Craft Book Recommendation - Writing With Emotion, Tension, & Conflict

I was contacted by a mutual friend several months ago asking if I'd review a new book, Writing Emotion, Tension, & Conflict: Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and Compelling Novel, by Cheryl St. John. Full disclosure: I was sent a free copy to read for the review.

"Today's highly competitive fiction market requires writers to imbue their novels with that special something - an element that captures readers' hearts and minds. In Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict, writers will learn vital techniques for writing emotion into their characters, plots and dialogue in order to instill that special something into every page."

There were several things I really like about this book. First, Cheryl stresses from the very beginning that different things work for different folks, so she didn't write this book to tell us what to do, so much as how to figure out what works for us as individuals. This isn't a "my way or the highway" book. She provides writing exercises that involve watching movies or television shows, in addition to reading other books. In fact, she uses examples from these different mediums, which I think is a great way to get across the meaning of what she's saying to an array of folks. Not only does she recommend books/movies, but she points out what to look for in them and cites her own examples in spots. 

Hearkening back to what I said about her stressing different strokes for different folks, she was good about pointing out examples of what worked for her and what worked for other people she had spoken with. If there were different ways to do something, she pointed out different examples and why those worked for others.

Cheryl St. John has been writing for awhile, and has quite a few books under her belt (over 50). She uses this experience to tell new writers how she did things in the beginning and how those methods have metamorphosed for her with experience. This is something that could easily come across as condescending, but not in the way she does it. What it does accomplish is a little background that lets us know not to get discouraged, that we will all find our way to a system that works for us, and that the way to get there is experience, persistence, and flexibility. And it lets us know that even someone with this many books out, an award winner, is always learning as she moves forward with her writing career.

The book is separated into clear sections, as outlined at the beginning in the Table of Contents. When she deals with Conflict, she stresses the difference between things like conflict vs. incidents or conflict vs. misunderstandings/disagreements. She addresses GMC (Goals, Motivation, & Conflict), an important combination in writing. Of importance, she talks about how to make the conflict realistic. When talking about Emotion, she goes into POV (point-of-view), emotional triggers, characterization, and dialogue. And for Tension, which is addressed in the other areas, as well, she not only discusses how to create that tension, but how to sustain it and show it in your writing.

Her tone throughout the book is friendly and encouraging. She laces fun book and movie quotes throughout. The exercises she provides are useful (not just busy work) and interesting, and she provides asides in boxes to the side when a little something extra is needed. Her examples all work to reinforce what she's trying to teach the reader. I came away from this book with a better understanding of quite a bit, including external vs. internal conflict, something I struggle with identifying. And I had several revelations while reading. I highly recommend this book as a craft and reference book for your writing area. This is one I'll keep nearby to help me when I'm struggling with something.

Just a couple quotes from the Introduction and first chapter to give some examples:

"Feeling tells you what to say. Technique gives you the tools with which to say it." Intro, P. 5

"In order to have conflict, your character must have a goal and his goal must be believable. The believability factor comes from motivation." Chapter 1, P. 13

"This is an important lesson to remember: It's effective to eliminate all possibility that the character could go back to life as usual. He can no longer return to an ordinary world." Chapter 1, P. 15

Cheryl St.John is the author of over forty Harlequin and Silhouette books. Her first book, RAIN SHADOW was nominated for RWA’s RITA for Best First Book, by Romantic Times for Best Western Historical, and by Affaire de Coeur readers as Best American Historical Romance. Since then she's received several RITA nominations and three Romantic Times Achievement Awards. In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like, “emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters and real life situations."

Cheryl is admittedly blog crazy. She has a personal blog, From the Heart, a recipe blog, and a blog that follows a home remodel. She guest blogs whenever and wherever she's asked, and blogs monthly at Petticoats and Pistols.

You can purchase Writing With Emotion, Tensions, & Conflict at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in paperback and e-book. 

What's your favorite craft book? Have you read anything by Cheryl St. John? Do you feel you have a strong grasp of tension, emotion, and conflict? Are you familiar with GMC?

May you find your Muse.

Point of View in Your Writing

As I sit here pondering the next book I want to work on (neither weakly nor wearily), Point of View (POV) has been on my mind a lot. I've noticed that the YA novels and Urban Fantasies I prefer to read at this time tend to be in First Person. As the next book I want to work on is an Urban Fantasy, I need to decide which POV to do it in.

First, I had to look up the various Points of View to define them. I came up with the following (Note: I am skipping Second Person, which uses "you did this" or "you do this," as I am not interested in that tense at this time, and feel it is used the least of all the tenses):

1. First Person:
~Past Tense-I ran up the road.
~Present Tense-I run up the road.

2. Third Person*:
~Past Tense-She ran up the road.
~Present Tense-She runs up the road.
*Third person can be further classified as being:
~Omniscient-The reader knows everything the characters are thinking. The narrator sees all and knows all.
~Limited/Subjective-The reader is hearing the story from a specific character's POV, and only knows what this character thinks and perceives.
~Objective-The reader has no idea what the POV character is thinking, and only sees their actions, as well as other characters' actions. This form is more distant, like you're watching something occur, but aren't a part of it.

Hopefully that gives everyone an idea of what each POV is. I find I often have to look it up to confirm I'm thinking of the correct tense, but I'm a double-checker by nature.

The novel I've already written is in Third Person Limited Past Tense. In other words, I write the scenes as if they have already happened, using "he" and "she," and hearing the thoughts of the POV character, as well as their actions. It actually is told from the viewpoint of two different characters, and it is clearly shown who the POV character is when I switch.

I write in this form because I'm most comfortable with it. Yes, on a blog one writes in First Person ("I do this, I do that") and, I think, in Second Person ("You do this"), though that is used less. I do believe I've used it, though. I've never before thought about what POV I was using (other than in middle school when we did writing exercises in different POV's, of course). It was never an issue for me; I simply started writing and that's what came out. This quite possibly means that I am very much over-thinking how to write this next book, but I thought it would be good to see what other people thought about POV.

I've come across some schools of thought that say you should go with the predominant type of POV used in the genre you're going to write in. Some say you should write what feels the most comfortable to you. Still others say to analyze what you want from your story and how best to get that across.

There is a poll to your right, underneath my bio, so you can vote for the POV you prefer when reading. I've learned that there should always be an "Other" option, but if you choose that, please detail why in the comments. The same goes for those who answer "It Depends." I value your feedback.

Other than that, what POV do you feel most comfortable with when writing? How do you decide which POV to use?

Happy Writing!