On Style

What is Style?

What is it about Katie Klein writing that makes it "Katie Klein"?

First, I should warn you that a writer's style is constantly evolving. My style today isn't quite the same as it was when I first published The Guardian and Cross My Heart. Those books relied more on dialogue and action to move the pages. My most recent YA (All I Never Needed) was much more introspective. The snappy dialogue and intense moments are still there, but there's a lot of exposition, too--the thoughts and reflection--between the conversations and action.

When I first started publishing, the writing was more fragmented and fast-paced. Today, I use more commas and coordinating conjunctions. And you *know* how much I love an em dash. ;)

I credit these shifts to moving out of reading predominantly YA lit and seeking out more women's fiction.

Still, whether I'm writing for YA or Adults, you can be certain that my stories are going to include some angst and tears, a bit of danger/suspense, and a strong love story element that ends in a happily ever after. The path I take to tell that story is what makes my writing, well, my writing.

But, again, my writing has evolved over the years, and it's still evolving.

So when "style" comes up in the conversation in my classroom, I tend to shut it down. 

"You are still students of literature and writing," I tell them. "You do not have a style, yet. You don't need a style, yet. What you need is words on the paper."

"Ack! But Mrs. Klein! We need our own style if we're going to be great writers!" they say.

"This is true," I reply. "But first, read one hundred novels in your genre. Then put one million words onto the page. If each book you write is one hundred thousand words, that's ten novels. So . . . write ten novels. Then--and only then--will you begin to see a style emerging."

It's likely your first stories and novels will mimic your favorite writers' voices and styles, anyway. It's not until after a million words or so that you will be closer to making your style something that's unique to you.

So the moral of the story is this: don't stress about style. Don't worry about style. Don't think about style until you are well into your writing career.

Until then. . . .

Just focus on getting the words of a variety of stories onto the page, read as much as you can, and always: 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

On Changing Lives

As writers, we want our work to resonate with readers. We hope our stories will change someone's life in some small way. 

But when we think of writers both current and past, there is often THAT WORK--the one they are known for. We sometimes forget about their other works, and not necessarily because they aren't up to the same literary standard.

When we think of George Orwell, for instance, we imagine Animal Farm or Nineteen Eighty-Four.

But there was also Burmese Days and A Clergyman's Daughter and Coming up for Air.

When I think of Orwell, my mind heads straight to one of his personal essays: "Shooting an Elephant."

As writers, we should want to tell a story that changes the reader. This is something we should, in fact, strive for. It's a lofty and ambitious (and worthy) goal. 

But not every work will resonate with readers in the same way and to the same degree.

In these instances, it's enough having written the work at all, whether it eclipses your previous (or latter) efforts or languishes in the background.

It's enough (and so are you).

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

A Mismatch of Expectations

The following gem of an idea recently arrived in my inbox. I tried to think of a way to paraphrase, but it's so much better in Seth Godin's own words, and, if you're a creator of anything, I feel like you'll find this idea of a "mismatch of expectations" helpful:

"If you look at many 1 star reviews (of books, of music, of restaurants) this is precisely what you’re going to see. A mismatch of expectations. A mismatch that is blamed, completely, on the person who created the work, not the critic.

It doesn’t matter that the thing was clearly marked. It doesn’t matter that the thing was extraordinarily well-produced. And it doesn’t matter if just about everyone else experiencing it was thoroughly delighted."

You can either pander to the middle, putting everything in exactly the category they hoped for and challenging no expectations… Or you can do the incredibly hard work of transgressing genres, challenging expectations and seeking out the few people who want to experience something that matters, instead of something that’s merely safe."

-Seth Godin-          

So be your brilliant self. Don't pander to the middle. Your audience is out there--the ones whose expectations you'll meet (and exceed) every time--and these are the ones who matter. 

~Katie~

Rules Are . . . There Ain't No Rules

I've offered A LOT of writing tips and tricks on this blog over the years. Some of these I've picked up through the classes I've taken or taught, the books I've read, the books I've written. . . . 

I tweet and retweet advice from authors All. The. Time. 

It's easy to sit back and think of these as "the rules."

But the truth is, in writing, there are no rules.

For every tweet I've sent out into the world, I've tweeted something in direct opposition. 

Write about what you know. 

No, write about what you want to know.

Avoid one-sentence paragraphs.

Write a one-word paragraph if you want to.

Enlist the help of beta readers.

Keep your writing close to you.

Readers want the happy ending.

No, readers want an ending they'll remember.

As much as we like to think we can turn writing into a science, there are no hard, fast rules, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

For every "rule" of writing, there is a successful writer who has broken it.

So whether you follow the rules or break them, give us the best of what you have to offer.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

 

On Paragraphs

Every paragraph will have its own points of emphasis, and writers should know that, subconsciously, the reader is going to pay closest attention to both the first and the last sentences. 

Ergo, these two sentences should pack the most punch/make the highest impact possible (as everything in between serves to support these two points of emphasis).

One sentence paragraphs are also possible, but there's a special kind of attention drawn to these, and so they should be used sparingly and carry enough weight to stand on their own.

Though you have some creative license when it comes to structuring paragraphs in fiction, the overall idea that a paragraph should develop a single concept remains. A shift in thought, topic, or conversation should result in a shift in paragraph. 

Otherwise, a paragraph is going to reflect your writing style, and while it may be tempting to lean toward a longer, more involved collection of sentences, readers today like their white space, and the more compact your paragraph is visually, the less tempted they will be to pass it over.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Our Obligation as Writers

"You are right in demanding that an artist should take an intelligent attitude to his work, but you confuse two things: solving a problem and stating a problem correctly. It is only the second that is obligatory for the artist."

-Anton Chekov

As writers, we are not called to solve problems. We only have to see the problems of the world--know they exist--and not shy away from addressing them in our work.

(Of course, readers are going to want the "story problem" resolved by the time they reach the end of the book, but the story problem is different from the more deeply defined "ills of the world"--those issues to which there are no easy answers.)

We are not the judge (though the pen is in our hand); we are merely the observer.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Robert McKee On Bad Writing

"Bad writing doesn't make the money you think it does. 

Write as beautifully and wonderfully as you can."

--Robert McKee

It can be tempting, reading that bestseller, to think: "I can write better than this."

And perhaps we can. But even if the writing is mediocre, something else is compensating. The storytelling, for instance, may be compelling--something about the plot grabs readers and refuses to let go. The characters. The world they are in. . . .  

When you're interested in a particular storyline or character and what might happen to him, it's easy to overlook elementary writing. The pages turn themselves anyway.

But books such as these (especially as bestsellers) are the exception rather than the rule.

Fact: the more we write, the better we will write.

This is why we shouldn't compare our first attempts to someone else's masterpiece.

But the idea that because a few "bad" writers made quite a bit of money we're allowed to write badly, too? 

No. 

There may seem to be exceptions to the rule, but 99 times out of 100 bad writing is bad writing, and bad writing gets trashed (or rejected, or poorly reviewed). 

A better idea? 

Tell your story and tell it as beautifully as you know how.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

You Might Be a Writer If. . . .

You might be a writer if you think about sentences.

I mean, really think about them--what makes them strong, what makes them sing, what they're saying (as well as what they're not saying). . . .

"A beautiful sentence is a beautiful sentence."

-Francine Prose (Reading Like a Writer)

and

". . . if you are even thinking in these terms--that is, if you are even considering what might constitute strong, vigorous, energetic, and clear sentences--you are already far in advance of wherever you were before you were conscious of the sentence as something deserving our deep respect and enraptured attention."

So think about it: the structure, the diction, the pacing, the flow, the subtext.

(Think about 10,000 of these and you might even have a novel.) ;)

There's no rule that says every sentence must dance across the page, but if you can, make it beautiful. The discerning reader will notice. 

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

What is a Storyteller?

A storyteller is someone who presents to us a series of events in such a way that we feel as if they are our events--that we are living the moments being described.

A storyteller is someone who both provides information and withholds it, dancing with the reader (or listener) until they're desperate to know how it all ends. 

There's a difference between a writer and a storyteller. 

I have read masterful strings of words and turns of phrasing that did not compel me to continue reading. I have read writing that was less than stellar, but it didn't matter because I was so engrossed in the story and what was happening that I barely noticed the words on the page. 

Can good writing be taught? Sure.

Can good storytelling? Perhaps. But storytelling is more about feeling than structures and rules.

It's the difference between sitting through a driver's ed class and getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari on a road course.

But don't take my word for it. 

As I was editing this post, Robert McKee tweeted this out: 

Story is far too rich in mystery, complexity and flexibility to be reduced to a formula. Only a fool would try. #writingtips #amwriting

— Robert McKee (@McKeeStory) March 9, 2020

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~ 

On Writing Without the Interference of Ego

It's inevitable, the more you write, that the more you will appear on the page in all of your variations.

But you are not the characters of your novels, and they should be allowed the freedom to flourish--to step out on their own and tell their stories.

In order to write them effectively you will need to get inside their minds, of course, but their minds are not yours. 

Cast your ego aside and write freely.

One of the best feelings (apart from writing "the end") is that moment when a character does something that wholly surprises us. Something that ties into the plot and narrative arc so perfectly it's almost as if it were imagined from the onset. Something unexpected, but was so clearly meant to happen.

These moments are magic, but they're unlikely to occur if you're writing through a filter of capital S Self.

For draft one, put away the writer to become the character.

And, as always, Be Brilliant!

~Katie~