, they walked away from the above situation behaving as though it was no big deal, then there better be a logical reason for them doing so. I say this because I know I would freak out if I had to shoot someone. Or I’d panic. Maybe others would become despondent or go into shock.

If your characters’ reactions don’t match the situation, the readers will know, and they’ll get distracted from the story. You don’t want that. It could even cause them to put it down, and you definitely don’t want that.

Posted in Writing

Endurance

Posted on by L. M. Montes
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

Any of you out there who are long distance runners know that, when it comes to running, it takes endurance. You run until you reach your goal and you don’t stop. I’m not a long distance runner, but I have run distances up to 3 miles. Yes, there were times I wanted to stop. What I did was play mind games with myself by saying I’ll stop at the next corner. Then I would keep going at the next corner and say ‘ok, the next telephone pole I’ll stop’. Again, I’d keep going. I would do this all the way to the end. Eventually, I wouldn’t need to play these little games with myself because my body would get used to it.

The same thing goes for writing a novel. There are times you want to stop before you reach your goal of whatever word count you promised yourself you would write that day. So, you play a mind game. Let’s say you fixed yourself a goal of writing 1000 words everyday starting Monday. Monday comes and you are 500 words into your writing and you want to stop. You tell yourself, ‘ok, I can write 100 more words and I’ll stop.’ You accomplish this, except now when you reach the 600 word mark, you can’t stop because you’re on a roll. You keep going. All at once you look at your word count number and you have 1200 words. YAY!!! You went over your goal. Does this happen every time? No. If you find you just can not think of anything past the 500 word mark, then stop and come back to it later that day. Who said you have to write 1000 words in one sitting? As long as you reach your goal by the end of that day.

There will be down time when you need time to think about your story and what should come next. I call this ‘Planning Time’. So…plan away. I consider my walks as part of my planning time because it gives me time to relax and think about my story. Much can come from one’s brain when they relax. Another thing that will help keep up your writing endurance is by talking about your story with someone else. My daughter helps me with that. Let me tell you…it helps in a BIG way.

Writing your novel doesn’t have to be a chore, so make it fun. Run those fingers across the keyboard or your pencil across the paper. Let your brain run in several different directions as it thinks of new ideas for your story. Endure. You can do it.