Self Editing Tips: Understanding "beats"

It's been said writing for publication can be defined as "10% writing and 90% editing." Writing is easy, but self-editing is a challenge all by itself. Today, I thought I'd talk about "beats," what they are and when to use them effectively as you go back through editing your story.

A beat is that tidbit of action laced through a scene. Beats are usually used with dialogue. Examples of Beats: heads nodding, worrying or nipping at the lower lip, gazing out the window and fisting the hands. Those are examples of external beats. A short interior monologue would be an example of an internal beat. Using a beat allows for a couple of things:

#1 varies the pace of the dialogue
#2 ties the dialogue to the setting and characters
#3 allows for small bits of imagery - keep in mind: Use only small bits. Too much description can be condescending to the reader.
#4 beats anchor your story to reality

How many beats do you need? That depends on the ebb and flow your dialogue. If you're writing a high tension scene it's best to use a minimum amount of beats. If you're in a less tense scene, you might want more beats.
Remember: use "fresh" beats. No two people walk across a room the same way. People watch. You get some good ideas from that. Pay attention to beats that you read. You can learn a lot from reading.

Reference: Self-Editing for Fiction Writer by Renni Brown and Dave King, Harper Resource, 2nd Edition, 2004, 279 pages.

Tuesday's Writing Tip - Dialogue

So what does today's picture have to do with writing tips, specifically, dialogue? Not much. I just thought I'd share it. This is a pic from back "home," in New England. This is what autumn looks like when it gets closer to Dec. 21 and the start of winter - cold, foggy, gray, and a little dull.

Dialogue can be challenging to some. It's one thing to talk, but another to write down every day talk to make your characters sound authentic. I really try to strive for a conversational tone when I use dialogue, but there are some things I strive NOT to do:

I try not to use "hey man," "Yo dude," and that type of slang or jargon. Sure, we may talk like this in real life, but a reader doesn't want to read a page of that.

Try not to have the characters address each other by name in every quote. For example:

"Josie, don't do that."
"Why not, Mom?"
"Because I said so, Josie."
"Aw, Mom..."

The repetation is hard on the reader. Besides, we don't really talk like that. Do we? (raises eyebrow)

The next thing I want to mention is dialogue tags. Don't put action in a dialogue tag. Put the action in a seperate sentence, usually before the quote. Try to only use "he said" or "she replied." You can add "quietly" or "softly," or some other adverb after the replied or said to get something across, but don't do it all the time.

TRY NOT TO DO:

"All right, mom," said Gus, looking at the ground, avoiding his mother.

BETTER:

Gus looked at the ground, avoiding his mother's stare. "All right, Mom."


Let dialogue move the story forward, not drive it forward. There's got to be a good BALANCE between dialogue and narration. Too much narration lends itself to "telling" a story. One of the best ways to "Show" a story is to use dialogue.

Hope those tips helped.
Smiles
Steph