Category: Katie Ganshert

3 C’s

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

It’s Friday, so you know what that means. Time for some 3 C’s!

Cares:
Brogan does this new thing that melts my heart. He crawls to me when he’s tired and after I pick him up, he lays his chubby little cheek on my shoulder. It takes my breath away every time.

Brogan’s eye doctor said he needs glasses. He got fitted for them and should get his very own pair next week. He’s going to be my little four-eyed cuddly bear.

Concerns:
How am I going to keep glasses on an eight-month old squirmy little boy?

Celebrations:
I talked to a very helpful lawyer on the telephone and he told me almost everything I need to know about buying out a business (info for my new WIP).

The prewriting for my WIP is chugging right along. I’m super excited about the hero and heroine.

My sister-in-law read Beneath a Velvet Sky in a day and a half. She is such an encouragement to me.

I’m excited about next Monday and Wednesday’s posts from my Dwight Swain series. Good stuff coming your way, very soon!

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations on this gorgeous Friday morning?

Vivid Writing

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

“Write tight!” We hear this all the time. So is tight writing our ultimate goal? Dwight Swain would say no. Brevity is a good thing, but not the main point. Okay then, what is the heart of the issue when it comes to writing a strong copy?

Vivid Writing.
What is vivid writing?
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Sharpness. Words that make a story come alive.
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How do we create it?
There are lots of ways. Usually, with brevity (hence, where the “write tight” probably came from). But not always. Here are just a few tips from Dwight Swain:
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Meticulous Word Choice: You set the mood with every word you choose. One word might elicit melancholy, while a different word might elicit excitement. Be very intentional about each word. Make each word work hard.
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Use Pictorial Nouns: nouns that are specific, concrete, and definitive
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The more specific, concrete, and definitive your nouns, the more vivid
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Examples:
Ford Mustang vs. car
bungalow vs. house
Boeing 777 vs. jet
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Use Active Verbs: verbs that show something happening
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As much as possible, nix the “to be” verbs.
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Example:
The boy boy was tapping his pencil vs. The boy tapped his pencil.
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As much as possible, nix past perfect tense.
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A paragraph full of “hads” is a wide path toward distancing your reader and ruining the vividness you worked so hard to create.
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Go easy on the Adverbs: a word that describes a verb
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These -ly words are proof that vividness outranks brevity
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Example:
Excitedly, Nala stood. vs. Nala sprang from her chair like a tightly wound Jack-in-the Box.
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Which sentence is shorter? Which sentence is more vivid? Which sentence is better writing? Notice, the second sentence actually has an -ly word. But I felt it was justified since tightly adds vividness to the sentence. Just goes to show, these aren’t hard and fast rules.
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Always, always, always strive for vividness when you are writing.
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Question to Ponder: Don’t agree? Why not? What else, besides vividness, pulls a reader into the story?

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Dwight Swain: Techniques of the Selling Writer

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

For the next several weeks, I will be posting about the craft of writing based on Dwight Swain’s, Techniques of the Selling Writer. Every Monday and Wednesday, I will share a bit of what I’ve learned from Swain’s book, which, to be quite honest, is a goldmine of information. Yes, it’s couched in a lot of fancy rhetoric and wording, but the gold nuggets are there. And they are beautiful. Armed with my trusty highlighter, I always resurface from this book feeling as if somebody just handed me a new and important key to writing fiction.

So come join me on Mondays and Wednesdays so I can share my keys with you.
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In the meantime, Dwight says only four things are needed to write a solid story:
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1. How to group words into motivation-reaction units (MRUs)
2. How to group MRUs into scenes and sequels
3. How to group scenes and sequels into story patterns
4. How to create characters that give a story life
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Sound simple enough? Of course not. But we’ll learn how to do it together!
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Question to Ponder: What helpful keys have you uncovered recently, and what doors did they open?

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