Revision Friday: Creating Resonance

You pause after a paragraph and say to yourself. That's it! And you're sure the author wrote it just for you. 

What is that?

That is resonance.



You've just finished reading a great piece of fiction. As you close the cover your mind pulls all the words into a savory bundle that simmers for days...even weeks. 

What is that? 

That is resonance.

Okay, but what is it really? This is where it gets tricky. I know what it feels like when I read it. Can I describe it? Sort of. The difficulty comes because just as you are the sum of all your parts,  resonance is what comes through when plot, story arc, character, conflict and theme work in harmony. The author that can orchestrate that kind of symphony is a master.

I'd love to hand you list of steps or a recipe that would guarantee that your novel or piece of writing will resonate with your readers. I can't, I haven't found one. If you have one, I'd love to get my hands on it. 

In the meantime, I'd love to hear about a recent book that resonated with you.

Revision Friday: Three Ways To Beef Up Your Fiction

Revision is all about making your WIP the best it can be, right? When we are creating it's best to keep moving, no stopping to make sure every sentence does what it's suppose to. Revision is different in that it requires a level head, devoid of the emotional energy of creation. Here are three ways to absolutely improve your work in progress.

1) Slay your babies.These are those sentences created in the heat of getting the words on the page that you read over and say, "Well, now that was an awesome sentence." Sometimes, that's all it is; an awesome sentence that adds clutter. Clutter distracts the reader from the story. Believe me, usually your "babies" aren't as cute as you think they are. 

2) Cut the flab. These are those extra words that in our hurry to get the story on the page we add without noticing. Things like: He nodded his head in agreement. Really? What else would he nod, his toe? Take out all the unnecessary words that cover the muscle of the story. Who doesn't want well toned arms? Stories need toning, too.

3) Chop those cliches. You know, those turns of phrase that are stale and overly used. Sometimes in the heat of creation they creep in. It's our job as writers to seek them out and excise them. Or, convert them to something fresh.  

For example:  She waited quiet as a mouse.     She waited like the forest after rain.

So what are you going to SLAY, CUT or CHOP today?

Semiotics: What are they?

Semiotics , also called semiotic studies or semiology,  is the study of cultural sign processes (semiosis), analogy, metaphor, signification and communication, signs and symbols.

Back when I though I was on my way to a Phd, I did a bunch of research on media and communication. Before you get all worried that I'm going to go all technical on you, hang in there, I'm going to bring it all back to writing.

The basic idea is that we interpret messages in terms of their signs or patterns of symbolism. A sign can be a word, a sound or a visual image. What the semioticians are interested in is the relationship between the "signifier", the actual sound, word or image and its relationship to its "signified", the meaning or what it represents. Meanings are abitrary and individual, usually related to the history or culture of the "decoder". With the advent of the internet many of these signs and symbols are becoming universal.  If this interests you, I would suggest you take a look at the work of  Charles Sanders Peircein,Claude Lévi-Strauss  Ferdinand Saussure and Umberto Eco  to name a few.

Pediatric Pain Scale

Our world is dominated by visual images on the internet, television and movies. When we write we need to visualize what picture our words are creating and what details are really important for the reader to see or feel. 

 When you look at this picture to the left the signifier is a small girl with large eyes looking at the camera. The signified meaning of this picture is what the artist is drawing our attention to, what he wants us to see. When we see the blurred children in front we place her in a classroom. Her hair and shabby clothing, even the fact that the picture is black and white tells us we are looking at a "girl who is living an impoverished life with a thirst of knowledge, in hope of having a better life through receiving proper education. Her “big eyes” are asking for help from other people, her “big eyes” are themselves symbols of hope." (Metepedia) Wow! That is tons of information from this one picture. 

In our fiction we want to draw the attention to what is most important to the scene and move the story along. Many fiction writers are turning to screenwriting to learn quicker and more direct ways to create visual images for their readers. See Save the Cat by Blake Snyder.

Advertising is another place we see signs and symbols at work to convey visual meaning. For example. Take a diamond necklace, a piece of red velvet and the word Cartier and you have a visual image of luxury, wealth and affluence. I imagine you can think of many commercials and advertisements that use signs and symbols to create an entire story around the product. 

Here are some basic tools we use in fiction.

1. Metaphor

2. Analogy

3. Symbolism

4. Simile

Are there other tools we can use?

How have you stepped up imagery in your writing? Have you found screenwriting tools helpful?

More interesting resources:

A way cool dictionary of symbols.

 Art and Semiotics

More on semiotics and visual communication.

More here and here.

List of more sites here.

M-Words That Mean Something (At least to me)

Mess- Writing can get messy. From the top of my desk to the inside of my brain!

Muck- You have to be willing to trudge around in the  muck to discover the true essence of your story.

Mood- Set the mood with the right lighting and background music when you write. 

Muscle- It takes real strength to continue to believe in your project and not give up.

Milieu- Know the entire world of your main character, the milieu of emotions that motivate her.

More- When you think you've pushed your character enough, push him some more.

Marvel- This is what I do when piece of fiction comes together with all its requisite parts.

Memory- All your characters have them, it's what motivates them, as the writer you need to know them, as the reader not so much.


Move- Hard to remember but moving every 15-20 minutes could save your eyes and neck. 

Mellow- Sometimes a good chill in your favorite chair can loosen the creative juices.  

Magic- This is what happens when a story is born.

Masterpiece- We all hope our WIP will become a finished piece of art.

Motivation- Things that get me going: A brisk walk, chocolate, reading a great book or even just a trip to the bookstore.

Do you have any great M-words I've left out?

Jumping In

Jump into the middle of the action.

Scenes and chapters should begin after the action has already started.

Jump up to find that high concept idea. 

A high concept premise may take a willingness to push the envelope.   Jump all over the research.

Always do more research than you will need.

Jump over your self doubts.

 We all have them; we can all ignore them.

Jump into the heads of your characters.

Understand what motivates your characters.

Jump even when you're not sure where you'll land.

Writing is all about taking risks. Success doesn't come by staying safe.

Jump around writer's block.

 Plumbers don't get plumbers block, doctors don't get doctor block.

Jump with friends and colleagues.

As a writer you are never alone --reach out to the community of writers.


Today I'm jumping headlong into my revision.   What are you going to jump into today?