FictionAddiction.NET

Once upon a time, there was a writer who spent several years completing an entire first draft of a work of fiction. It was only then, as he took a last gander at a solar calendar spanning the duration of his tale, that he realized an important event in the storyline needed a full moon to be credible and in reality the moon would have been only in the first quarter.

This discovery led to another weaknesses or two in the manuscript, so our fellow trashed the whole draft and started over. It took another year for him to completely re-write what would become one of the most beloved fables of all time.

The man: J. R. R. Tolkien. The book: Lord Of The Rings.

Such painstaking research is proof-positive of the power of detail.

It may seem a little extreme to scrap the whole thing after spending so many years to finish it. Why didn't Tolkien just change the setting to full moon? Who was going to know....or care? Well, he cared and you should too!

Good detail drives a story better, adds more color to the characters and leaves lasting impressions in the mind of a reader. If you've read The Lord Of The Rings you no doubt can still recall favorite richly detailed passages.

Let's look at an example of the difference using research and detail makes in laying out a setting.

In this scene, which takes place in 1978, two women are having lunch in a pub while a TV broadcasts the Super Bowl in the background. One of the characters, named Chris, is about to deliver some bad news to her lunchmate. Version #1 contains basic writing. Version #2 has been re-written to include detail and facts about the 1978 game:

Version #1 -

The TV on the wall showed the Super Bowl pre-game show. We didn't pay any attention to it but Chris made a comment about the Denver Cowboys. "Speaking of Denver" she started, then trailed off. Perhaps she wasn't sure if this was the right time. But she continued after a brief moment of gathering her thoughts.

"Tom has gotten a job offer in Denver," she said. "He'll have about two weeks after graduation to report for work." Her eyes were steady as they took in my reaction. I absorbed the impact of her statement. "You're moving." I said, flatly. I sounded calm to myself; on the inside though, my heart was heavy. Denver - it may as well have been China - a whole world away. Although I wanted her to stay, I wanted her to be happy in her new life more, the new life she had worked so hard for. It took everything I had to stop a flood of tears. I gathered up my composure and cleared my throat.

"When would you be leaving?" From her I had learned the value of support in friendship. I would not let her down.

Version #2 -

That year's opposing teams were Dallas and Denver and Denver, it seemed, was to be a topic of both camps - in New Orleans and our booth at The Normandy. "Speaking of Denver," Chris started, then trailed off. Her voice had the timbre of uncertainty, as if she wasn't sure if this was the right time. Our server arrived with tall tumblers of iced tea, straws and silverware. It was the interruption Chris needed to gather her thoughts.

"Tom has gotten a job offer in Denver," she said casually as she tore off of the paper cover of her straw and dropped the thin, clear cylinder into her icy drink. "He'll have about two weeks after graduation to report for work." Her blue eyes were steady as they took in my reaction.

I was still as I absorbed the impact of her statement. "You're moving." I said, flatly. I sounded calm to myself, as though I was observing the scene and someone else was doing the talking. Inside, though, my heart was suddenly heavy and sank down into my stomach so that they both combined to form a big chunk of granite. I felt sadder than I could have ever expressed. Denver - it may as well have been China - a whole world away. A powerful wave of emotion rose up from my toes and rushed towards my eyes.

Although I wanted her to stay, I wanted her to be happy in her new life more, the new life she had worked so hard for. I shuddered as every cell in my body joined in a concerted effort to stop a flood of tears. Finally it became merely a stinging wet glaze filling my bottom eyelids.

"Sister," it crept out as a whisper. I gathered up my composure and cleared my throat. "Sister" I began again "when would you be leaving?" From her I had learned the value of support in friendship. I would not let her down.

The location of the game and names of the teams are given, and details of the conversation and what the girls are doing or what they were feeling. I'm sure you would agree that Version #2 would be much more memorable.

There is no big secret to good scene writing and following these simple steps will help you in your efforts:

Research, Research, Research

The internet makes this a little easier than in days of old! If you want to write a story about a town or place you've never been to, get on the internet and call up the website of the Chamber of Commerce or Tourism Bureau for the area.

These sites are always loaded with factual information about cities and counties - including average temperatures & precipitation. They show pictures so that their areas will be appealing and encourage visitation. They also have business directories and area businesses will frequently provide click links to their own Web sites, on which they usually tell you something about their history.

Who founded them and when? How long they've been operating and what about their products? Some sites will even have maps so that you can get correct street names. This is valuable information for fictionalizing.

If, for example, your book or story is going to be a sweeping family drama the likes of Dallas or Falcon Crest, you may take some inspiration from these real-life corporations and the people who made them to create the families and empires of your fictional universe. If you are writing about things from the past, statistical and historical websites abound. Local information on past events can always be researched in a local library's daily newspaper's microfilm file. If the setting of your story in not in your local area, more and more U.S. libraries are adding archival search features to their websites these days.

Tap Into Your Feelings

To make the characters as real as possible to the reader, they must be real, not just cardboard cutouts who move through the scenes. A person can not just stand there while waiting for a door to open. She must stand there with her stomach in a knot. Or be standing there, trembling with fear because he has been caught in a room he's not supposed to be in and doesn't know who's on the other side of the door.

A good way to capture these emotions and feelings is to remember how you, yourself, felt in times of fear, stress, sadness and joy. When your face flushed during embarrassment, did it feel warm too, or just tingle?

Another way is to talk to others and ask about their feelings and how an incident made them feel. The characters in your story should have a wide range of emotions and feelings in their universe - because if they could step off the page to join us, they certainly would need them in ours.

We human beings don't always do what we should. We make mistakes. We say things we don't mean and we have good days and bad days. When writing your story, don't forget how life really works. To give your characters depth and make them interesting, they must be allowed to live and act the way real people would.

A good person can go bad. A bad person can be redeemed. A stubborn person can finally have a change of heart. People on the outs with each other can have a chance at making up and the closest of friends can have it out and never see each other again. This is what life is like and the ups and downs of it translated to the written page makes for a more colorful story.

Use A Dictionary And A Thesaurus

These two resources are worth their weight in gold. Do not attempt to do any writing without them! If you are unsure of rules of punctuation, grammar or composition, the dictionary will be your faithful guide. The Thesaurus is particularly helpful for better writing flow. In the opening paragraph of this article, I used story, storyline, tale, work of fiction and fable to convey the same concept (story) without using the same word repeatedly.

The Reality Of Rewrites

There was never a writer born who has finished a work in one sitting with everything just like he or she wanted it the first time. There never will.

Rewrites are the nature of the literary beast. And so is writer's block, by the way. Perhaps these ideas are what daunts some aspiring writers, but it is not as bad as it sounds. Knowing going in that you will experience block and the inevitable rewrites can be freeing in wonderful ways. You will be able to use your time creatively instead of agonizing over if everything is perfect right off the bat.

It won't - So here's what you do:

Begin typing and let the story that you've been forming in your head flow freely down your arms and out the ends of your fingertips. Kind of put your mind in neutral and let your thoughts and feelings depress the letters on your keyboard.

When you're finished, read it, print it out and save it.

Now sleep on it for a night or maybe two and mull everything over. Think of how you can say it better, make it livelier or slower or make it clearer.

After a day or two, go get the pages you printed out and make margin notes. Scratch things out to remove them. Add things.

Sit back down for a rewrite session. If you feel comfortable with letting someone view your unfinished work, get them to read your prose and give an opinion.

Repeat steps A through E as often as needed until you're satisfied and can call it "done".

If you decide you don't like it at all, toss your pages in the trash and start over following steps A through E.

Actually, rewrites build confidence and with more confidence you'll find you can work faster with fewer rewrites. A win-win cycle, wouldn't you say?

One last tip: try to avoid thinking of your work in terms of monetary value - not every book is a best seller. But all readers want the same thing - a book or story that is informative, entertaining, well written and memorable. Knowing that all of your hard work - the researching, attention to detail and rewrites - will pay off in satisfied customers is truly the biggest reward of all.

Kasey Hargan is a freelance writer and author of Chris-Anthem: A Novella.