Farewell

     From time to time over the past year, this space has been devoted to how to write a good ending - how to "stick the landing" as they say in gynastics.
     If a story doesn't have a good ending, just as if a journey doesn't have a good ending, it leaves its audience unfulfilled.
     Knowing that full well, that is the chance I take today as I tell you this is the last post I shall do of "The Writing Life." In all journeys, there is a time to move on and I find myself in that situation. Maybe someday I will take the 97 posts of "The Writing Life" and put them in the form of a little book. That would be yet another journey.
     Good luck to all of you in your journeys. Au revoir.

Your lighthouse

     There is a wonderful passage in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" that offers great advice to writers.
      Here is the passage: "One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. `Which road do I take?' she asked. The response was a question: `Where do you want to go?'
`I don't know,' Alice answered. `Then,' said the cat, `it doesn't matter.'"
     As writers, if we know where we are going with our work, we'll never be puzzled by the fork in the road. We need to stay focused. Billy Wilder, the late, great screen writer, put it this way: "If you are having trouble writing the third act, the problem is probably in the first act."
      The best way to handle the ending to a story is to know what it is before you begin. The ending is the lighthouse in the sea as you go to your keyboard and begin your voyage.

Be a trouble maker

     The best book for writers on writing is Sol Stein's "Stein on Writing." Every writer should have it on their bookshelf. Stein, an author, playwright and publisher, provides many tips on writing and tells why they work. I purchased the book many years ago and get it out every once in a while and thumb through it, reading only the parts that I underlined the first time through. Here's one example.
     "Writers are trouble makers. A psychotherapist tries to relieve stress, strain and pressure. A writer's job is to give readers stress, strain and pressure. The fact is that readers who hate those things in life love them in fiction."
      The same holds true in factual writing if it is a story about a dramatic experience in someone's life. So, be a trouble maker.

Endings

      Endings are important because if they are not satisfying to the reader, the entire story may be deemed a failure.
      When my kids were toddlers, I would occasionally sit on the edge of their beds and tell them "bed time" stories to help them get to sleep. I recall a time I was doing that with my youngest daughter -making up a story and providing vivid detail until I thought it was time for her to go to sleep. So I ended the story abruptly and told her good night. And she said, "That wasn't a very good story." Had she been older and more succinct, she would have said, "That was a lousy ending." And she was right. But to her, the whole story fell flat on its face.
     Whether it be fact or fiction, novel or speech to the local Lions Club, pay as much attention to your ending as you do to the rest of the work.
      Strive to do what gymnasts must do - stick the landing.  

Why we write

     In the late 1980s, a writer named Isaac Singer gave a lecture at a university. Afterward, a student asked him what's the purpose of literature. He did not hesitate. "To entertain and instruct," he said. Notice that he said entertain first, then instruct.
     Too often we think of entertainment as funny or a lack of seriouness. What Singer was saying is that if the reader is not entertained - if he or she is not engaged in something they enjoy - then all possibilities of instruction are lost.
     A person who receives a gift and enjoys it is entertained. A writer's job is to give a gift to the reader. Author Richard Russo puts it this way: The writer "comes bearing a gift he hopes will please. He starts out making the thing for himself, perhaps, but at some point he realizes he wants to share it, which is why he spends long hours reshaping the thing, lovingly honing its details in hopes that it will please us, that it will be a gift worth giving and receiving."
     In other words, it must be entertaining.   

Something to think about

   A 17-year-old high school student wrote and directed a short film that was shown at an independent film festival. The youngster was asked what he thought were the secrets to producing a good film. Read what this teen-ager said - and then let's all think about how his youthful words can apply to our own writing.
   The young man said, "Rope the people in at the very beginning; keep them attached; and give them something to think about afterwards for hours, or even days."

Hit the right chord

     I came out of the journalism era in which we were taught to answer the five basic questions: Who, what, where, when and why. It wasn't long before I realized you could accomplish all of that and yet the reader could still say, "so what?" as in "who cares?" So, "so what?" is the question you never want your reader to ask. Put another way, it is the question you are obligated to answer in your writing so that it will never be asked.
     The great screenwriter, Nora Ephron ("When Harry Met Sally"), who died last week, put it this way: "You better make them care about what you think. It had better be quirky or perverse or thoughtful enough so that you hit some chord in them. Otherwise, it doesn't work. I mean, we've all read pieces where we thought, "Oh, who gives a damn?"

Finding the needle

     I hate to use a cliche in this space, so I'll just say that sometimes, research becomes like trying to find a needle in, well, you know what. I want to share a recent experience with you.
     I am writing a biography of an old ballplayer. The Baseball Hall of Fame provided me (for a price) with the player's clip file - every clipping they collected on him for 40 years. My job was to go through the clippings to find information that would be useful for my book. As a matter of professional ethics, if I use information from a clipping that isn't general information, I cite the source.
     I came across a clipping with fascinating information I wanted to use in my book. It was from a 1941 newspaper but the only indication of the name of the newspaper was at the top, by the page number, where it said "Citizen Observer." I had no idea what city that was in. There was an advertisement on the page for a car repair shop. I figured the shop was probably long gone but I decided to "Google" the address of the shop. Google provided me with the name of a different business but the address was in Utica, New York. Using Google again, I searched for the name of the newspaper in Utica, New York. Presto - The Utica Citizen Observer.
     I had my answer to where my newspaper clipping came from.
     Researchers enjoy small victories - and love to share them with captive audiences like you.   

The most important thing

     William Faulkner said there is something more important than talent to be an effective writer. He said, "The most important thing is insight, that is, to be curious, to wonder, to mull and to muse why it is that man does what he does. And if you have that, then I don't think talent makes much difference, whether you've got it or not."
     (Editor's note: Don't kid yourself. Talent helps.)

Oldies but goodies

We've been bringing you The Writing Life for a year now. Let's look back at some of the thoughts we've expressed, many of which need no further explanation.
1. A story is where people come to dream - and you are in charge of that dream.
2. Get beyond the tick-tock.
3. Make 'em glad, make 'em mad, make 'em sad.
4. Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em wait.
5. Make new things familiar and familiar things new.
6. When in doubt, leave it out.
7. Never use a large word when a diminutive one will do.
8. Make every word tell.
9. Intend every word you write.
10. No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.
11. You must not come lightly to the blank page.
12. Experience the world through all of your senses.
13. Take the facts and give them vitality.
14. The power of the offering is the measure of its excellence.

Oh, those adjectives

     Adjectives cause more problems than they solve. Many beginning writers load their sentences with adjectives as if to prove they know how to write. Often, they prove just the opposite. Look at the following sentence. "The tall, slender man with reddish hair, a big nose, sideburns that were not even and a two-day growth of beard, sat on a green park bench that was splintery and needed painting and laid his small knapsack down next to him." Now lets get rid of the adjectives. "The man sat on a park bench and laid his knapsack down next to him." It's a simple sentence that sets the stage for the next sentence. And isn't that an important purpose of any sentence? I want to know where the man came from, where he is going and what's in the knapsack. The color of his hair is not important; worse, it is irrelevant. The late Martin Yoseloff, an author friend and mentor, used to complain about sentences that had "too much furniture." It was hard for the reader to walk through them.
I leave you with this sentence to ponder. "With long, flowing brown hair, twinkling blue eyes, a nose of perfect proportion, pouting lips and an hour-glass figure, Angela had looks that were beyond description."     

The lasting effect

"What lasts in the reader's mind is not the phrase but the effect the phrase created: laughter, tears, pain, joy. If the phrase is not affecting the reader, what's it doing there? Make it do its job or cut it out without mercy or remorse." -- Isaac Asimov

Back to basics

It's time to cover some basics of good writing habits that occur before you ever put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. It has to do with being comfortable and uninterrupted so you can focus. FIND A TIME OF DAY that works best for you. I'm an early morning person. I am much more alert and attentive at 5 in the morning than I am at 11 at night. Maybe noon works best for you. Whatever tine you choose, it is best to pick one when you are not likely to be disturbed by telephones or noisy kids or other distractions. FIND A PLACE that works for you. Make it a place where you're not only comfortable but where you're close to resources you might need, like books, magazines, a dictionary. IF YOU WORK BETTER with background music, make sure it is continuous so you don't have to stop and change it frequently and adjust the volume to your liking before you begin. IF YOU WANT FOOD OR BEVERAGE, get them before you sit down to work. And no Cheetos! If you have to ask why, you've never had Cheetos! PUT YOURSELF ON A SCHEDULE. Write for two hours a day. Or one hour. Or a half-hour. Whatever works. But remember, writing is a discipline and discipline takes structure and commitment.

Telling the story

"Know the story before you fall in love with your first sentence. If you don't know the story before you begin the story, what kind of storyteller are you? Just an ordinary kind, just a mediocre kind, making it up as you go along, like a common liar." -- Novelist John Irving

Hemingway's five tips to writers

1. Use short sentences. Hemingway is credited with demonstrating how an entire story can be told in six words: For sale: baby shoes, never used. 2. Use short paragraphs. (Refer to point #1.) 3. Use vigorous English, words that evoke passion, focus, sweat. 4. Hemingway said you will write one page of masterpiece to oodles of pages of S#&%. His advice: Throw out the S#&%! 5. Eschew obfuscation and instead write clearly.

The broader look

If you are working on a writing project that has several chapters or phases, try this organizational technique. In your office or work space, set up several flip chart pads, one after another in a row - or, if space is of a premium, do the same thing with legal pads. Map out your story as you envision it, almost as if it was an outline. Take a marker and make notes to yourself on the first pad about what you want to write about first. On the second pad, write what you think should come in your next chaper or segment. Do this for as many pads as you can. Then, step back and take a look at your work. How does it flow? Should you do some rearranging? If you have a better idea, tear a sheet off and start over. You are giving yourself the opportunity to look at the broad picture of what you are trying to accomplish. Another advantage to this: When you are actually doing your writing and decide to call it quits for the day, you can jot notes on the next pad of where you want to pick it up tomorrow. What you've created are story boards - and they work.

A lesson in less

Here's a writing exercise you can do that will stimulate your creativity and force you to be clear, concise and complete. The object of the exercise is to write a story in 100 words or less and make sure the story includes a pre-designated word. For example, the word might be "soup." Your job is to write a credible story using no more than 100 words and including the word "soup." The story should have a plot and a distinct beginning, middle and end. If you try this exercise, what will probably happen is that you will do your darndest to be concise and yet, you will probably exceed 100 words on your first try. So you will have to edit - eliminating any words that aren't absolutely essential. At first, you will think it is impossible. But you will be surprised by the result. It is just an exercise and yet it provides some lessons that are well worth learning as we strive to improve our writing skills.

Throw the ball

Steve Stone, a former major league pitcher who is now a sportscaster, tells of the time when he was pitching in a ballgame and the pitching coach came out to the mound to talk with him. The coach said, "I have a message from your infielders. They're getting bored. Throw the ball."
Stone said it was the best advice he ever got. The problem was he was taking too much time between pitches, causing his fielders to stand around, shuffling their feet and not being as alert and attentive as they should have been.
When you're writing, you are the pitcher. Your readers are the infielders. Your story is the ball they should be ready to catch when it's hit to them. Unless of course they get bored.
Keep the game moving. It's all right to fill in your story with description and details but not to the point of leaving your readers shuffling their feet, waiting for something to happen.
Dorothy Garlock, nationally-known historical fiction writer, puts it this way. "Sooner or later, you have to burn down the barn."
Author Martin Yoseloff cautioned against loading sentences and paragraphs with too much information, likening it someone trying to make their way through a room where there's just too much furniture.
Throw the ball.

Tip sheet

A collection of tips on how to improve your writing.

1. Don't write about man; write about a man.
2. Don't write that it's raining. Write about who gets wet.
3. Edit your work by going through it and crossing out all the parts the reader will skip over.
4. Write to express, not to impress.
5. When in doubt, leave it out.
6. Don't write in paragraphs; write in scenes.
7. Show me; don't tell me.
8. Make it a labor of love; it may not turn out to be anything more.
9. Write as if you're telling your story to someone sitting in the easy chair across from you. Envision a fireplace between you if that helps.
10. The two best ways to improve your writing are to read and to write.

A backward look

Here's a tip that works for writing both fiction and non-fiction: Sometimes backwards is best.
A dilemma for many writers is when they have an idea for something and they know where they want to go with it but they just can't seem to get there. It's like seeing the finish line but having trouble getting into the race.
Many writers have solved this problem by writing the ending first. By doing this, you've established the finish line - yu have a destination. And you've got the creative juices flowing. Now all you need to do is follow the road, through your sentences and paragraphs, that will get you there.
Does this sound far-fetched? Think about the last time you planned a vacation to a far-away place, some place you had never visited before. That was your destination. Your next step, probably, was to get out a roadmap to start planning the trip, including all the interesting stops along the way. And then you start the car.
That's what writers do. And remember, you are just the driver. The passengers are your readers. Make sure to make it an interesting, fulfilling journey for them.

Fulfillment

The goal of a writer is to leave the reader with a sense of fulfillment. How do you define fulfillment? It's the feeling you have when you have just finished eating a delicious meal.
Delicious. That's it, isn't it? You hope your readers find your work delicious.
Fulfillment, then, is a literary principle that defies math because the whole is equal to more than the sum of its parts.
A meal isn't delicious because it's made up of meat and potatoes and vegetables and a beverage and dessert. It's more than the sum of its parts.
A story isn't fulfilling because it's made up of words and sentences and paragraphs and commas, periods and question marks. It's more than the sum of its parts.
And when that "more" turns out to be just enough, the reader enjoys fulfillment.

A mirror image

I often tell my writing students that writing is like holding a mirror up to the world and reporting on what you see.
Suppose you are sitting in a classroom with 25 or 30 other people. You are sitting at tables two or three rows across and two or three rows back. You are all facing the front of the room where there is a large mirror - large enough that you can see images in it, no matter where you are sitting.
In other words, you are all seeing the same thing only from a different angle.
That's exactly what writers do.

Features and benefits

If you want to use your writing to sell something, recognize the difference between the "features" and "benefits" of the product.
If you are describing a toaster that has four slots for bread instead of two, the feature is exactly that - it has four slots for bread instead of two. The benefit - the selling point - is that you get twice as much toast in the same amount of time.
Now let's throw in an offer and a deadline. If you purchase the toaster by March 31, you will receive a free butter knife and dish. But act now. Supplies are limited.
There you have it - the sales pitch - benefit, offer, deadline. If any of that gets your interest, you are more ready to accept what the price is.
Think of the industrious widget salesman. He can offer widgets that you can use at your home or office, any time of the day and night - and guess what? They come in a variety of sizes and colors so they'll be a good match where ever you decide to put them. They usually come in a set of six, but if you order in the next week, we'll send you 12 - twice the number but at the same cost. But you must act now.
That's your writing lesson for today, folks. Hold on to your wallets!

Start with a story

"With nonfiction, you've got your material, and what you're trying to do is tell it as a story in a way that doesn't violate fact but at the same time is structured and presented in a way that makes it interesting to read."
That's quite a sentence from author John McPhee. Let's break it down to its basic elements:
1. Tell a story.
2. Don't violate facts.
3. Give it structure.
4. Present it well.
5. Make it interesting to read.
Some of this may seem easier said than done but it isn't if you take it one step at a time. Start by telling a story. If you can't do that, steps 2-5 are meaningless. If you can, steps 2-5 are not only possible but exciting.

Writing about people

When your subject matter is a person, don't start with the day they were born and end with the day they died. If you do that, you've just covered the two things that are common to all of us.
Look for the uncommon characteristic. Start with an anecdote about the person that will show the reader immediately what the person is like.
A friend of mine wrote a story about a rancher. His first sentence was,"In the morning,the horses ate first." We immediately know the man's priorities before we even know the man.
I have a politician friend who was reading the obituaries on election day. He looked up from the newspaper and said, "I see where Mrs. Smith died. Then he paused and said, "I knew I should have given her an absentee ballot."
Try to find an incident that typifies who it is you're writing about. That's leading by example, literally.

The Geiger Counter

Whether you're writing factual or fictional material, your goal should always be to make the reader want to read one more sentence, one more paragragh, one more page.
It's nearly impossible to make every sentence spell-binding - but it ought to happen every once in a while.
Here's a test you can perform on your work before anyone else sees it. Read over your work, concentrating only on content - no proofreading at this point. As as you're reading each line, follow along on the lefthand margin with a pencil. Start at the top of the page and slowly draw a line downward as you read each line. When you come to a sentence or word or phrase that jumps out at you, jiggle the pencil to create a wavy line and then move on. Do the same thing the next time you find a really good word or phrase. When you get done, hopefully you won't have a straight line from top to bottom on the page. If you have a few jiggles, take a look at what's on those lines that made them special. That's the Geiger Counter approach to good writing.

So what?

A well-known journalism axiom tells us to cover the who-what-where-when-why of what we're writing about so that we relate the whole story.
Actually, stories can be told many different ways. If they all followed the same formula, they would lack the creativity to keep them interesting. What the who-what-where-when-why process does is to keep them objective. Strictly adhered to, they keep the writer's opinion out of the work.
There are two other important questions to consider. If you want to get the reader excited right away, write as if your opening line is "Guess what?"
The other far more important question is "So what?"
You can cover the entirety of the who-what-where-when-why but at the end, if the reader says, "So what?" you haven't accomplished a thing.

You're in charge

Donnie Osmond, the singer who has also done live theater, said a producer told him something he's never forgotten. He said, "the theater is where people come to dream - and you are in charge of that dream."
The same can be said for readers - your readers. They want to be informed, entertained, convinced or inspired. Any way you look at it, they want to get away from the rest of the world for a while. In other words, they want to dream - and you're in charge.

Plot development

1. Nothing should happen at random.
2. Plot = Characters plus adversity.
3 At least two characters should want something.
4. Conflict = Two sets of wants colliding.
5. The plot begins long before the story begins (Look at a photo and imagine what happened leading up to the photo).
6. Foreshadow some of the action. (Give hints; drop gold coins for the reader to pick up.
7. Plots always involve relationships.
8. Thrust - Which character takes charge?
9. Counterthrust - the conflict.
10. The Outcome - the reader must have a sense of fulfillment.
Want to practice developing a plot? Here are two sure-fire story ideas:
The blessing becomes a curse - or - the curse becomes a blessing.

No title yet

Some writers fret over what to title their work. I say don't worry about it. It will come to you. In fact, titles that emerge while the work is in progress are the best ones. If you think of the title first, you tend to write everything to fit the title.
I wrote a biography of baseball pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander who was known, among other things for his curve ball. A sports writer once commented on how often he pitched, saying "No rest for the wicked curve." A nice play on words. It occurred to me that my story was about all the unfortunate incidents that occurred in Alexander's life. I titled the book, Wicked Curve: The Life and Troubled Times of Grover Cleveland Alexander.
My favorite story about titles is about a young writer who approached novelist Somerset Maugham. He told Maugham he had written a novel and was having trouble coming up with a title. "Are there any drums in the book?" asked Maugham. "No," answered the young man. "Are there any trumpets?" asked Maugham. "No," said the young man. Maugham said, "Why don't you call it `No Drums, No Trumpets'?"
When I started writing this, I had no title. Having written it, I think I would now title it "Curve Balls, Drums and Trumpets."

The blind date

Were you ever on a blind date? Do you remember the sense of excitement or anticipation you had when you and your date met? Do you remember why the moments you spent together were meaningful, making you want more, or, the opposite, when you felt like the whole thing was a waste of time, a disappointment?
When a reader picks up your work, they have just accepted a blind date with you. They may have heard about you but they don't know you. It is up to you to make their experience exciting and memorable.
Think about that with each page that you write, with each paragraph, with each sentence.
But how, you ask. What is the secret?
The answer is the reader, like the date, needs to have a gratifying sense of fulfillment when the adventure is over. You must provide them with a satisfying experience so they'll want to be with you again.
It takes planning. It takes execution. It takes care.

Be careful of absolutes

Perhaps you've heard the old expression: All generalities are false, including this one.
Be careful of absolutes whether you're writing fiction or non-fiction. The problem in the example above is the word "all." All means everything, so if you use the word all, you better be certain there are no exceptions.
Other words to be careful of: every (and its partners - everybody, everything, every time), entirely, exclusively, without exception, peerless, best, worst...
If you are writing a narrative in which you say, "Everybody had a good time," I would wonder how you knew that. Did you ask everyone? You might reply, "Oh, no, that was just a generality" afterwhich I would refer you to the admonition at the start of this essay.
Have you ever watched a television news program where someone was the subject of an "exclusive" interview - and it's the same person you saw being interviewed a few hours ago on another station? How exclusive is that?
This is not being nit-picky. This is about being accurate. It's about intending every word you write.

Sometimes it's what you don't say

There is a saying familiar to most writers: Show me, don't tell me.
It means the writer shouldn't tell the reader that a character in a story is scared. Rather, the writer should paint a picture of the person cowering in the corner of a room or speaking in trembling voice or backing away from an encounter. If the description is good enough, the reader will figure out the character is scared - and readers like to figure things out - so show them, don't tell them.
A variation of this same principle is expressed through lack of description. There's a great example in Ernest Hemingway's short story, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." Macomber is on a hunting trip with his wife and a guide. His wife is behind him when she sees a buffalo start to charge him. She fires her rifle and shoots her husband in the head. The force of the blow knocks him face down on the ground. She and the guide run to the body. What an opportunity this would be for the writer to describe a really gory scene. Instead, Hemingway has the guide tell Mrs. Macomber, "I wouldn't turn him over." What a wonderful line, particularly in all that it doesn't say. Instead, the reader is left to imagine the scene. It is a classic line - and one that we can learn from.

Start your engine

If you are like me, you enjoy writing, you enjoy mingling with people who enjoy writing, you attend writing workshops - or wish you could, and you enjoy getting writing tips from time to time. Presumably, that is why you are reading this.
There's a story about a man we'll call Joe who purchased a new Nissan automobile. He loved cars, he loved his new Nissan and he loved reading all the tips in the owner's manual. He became so excited that he formed a Nissan owners club in which other enthusiasts got together and picked out different features in the owner's manual that they could talk about each week.
This was all well and good except for one vital piece of information that wasn't in the owner's manual: Sooner or later you have to drive the car. If you don't, all the other stuff you're doing doesn't have a point.
The same is true with writing. Workshops are great, reading what other people have written can be fascinating and tip sheets like the one you're reading now can be helpful and hopefully inspiring.
But sooner or later, you have to drive the car.
You want to be a writer? Write.