Tiffany Cole

Resume

2011-09-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Tiffany T. Cole
|writergirllw@yahoo.com|

]http://www.fuisti.blogspot.com
http://www.tiffanyrambles.blogspot.com

Profile

Experience
Editor In Chief: Triple R: Read, Rate, Review - 2010-current
Editor in chief for website Triple R, a book reviewing site that features guest appearances from publishers, scriptwriters, and authors, as well as articles on the creative writing process and marketing.

Reviewer: Suspense Magazine - 2010-2011
Reviewed books, namely fantasy and horror, for the magazine.

Interviewer: Caleb Jennings Breakey - 2011
A teen writer's community, where teens submitted and were assisted with writing through contests, guides, and discussions. Interviewed and promoted authors twice a month.

Contributor: Best Damn Creative Writing Blog - 2011
Article contributor, namely for writing tips and social networking.

Education

Indiana University, Bloomington IN --- Bachelor's in English. Minor in Entrepreneurship: 2011 - current (expected graduation in 2014).

Skills

Critiquing/promotion. Critiquing skills include chapter-by-chapter, paragraph-by-paragraph analyses of sentence structure, plot, dialogue, characterization, etc. Promotion includes advertising clients' content on 17+ networking sites, book giveaways, and interviews as well as offering advice in short reports. References available upon request.

Hire Me Info Box

2011-09-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

*To be Updated: With Cleaner Explanations and Links. Resume gets separate post, as well as bio.*

Articles

http://bestdamncreativewritingblog.com/2011/05/16/5750/#comments

http://bestdamncreativewritingblog.com/2011/05/02/the-first-draft-race/ (Most Popular)

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2011/02/facebook-and-marketing-episode-1-basics.html

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2011/02/facebook-and-marketing-episode-2.html

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2011/02/facebook-and-marketing-episode-3.html

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2011/03/facebook-and-marketing-episode-4-seven.html

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2704287/4/Tip_of_the_Month

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2704287/5/Tip_of_the_Month

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2704287/6/Tip_of_the_Month

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2704287/7/Tip_of_the_Month

Reviews

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2010/12/son-of-ereubus-by-js-chancellor.html

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2010/12/vivian-rising-by-daniella-brodsky_18.html

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2011/03/miscony-is-dark-world.html

Interviews

http://fuisti.blogspot.com/2011/04/qs-and-as-with-js-chancellor.html

http://www.calebbreakey.com/teen-interviews/author-l-b-graham-interviewed/

December's {Late} Tip of the Month

2009-12-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

Below is a review that I gave my best friend to improve her story. Although it was was written specifically for her story, it could also be used to help improve your own. It took me an hour to do this review. I don't do this often, mind you.

This article has many helpful functions: It ties in with my previous article on dialogue as well as shows what I suppose a good, thorough review looks like. Also, keep in mind that I am far from a Twilight fan, and that is brought up in this review. PLEASE do not go all rabid fan on me about it! These are just my opinions; they can, just as easily, be disregarded.

How is it, best friend?! I imagine you should already know who I am by that evident hint. Anyway, I am going to review this the way I would review any other author on Fictionpress - with the intent to help them be publishing-worthy. If I come off harsh at instances, please excuse it. A lot of grief would have been avoided for me when I joined this site six years ago if I had a best friend to honestly review my story and show me the works. I promise to be fair and honest with you. With that said, here is your promised - and dreadfully long - review:

Good Points:
A good reviewer always starts off with the good points of a story, and that is what I plan to do. {Or atleast they should mention good points SOMEWHERE in the review, unless there really was nothing good at all}

Summary: I see you rightfully took advantage of the summary box. It isn't boring, nor is it too specific. However, I think if you added a bit more sentence structure - as in change of sentence lengths - the summary would have more of a grasp factor. Also, though this is not related to the summary, you should probably change the genre to supernatural/Romance, since your title implies this story will be an adventure. Twilight's influence (which I will touch on further in the review) is evident from the moment your character thinks of Trey. Unless things drastically change later in the story between them, this story's central point will end up being romance.

First Paragraph: Lovely! You understand the importance of the first paragraph. It is often the part of the story that makes or break it. I was impressed with it. It answered the where question in a marvelous way as well as made me want to continue reading it.

Description: Though it gets...overdone at some points (I will also touch on this later in the review), it was there and fairly well done. At least I always had a sense of where they were.

Your writing has greatly improved since the story I read years ago in that small pink notebook! If you seriously wanted to be a writer, I think it would work out with the right ambition.

Bad Points:
This is the most important part of the review. What I will say here, though disappointing, is what can be used to improve your story. I suspect Stephenie Meyer's story would have had more depth in the writing department if she would have just paid a bit more attention to the critiques people were offering her.

Dialogue Tag-on's and grammar: It took me a long time to understand how to use dialogue. Even now, I still have to break out my writing books and research how it's done. Here are the problems I noticed with dialogue grammatically (not content wise. That's something else I will touch on later):

I closed my eyes and listened to the trees for a moment,

He looked at me a bit weirdly I had to admit,

Above are two sentences copied from your story where you put a comma before skipping a line and going to dialogue. That's incorrectly written. A sentence can not end in a comma, nor does it look right. There are two ways you could have done this. You could have just put a period where the commas were. Or, since I think you may have been trying to use them as a form of attribution, you could have just put them right before the dialogue that would be following it. For instance:

He looked at me a bit weirdly I had to admit. “You’re adopted?”

That way you could take out 'he asked' because, by that attribution, it's implied that he spoke. If you need help with this, I can go further into it in a seperate e-mail or something.

Next Problem:

“You know what else is amazing?” I ASKED IN A SEDUCING TONE. (seductively would have fit better here, I think, but adverbs look nasty after dialogue. I just read five essays on that matter). He looked at me with large green eyes.

“What?” HE SAID GLIMPSING INTO MY EYES. He mimicked my tone.

“Me beating you to the stables!” I YELLED AND I DASHED OFF AND I HEADED FOR THE STAIRCASE AND OUT THE DOOR. (that's a run-on sentence) I heard him shout at me, (That comma is not needed)

“You won’t win!” HE SAID HYPERACTIVELY AND STARTED RUNNING AFTER ME. We ran past some of the trees and we ran through some pastures and we hit the barn.

Your dialogue tags, as in the parts I put in Caps Lock, are repetitive and unnecessary. If your dialogue is written well enough, readers can figure that out on their own. If it doesn't improve the tone in any way, avoid it. Here is how it would look cleaned up a bit:

Seductively, I asked, "You know what else is amazing?"

"What?" he replied, mimicking my tone. His eyes met mine in a way that almost suggested he was trying to read my thoughts. It was as frightening as it was alluring.

"Me beating you to the stables!"

It wasn't what I originally meant to say, but it would give me enough time to think about it and a reason to keep him close. I dashed off, glancing behind me as I ran down the stairs to make sure he was following me. It wasn't until I could hear his footsteps rapidly following my own did I run past the door.

"You won't win!" he said.

That didn't matter anyway. I was running with him - well past the pastures and through the barn - and I think I could have for centuries and not minded.

I think my corrections may have been a bit too sappy, and it wasn't written in the voice of your character, but in the voice of Alecia{Alecia is the main character of my novel Savior of the Supernatural}.That would have been her thoughts, so that's how I wrote it. It was also done off the top of my head. Still, I think it looked better with dialogue tags removed or kept to a minimum.

Next Dialogue issue:

“Sterling is it?” TREY LOOKED AT THE HORSE IN AWE OF HIM. “He’s beautiful,” TREY SAID. AFTER THAT HE MUTTERED, “As are you.” HE SAID SO LOW I BARELY HEARD HIM. I LOOKED AT HIM.
“You think I’m what?” I WIDENED MY EYES AND LOOKED AT HIM AS IF TO SAY, ‘hot sexy boy who I am in love with say what?!?’ (This, oddly enough, sounds like something Hannah Montana would say with her famous funny expressions. Ironic, as you do not like her, correct?) HE SMILED AND SIMPLY SAID,

“I just said that I thought you were beautiful.” HE SAID. “Let’s get going.” He was pulling something I’d done earlier. He was trying, and if I had anything to do with it failing, and changing the subject.

There are other errors in that selection from your story that I am avoiding for another review. Anyway, the parts I put in caps lock are all methods of attribution. You should have counted 7 sentences in caps lock, or evey other thing not in qoutation. That means you've used too much attribution. There are only two people talking, after all. It's so long because it's repetitive. Cleaned, it could look like this:

"Sterling, is it?" Trey said, looking at the horse in awe. His voice softened to a point where I could barely hear him. "He's beautiful....as are you."

I looked at him, eyes wide, thoughts in array. "You think I'm what?"

"I just said that I thought you were beautiful. Never mind that, though; let's get going."

I've said the same thing you have said, but in shorter words that may leave a stronger impact.

Content: This part of the review follows the problems I saw in plot. It's mostly opinionated, and can be disregarded as thus, but you should pay them close attention. This plot is a lot similar to Twilight, so the problems I see in that storyline I can't help but see already formulating here. I will thoroughly explain them below:

Trey as to Edward as Edward is to a Gary-stu: He's just too perfect right now. I get that he's a vampire, but where are his flaws and his personality outside of Aurora? Plus, like Stephenie Meyer did with Edward, you have a tendency of spending paragraph after paragraph seemingly obsessing over how beautiful he is. Once described once or twice throughout the story, it's enough. I'm hoping to see some real flaws and personality with him as the story continues.

Insignificant Details: Though description is always marvelous, a writer needs to make sure they don't do too much or too little. Also like Stephenie Meyer, you have a tendency of spending a considerable amount of time mulling over insignificant details, like the exact type of clothes she's wearing. Unless that clothing type will impact the story later in some way, it's okay to just say she changed into a hoodie and jeans. Sometimes, she changed clothes is enough.

The world stopped: There is no mention of anything else in Aurora's or Trey's world but what directly affects them. Where is her family? What was she doing before he arrived? The world is still going on.

Mention of power's earlier: Something as significant as her having powers would be mentioned before her affection for Trey. It is, in honesty, more important since this story is not in the romance section. Plus, if there will be lots of adventure and fighting, we need to grow an understanding of her powers. Not all at once, but enough for us to believe and accept it.

Is it too easy?: Be careful to make sure that she doesn't get him so easy, like he just fell right into her arms. Where is the excitement in watching them fall in love if it comes along so effortlessly and is smooth from that point on? Think in terms of real life. If someone falls madly in love with someone within the first week, definately as teenagers, they are more likely to use up all of their chemistry too quickly and things start to fall apart. Keep that in mind as you write.

That's all I can think of now! (Thank goodness, lol). Once again, I'm sorry if I came across as rude. I only had intentions to help you improve, as well as grow a Fictionpress fanbase of some sort. Those are always fun. I added your story to my story alert page so I will always read and review your chapters. Don't worry; they won't be as long or constructive as this, unless I go off on a tangent again.

Overall, I think you're an awesome writer, and I really can't wait to see where this story goes! Waiting for the next chapter:

\~Adieu, your best friend WriterGurlLW.

Just a question

2009-11-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

Today's post won't be a long one. I'm just wondering....

What do you think is better for an author who is pursuing college? To study English or to go to college and pursue another career choice?

I plan on getting a PhD in English with a focus on creative writing while minoring in Public Relations. Beforehand, I wanted to major in Psychology with a minor in English. I didn't change my mind because of the question, but still. What do you think is a better choice? While I know experience is the key to becoming a great writer, it's not like majoring in English wouldn't also help.

Guest Post - Nusha' on Shakespeare and his influence

2009-11-18T16:31:00.000-08:00

Today's wednesday guest post is by Nusha', a very wonderful member of my website - Writer's Haven. Below you will find a beautiful post about the influences of Shakespeare.

To be, or not to be: That is the question.

You probably recognize that from somewhere, right? You probably know it’s a Shakespeare quote. You might not know that it’s from Hamlet, act three; scene one, but now you do.

Could you imagine for a moment, what literature today would be like if Shakespeare had...I don’t know...died from falling off a cliff onto a pile of sharp rocks? We’d have no Macbeth, no Romeo and Juliet, none of his sonnets or other plays to entertain ourselves with. You may not see the importance of that unless you’re a writer, or an avid reader.

It’s been internationally debated on the rank of Shakespeare in the world of literature. Many claim that he is the best; rightly so, what with the obvious proof of his impact on literature today. He’s not just the crotchety old man that wrote plays four hundred years ago; he was a legend, and any writer will agree with that.

Not a day goes by that you don’t quote Shakespeare; you just don’t know you’re doing it. He invented a wide range of words that a commonly used today. ‘Bedroom’, ‘assassination’, ‘bump’, ‘watchdog’ and ‘puke’ are some of the commonly used words of his. The phrase, ‘to laugh it off’ is also his wording. Sarcasm! One of the famous stunts we pull [especially as moody teenagers!] when we’re angry or generally annoyed. We can all thank Mr.S for that lovely new way of expressing negative feelings.

If you’re a writer, it always helps to read the writings of someone who is talented in a area of literature: description, dialogue, plot or character development, etc. Shakespeare was really good at that, just so you know... One major reason that people still go around making movies out of his plays is because people still like them today. And, one major reason that people still like his plays is because one can relate to his plays.

I’m not suggesting that every-day people go around plotting to kill their government leader like Macbeth, or that average passers-by plan to commit suicide for their lovers like Romeo and Juliet. His characters, however, are just so realistic. Trust me, at the end of reading a play of his, you feel like you either want to savagely murder one of the characters with a genuine hatred, or you want to marry another out of pure admiration.

I think it’s the way he wrote his character’s speeches. His dialogue technique is one to admire, and one for every aspiring writer to take a look at and study. [I’m really not suggesting you write your stories in iambic pentameter, though!]. What you should look at, however, is the way he expresses the character’s thoughts and personality development. He really did a fantastic job of expressing their thoughts the way we would. It’s almost like reading exactly what we would do in a situation like that of the character. [This is what almost every writer is trying to achieve!].

If you’re an aspiring writer, or already a writer, you should analyze a few of his popular works, just to see how a professional does it. It’ll help, trust me. He’s a good source for reference when it comes to writing deep, intellectual soliloquies and monologues, as well as one for similes, metaphor and other literary devices.

Now, after going on that little rant about how amazing he was [and still is], I’ve got just a couple suggestions for you. Grab a copy of some of his plays and read them. You’ll thank yourself for doing it later. My second suggestion for you is that when you’re taking a break from reading his pages of wonder and fulfillment, you come back to this young lady’s blog and read what she writes. She’s a good writer, so follow her advice and give her your feedback! Thank you, Tiff, for allowing me to go on a tangent on your beautiful blog! Stay awesome, and read Macbeth.

All’s well that ends well, right?

Site marketing

2009-11-11T13:59:00.000-08:00

As you, my dear reader, knows, Wednesdays are usually set out for guest posts. However, I haven't been able to connect with enough people to find someone else to guest blog for me. Heart Lace will come back next month with a topic, but that's a couple of wednesdays away. So, instead, I'm going to spend today doing what I really should have done a long time ago - marketing, at least in the superficial fashion. I'm going to request affiliation with FPSSA, La Campanella, SKOW, Undiscovered and/or anyone else that will take me or see if I can join some blogrolls. I'm also going to see If I'll have an opportunity to guest blog with someone.

Then, after that, I'm going here to watch some very invigorating videos. I'm also looking forward to checking Gaiman's blog and eating.

Wish me marketing luck!

P.S. As you can see, I'm having complications choosing what font size to use, and the inconsistency looks really ugly. I think I'm going to stick with normal as opposed to the chunky large. Do you think that's a good idea, that it's easier on the eyes? I've had complications with both.

Reading as a Writer

2009-11-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

Two things first, before I forget: I am going to try to make this blog post shorter. While I know, if the blog post is really interesting, it can be of long length, I need to slow down until I gain more readers. More about that on wednesday. Also - and I almost forgot as I was typing this (You'd think I was smoking, in which case I'm not) - I'm no longer updating on Fridays. I figure Monday's, Wednesday's, and the random Tip of the Month posts is enough for now.

So, for the topic. I got the idea from another marvelous author and blogger, Gail Levine. Read the blog post, The End of a Chapter.

Reading as a writer is almost as helpful as it is frustrating. Unless the book is so moving and so interesting that I can't stop, I often find myself pointing out irritating sentence structure and repetitive sentence beginnings. I literally count the number of 'was's' used in the paragraph. This means that I have to go back and reread large amounts of the chapter, because once I start to point out consistent errors in others' works, I tend to think about my writing screw-ups. That takes me right out of the story.

That's good because it makes me want to write and/or improve my writing, but it's bad because it means I read books at a much slower pace. This is a habit mostly dominant when I'm reading fiction, though. I think that's why, lately, all I've had a desire for is guidebooks. In fact, I turned a fantasy story collection edited by Robert Silverberg back in to the library unfinished only to pay twenty-five cents for a book called '110 People Who Are Screwing Up America.' Not that the fantasy stories were bad - They were very good, having stuff by the 'Legends' of fantasy. (The collection was called Legends, if you're wondering).

The result, I think, is that I’m now a reluctant reader. I won’t pick up a long book unless it’s by an author I love or unless someone I trust has sworn it’s a great book. I always check the number of pages before I start reading, and I recheck occasionally as I go along. I look ahead to see how many pages are left in the chapter I’m reading too, and I’m disheartened if the chapter ending is a long way off, even if I’m enjoying the book. I like to see a break coming up.When I get to the break I’m likely to continue reading if the chapter ends on an exciting note, or if I know an important moment is approaching. But I’m happy for that little breather. {Gail Carl Levine}

And that leads to my next point, mentioned first in Gail Levine's post. Part of the reason why I picked up Legends was because it had the names Robert Silverbeg, Orson, Stephen King and Terry Pratchett on it. Authors that I've read and enjoyed before. Part of the reason why I put it back was because the chapters were ridiculously long, and I wanted something of a break. Petty reasons, yes. But petty reasons that started when I became serious about writing.

How about you? Has studying the art of writing and writing/reading so many works yourself changed how you read in a negative or positive way, or in between? Please share!

Wednesday Guest Blog - Heart Lace

2009-11-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

Say hello to fellow author and alumni/winner of FPSSA (Fictionpress Supernatural Awards)Heart Lace! With a beautiful writing style and just as beautiful ambition to get published, it's not hard to see why I was so excited when she agreed to become a frequent wednesday guest blogger. We'll see her quite a lot more after this initial post, which is, more or less, an introduction.

What do you write? (Fiction; nonfiction; the genre;)

I write young adult fiction over all. Mostly I write novels and short stories, although I’m working on breaking into poetry. My genres are mainly supernatural and fantasy, although I do occasionally write more general pieces.

Have you been published in any form? If so, explain what happened.

As of now, no, but I am in the process of sending out manuscripts of some of my short stories. With any luck, I’ll be published by the time you’re reading this.

Are you taking on any writing projects now? Explain.

I’ve always got something brewing. Currently my main project is my new novel “An Angel in New York.” It’s the story of Ryland O’Doul, a young man struggling to live in the world’s toughest city, and the angel who falls into his life. It’s a combination of genres due to certain characters, but a supernatural romance is its main label.

What got you into writing?

Boredom and wanting to help people – but that doesn’t make sense unless you hear it in context.
When I was about six or seven, I decided that I wanted to be a therapist. I knew that I wanted to help people and connect with them on an emotional level, so that’s what I was going to be. That was the plan until I was about to be a freshmen and realized that I would need to go to college for about eight years to be a therapist – something I wasn’t thrilled about. It was the summer when I realized this and I was feeling kind of down about it. I’d always been the kid with a plan, after all. So I got on the internet to kill time, not really wanting to think about it. I took some quizzes on Quizilla.com and eventually its stories tab got me writing. It wasn’t even a hobby at first, but after a year I realized that I enjoyed the craft and that I could still help people through my stories. Now, a graduating senior I have a plan once again and what I’m sure will be a lifelong passion.

What are your career interests?

I know that writers don’t make enough to pay the bills, with the exception of rare cases like J.K. Rowling. So I plan on majoring in Creative Writing in college and getting my teaching license to be a high school writing teacher once I’m graduated. One of the best parts about this plan is that I’ll not only be able to help others with the craft, but by being a teacher I’ll have plenty of time off to write my own stories.

Who are your inspirations?

At a writing camp this summer Chris Bachelder said that we are constantly falling in and out of love with different authors. That one moment we’re caught up in Whitman and later we can’t stand him and move on to Emerson. All the while, we carry bits and pieces of that love with us always. And that is why I can’t say too much on who my inspirations are – because for a period I adored Ellen Hopkins and now I’m obsessed with Emma Bull. Tomorrow I might cringe at the thought of her fantastic fantasy stories and only read Gregory Maguire for a year straight. But every author that I read inspires me in some way, whether it’s with their style or approach on a topic or character archetype. And from them I’m able to build and better my own stories.

What keeps you going as a writer?

Some awkward combination of hope, ambition, and passion.

I’ve got to have hope that someday my work is going to finally come together. Hope that it’ll someday be finished. Hope that it’ll someday be published. Hope that someday people will actually enjoy it.

I’ve got to have ambition because I’ve worked with some great writers and I’ve seen what a lack of drive does to someone. They don’t want the story to be finished enough to take time out of their day to sit down and write or try and publish it. It’s a little scary to think about because it’s something that ultimately you do alone from beginning to end, which means that there’s plenty of opportunity to give up and vegetate in front of the television. But ambition keeps me going even when I’m exhausted.

And most importantly, passion. It’s the thing that makes life worth living. It is the difference between a half written story and a story that will leave a reader breathless. It’s that undeniable factor that nibbles at my nose to skip sleeping at night to get another chapter done. It’s an invisible string that pulls me back from the group to lose myself into the world I’m imagining. It’s an unhealthy fixation, my drug, and my addiction – something I never want to give up and am afraid to know what I’d be without.

What advice would you give to other teen writers?

Practice, learn, and don’t be afraid to grow.

You’ve got to keep your skills up by writing as often as you can. It’s not like riding a bike. If you let your skills rust and don’t take care of them, eventually you’ll lose touch with the craft.

And the best writers are also the best readers. Always be reading something, especially if it’s in the genre you’re trying to write. By reading from other authors, you’re able to pick up on things you like and don’t like about stories, which you can use and avoid while writing your own to help you create the perfect story.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to grow and try new things. A writer has to experience everything in life because you never know when it’ll come up in a story. Take a motorcycle class. Actually pay attention in your history course. Touch the side of the wall, feel its texture. Try the strangely smelling pasta dish your mother made. The best stories come from personal experience and the only way to get that is to live.

Is there anything you'd like to add?

Just that I really appreciate this opportunity to share a little bit about myself and hopefully help out some fellow teen writers.

October's Tip of the Month - Dialogue

2009-11-01T16:11:00.001-08:00

Dialogue
Written by Tiffany 'WriterGurlLW' C.

Dialogue: (1) Conversation, especially in a play, novel, etc. (2) Exchange of views between groups over a period of time and on many occasions. (3) Essay in the form of a conversation, used by several philosophers.

Now that you know the dictionary's definition, it's only fair to heed mine.

Dialogue: (1) A conversation between two characters or more, usually manipulated by the author to reflect a character's persona, set the atmosphere, and ultimately advance the plot. (2) One of those things where writers are expected to be believable, but not too believable; informal, but not info-dumpers; and consciously aware of each character's voice. (3) More commonly known as that thing where characters talk about stuff.

And I was so sure that my definition would be shorter! Dialogue is in close connection with characterization. An author who has successfully developed their characters usually finds that dialogue isn't very hard. Why? Because dialogue just can't work properly unless you understand your characters voices. Would he/she say that in proper English or slang? Do they have an accent? (Be careful. Zen ya' tra ta pul' ya zurds off lak 'zis, it gets REALLY frustrating, immature, and insulting). Do they speak in fragments or full sentences? Do they have speech problems? etc. etc.

More importantly, would your character even say such a thing?

The real part an author should play in a story is debatable. You want to be in control of the story and meld it into a comprehensive masterpiece, but you also want to step back and let the story tell itself.

I know. Easier said than done.

There's no 'secret' I can give you to perfect that balance, but it is important that the words your characters speak make sense in the context of the story, as well as their style.

Do not use characters, purposely, as your voice wanting to be heard. Do not make them walking info-dumpers. Make them as real as you can. It's OK for writers to talk to their characters. For us, being loony is a gift.

On another note, here is my very own list of dialogue suggestions (where I selflessly advertise my novel in progress 'Savior of the Supernatural.')

Use a variety of sentence structure. I know four different ways to show someone is talking, and I think authors should utilize them all.

- The classic end attribution
[1]"Who's there?" I asked.
[2]"Alecia, do you remember when we tried to talk to you and we couldn't get it out? This is...we are so..." Mom's voice trailed off.
[3]"So...?" Augustine said, pulling up a seat across from Levi.

- Action before the dialogue. This has to be an obvious give away of who is speaking.
[1]Levi sighed. He sat down in a chair, picked up the folders, put them down. "Augustine, take Alecia home."
[2]Augustine turned to me, the lighter showing his raised eyebrow. "And you called me suicidal. You think I'm gonna kill you?"
[3]Augustine shrugged. "Many reasons, I guess. Humans are too weak to open the door..."

- Dialogue breakup, where info and attribution is between the breakup.
[1]"Well, here's a heads up," he started. "I'm a werewolf. My brother, Levi, is a vampire...and corpse eater/demon thing..."
[2]"Nonsense. The breakfast is made. We will have it." He grabbed mom's arm as she walked past. Dad sat up, only to Samuel's amusement. "Make your daughter stay, Alice."
[3]"Listening, reading, whatever - just stop it!" I took in a deep breath. "Anyways, I guess I came down here because I figured that if this is how I'm gonna die, so be it."

- No tags, or very little, which can only be successfully used when two characters are speaking or characters have a very distinct voice. Also a good tool for a conversation, such as an argument, that should go by fast. It's a matter of pacing, which I'll discuss in another article.
"It's off putting, how hard you're trying to avoid me," he said.
"Who are you really?"
"Didn't your father tell you? I'm Samuel, your distant cousin from the good old asylum."
"BS," I said, watching the lock. "You're not my cousin. Whose side of the family are you on?"
"Michael's."
"My dad, eh? And your parents are...?"
"Rachel and James Anderson."
"That's a lie. They had their first child five years ago, and that was a girl. You could've at least gotten your research right."

When a character is speaking a lot of words and you know it all can't be bunched under one quotation, separate the words into paragraphs. In the example below, notice how I consistently start each new paragraph where the character is still speaking with a new quotation. I didn't put an end quotation until the character was completely done.

“ The symbol on this book is a combination of two ancient pagan symbols – the magick circle and the deadly symbol. Hell’s 7 Deities customarily use it, instead of the more obvious inverted cross and three sixes, to mark their followers. The pagan symbols were drawn with the blood of a possessed human. The smell is riddled with Darkness.

“It gets worse. The whole book is full of dark magic written in possessed blood. The first two pages use the 12th, 14th, and 17th keys of Enochian – Vengeance and Revenge.

“Basically, one of the original 7 Deities are here and Mrs. Clementine is on its side as a right hand woman. For some reason or another, this deity has something against the supernatural creatures. We’re in grave danger. Clementine can’t be the only one chosen by the deity.”

Avoid too much info. By this, I mean don't use dialogue tags as an information bandwagon. It will drive the focus away from the importance of what is being said and come across as sloppy. For instance:
"So....?" Augustine said, pulling up a seat across from Levi.

This is OK if not used often throughout the chapter. However, it probably would have been better to separate the two sentences.

"So...?" Augustine said. He pulled up a seat across from Levi.

If it still doesn't seem right, ask yourself the importance behind stating this action right after the dialogue tag.

Right now, I'm going to bring up the 'two sentence limit' (Which I created, definitely making it a rule you don't have to follow); it applies very well for dialogue tags before and in between the quote. It's best to keep tags two sentences or less so as not to distract the reader from the importance of what is being said.
[1]Augustine led us to the grim reaper statue. He placed his hands on its black shoulder. "This creepy piece of shit is the adelante. What do you see when you look at it?"
[2]"Nonsense. The breakfast is made. We will have it." He grabbed Mom's arm as she walked past. Dad sat up, only to Samuel's amusement. "Make your daughter stay, Alice."
[3]TAKE NOTE: Be careful with the info you place in the dialogue tag that separates. It's easy to get carried away. Make sure the data is in close connection to what is being said.

The age old 'tag word' debate. Many people argue that 'said' should be the only word used. I don't agree with that. Constantly using said can be just as repetitive and annoying as constantly using other words - asked, muttered, whispered, screamed, explained, demanded, etc. In some situations, it's even better to use an alternate word for said to better get the point across. The key to using the right dialogue tag is pacing, circumstances, and how it sounds when you read it aloud.

In the hopes that I've been of some help, here are a few grammatical tips to remember.
- The explanation point, question mark, dash, period, comma, all end marks, go inside the quotation marks (If it is in regards to what the character is saying). Do not put a comma after an end mark.
- In the case that the dialogue tag after the quotes is a sentence of its own, but in relation to the quote, end the quote with a period. Better used with the dialogue tag that splits quotes.
- Do not capitalize the first letter of a dialogue tag that comes after the quote as a form of attribution. The dialogue tag that splits quotes and attributes before the quote get capitalized because they are complete thoughts and would still make a whole sentence if separated from the quoted sentence.
-When you want to have a character state what another character said, indicate it in some way. A quote within a quote is usually the best route. Used if you want to specify exactly what a character says.

Of course, more could probably be said, but this article is already much longer than I expected, nor am I an expert on dialogue. Stay tuned for next month's installment, where I write about characters.

Adieu!

What I'm working on.

2009-10-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

Currently, and what I've been working on for the last four years, is Savior of the Supernatural - the novel linked to the right. It is, evidently, a supernatural story about many creatures and their savior. It's much more than that, but I don't want to go off on a tangent. I'm prone to do that in later posts down the road.

I've also been writing fantasy/horror short stories and personal/informative essays, all of which I'd soon like to put up for publication. I talk about two of my short stories on my Fictionress profile, among other things. An excerpt from said novel above may be published in Suspense Magazine. I plan to send a personal essay to Guideposts really soon, probably tomorrow.

I expected this post to be much longer. I think, earlier today before I got attacked by a spew of the angst I promised not to bother you with, I wanted to talk about my stance on publishing the first and second draft of a novel on an iffy site like Fictionpress and why I continue to do so. However, I'll save that for Monday's post.

This sunday I will post the Tip of the Month article. In my first post, I said that I'd have Tip of the Month articles every two weeks. Now it will be every month, to assure I don't fall behind. I also won't have to change the nifty title.

This month's tip? Dialogue.

Guest Interview - Ryan Dunar

2009-10-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Below is the first interview of my wednesday-guest-blogging series. Many of my guest bloggers will be innovative teen writers from Fictionpress or those who also have a blog. Ryan Dunar, another teen writer, shares some of his opinions and knowledge about the writing experience.

What do you write? (Fiction; nonfiction; the genre;)

I write Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, and Fantasy. I guess you can think of me as a Lord of The Rings type of author, except with historically accurate battles and a combination of swords and guns.

Have you been published in any form? If so, explain what happened.

Yes, I have in fact been published in the past. This is what happened: An author by the name of Allan Wolf was due to visit the school that I had been attending, and my language arts teacher chose me to introduce him. I proudly accepted and went to work, and all of this with the wrong directions. I ended up arriving late, but just in time to introduce him in the final moments of his being there. We shook hands and chatted for a few minutes. I told him that we had been writing some poetry in class and that I was a budding author myself. Long story short (if you call this short), I sent him an E-Mail with the poems we had written; he enjoyed mine in particular and posted it on his website - so I am, in-fact, a published author . :P

Are you taking on any writing projects now? Explain.

Currently I am trying to get back in the spirit of writing. Until I can think of ‘the ultimate idea’ to write about, I am stuck trying to plan one up.

What got you into writing?

Alright; this happened when I was just about 11 or 12 during the summer break after my fourth grade year. My dad brought home the movie ‘The Last Samurai’ and I stayed up late to watch it (during that time, late would be past11 o’clock) and was so inspired by the final battle that I decided to write.

I don’t remember exactly how it started or what I had written - the pages were not saved to my computer, instead written in the message posting box of an online forum (its exact content fell into the dark abyss of deleted stories while I had gone on vacation). I remember staying up 'till around 1 A.M. just writing. My mom woke up and spotted me typing away. Since she was in a nice mood, she helped me edit my paper.

It brings back good memory’s to think of how she had tried to edit my post, but the message posting timer always went off right before we could post the finished product. This continued on for a few nights; in the end, I might have written about 5 or so chapters with about 2,000 characters in each one (As the content was deleted, I can not know for sure).

What are your career interests?

Writing, as you can probably tell. I plan to become some kind of author (freelance is the direction I am going in at the moment), using a college degree in history (anything along the lines of American wars or ancient cultures/wars) to make my worlds more realistic and hopefully get famous!

Who are your inspirations?

First of all, I would have to say my father (May he rest in peace. July 5th 2007) as he brought home the fateful movie that started my interest and guided me to become who I am today. Then I would have to say my English teachers - Ms. Nowell, who allowed me to meet Mr. Allan Wolf, and my current teacher Ms. Lucus, who occasionally allows us to free write during class and/or for homework.

What keeps you going as a writer?

This is hard to say... I am currently going through a major writers block as I try to find my passion once again. Besides that I would have to say the world around me. I love to read and use ideas inspired by those books to write. I watch movies and try and write about things inspired by them. I guess you can say that I try to get inspired by anything I can be inspired by.

What advice would you give to other teen writers?

Hmm advice to teen writers. This is a very hard one, and I can only say good luck to my fellow writers. Trying to manage school work, preparing for college (if you are preparing), and living your social lives all at the same time. What a hard thing to do for people who might not even be driving yet and are trying to succeed. The only thing to remember is that we are only human and have so little free time (use it wisely, for school is very important). Keep working hard. I hope that you all accomplish great writing feats!

Is there anything you'd like to add?

Only that I am so glad that you (WriterGurlLW aka Tiffany C.) have allowed me to be posted on your blog, and that I wish you the best with ‘The Awakening’ {Savior of the Supernatural}

If you are interested in this post, please check out my upcoming blog http://writersawakening.blogspot.com/ or my fiction press account (still working on posting some of my writing on it) at http://www.fictionpress.com/~ahmenrah

Thank you for reading:
AhmenRah (Ryan Dunar)

What's the rush?

2009-10-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

2) Quit worrying about being published RIGHT NOW.Jeez, guys, what's the rush? The number of people who get published in their teens is vanishingly small. And as Justine Larbalestier points out in her wise article Too Young To Publish, when they do get published, it is not always a good thing. Being published before you're thirty is considered young to be published; when you're published as a teen, it's newsworthy because you are so young, but you're also treated like a dog who paints. It doesn't really matter if the paintings are good, it's just exciting that the dog can do it in the first place. That's not always such a great feeling. Anyway, telling yourself that you need to be PUBLISHED RIGHT NOW is putting an awful lot of unnecessary pressure on yourself. Being published is not the ultimate measure of the worth of what you do. What you should be concentrating on now is working on your writing, polishing it, and making it better. Show it to people (not your parents) who can critique it for you — an online writing workshop like critters.org can be helpful. Or take writing classes — if your school doesn't offer them, a local university probably does. I took writing classes at UCLA when I was in high school, frinstance. Objective, professional adult readers can tell you how ready you are for publication.

I was scouring through other blogs today when I came across this gem of a point in one of Cassandra Clare's, the author of the Mental Instruments series, blog posts. You can read the whole article for yourself here.

Anyway, it made me think of today's blog post. Why do I, and many other teen writers, feel the need to rush into publication? Sometimes it feels like I have to publish now or else. Never mind that I still have the rest of my life to live, or that the opportunities are actually greater as an adult. I still get this intense feeling that I am in a rush against time. I HAVE to finish my novel before I'm out of highschool....or else. It's fairly ridiculous.

I've thought really hard about this urgency. On the one hand, I like that the urgency makes me feel like I'm being timed - An intense sense of duty, as well as the feeling that I only have a year to get everything done, keeps me going. But there's also what Cassandra pointed out above: Chances are, the teen won't be viewed for their talents - they'll be viewed just because they're a teen. I feel that defeats the purpose of writing. The writing itself, in my opinion, trumps all.

When teen writers come to mind, I tend to think of Paolini, who recieves almost as much negative feedback, if not more, than he does positive feedback. At one point, there was a number of sites dedicated solely to bashing his works. Maybe it was because of his popularity (things very popular are prone to have a backlash audience as well); maybe there was many flaws in his writings, as it was still developing what with him being - what? - fifteen?; maybe his parents did assist. For the most part, though, I think the fact that he published as a teen played a large part in it - a large part in his positive and negative feedback. And I'll be damned if my age decides how serious my work will be taken. I want my work to decide that.

I'm not going to lie. I know that getting published as a teenager would be a GREAT marketing tool, and I have thought - many times - that I had to get published before that marketing tool went away. But the knowledge that such a tool could be as good as it is bad makes me second think that.

Let me sum my thoughts up: I don't think that teen writers should stop writing because they have all of their life - this feuls ultimate procrastination - nor do I believe that they should feel the strong urgency to get published now. I still think they should practice, try, and write as though their time will run out when they become adults, but keep a cool head even if they're not a published author by then. Writing takes practice. We need all the practice we can get.

How do you think teen writers should approach publication?

P.S. I'm writing a novel. As thus, by publication, I'm referring to a novel sized work. I'll probably talk about what I'm writing this friday. Stay tuned - I will have a guest interview this wednesday!

The ACTUAL first post

2009-04-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to keep a blog because of writers like Neil Gaiman and Shmelia. I figure I might as well jump on the bandwagon of aspiring writers blogging their journey to finish their novel, edit, and, hopefully, get published (Which is odd, because I'm not a 'jump on the bandwagon' type of person. I think it's mostly loneliness in the writing world that has made me want to turn to a blog....except that's not really true. The concept of a blog DOES interest me, and I do need a writing platform. My Internet buddy/writing partner in crime Aaron has all but abandoned me for his life - I realize that is more important, yes - and I can't seem to find a good writing partner to chat with in his stead).

So, this blog....It's my honest attempt to share my thoughts/hardships/successes of writing in the viewpoint of a teenager who is, in fact, VERY serious about this. I'm slightly upset that I didn't tackle this blog long ago. I'm seventeen. I won't be an adolescent for too much longer, but I'll cherish my time as a confused teenager for as long as I can. Like my description says, I'll try to inform, I might rant, but I will not angst. There are plenty of other blogs written by teenagers for that. In fact, I don't think I'll even bring in topics pertaining to my life unless it is tied to my writing.

Another reason why I refrained from blogging for so long: I didn't know what to say. Now that shouldn't be a problem. I have this blog planned in a way where I shouldn't be free of topics. Anyway, how can there honestly be nothing to write about? Everyday of my life, even the excruciatingly bland days, are an adventure in writing. I plan to share those adventures.

Since this is just an intro, I don't want to get too carried away (I spent all week debating with myself about what I should blog about for the first post. SO many topics came to mind. I can tell I'm going to enjoy this.). Here's my posting plan:

I will update Mondays and Fridays.
Every two weeks, on sundays, I will add a Tip of the Month article...until the articles catch up. Then it will become monthly.
I will try to interview someone or get a guest blogger every wednesday.

So why won't you, dear reader, stick with this teenager as she blogs herself into a craze that she hopes is both interesting and intellectual.