#Writing Tips #Grammar Tips

Lay-a transitive verb with the exception of its use in slang (let her lay), do not use it in place of the intransitive verb lie. The chicken lays an egg, the man lies down. The girl went home to lay down.

Less-should not be used to mean "fewer." There were less people. There were fewer people. Less refers to quantity and fewer refers to number.

#Writing Tips

 Discover character development techniques through scenery.

In my next book, you will notice that I have truly enjoyed this novel as much as my short stories, but this is not about me, it's about improving upon your writing, assuming you believe there is always room for improvement. Unlike my non-fiction books(Ascend, How to Build a Putting Green, Overcoming) which allows one to persuade according to ideas and beliefs limited by fact, in fiction, we generously embellish upon character motivation to allow the character to persuade the reader through his/her actions.

In the below scenarios the writer has the freedom to use scenery to make abstract character implications involving three people with different dispositions. The key to this technique is to open the story in a scene that will repeat throughout the story. The reader soon learns to guess which character is doing the actions based on familiar scenery. This technique baits the reader deeper into the story.

Because people experience life differently, we have a broad canvas on which to paint the characters we know. Some are pathological, others mysterious or even romantic.  Below, we have an example of a man sitting on a patio. The writer desires to show you how to describe character through the development of this single story idea. It's simple but effective. Simultaneously, we discover an emotion that moves each of the characters. At this point, the reader begins to identify with the character.

Adapt this technique to your own style and see how quickly the reader gets involved. This technique works in all genres: Thriller, Mystery, Horror, Romance, Young Adult, etc.

Try it.

Here are examples of the openings of a particular scenery that might repeat throughout a story.

                                                                    
                                                                   (Thriller)
An early September rain fell upon Houston. Torrential waters angled and rushed into the patio from North- to- south and then directly into his face, simultaneously, as a cutting wind, attacked the porch where slept. A strong gust of wind shuffled a clay flower pot. It fell crashing to the floor. He leaped to his feet, grabbed the pistol beneath his chair and...

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                                                               (Mystery)

It was an early September rain that awakened her or had she heard something? They say that its when you fail to trust your instincts that you're in trouble. The bedside lamp was still on from last night. She yawned, stumbled to the face bowl in the bathroom and brought herself alive with cold water that made her face cringe. That's when she remembered. She stopped. She had not checked on the baby and had not heard it. She rushed into the next room, and there sat the eight month old, in bed smiling.
She laughed when she realized she was not holding a baby bottle but rather, a bar of wet soap.

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                                                             (Romance)
She smiled as she slept. Images of John danced at the peripheral of her consciousness and she smiled, again. And then it began to rain. She squeezed her pillow. If only John were here, she thought. She would snuggle up to him like this and the pillow disappeared beneath her blanket. Torrents of rain dribbled on her roof like hundreds of tiny basketballs and she smiled, again. John liked basketball.

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Determine which of the three above scenes is repeating. (this technique will help you to remain sharp and precise with character development).

(1) She heard the door bell because she turned swiftly, tapping her hair in place. She rushed to the bathroom, checking her appearance in a cheval mirror as she went.

(2) He practically slept with one eye open and the other on the weapon.

(3) Suspicious and cautious by nature,Wanda looked upon the stranger with circumspect.