Old-fashioned manners

Formality seems to mean "old style" these days. I never realized how old-fashioned formal events were until addressing wedding invitations, and realizing etiquette apparently requires hearkening back to the "Mr. and Mrs. Man's Name" style. Even if the gentleman in question is the spouse of the longtime friend, and it's really the lady who is the primary invitee (of course the gentleman is also a lovely person, but still, he's not the one getting shoved into a particular dress or anything).

It just feels weird.

Most people unconsciously pick up on this, and in courts and other depictions of fancy events, the characters tend to speak and act in styles that feel more 'old-fashioned' than the rest of the time. It sets the tone (formal situation) and gives an air of gravity to the scene. In stories that are set in archair tone anyway, rituals or ritualistic speeches, some of which may have lost meaning to the characters, help provide this same function.

It's also a way of letting a reader know when a character is old-fashioned in thoughts themselves. If they speak in older styles, they're out of place, or stuck in the past. It's a useful tool for characterization, and can be used both positively--someone who still believes in kindness, who believes in heroes, who stands up for what is right. like Captain America--or negatively--someone who is hidebound and unwilling to change, who holds on to old stereotypes and prejudices despite the moving world, like Lucius Malfoy. (As always, context is everything!)

What are some other purposes for old-fashioned manners and settings in fiction? What characters can you think of, both good and bad, whose old-fashioned mannerisms really define them?

Trellises and plots

Trellises are a pretty part of a lot of gardens. They come in bunches of different sizes and shapes and heights, some simple, some very ornate and with birds or flowers wrought in them.

They provide the framework for plants that vine their way upwards, the bones for a growing green thing.

I find I think of story structures in a similar way. You choose the medium--wood or metal, short story or mystery novel--and plant the seed--morning glory or ivy, plot and hero. Then the trellis provides the basic support of "what's supposed to happen when": it's the pacing appropriate to the story type, the basics that readers expect from all stories in your genre (murder mystery=someone's gotta die, you know!)

Then the story grows. It might be same type of seed as planted by other people, but the plant is unique. It was twists where no other plant twists, it blooms with flowers that belong only to it, it forms patterns and takes paths that no other story takes in exactly the same way.

People do expect structure when they read. Like sentences, knowing the structure helps us determine what the story means. Wordsstructure sentences and no with understandings meanwhile!. (Meanwhile, sentences that have no structure cannot be understood!)

Most books and classes on craft are basically explaining the different types of trellises you can give your story to grown on, and how the trellis will affect the story. That's why it's useful to study craft. Sometimes just a standard trellis is enough for your story, because the story winds itself thoroughly into interesting patterns around a plain structure. On the other hand, sometimes you want a trellis with bird on it in a field of curliques, because the plot will braid more interestingly on a more intricate structure.

Also, trellises are pretty, and one day I want to have several in my garden. And maybe I just wanted an excuse to take a picture of some colorful and interesting ones, and a blog about trellises seemed like as good an excuse as any.

More than one pair of eyes

One of the first things you learn as a copyeditor is that no one ever catches their own mistakes. You always, always have someone else check behind you.

Even dragons are blind to their
own mistakes.

Why? Because when you mean to write something one way, every time you read it, your eyes know what you meant to write, and therefore you will only see what you had meant. You can read the same sentence sixty times and never realize you had an extra x in your exxample.

It's not a sign of being less competent, or of being less than careful. That's just how our brains work. And as such, it's just smart to make sure someone else is looking behind you.

So grab a partner and have them read behind you. Trust me. It will make a difference.

Classics get a pass; modern books don't

I'll read things in classical literature that I wouldn't put up with in modern books.

Literary dinosaur: interesting to study,
but nobody wants to meet him today.

The classics don't have the same rules as modern fiction. They're bursting at the seams with wordiness, overburdened by extra pages of details, of backstory, of clauses and superfluous facts. Purple prose is the lay of the land. Every page you find sexism, classism, racism. Teenage girls get tossed off into marriage and poverty is cast as either noble, pastoral beauty or proof of inner worthlessness. It's, well, horrible.

And yet we still read classical literature. We even still find it beautiful, and admire the language.

The stories get a bit of a pass for being set in a different era. Every word we take with a grain of salt, because we recognize the classics are old.

Modern literature isn't. Modern literature doesn't get a pass to be overburdened with excessive backstory or giant blocks of text, just like it doesn't get to use dated social norms.

But we're trained in schools on older literature, and as such, while today's writers don't weigh down stories with dated social norms, new writers do often try to weigh down their works with dated writing styles.

It's important to read modern writing if you plan to write. Even genre classics have become dated, because just like any other field, writing is evolving. Readers who want classical writing styles can find that in the classics; but if you want readers to enjoy your stories of today, you need to write in today's techniques.

That doesn't mean you can't use some techniques learned from classics. Just don't completely model your writing style off them. If you want your books to sell, make sure your writing involves the current techniques, the methods of storytelling and plot development and pacing that today's literature uses. Like any other profession, writing has not stagnated; if your writing stagnates, it'll get left behind like a surgeon doing an open-incision surgery when laparoscopic is available.

Because we might be trained on classical literature as kids, but today's schools also teach modern literature as well. Because readers don't stick just to classic books, but read modern books as well, and readers are always on the look for the newest great book. Even if they're not studying writing styles, they're learning about them by reading, and if they don't know what the difference is, they still see it.

The modern classic doesn't look like the classic-classic. The 2016 fantasy doesn't look like the 1980 fantasy. Read some books published in the last three years, good ones that have been recommended, and learn from them.

In any other job, it'd be called professional development. In writing, it's called "an excuse to go read a new good book" ... and also professional development.

What recently published books do you recommend people read?

Horror

What makes horror scary?

Not a very creepy cabin.

I'm of the intellectual horror school; gore-horror doesn't appeal to me. The uncanny, the supernatural, the something-is-just-not-right, I like those. That sense of anticipation and that growing fear, those are what makes horror scary to me, and leave me enjoying it.
 
Pacing is a key part of it. Tone, too. If it's a movie or a video game, music and surprise, lighting, timing.

But I'm not the top expert on horror. If you're looking to write horror, here are some links to tips from real horror writers:

Horror Writers Association: Writing Tips (for horror)
Writers Digest: Articles on writing horror

A very creepy cabin.

The Write Life: Writing Scary

 What are your favorite horror movies and video games? Your favorite books?