Do's and Don'ts of Writing Gay Fiction

[Jack Scribe]

I am following a very interesting thread on writing over at Awesome Dude and remembered that I bookmarked a good list of helpful hints for authors written by "The Pecman" that I wanted to share:

 

http://www.asstr.org/nifty/information/tip...ay-fiction.html

 

I have no idea who "The Pecman" is other than reading his thoughtful and enlightened comments on forums in GA and 'dude.'

 

Jack

[Graeme]

I read this before I started writing and tried to follow a lot of the advice. I made a decision to deliberately ignore one part... and about seven chapters later regretted that decision. You can break the rules if you do it deliberately and understand the consequences, but you shouldn't do it by accident.

 

As always, it's advice only, but it's good advice.

[DomLuka]

I have no idea who "The Pecman" is other than reading his thoughtful and enlightened comments on forums in GA and 'dude.'

 

Jack

 

 

[Guest djd]

A few years ago, there was an article in the New York Times by author (not gay) Elmore Leonard titled Easy on the hooptedoodle that gave his "rules" that helped him remain "invisible," i.e., show rather than tell what is taking place in the story. The article can be found at Easy on the Hooptedoodle, but requires an annoying log in process. (If you use Firefox, get the BugMeNot extension.)

 

Here is an excerpt (I'm claiming fair use under copyright laws) of some of his advice:

 

1. Never open a book with weather.

 

If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a character's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways to describe ice and snow than an Eskimo, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

 

2. Avoid prologues.

 

They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in nonfiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.

 

There is a prologue in John Steinbeck's "Sweet Thursday," but it's O.K. because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: "I like a lot of talk in a book and I don't like to have nobody tell me what the guy that's talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks {emphasis added}. . . . figure out what the guy's thinking from what he says. I like some description but not too much of that. . . . Sometimes I want a book to break loose with a bunch of hooptedoodle. . . . Spin up some pretty words maybe or sing a little song with language. That's nice. But I wish it was set aside so I don't have to read it. I don't want hooptedoodle to get mixed up with the story."

 

3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

 

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated," and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.

 

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" . . .

 

. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances "full of rape and adverbs."

 

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.

 

You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

 

6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."

 

This rule doesn't require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use "suddenly" tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.

 

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

 

Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apostrophes, you won't be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavor of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories "Close Range."

 

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

 

Which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" what do the "American and the girl with him" look like? "She had taken off her hat and put it on the table." That's the only reference to a physical description in the story, and yet we see the couple and know them by their tones of voice, with not one adverb in sight.

 

9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

 

Unless you're Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language or write landscapes in the style of Jim Harrison. But even if you're good at it, you don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.

 

And finally:

 

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

 

A rule that came to mind in 1983. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them. What the writer is doing, he's writing, perpetrating hooptedoodle, perhaps taking another shot at the weather, or has gone into the character's head, and the reader either knows what the guy's thinking or doesn't care. I'll bet you don't skip dialogue.

 

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.

 

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

[Graeme]

Thanks djd!

 

I noticed that while a lot of it agrees with what I've read elsewhere, not all authors seem to agree completely. I have a good on creative writing by the author of "First Blood" (the original story that the Rambo film was based on). He said that besides 'said', a few other 'speech tags' could be used, but he agreed not to go overboard and keep it to a very small number. From memory it was: said, asked, and occassionally murmered. There may've been one or two other ones, but that was about it.

 

Point 10 is very well taken.... I have to remember that one.

[shadowgod]

...... starts proofreading.... again....

[Empathy]

I think some of those rules are pretty good actually but I'd never follow all of them, to many exceptions. Each writer has his own style and that style has it's own rules.

[Graeme]

I think some of those rules are pretty good actually but I'd never follow all of them, to many exceptions. Each writer has his own style and that style has it's own rules.

I agree, but the key is to make sure you are DELIBERATELY not following the rules. I think the idea is that they are good guidelines but you are allowed to vary from them when you feel it is appropriate. Just make sure you're doing it because you've thought about it and not accidentally. As I said above, I still regret deciding to ignore one of the tips listed by The Pecman with my first story. I was too inexperienced to realise the mistake I was making. I could do it now (I think) and get away with it because I have a better understanding of the consequences, but I definitely didn't then.

[Jack Scribe]

I agree, but the key is to make sure you are DELIBERATELY not following the rules. I think the idea is that they are good guidelines but you are allowed to vary from them when you feel it is appropriate.

 

Allow me to offer a terrific link that offers some advice (or, rules) on writing dialogue. The author is a terrific teacher in that he/she combines humor with knowledge. As Graeme points out, guidelines are just that.

 

http://www.asstr.org/nifty/information/dialog-lesson

 

Jack