Posted: Jun 21, 08 8:29am

Some of what I read is written in a straight line, so that the reader has no work to do except to follow the course of the story from beginning to end. Even if the story is well-written, it causes me to ask few questions as a move through it. There are no surprises because in a straight line story, usually only one of two things can happen at each marker: it does or it doesn't.

Characters are presented with all their characteristics in a laundry list in the first paragraph after they are introduced, or worse yet, remain an anonymous he and/or she and nothing about them is learned after they hit the page which makes them uninteresting, no matter what they are doing.

I can tell when the writer is going to run a line from beginning to end. The first sentence always gives it away. The first sentence, no matter what it says is subject, verb, object. The story predictably starts at the beginning so the horse is in the stable, the actors have not yet experienced anything of note and the word choices are so predictable that I could write the story after about two paragraphs ands come to exactly the same conclusion as the writer.

What are some ways to get away from the linear story, the character with all its qualities pasted on or a sentence that stacks like that toy every baby has that has a series of different sized rings that must be placed on a cone in a particular order or the baby is plain shit outta luck?

My favorite method to break up a linear story is to begin somewhere other than the beginning so you have to go in several directions to catch the reader up with what happened. This gives the reader a multiplicity of reasons to continue reading. How did we get here? Where were we? Where are we going? instead of Ho hum, we are standing in a barn in the rain and the barn is made out of ... you get the picture?

If you start like this: Out of breath. Out of hope. Scared. Looking back. Maybe there is no later. ... You put the reader in the middle of an unexplained action. You've describes what the protagonist/narrator is thinking and feeling and how he is reacting to a troubling situation. Now, you are off to a start that forces the reader to ask multiple questions. Who is talking? What is he or she running from? Why such hopelessness? Also, note that the whole paragraph was written in sentence fragments. That is acceptable only if you are talking, not describing. A neutral 3rd POV narrator never lets them see him or her sweat!

The character development has begun with a tiny picture of the character in action in situ. I don't have to say he is frightened, he is weak-minded or whatever else I could say to describe the character. I allow the character to share a tiny fragment of its being with you.

Then ... "Linda, what the hell are you running for? Do you think I am going to hurt you?"

Fear, then relief. It's only Lennie. I look back to see him limping toward me, struggling to catch his breath, determined not to let me see the pain he must be experiencing.

Now, I've introduced two characters. I introduce the narrator through the dialogue of the second person and introduce the second person through the narration of the narrator who we now know is a woman named Linda.

Another trick that often adds to the reader's enjoyment is ordering the words of a sentence so that it pulls her in one direction only to shift to another. That works in description and dialogue. Here is a sample:

I never had an affair I didn't enjoy ... or later regret.

Instead of a straight line which would say: "I had affairs. I enjoyed them but regretted them afterward," essentially a straight line where each thought predicts the next, I come in the back door: I NEVER had an affair (the reader has a mind set) I didn't enjoy (reverses the mind set) or later regret (a third direction).

Most great stories start somewhere other than the beginning. They allow the characters to evolve rather than settling on a description. The words and ideas are ordered in such a manner that they jolt the reader out of any sense of complacency and force her to hold on to the lock bar so she won't fall out of the roller coaster and she is smiling like a baby when she lands and once again feels safe. They also use metaphor which I just did with the roller coaster example or simile when I say "smile like a baby."

The sentence about the affairs is paradoxical in that it builds its conclusion from inconsistent elements as in "hurry up and wait." I never had an affair says ... well, I never had an affair, immediately contradicted with I didn't enjoy. How do you enjoy something you never had? Therein lies the paradox.

To understand how to use the various tools of writing means a willingness to learn them. I was not born with the knowledge of writing techniques. I read books about writing - the best ones I could find written not by schlockmeisters who wanted to convince you that "you can write a best seller in 3 weeks!" Instead I read the writings of writers in all genres and fields who understand how to use words to tap into human potential, not simply tap into their unrealized fantasies. As a workbook on writing, I started with the basics: Strunk and White on Grammar and Punctuation. I bought a great dictionary. How do I know it's great? I can't lift it! It has 3000 pages of words, meanings, syntax and rules of writing. I bought the grammar and style reference work that people writing scholarly papers use - Chicago Manual of Style - and had scholarly works published. I regularly use several thesauri including specialized ones for technical vocabulary in a variety of fields or with different ways to use the language including slang, and a variety of patois. Note that the key word is USE, not own. Anyone with a credit card and an internet connection can go to Amazon and own any book written since the beginning of time. Reading them chapter and verse is a totally different experience.

For a manual on writing technique, I turned to the master: Sol Stein, but only after I co-taught a writing class with him and got to know his strengths and how they might apply to me. I mean, anyone who could edit Jacque Barzun and James Baldwin as well as write a million seller himself, had something to say to me! More than one something!

So, you want to write or do you want to be an author? What's the difference, you ask? An author is listed in the directory of published works or has had something published by a mainstream publishing house that would make her eligible. She has been paid for the work - even if it was a dollar - and some rights to the work were sold to the publisher for either cash or future royalties based on sales.

Good luxk. Keep writing and keep learning. Any writer worth hewr salt will tell you that learning to write is a lifelong experience.