"Scare" Quotes

Most people know the basic rules for quotation marks. You use them to set off dialogue in a story, or to capture the exact words of someone in an article/interview. There are single quotes and double quotes, with U.S. rules being to put single quotes inside doubles, and the opposite for the U.K. After that, it gets a bit hairy for most people. However, the general consensus now is that quotation marks should be used for directly stated material, and italics should be used for everything else as much as possible. That includes, emphasis, sarcasm, and words as terms. By using italics in place of quotations in these instances, one can avoid scare quotes. Scare quotes are quotations used as a means of emphasizing or giving a sarcastic tone to a term or phrase. For example, in the sentence, "The politician droned on about the 'importance' of welfare," the word importance has a clear, sarcastic undertone to it, illustrated by the use of quotation marks around it. However, you can see how annoying these extra marks might be, especially when an article is littered with them. Political statements are notorious for such blunders and can be quite frustrating to peruse as a result.

Yet, there times when quotation marks make more sense than italics or simply look better. As you probably noticed, I used quotations when highlighting the example sentence in the previous paragraph. The material was neither a direct quote, nor was it a vocabulary term. However, since I was referring to a specific statement lengthier than your average word or phrase, it made more sense and was more aesthetically pleasing to set off the material using quotations rather than italics. When I then mentioned a single specific term after it, I chose italics.

From a stylistic standpoint, a mixture of quotations and italics is rather useful. But as with most of the standard English rules we've adopted, the grammatical criteria tends to be somewhat fluid. The U.S. is one of the few major countries that does not govern over its official language. Many countries actually have a council dedicated to monitoring and processing changes. In some ways, that makes learning the rules easier. Everything is more concrete, and there's little question what is right or wrong. Yet, I would argue the beauty of the English language is the fact that it can morph rather easily. Without that flexibility, the digital age, for example, would have done a number on the English language. Instead, it adapted, creating new words that were almost immediately recognized and accepted, prompting other countries to adopt our vocabulary for ideas such as the Internet, World Wide Web, and email.

Still, there are times when having a critical eye for unpleasant punctuation is necessary. Particularly true of non-fiction, scare quotes are seen as somewhat unprofessional and certainly extraneous. By the same token, one can overuse italics when replacing scare quotes. The best policy is to use both sparingly and only when appropriate for clarification or grammatical accuracy.

In case you're skeptical of the effect scare quotes have, here are some hilarious instances of what I'd like to call "scare quote overdrive." And yes, you can quote me on that.

http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

Other references: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/single-quotation-marks-versus-double-quotation-marks https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/577/ The Grammar Grind: Quotation Marks

Make Every Scene Count: Ending Scenes

There are two particular scenes in a book that are rather telling of the writing quality in between: the opening scene and the ending scene. Each is vital to capturing the reader's interest in a book and keeping it. I touched on some tips for writing opening scenes in a previous blog in this series, and now it's time to go over ending scenes. I'll cover both ending scenes for chapters, and the final ending scene for a book. This will then wrap up the "Make Every Scene Count" series.

Chapter Endings
Consider ending the last scene of each chapter with a climactic moment rather than resolution. Cliffhangers may be old-fashioned, but they work. Why? They urge readers to keep reading. Examples of climactic moments are important news (especially the start of an announcement that is interrupted), a revealed secret that impacts other characters, new information that changes the plot, or new potential problem. This allows room for sort of resolution of things, but leaves the scene open-ended enough that readers will remain anxious about the outcome.

However, just because a scene is climactic doesn't mean it has to be dramatic. Dramatic scenes should really be kept for key moments. Otherwise, they become less effective. An example of a climactic scene that isn't quite so dramatic is one where a main character discovers an important object (without realizing its importance) or notices a change in themselves. Both of these things can have a huge impact on the plot, but for the scene at hand, it really doesn't change much.

Book Endings
Book endings can be difficult, especially when it comes to pleasing your readers. Some might be rooting for Ending A, and others for Ending B. So what can you do to please both audiences? Well, first realize you cannot make every single reader happy. There will always be some criticism of your choice, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not only can authors learn from the feedback of their fans, but the fact that there is a debate about how it should have ended usually means that the writing was at least thought-provoking.

When it comes to the writing itself, my biggest suggestion is to leave some mystery to the end of a book. But be careful with this one. While not every issue needs to be resolved, there should some finality to it, and a clear, overall story arc. The worst kind of ending is one with too many loose ends or a completely anti-climactic one that leaves the reader feeling disappointed or "ripped off."

However, some less important issues surrounding the plot can be left with undetermined conclusions to hold the reader's interest in the book and keep them wondering after it is finished. Cryptic dialogue and life-changing circumstances are both great ideas, so long as you avoid clichés. For example, a marriage ceremony at the end is nice, but it's often overdone. A twist to this type of ending might be a newly married couple where the wife sneaking into the restroom to send a text to a mysterious friend without the husband knowing. This poses the option of the text either being an innocent conversation or something much more dishonest, causing speculation. This open question will leave the reader wondering, but a resolution of marriage will still have taken place.

The second and last piece of advice is to save completely care-free, happy endings for fairy tales. I know not everyone will hold the same stance as me on this, but I'm a firm believer in making endings realistic, not idealistic. This doesn't mean a conclusion can't be uplifting or joyous. It does, however, mean that some sacrifices should have been made to reach such a point. The sacrifices could be a friendship, money, change of character, or even death of others. Every book will have an ending that is best suitable for it.

For some more helpful hints on writing ending scenes:
http://rebeccabelliston.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/writing-tip-1-end-chapters-at-height-of-scene-not-at-resolution/

http://barrylyga.com/2010/02/writing-advice-41-ending-scenesfriends-as-critics/

Make Every Scene Count: Intimacy and Romance

As natural as intimacy and romance are in everyday life, they aren't the easiest scenes to write about, especially when it comes to standard fiction. For pure romance/erotica novels, the task is pretty simple. Explain in detail the heightened emotions and surges of passion one experiences when engaging in any intimate physical activity. However, for standard fiction that doesn't focus on romance, writing a sex scene or even just a romantic one can be tricky. To establish a well-written and seemingly spontaneous but cleverly crafted love scene for your fiction novel, consider the following guidelines.

1. Use heightened emotions. As I mentioned in some of my previous posts, dramatic writing isn't really something that I endorse very often. Nevertheless, love scenes call for it. When you're in love, every motion, breath, and thought (especially of your lover) is intensified and becomes paramount to your next move. As such, these emotions often lead to instinctive reactions that are not well-thought-out. These scenes usually have a slow-motion-like effect to them.

2. Pay attention to physiological changes. Before any close contact is even made, our bodies adopt some physiological responses when someone we attracted to is in immediate vicinity. Some we notice ourselves, and others we do not. These responses include increased heart rate, perspiration, flushing of the face, clamminess (especially of the hands), and butterflies in the stomach. Some other common, less obvious responses are nausea, shyness (hiding or quickly fleeing the scene), loss of speech or stumbling over words, talking too much or too quickly, forgetfulness, and nervousness (i.e. playing with hands or hair, fidgeting, biting lower lip, looking downward, shifting position often, not able to look in someone's eyes).

3. It's all about the specifics. As with the previous points, note all actions and physical responses that each character involved makes. If the scene is unfolding slowly for the character being followed, so should unfold it for the reader.

4. Don't be too revealing. Even with emotions portrayed and physiological changes exhibited, when it comes to full-on sex scenes, it's good practice to leave some to the imagination. While the reader wants to know what happens, they are usually more excited and "turned on" if you will when parts of the action are eluded to but not actually stated in a count-by-count blow. A good sex scene in a fiction novel works a lot like clothes on a woman; unless you're going for erotica, it's best to show a few tantalizing parts that make your mind wander.

Make Every Scene Count: Action and Conflict

Action scenes are a crucial part of narration in a story. They aren't always sword fights or full-fledged battles, but regardless, the nuts and bolts matter. Whether the scene is a small plot point in the story arc or a large one, the craft of writing one should be done with care; action scenes can be tricky. So my advice is to focus on two main areas when getting down to the nitty-gritty: the writing structure itself and the minute details that make up the structure. Each contributes to the scene to make it more intense and realistic.

Writing Structure
First, pick up the pace. Use shorter dialogue and sentences to move things along. However, try to harmonize this with natural flow and keep things in "real time." By that, I mean describe the actions of each passing minute. A greater abundance of details in those short sentences lets the reader know that this scene is an important one that will likely have a long-term affect on the plot. Another trick to speeding things up is to make your characters react with their gut more than their brain; the act of deciding quickly without dwelling on future consequences brings a sense of urgency to the scene.

Action scenes are one of the few places where readers really expect and appreciate extra tension and big reactions. In other words, drama. Drama is one of those touchy elements that I'm not overly fond of personally. Too much drama throughout a book can be rather annoying, and it tends to make the book less believable. However, when paired with a specific action scene, drama has the power to intensify the situation and increase the reaction of both characters and readers. Adding unexpected consequences or extra conflict will heighten the drama in the scene and can increase the stakes, making the impending actions of the characters involved pertinent to the outcome of the plot.

Close calls will enhance that drama. They cause characters (and readers) to hold their breath and hope for the best. They can be used to build tension or to introduce new conflict. For instance, if one character is running from another and both have guns, a few near misses will likely be exchanged before someone is hit. But once one of the characters is wounded, the whole dynamic of the chase changes. If the pursuer is injured, the person he is chasing might very well get away, amplifying the stress of the situation and developing the plot further. If the character fleeing is the one injured, the reader will suddenly become tense alongside the character.

Details
Details help polish a well-written action scene. They are the last-minute touch that really dresses up good writing. Strong verbs are one of those details. The stronger the verb, the stronger the action that is conveyed. If you see a weak verb anywhere in an action scene (i.e. went), replace it with a stronger one (i.e. strutted).

The five senses are another great asset. They increase tension and urgency. When a description of those senses comes into play during an action scene, a short wave of slow motion can be perceived. This type of effect is quite simple to achieve in movies but is a bit trickier in writing. Adjectives as well as a few well-placed lengthy sentences can be used to achieve slow motion.


General Tips
If you're still struggling with perfecting that action scene, try these tips:
1. Act out the scene to get a handle on body movements before writing them.
2. Research any weapons being used in the scene and how they are used.
3. Study other writers, particularly ones that are known for their craft of writing great action scenes.

Overall, use action scenes sparingly and balance them out with other types of scenes. A nice balance of scene descriptions and effective pacing throughout the story can bring an intensity and power to the action scenes.