Author: Kassandra Carrillo

Kassandra Carrillo received her B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. She enjoys writing dark paranormal fiction. However, she has dabbled in writing fantasy as well, science fiction, western, short stories, poetry, and scriptwriting, but she prefers writing novels. When she's not writing, Kassandra likes to crochet, practice her art, and stream video games.
Posted in Methods, Writing

Showing vs Telling (Part 1)

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

There are many post/pages out there and warn against the dangers of showing vs telling. I’ve read many of them and the information basically stays the same with variation on how it is told. Although the information is stored in the back of my mind, I continue to click on those articles to see if there is anything new that I should know. Even if I don’t learn anything new, it’s refreshing to know that my knowledge is being reassured.

When writing, I always want to be an active writer (more on that in a later post). In that regard, I like to pay attention to what I’m writing and making sure that I don’t summarize information or info dump in a paragraph. These examples I regard as telling. Instead, I try to sprinkle the information through the story.

I happened to look back on my project and I completely failed my knowledge. I read through the opening paragraphs and I cringed. I had info dumps and trying to tell the reader about the world. While I do confess that I started writing this story three years ago, I never really went back to look at the beginning until recently. It just amazed me how different my writing had gotten from then until now. I knew it happened but everything time I take a look at old writing, it hits me in the face.

So, here’s a few tips on how to avoid info dumps.

First, I like to make a rough outline of my chapters. It’s like writing a synopsis with the only exception that you won’t show it to anyone. This sounds tedious and repetitive but I have found it to be really useful. With that outline, you can decide where you want to put those world building sentences and other sentences that deal with your character and their life up to that point. Not only do you dictate where that information goes but you have a clearer view of where everything goes.

Second, I ask someone to read over my work. It’s nice to have an extra pair of eyes for anything. I’m sure if you have info dumps and the information slows down the reading then, someone is bound to tell you. You could always read it yourself when you take a few days off and reread your work. That way, you don’t have the story in you head and you can read like a reader.

Third, practice. You don’t win a marathon when you practice for only one day. You don’t send your manuscript out to agents on the first draft. Everything takes practice and so does writing. I don’t believe you can get really good at writing without failing a few times. If you make yourself become super sensitive over avoiding info dumps then it starts to become second nature to you and your writing is better off because of it.

Lastly, read. Reading is very essential to your writing. Without reading, you can’t soak up all the techniques other writers are able to pull off. Did I mention that their published authors? Yes, they are. So, bottom line read. Get to see what works and why it works and see if you can’t incorporate some of the same techniques into your own work.

What if you have any info dumps in your writing? Next week, I’ll be making a post on how to fix info dumps. Until then.

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing

Edit vs Revise

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

I have talked a little about revision and given some tips on how to tackle that but it came to my attention that editing a project and revising it are two different things. There are some people that use these two words interchangeably and I’m guilty of doing this too.

I could say that it’s obvious that editing and revising are two completely different things but at the same time I think it’s a piece of knowledge that you know somewhere in the back of your mind but you don’t actually think about it often. Because of this, I’m going to do a little break down about the differences between revising and editing.

Editing
This includes anything to deal with grammar; spelling, syntax, etc. These are essentially the small changes you make. Nouns should be capitalized. Verbs should be use correctly. You’re not sure if you used a word correctly, pull out a dictionary. I understand it to be all the nitty gritty of grammar; comma usage, quotes, periods and everything else. The essentials of a good sentence.

Revising
When you revise, you get into the heart and soul of a story. You add or delete sentences or words. If you got a plot hole, it’s good to change the plot. A scene or dialogue doesn’t add tension or move a story along? Either delete or rewrite. You have one word that repeats too much? Let’s take out a thesaurus. Remember: the backspace button is your best friend. I also view revising as a stage where you might end up rewriting your whole story if the plot isn’t very strong. It’s all about adding and deleting from your work.

In the long run, I will suggest that you edit and revise your own work for a better read. You don’t have to get it professionally edited and I don’t believe it is mandatory. You can ask a friend to help you edit and for revision as well. If you are able to get your work edited by a professional then, go for it. Either way, as long as you accept that your work isn’t going to be perfect then that’s a step in the right direction.

P.S. For some reason, I completely forgot that I hadn’t posted anything on Friday(5/6/16). I guess that’s what happens when you’re trying to graduate college. Any-who, thanks for the patience.
P.P.S. I’m finally a college graduate.

Posted in Methods, Writing

Take a Walk in my Shoes

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

I haven’t thought about this in a while but a male classmate of mine turned in a story draft told through the eyes of a woman. It’s not to say that I was against the idea and I doubt he had a girl help him write it. It got me thinking about the difficulties that can appear when writing from the eyes of the opposite sex.

I’ve only ever written from a male’s point of view once. At first, I struggled to write his thoughts because I second guess myself. Was I writing this correctly? Would this be something a guy would say? Maybe I can ask my male friend to read this and make sure it’s right. I came to realize that I had trapped myself in a stereotypical idea of what a male character should say and how they should act. I was young then, well, younger.

It wasn’t until I started seeing my character as a character. It didn’t matter if he was a boy or a girl, alien, cockroach or whatever. He had a life and a past, goals and dreams. Those goals would be the ones to walk him down a path. All I had to do was  and see where my character would go. Although, it was also my goal to make sure he didn’t succeed. It’s only when I let me character be free that I had an easier time writing. I wasn’t too worried about how he sounded or what he said and thought.

Sure, there are some things (I can’t think of any examples at the moment) that a female writer won’t know about a guy or vice versa but that’s why we have brothers, husbands, and/or friends to help us out.

Posted in Methods, Writing

Rewrite- How to?

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Finishing a manuscript is one of the greatest accomplishments you can achieve. It’s tough work starting from scratch and typing up the last word but the rewards are great. However, sometimes, well, most of the times, it doesn’t end there. Next, comes editing and for the most part, this also includes rewriting some scenes, entire chapters, or maybe even the entire story.

There are many ways to edit a manuscript and there are many different ways it can be done depending on the writer. However, the most important part is to let the manuscript sit for a while before actually starting to edit it. If the story is still ‘fresh’ in your mind then you won’t be able to notice anything wrong with it. The time away from the manuscript depends on the person.

I liked to find a few close friends/beta readers and ask them to read my manuscript. Not only do I take some time off but it also gives me something to wait on e.g. critiques/comments. It’s also during this time that I like to look over my characters and notes. I’m not looking to change anything but I do think about the ways in which I wrote my characters and if I brought them to life on the page. I also tend to replay key scenes in my head and re-imagine them. What would happen if I change this particular line of dialogue? Or what if I make my character do this instead?

Although I keep repeating myself I will always say that no one method of editing is wrong or right. One way may work better for one person than another.

It’s also a good idea, I found, to convert your manuscript into a .pdf file and read it like a book. You can’t edit and it forces you to read your story without being able to change anything. I typically do this during my waiting time, looking specifically for sentences that don’t really make sense or could use improvement and for small typos. Usually when I read my manuscript I can get a hint of what is missing but they aren’t set in stone until I get back some comments. Usually, my suspicions are correct and some comments point out things that need improvements.

Taking critiques comes with a grain of salt. Some people might respond differently to your writing and that’s okay. Ultimately, it’s your choice as a writer that counts. If the plot is lacking, you usually have to rewrite the entire story but even then that’s nothing to feel dishearten about. I have rewritten one manuscript five times, from scratch, and though it has taken over five years to make it feel right,  it’s the best possible version that it could be. Scenes can be written and so can dialogue.

As long as you’re willing to make changes and abandon some things then rewriting will be easier. Accept the fact that it won’t be easy to begin with and go from there.

Posted in Writing

Child as a Narrator

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

For the past few weeks I have been writing about a childhood memory for one of my creative writing classes. There’s nothing special about this memory. It just happens to be the one that I remembered at that moment. It also happens to be the time when I started to doubt that Santa was real.

For the assignment, we had to write it with a child mentality. Yes, it was really difficult because this has been like ten years ago. I was completely in denial despite all the evidence pointing the other way. I guess my professor should have called it a creative non-fiction piece. There’s no doubt that kids are smart but how do you draw a balance between what you know now and what you didn’t know back then?

I have so much respect for middle grade authors and children’s book authors. It helps that I have to write this story in third person because it creates a distance between the story, the narrator and myself. Best part is that I can’t write it as if I was the protagonist. It has to be another person altogether.

So, it’s still fiction with a hint of truth. However, when it’s so personal, is there a way to not think of yourself as a character? Would you use yourself as a character? Come to think of it, this is probably the hardest exercise I have to write. I don’t want to talk down to my readers but complexity would be harder to write.

This is just something to think about. How do you strike a balance between your age and someone younger or even older even when the memory is close to you?