Need to signal a flashback? #writetip

Margaret from Exeter is having trouble with the pluperfect (even if she may not realise that’s where the problem lies): I’ve been told my flashbacks are clunky to read because I use too many hads, but if I’m already using the past tense for the main story, how else am I going to show that I’ve gone even further back? Is there another way to show that other than using had?

Let’s look at the definition of pluperfect in English: It denotes an action completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied, formed by using had and the past participle, as in he had wanted to meet her, but she had already left.

As a flashback shows action completed prior to the time she is writing about using the past tense, this definitely qualifies as a reason to use the pluperfect. So, Margaret is absolutely right in using it, but her friends are also right: overuse can be clunky and distancing to read.

 If we look at this short passage, you’ll see what I mean.

Michael had wanted to see for himself that Janet was meeting another man. He had sat at a corner table of the pub where he had been certain he could not be seen and had waited for over an hour before Janet had appeared. She had been alone when she came in. She had gone straight to the bar. As she had sipped her drink, a man had come in and had stood next to her.

When going into flashback it is important to signal it so that the reader is aware of what is happening, so using the pluperfect in the opening sentence is fine. However, to avoid the clunky feel, you should switch to the simple past tense as soon as possible.

Michael had wanted to see for himself that Janet was meeting another man. He sat at a corner table where he couldn’t be seen and waited for over an hour before Janet appeared. She was alone when she came in and went straight to the bar. As she sipped her drink, a man came in and stood next to her.

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Grammar - narrative vs speech #writetip

Michaela from Huddersfield has sent in an interesting question about using natural sounding speech: I recently had a short story critiqued and the person who commented on my writing said I was making a mistake when I wrote my character was sat at the bar. I don’t see what’s wrong with that – it’s how the character speaks. In fact, he didn’t pick up on almost the same words in dialogue, so I’m now even more confused.

This is a case of narrative versus dialogue grammar usage. In dialogue, we can use all sorts of incorrect grammar, because it is, as you pointed out, how the characters speak. However, in narrative (where no one is speaking) using exactly the same construction would, in many cases, be incorrect.

I’ll use your query term in the following example.

“I don’t know why Jane got so upset. Dan was sat at the bar minding his own business and her mate came on to him. He didn’t start it.”

In the above paragraph, it’s fine to say Dan was sat because it is in direct speech and is in keeping with the speaker’s character.

However, if we change things around a bit, so that we only have narrative, we cannot use the same construction because it is grammatically incorrect. We can only use Dan was sitting or Dan sat.

Dan was sitting at the bar…

Or

Dan sat at the bar…

To summarise: in dialogue you can use incorrect grammar, as long as it is in keeping with the way the character would speak, but in narrative you have to ensure the grammar is correct.

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Quote/Unquote #writetip

I have posted a letter from one of my regular readers below, but before you move down to it, I hope you won't mind if I take a moment to tell you about one of my books. As most of you know, I write crime as Frances di Plino. The first in the D.I. Paolo Storey crime series, Bad Moon Rising, is on a week-long promotion. Please tell all your family and friends they can download Bad Moon Rising for the ridiculously low price of 99p/99c across all Amazon sites.

Niall from Luton gets confused about quote marks and asked for some advice: I see some people use quote marks like these ‘ ’ and others use the ones that look like this “ ”. How can I find out which ones to use and does it matter?

As you’ve shown in your email, there are two different types of quotation marks: single and double. Double quotation marks are now used less than they were in the past, but some magazines and publishers still favour them over the single marks.

The best way to decide which to use is to check the house style of your target market to see which they prefer. If you’re planning to approach a magazine, finding out which they use is as simple as opening a recent copy and looking at the content.

However, if you are planning to submit a manuscript to a publisher or agent, very often they will have their desired formatting style on the submissions pages of their websites. If the guidelines don’t stipulate one or the other, I would simply use the style with which you feel most comfortable.

Do bear in mind that whichever marks you use for direct speech, you would then use the opposite quotation marks to quote 'speech within speech'.

Example:

‘I’m praying Jack hasn’t started drinking again. When he left this morning he said, “I’m going to the supermarket.” That was hours ago and he should have returned by now.’

The double quotation marks show that someone is being quoted word for word. If you use double quotation marks for the main speech, use singles for the ‘speech within speech’.

Other uses for quotation marks:

Idiomatic expressions, for example: He was always referred to as a ‘pain in the neck’. Note that when quotation marks are used in this manner the full stop or comma comes outside the marks, but if quotation marks are used for dialogue the full stop or comma comes inside the marks.

When quoting the title of a magazine article: ‘The Generation Game’ in Spanish Magazine, March 2007.

(The above answer was partly taken from The Writer’s ABC Checklist)

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Why do I need an online presence? #writetip

The following question has been sent in by so many different writers in varying forms that I’ve decided to answer without attributing it to anyone in particular. Is an online presence really necessary for writers? I can understand anyone who self-publishes would need to be active online, but I want to go down the traditional publishing route. Surely my job is to write and it’s up to the publishers to do the marketing and promotional work?

If only life were that simple! To assume that traditionally published authors do nothing to help market their books is a little naïve, I’m sorry to say. Many agents specify a strong online platform before they will even open your file – in other words, a great book with fabulous characters won’t make the cut unless the author already has an online following. Ridiculous, I know, but it is increasingly the way of the world.

Fortunately, not all agents work like that. However, even if you sign up with the agent of your dreams, when he or she submits your manuscript to a publishing house and the editor falls in love with it, the marketing department will expect you to do everything possible to assist with sales – and that doesn’t just mean turning up looking earnest and intelligent for book signings!

Why should you have to do their job for them? Because if you don’t, your book probably won’t sell. Publishing houses have hundreds, probably thousands, of books to promote. They will devote time and resources to the ones that produce the best return on money spent. It’s simple economics. And this is where having an online presence is essential. The bigger the online platform, the greater the author’s potential audience, the higher sales are likely to be. The more marketing you do to increase sales, the more your publisher’s marketing department is likely to do for you.

For those who do not yet have an online presence and still need to set up in cyberspace, here is a great blog post by author Matthew Kadish: ranking the social networks

Another blog post I stumbled across recently gives some excellent advice on what not to do: 5 DUMB THINGS SMART AUTHORS DO

Good luck!

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Should I Celebrate? #flashfiction

A reader from Huddersfield, who asked not to be named, was recently long listed in an international competition, but she wasn’t sure if it was something she should celebrate. She writes: when I saw my name on a long list for the flash fiction competition, I was really excited, but one of my writing friends said that was probably just the list of all those who’d entered. Is that the way competitions work?

Obviously, I cannot answer for every competition around the world, but it is generally accepted that a long list is made up of the best of the entries after the first (and sometimes second, or even third) round of judging.

As I know it was the Flash 500 Competition you entered and were long listed for, I can categorically state that the long list was decided by a team of readers who waded through hundreds and hundreds of entries before picking a long list of stories to put forward for the next stage of judging.

I think, possibly, your writing friend might be suffering a little from the green-eyed monster. Celebrate your appearance on the long list – it is hard to get through the initial stages of judging in any competition. To do so in one where the entry count is so high is an achievement indeed.

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