Search C. Patrick Schulze – Author of "Born To Be Brothers"

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

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To My Readers,

My life, as so many times before, has taken an unexpected turn. At least this time it’s for the better.

This new orientation forces me to make a decision as to what aspects of my life must be sacrificed to this interesting new direction. As my novel is a top priority in my life, I will not allow that to suffer. As with other parts of my life, my blog is one of my daily pursuits that will undergo a reduction in the amount of time I can dedicate to it. In that vein, I will continue to post, but on a regular versus a daily basis.

I do hope you understand and I thank you all for your past and continued support.

C. Patrick Schulze
Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be Brothers”

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

A Note to My Readers
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Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

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15 Tips for Character Names

by C. Patrick Schulze

The most important word in every language is exactly the same. It is an individual’s first name. Here’s evidence that’s true. Think of how you feel when you meet someone for the second time and they say, “Oh! Hi, uh, you. Nice to see you.” Now, how might do you feel if they insert your name in that same greeting? “Oh! Hi, Patrick. Nice to see you.” Come on, ‘fess up. We all understand the power in our own name. So it is with your characters.

The wrong name may give your readers an incorrect impression, whereas the perfect name may help them to identify with them at once. Think of a guy with the name Chandler. An image comes to mind, doesn’t it? Now think of a guy named Hoyt. Different image, right? This image, right or wrong, can be difficult for readers to overcome.

If you want to see if you have the correct name for your character, try this. Say your character’s name as if you’re speaking to him in jest, in anger and as one in love. How does your image alter under these situations? If so, the name probably works. If not, you may wish to give this guy some more thought.

Character names are as important as any other of those oh-so-many words over which we authors fret, so here are some tips to keep you on track.

1. First and foremost, serendipity is your friend. If it works, well then, it works.
Trust your intuition.

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Rating: 4.0/5 (2 votes cast)

15 Tips for Character Names
Tags: character, character names, Characters
Posted in Characters, The Craft of Writing | 4 Comments »

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

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Does Your Novel Suffer From Flat Writing?

by C. Patrick Schulze

Listen to a PODCAST of this article.

One bane of the writer’s existence is flat writing that comes off to your reader as dull or lacking impact. It slips into writers’ work with little notice and will destroy a wonderful novel in no time at all.

How do you determine if your writing is flat? Allow people you don’t know to read your work. They’ll inform you in a hurry. However, the best way is to keep your eye open for how you respond to your reading. If it doesn’t “wow” you, it’s flat.

Here are some tips to overcome flat writing.

1. Cut, Cut, Cut
2. Choose Your Nouns and Verbs with Care
3. Eliminate Passive Voice
4. Play with Your Words
5. Trust Your Muse

Let’s now look at each of these in more detail.

CUT, CUT, CUT: If your writing sounds flat, it’s often due to excessive words that don’t add to the plot or even the meaning of your scene. To overcome this, review each word as to its necessity in your novel. Let’s consider the following example.

“Jason went to the store to pick up his weekly groceries.”

If we review this sentence, we see much of it is unimportant. Right away, we can drop the phrase, “went to the store,” as this action is obvious by the word, “groceries.” We might also be able to cut “weekly,” unless this time period is needed for the plot. Your final sentence might be:

“Jason picked up his groceries.”

Better, but still pretty dull, don’t you think?

CHOOSE YOUR NOUNS AND VERBS WITH CARE: Let’s consider the corrected sentence above for this example. If we just read the words, there’s little interest even in our corrected sentence. After all, grocery shopping is about as mundane as life gets. So, let’s pay attention to your NOUNS AND VERBS to see if we can’t spice this puppy up. What if we rewrote that sentence as follows:

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Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)

Does Your Novel Suffer From Flat Writing?
Tags: flat writing, Muse, novel, passive voice, writing
Posted in Editing Your Manuscript, The Craft of Writing | Comments Off