Meghan

The Best Way to Describe Characters: 6 Writing Tips

Writing any kind of description can be a fine line.

If you share too much, you risk taking your reader out of your story. If you don’t share enough, you leave your reader confused.

So, what about when it comes time to describe characters? Characters are important, and there’s a lot a writer can potentially describe. Selecting the most important details can be overwhelming.

There is no true “right” way to describe a character–it’s all a matter of preference–but in my opinion, a lot of writers waste words describing the wrong details.

So, there may not be a “right” way to describe a character, but if you ask me, there is a “best” way to describe characters, which is what I’m going to talk about today.

You by no means have to follow the same philosophy, but hopefully it at least gives you something to think about.

For any kind of description, there’s a rule I like to follow; if readers don’t need to know, don’t tell them.

Here’s how I apply that rule when I describe characters:

What a reader does need to know:

There are a few touchstones we’ll get into, but to me, the biggest is anything that defines the character personally or emotionally.

These are the elements that readers will connect with. They’ll see these qualities in themselves, their friends, their family members, or the people they’ve encountered over time. These are the details that make your characters real.

These are also the character details that drive your story. Their personality and temperament tell you how they will react in the different situations you put them in. Which is why you want to give them most of your attention when you describe characters.

Here’s three areas I focus on when I describe characters:

1) Their personality

This is the most important element to describe. This tells us who your character is and why readers should care.

Are they kind? Are they loud? How do they react under pressure? Do they reassure others, or are they the ones who need to be reassured? Do they thank the waiter at a restaurant or talk down to them?

This list could go on. If you’re looking for tips on developing your character, check out this post with three tips to create strong characters.

2) Their quirks

Do they pick at their fingernails? Or are they incapable of looking someone in the eye? Anything that makes your character unique or adds to their behavior should be described.

3)Their energy

Does the room fall silent when your character enters? Or does everyone else get tense simply because this person is present? Do they instill confidence?

The energy your character carries and how the dynamic of a room changes when they enter says A LOT about who your character is, how others see them, and the role they play. Take time to describe it.

What a reader doesn’t need to know:

A character’s physical appearance. Now sure, there should be some description here, but it should be minimal. In my opinion, a lot of writers have a habit of giving too much here.

There are a few reasons behind this school of thought. First, from a practical standpoint, you only have so many words you can cram into a book. You can use those words describing what a character looks like or you can capture their personality and behaviors.

As we talked about, the latter tells readers a lot more about the character than the former, which is why I rarely waste my word count on appearance.

Additionally, as a reader, I don’t really care all that much about what a character looks like. It’s not like watching a movie. I don’t have to physically recognize a character when they walk on to the page. As a reader, I recognize the energy, dynamic, and personality they bring to a scene more than anything.

Also, I think one of the joys of writing books is that we do not work alone.

Half of the story belongs to the writer, but the other half belongs to the reader and their imagination.

I tell the reader what I need them to know in order for me to tell my half of the story effectively. Everything else I leave up to them.

I believe that the less detail you give, the more of an opportunity readers have to see themselves in the characters. This allows the reader to take some ownership of the story, which I think makes it more fun for everyone.

Here are some guidelines I use for a character’s physical description:

1) I shoot for one defining physical characteristic for each character

Maybe it’s their hair, eye color, or something about their size. This gives the reader something to latch onto while still giving them plenty of room to imagine the character as they’d like.

2) Any important marks, scars, or physical feature that is in some way adds to my character’s story or personality

For example, in Crossing the Line, I mention my main character has a circular burn scar near her left ear. This scar acts as a vehicle to her past and plays a small role in the story. And going off the point above, I gave my character thick curly hair as her distinguishing feature because I knew I wanted her to use her hair to hide that scar.

This would also be where you can include a character’s race or ethnicity. I typically only use this detail if a character’s race or ethnicity is absolutely necessary to tell the story I want to tell.

If I don’t need to assign a character a race/ethnicity, I don’t. This is because if a reader really connects with a character, I want to remove as many barriers as possible between them and that character. I don’t want them to feel more removed from a character if they’re Asian and I arbitrarily decided the character was something other than Asian.

Representation is important, and we need more books that tell different stories and experiences! But if I’m not telling the story of a specific race or cultural experience, than I believe in doing my best to make my characters as accessible as possible to whomever they may connect with.

Again, this is just my personal philosophy, but it doesn’t have to be yours.

3) How they move

Do they strut? Shuffle? Wander aimlessly? Do they have some kind of compulsive behavior? These features tell us a lot about their self-image and state of mind.

If you’re looking for help describing body language and gestures, Bryn Donovan has a Master List you can check out!

I leave every other physical detail to the reader.

I hope this helps when you describe your characters!

Now it’s your turn: What description do you focus on for your characters? As a reader, what do you care most about? Tell me about it in the comments. If you have any tips to share, you can leave them there as well!

How to Create an Awesome Writing Space: Writing Life

By Meghan 3 Comments

Creating a space to write in can be more beneficial to your writing than you may realize.

Not only does it give you a designated place to get work done, but I’ve also found that creating the space can be a wonderful-yet-productive break from writing.

It taps into a different kind of creativity while still contributing to your output in the long run.

How to Create an Awesome Writing Space: Writing Life

In this post, I’m going to share four reasons why I think it’s important to create a designated writing space and give you four tips to make it happen.

Why it’s important

It puts you in the right mindset

Sleep specialists say you should never work in your bed because it trains your brain that your bed is for something other than sleep.

In a similar vein, I’ve found that having a designated space to work trains your brain to work when you’re in that space.

Writing in a space you normally relax in, like on your couch, might work fine when you’re writing well, but if you’re going through a rough patch, it can be a challenge.

It becomes all too easy to put the writing aside and turn on the TV if you just don’t feel like working.

On the other hand, if you have a designated writing space, you’ll know that when you’re there, you are there to work.

This puts you in the right mindset before you even start writing and makes it easier to get work done–even when you just don’t feel like it.

It can remove you from distractions

When you have a space for work, you can design it to be distraction free.

You can make sure a TV is not in view, your phone is out of your space, and make it clear to others in the house that if you’re in that space, you shouldn’t be bothered.

This will help with your focus and productivity.

It can help you and others take your writing seriously

Writing can feel a lot like a hobby if you aren’t getting paid for it yet, but if you want to be paid for your work at some point, it’s important to treat it like work now.

When you have a space to write in, it’s easier to feel like you’re working. It’s also easier for others in your house to see you working.

Giving yourself a space to work can help you and everyone around you to see your writing as a career-in-progress and less like a hobby. For more on how to treat writing like your job before it is, check out this post.

It can help you organize your writing time better

When you don’t have a designated space, writing time, relaxing time, family time, and life in general can all run together.

I’ve found that once I took the time to create a space, I was more motivated to use it. Which meant I was more motivated to carve out writing time and make sure that time is protected.

How to create an awesome writing space

Pick a location

It can be a room in your house, an area outside, or even a corner of your living room.It doesn’t matter how big or small the space is, the key is that it will be designated for work.

Also, consider an area that will stimulate your creativity. If looking out a window will help fuel your story, set up your space near a window. If you’d find the window distracting, go for a wall.

You may even want to have a couple writing areas if you can. My love my outside writing space, but I also have a space inside for when the weather isn’t cooperating.

Get the right furniture

A desk or table and chair are usually the basics, but that may not be for you. If you’d rather write in a comfy chair, go for it!

But I recommend getting a chair exclusively for your writing space. If you’re using a corner of a larger room and you don’t live alone, you also might want to think about getting some kind of separator or screen to isolate yourself while you work.

And if you don’t happen to have the right furniture laying around, Amazon and yard sales are a great way to get what you need inexpensively.

Surround yourself with plans and positivity

Hang quotes that inspire you on the wall. Have pictures that relax you nearby. Consider adding a whiteboard or corkboard with your writing plans and goals so you always know what you’re working towards.

Add whatever you need to keep yourself focused and motivated.

Browse Pinterest and Amazon for decorative ideas

Pinterest, in particular, can be super helpful in collecting ideas for a creative or writing space. Cast a wide net.

Search ideas for home offices and small office spaces. You never know what other people have come up with that might be helpful to you.

I hope this helps you create an awesome writing space!

Now it’s your turn: What do you surround yourself with when you want to be productive? What’s essential for your writing space? Tell me about it in the comments!

4 MORE Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue

By Meghan 2 Comments

Here’s the second half of my top tips for writing dialogue!

ICYMI, last post I set out write about my top eight tips, but it turned out I had more to say about each tip than I realized. Instead of cramming everything into one post, I decided it would be better to split it into two.

4 MORE Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue

I shared my first for tips in the last post. Here are the next four:

When you’re writing dialogue, make sure it doesn’t sound too real

As much as you want your dialogue to sound as realistic as possible, you don’t want it to sound too real.

Next time you’re in a public place, do some eavesdropping. Make a point to notice how much filler and repetition we use in our day-to-day conversations. It’s not uncommon to hear a sentence that goes something like this:

“Like, I’m driving down the road, and this guy just, like, came out of nowhere and completely cut me off! And I was like, ‘hello! I’m driving here!'”

I know when I talk, I use “like” and “just” more than I need to.

4 MORE Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue

And while you can definitely drop words like this into your dialogue to add personality, if use those types of words at the same frequency that we use them in real life, they start to interfere with your storytelling.

The reader shouldn’t have to sift through filler words and repetitions to figure out what your character is trying to say. If you do this consistently, you’re going to lose your reader.

Additionally, if you have a character who has a stutter, or an accent, or any kind of verbal tick, I would advise against those elements when writing dialogue. Instead, describe those aspects of the character’s voice in the narrative. This makes it easier for the reader to decipher, while still capturing your character’s unique sound.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. But if this is a rule you’re going to break, make sure your realistic writing doesn’t interfere with your story.

Action and Action beats can take the place of dialogue tags

You don’t always have to say “he said” or “she asked” every time someone speaks. One way around this is to use a character’s actions to pace your dialogue and to distinguish your speaker.

For example,

“You ready?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, I want to throw up.”

The fact that the narrator shakes her head in a new paragraph is enough to tell us that it’s the narrator who’s speaking the second piece of dialogue.

Using action beats gets you away from using said all the time, and gives you a chance to dig into your character a little bit more by telling readers about their movements and body language.

4 MORE Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue - in photo: Writing Tip by Meghan Rogers: You don't always have to say "he said" or "she asked" every time someone speaks. Instead, use a character's actions to pace your dialogue and distinguish your speaker.

Your dialogue and narrative shouldn’t echo one another

If you tell your reader something in the narrative, you don’t need to also have your characters say it in dialogue. This is something I see a lot in new writers, and something I definitely did myself.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

He wandered around the room and she couldn’t help but wonder if he had any idea what he was doing. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” she asked.

Now, this is a simplistic version of this concept, but you get the idea.

All aspects of your story need to serve a purpose. If your character is going to echo something your narrative already told us, then what’s the purpose of saying it again in dialogue?

Instead, have your narrative describe the situation then have your character vocalize their thoughts. So a rewrite of the example above might look something like this:

He wandered around looking aimless and lost. She cut into his path stomping him dead in his tracks. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

This way we get a picture of the situation. We see that the male character looks a little clueless and that the female character isn’t happy about it, but we also don’t know what she’s really concerned about until she speaks.

This gives a purpose to both the narrative and the dialogue.

4 MORE Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue - in photo: Writing Tip by Meghan Rogers:

Use character names in dialogue sparingly

I think you’ll find that your dialogue can stand pretty well on its own without your characters consistently addressing each other.

A lot of times, adding character names into dialogue slows down the pace of the conversation. In my experience character names just aren’t all that necessary in dialogue, which kind of makes them wasted words.

The only time I really use character names in my own dialogue is if one character is trying to get another’s attention or if a character is trying to stress a point. Otherwise, I just let my characters talk.

Again, this doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t go against this policy if you do it sparingly, but it’s something to be mindful of.

I hope this helps you write some awesome dialogue!

If you missed part one, you can find it here!

Now it’s your turn: What’s your favorite part about writing dialogue? What about your least favorite? Tell me about it in the comments! You can also share any of your own tips and tricks!

Follow me on Instagram!

4 Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue

By Meghan 2 Comments

I love writing dialogue. It’s always been one of my favorite craft elements.

I’m fairly certain this is in some way connected to my deep love of television growing up, but it’s hard to be sure.

Whatever the reason, I’ve always paid a lot of attention to writing dialogue, and it has a very special place in my writer heart.

Originally, this was going to be one post with all eight of my top tips for writing dialogue. But it turned out I had a lot to say about the first four, so it seemed best to split this up into two posts. You can find part two here!

4 Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue

For now, here are my first four tips for writing good dialogue:

Stick with ‘said’ or ‘asked’ in your dialogue tags.

There seems to be a point in every grade school curriculum, where students are taught not to use said as a dialogue tag.

I definitely experienced this, as did every writer I’ve ever asked. We were told said is boring and repetitive, and we need to pick more descriptive words. This lesson usually came with a cute worksheet that says “Said is Dead.”

Then suddenly our characters were chortling and muttering and chuckling, and doing a handful of things with their voice while they talked.

I think this was (and is) a terrible lesson.

Meghan Rogers shares 4 Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue - in photo: two people talking

While word variety in most cases is a good thing, the same cannot be said when it comes to dialogue tags.

The point of a dialogue tag is to help readers keep track of who is talking in the least intrusive way possible. Ideally, you want your reader’s attention to be more on the dialogue than the tag.

“Said” and “asked” stay out of the reader’s way.

Readers are able to quickly pick up on who’s speaking, while the tags are barely registered. By adding different tags, you’re giving your readers something extra, (and in most cases, unnecessary) to process. This slows your reader and takes them out of the dialogue itself.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. In the right situation, you can get away with words like “whispered” or “hissed,” but I would suggest using these sparingly and sticking with the unintrusive tags as much as possible.

Avoid adverbs when you’re writing dialogue tags

Adding an adverb to your dialogue tag is often a sign of weaker dialogue. You shouldn’t have to tell your reader that something was said “angrily.”

Instead, you want to write in a way that makes it clear to your reader that your character is angry. Here are some examples to compare:

1) “You shouldn’t have gone there alone,” she said, angrily.

2) She stood with her arms crossed, glaring daggers at me. “You shouldn’t have gone there alone.”

This is ‘show don’t tell’ in action. Adverbs tell, which is what makes them weaker.

The second example paints a picture. We know the character is angry because of how she’s standing and how she’s acting. We don’t need to be told that she spoke “angrily.”

This doesn’t mean you can’t use them ever. But I do believe the less you use them, the stronger your dialogue will be.

Personal Process Tip: Often when I’m drafting I’ll use adverbs. It helps me get the draft down quickly and reminds me of the emotion I want to express. Then in revision, I’ll go back through and replace the adverbs with stronger prose.

Meghan Rogers shares 4 Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue - in photo: Writing Tip: The point of a dialogue tag is to help readers keep track of who is talking in the least intrusive way possible. "Said" and "asked" are great because stay out of the reader's way.

Don’t use ellipses in the middle of dialogue

I think every writer has a handful full of technical or grammatical nuances that they feel unreasonably strongly about. Ellipses are one of mine.

This stems from a lesson that really stuck with me from one of my former instructors when I was in grad school.

It’s become fairly common to use an ellipsis in dialogue for pacing and natural breaks in speaking patterns. For example:

“It’s just that…nothing makes sense anymore.”

And while this is totally something you can do, my instructor came to realize that in most instances when an ellipsis is used like the example above, it’s really a placeholder for an action.

So when you see those ellipses, the character is actually doing something while they’re talking. For instance, we could rewrite the example above to read:

“It’s just that–” He pressed his fingers to his forehead, searching for the words. “Nothing makes sense in anymore.”

See the difference? When I follow this rule, I’ve found that it adds a layer to the character and the dialogue, and it makes it easy to avoid adverbs.

Also, I think it’s pretty true to life. In real life conversations, we may hesitate to say something or struggle to find the right words, but when that happens we are almost always doing something at the same time.

We break eye contact, find something else to focus on, bounce our legs up and down, or play with the sleeve of our shirts. So instead of using the ellipsis, let that action pace and pause your dialogue. I think you’ll find that it reads a lot stronger.

Meghan Rogers shares 4 Awesome Writing Tips for Good Dialogue - in photo: two people in a park

And speaking of ellipses, avoid them at the end of dialogue too

Similar to the point above, it’s also become pretty common to end dialogue with an ellipsis if your character has an unfinished thought or isn’t stating something strongly.

I think this is in part because it’s how we use ellipses when we send text messages and emails, but it’s really not how you should be using it in your dialogue.

I was taught that generally, an ellipsis should only really be used if a voice is trailing away to nothing.

So, if your character were to jump out of an airplane while they were talking to someone still on the plane, their voice would probably trail away to nothing. That would the right time to use an ellipsis.

But if it’s just that your character has an unfinished thought, then you’re actually better off with a dash.

Generally, dashes in dialogue are used if your character is getting cut off or interrupted. I would argue that it’s still the same concept even if your character is cutting themselves off. It’s still an abrupt stop in conversation, regardless of who or what is causing the interruption.

So, if you find that you’re using an ellipsis because your character is uncertain about what they’re saying (i.e. “I just don’t know…“) you might want to reconsider.

If the phrase is a sentence or complete thought, punctuate it correctly with a period. Then it’s your job as the writer to make it clear with tags, actions, or voice description that the phrase isn’t being stated with conviction.

I think leaning on an ellipsis in this situation can lead to lazy writing. You’re better off describing how your character sounds than letting the ellipsis do your job for you.

I hope this helps you write some awesome dialogue!

For more tips on writing dialogue, check out Part Two!

Now it’s your turn: What are your thoughts on writing dialogue? If you hate it, what do you struggle with? If you love it, why? Tell me about it in the comments! You can also share any of your own tips and tricks!

How to Write a Killer Action Scene: 7 Writing Tips

By Meghan 10 Comments

As a writer of spy thrillers, one question I get asked a lot is how to write a good action scene.

Maybe this isn’t cool to admit, but I honestly didn’t realize it was something I did all that well until other people pointed it out to me.

As a lover of action TV and movies, I think I subconsciously internalized the style, which is how it found its way into my writing. So when people ask me how to write a good action scene, I never really knew how to answer it.

But I got asked this question enough that I wanted to be able to give it a semi-concrete answer. So today, I’m going to share one of my own scenes and do my best to break it down why I think it’s successful.

Sample

Below, you’ll find an excerpt from my first book, Crossing the Line, then after, seven tips with examples from the excerpt to help you write killer action scenes.

But first, some story context. In the series, my main character Jocelyn was kidnapped by a North Korean spy agency when she was eight.

Ten years later, she’s out to escape them and get revenge, but to do that, she’ll have to work with the American-based agency she’s spent her life fighting against.

In this scene, Jocelyn’s been sent by the American agency to rescue their top agent, Scorpion. He’s been captured, temporarily blinded, and he definitely doesn’t trust Jocelyn to save him. This picks up in an empty office building, during their attempted escape from his captors.

Meghan Rogers shares How to Write a Killer Action Scene: 7 Writing Tips

Excerpt from Crossing the Line:

We made it to the third floor before we ran into any real problems. The door to the floor opened as we were coming up the steps below it. I stopped quickly and flattened Scorpion against the wall. He moved easily and had enough instincts to stay perfectly still. The door opened out, shielding us from the guard. I crept slowly up toward the opening door, letting go of Scorpion and pushing his chest so he’d stay put. He took the hint.

I got close to the door and waited until the guy started to cross the threshold. Then I slammed it shut, trapping his head. He fell hard, and one of his friends came charging after us. He pushed a button on his radio and told the rest that he had found the intruder. I spun into the floor and ran down the hallway at him. He fired off a few shots. I opened one of the empty office doors and ducked behind it, pulling out my gun and shooting enough rounds to get him to back up. I leaned on my knees, feeling short of breath and more winded than I should have.

But I couldn’t afford to wait. I grabbed one last gulp of air, then turned and ran back to the stairwell before he could get his bearings. He would be right on our trail and there was still another guard to worry about. Plus, I’d left Scorpion alone longer than I would’ve liked.

I kicked the unconscious guard out of the way and hurried back to Scorpion. “Let’s go,” I said, taking his arm. “They’ll be right behind us.”

“Did you get hit?” he asked.

I was shocked he cared. “I’m fine.” I yanked him harder and we hustled up to the next floor. I pulled him down the hall and into one of the offices. I needed a minute—or even a second—to catch my breath. Everything was quiet.

“What’s going on?” he asked. He kept his voice low.

“We just need to wait them out a minute,” I said.

“Did you get hit?” he asked, more forceful and serious.

“No.” I could barely get the word out.

“I don’t have to see you to know you’re having a hard time breathing.” He was getting angry.

“I’m fine.” But I wasn’t. This had never happened to me in the field. “I only need a minute.”

He rubbed his eyes and I could tell he was getting frustrated with me. “You’re lying.”

My breath started to catch up to me. “Remember how we said you weren’t going to second-guess me?”

“You convinced me you had an actual shot at getting me out,” he said.

“You’re in too deep to back out now,” I said. “They will kill you if you don’t stick with me.”

His jaw flexed.

I stepped in front of him. “I’m going to get you out of here. Just stay with me, okay?”

He took a moment before nodding.

I grasped his wrist again and led him out the office, down the hallway, then out the other end into the stairwell on the opposite side of the building. Then guided him back out the door and up the steps. We made it up only one floor—six from the roof—before we ran into more trouble. The guard who had shot at me earlier burst through the door with his gun out.

I pushed Scorpion down, then grabbed the railing and windmilled my legs into the guard. It was enough to knock down his gun and stun him momentarily. I dropped back to the ground and grabbed the gun before he could get himself together. I quickly fired two shots, one into each thigh, which would be enough to stop him from getting to us. I pulled Scorpion up. He got on his feet quickly and latched on to my elbow.

I pushed my comm. “I need an immediate rooftop extraction! My location.”

I put a floor between us and the latest guard before I tugged Scorpion to a stop. He swiveled his head in my direction, his teary eyes as red as ever. “What is it? Did you get hit this time?”

“Stop asking that,” I said. “Listen. There’s still one more guard and I don’t know where he is. I want you in front of me. Can you handle the steps?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve got the layout.”

“If I pull you down, don’t fight me.”

“I won’t.”

I nodded, but I still worried. I knew I only had his trust for a limited amount of time, and I was afraid it was running out.

Seven Tips to help you write killer action scenes:

1) Know your character’s surroundings

It’s important to know your character’s environment so you can use it in the scene.

For example, in the scene above, I was very aware of the fact that we were in a regular square office building, with one floor on top of another. There was a staircase on either side of the building, which was connected by each floor and a hallway of offices.

This meant I was able to use the doors to the offices and stairwells for bullet cover. Since the stairwell was involved, it provided tight confines for a fight, and Jocelyn could use the railing to leverage some kicks.

Additionally, the tighter the space is, the more challenging it will be for your characters, which raises the stakes.

2) Limit description to absolute essentials

I think one of the keys to a successful action scene is to keep it moving. There may be moments of relief and recovery, which is fine (we’ll get to that next), but you want to do your best to ensure the scene doesn’t drag.

Here’s one sentence from this scene where I think this technique is working well:

I grasped his wrist again and led him out the office, down the hallway, then out the other end, into the stairwell on the opposite side of the building.

I needed to get my characters from one side of the building to the other. I didn’t spend time describing how many offices they passed, what color the hall was, or anything like that. Those details weren’t essential to my action scene and would have only slowed the pace.

3) Check in regularly (but briefly) with how your character feels

Checking in with your characters tells us not only how your character feels, but it can add to the tension for your reader.

If they know your character is nervous, anxious, running out of steam, it can make your reader more tense and engaged. If they know your character is feeling empowered, they may draw on the same feelings.

In this scene, Jocelyn is struggling to keep up, which adds a layer of stress.

Additionally, brief breaks in the action can give your reader a chance to absorb the scene and process the stakes, such as when my characters duck into an office so Jocelyn can catch her breath.

But use this sparingly. Too many breaks will slow your scene down.

Meghan Rogers shares writing tip: I think one of the keys to a successful scene is to keep moving. So, limit description to the absolute essential.

4) Add conflict on both sides of the situation whenever possible

Sure, putting your character in a fight with an enemy can be tense enough to carry a scene, but if you really want to kick it up a notch, consider adding a conflict to your character’s side of the fight.

In this scene, Jocelyn is battling three attackers, but she’s also dealing with the reality that the person she’s rescuing doesn’t trust her. He could go rogue at any moment and make her job infinitely harder (and there are reasons that she needs to save him).

This adds a level of conflict and tension to both sides of the fight.

5) Raise the stakes as high as you possibly can

In most situations, action scenes work best when they’re about life and death, but capture and torture are also solid options!

In my case, I have my characters outnumbered, one character missing a sense he usually has, and they’re being shot at.

Scenes like these tend to work best when there is a believable reality that the characters won’t make it out. Even if it’s early in the book and readers can guess that your characters probably aren’t going to die around page 100, in that moment, it should feel like a real possibility.

6) Focus on the threat in front of your character, but give your reader a periodic threat assessment

Action scenes often have a lot going on in a finite amount of text. If you have your character consistently describing every possible threat at every given moment, it will take away from your scene and likely overwhelm your reader.

Instead, focus on the most immediate threat to your character, then catch us up with the other possibilities.

In the case of the scene above, Jocelyn was, for the most part, only fighting one guard at a time, or dealing with one threat at a time. When she was in a fight, that was the only thing described. When she wasn’t, we heard about threats she was afraid of; we got updates about which guards she was expecting, which guards she lost track of, and how pressing their need to escape was.

A regular threat update helps your reader keep track of the various threats in the scene and shows how much danger your characters are in.

Meghan Rogers shares writing tip: To write a good action scene, try to add conflict on both sides of the situation whenever possible.

7) For practice, try watching a scene from an action movie or TV show and writing it out like a novel

If you’re new to writing an action scene or just want some practice, this may really help. You won’t have to create characters, setting, or a threat level–all you have to do is focus on writing the action and making the scene feel the same when you read it as you do when you watch it.

Use the tips above as a guide. Once you’re comfortable writing these scenes, you can shift that style to your own writing.

I hope this helps you write your own killer action scene!

If you want to check out more of my action scenes, you can find another excerpt of Crossing the Line here and more information about both my books, here.

Now it’s your turn: What are your thoughts on writing an action scene? If you hate them, what do you struggle with? If you love them, what’s your favorite thing about them? Tell me about it in the comments! You can also share any of your own action scene tips and tricks!

Excerpt from Crossing the Line by Meghan Rogers. Copyright © 2016 by Meghan Rogers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher, Philomel/Penguin.

Writing Tools: No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty

By Meghan Leave a Comment

I first read No Plot? No Problem? by Chris Baty when I was working on my MFA.

It was my first class in grad school, and the entire purpose of the class was to draft a complete novel from start to finish during a single semester. This book was our guide.

I’ve found it so helpful that I’ve read it multiple times and constantly recommend it to others.

Like before, this review will be broken into four sections: What this book is, what this book isn’t, how it can help you, and do I recommend it.

(Side note: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something using the product links on this page, I may get a small commission. This comes at no extra cost to you and helps keep this blog running. Thank you!)

What this book is:

Baty is the founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This book is essentially a guide book on how to write a novel in a month.

But beyond that, it’s also a writer’s guide to drafting. If you are planning to draft your book in a month, Baty tells you how to prepare, how to find the time, how much to plan your book before hand, and what to expect on a week-to-week basis.

Personally, I’ve found his tips and assessment to be helpful for anyone looking to get a draft down quickly, even if you take longer than a month.

This book claims to be “A low stress, high-velocity guide to writing a novel in 30 days,” and as far as I’m concerned, it’s exactly that.

Baty’s book is as encouraging as it is practical. The book is broken into two sections. The first discusses how to prepare for your writing journey. The second is a week by week guide on what to expect and how to persevere.

Baty pulls on his own NaNo experiences, but also includes plenty of drafting tips from NaNo participants around the world.So, readers get a variety of drafting advice.

Completing the first draft is often the first major hurdle for any writer–new or seasoned. This book is designed to help you power through.

What this book isn’t:

Like some earlier books I’ve reviewed, this book isn’t a guide to getting published. It doesn’t give career promises or guarantees.

This book doesn’t include prompts or exercises but does make plot and character suggestions from time to time.

It also isn’t a super technical craft book. As in, it doesn’t spend chapters dedicated to breaking down character, plot, or point-of-view.

Some of those topics are touched on in different capacities, but the true purpose of this book is to encourage and inspire you to get a completed draft down as fast as possible.

How it can help you:

This book is for anyone who has ever struggled to power through a first draft, even if you no desire to ever write a novel in a month.

It also does a really good job of reminding readers that writing is a process, and part of that process is to simply get a complete book written, regardless of how bad or messy it is. This book gives you permission to write with total abandon and strictly for your own amusement.

You’ll also get tips on how to turn off your inner editor so you can focus on reaching “the end.”

Personally, the approach preached by this book totally opened up my writing process. Before, I was pretty good at drafting as long as I knew where my story was going.

As soon as I lost the thread I would stop dead. I often wouldn’t pick my project back up again for months.

This book taught me the importance of powering through even when you don’t know where you’re going, or if what you’re writing is going to work. It also helped me let go of my inner editor and focus on simply writing until I have a complete first draft–even if it’s a hot mess.

If you want more specifics on how this book can help you tackle your first draft, check out the post 6 Tips for Finishing Your First Draft.

Do I recommend it?

I gave this away in the intro, but I’ll say it again here. Yes! I recommend!

This book played a key role in stimulating my writing process. It taught that there are stages in writing where quantity is genuinely more important than quality, which can be a difficult lesson for a writer to learn.

It taught me that first drafts can be messy, but also a lot of fun. This book is the reason I can draft quickly and badly and enjoy it. If you’ve ever struggled to get a draft down as quickly as possible this is the book for you!

(With that said, it’s also important to keep in mind that drafting quickly might not suit you or your process. And that’s okay too! But if any book is going to get you there, I believe it’ll be this one.)

I hope this gives you a good idea of what to expect from No Plot? No Problem!

You can check out previous book and product reviews here!

If you want to learn more about NaNoWriMo, you can visit their site here. NaNo takes place every November, so if you’re up for the challenge, this book can definitely help get you ready.

Now it’s your turn: Have you read this book? If you have, did it help you? If you haven’t, do you want to? Tell me in the comments!