Reading Confessions & Novel Structure

I have a weird confession to make. I’m a quirky reader/writer. I don’t think I’m the only one – but it’s still a fuss to get through. You see, I can’t read while I write, and I certainly cannot write while I read. If I’m in the middle of my own project – that’s where my brain’s focus is. If I’m nose deep in paperback (Actually – Ebook. Just got a Barnes and Nobles Nook yesterday!) there’s not a chance I’ll be weaving a story of my own. It’s been like that for a long time. I have another confession to make. Just like my writing died for a year, so did my reading. I’m fairly certain the only novel I read in that year of non-writing was Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated. And that was a reread!

So, what, have I just given up on reading altogether? Not quite, but I think I’m starting a new, different relationship with it. Since I did just get a Nook yesterday, my reading is going to skyrocket. But where am I starting? By beta reading Mark Lopez‘s The Dead Don’t Cry. Weird place to start, right? I thought so too. But I’m not going to lie at all – his novel is a page turner. So much so, I have to slow myself down in order to get all of my notes, edits, thoughts on the page so he can actually make use of the beta read. But I’ve noticed something special in this reading: not only am I reading for enjoyment, but I’m really focused on what I’m reading.

Heavy-Handed Themes (Or, What Conrad Dislikes the Most in Fiction)

I’m going to start off this topic with one simple sentence.

I hate Atlas Shrugged.

Why am I starting off a discussion of theme with a statement like that? Because Atlas Shrugged is an example of how to do theme wrong. In it, there is a three hour speech given by the character John Galt. This goes on for sixty pages, not one word left out.

This, boys and girls, is what has made me dislike books with strong theme ever since. Yes, theme can be a very wonderful tool in a book, a very aesthetically pleasing part of a work of literature that can enlighten you and give you a new view of the world at large. But when you lecture us on that theme, and use strawman characters to help get it across, you have officially sacrificed your story for that theme. And, in my personal opinion, that is the absolute worst cardinal sin you can commit in writing.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I immediately hate all books with strong theme. The Chronicles of Narnia have strong theme, and yet I enjoy them immensely. I think the difference here is that C.S. Lewis managed to give his villains some strong traits, and his heroes some weak ones. Why is that all the difference? Well, it allows you to say, “I don’t agree with the themes he’s presenting, but I can at least get behind this story. It’s decent.”

After all, we’re in the business of writing fiction to tell stories, are we not? So when someone writes a story that is really just a disguise for the message they wish to present, I find myself disappointed in them. They sacrificed a story just to try to lecture people on their message, but they tried to say that they were going to tell me a story. So not only have they bored/annoyed me, but they have lied to me.

Bear in mind that this is all just my opinion. I’m incredibly interested in what you all have to say about it as well. I’m just going to say that, to consolidate my opinion, if the actual story, plot and characters and whatnot, is weaker than the theme it is trying to present, then I think that there is a problem and that it needs some heavy editing. In my opinion, theme can never be stronger than any of the other components of the story, or else it ceases to be a good story and becomes merely a parable.

But again, what are your thoughts? Chime in! I’d really like to hear what your thoughts on this particular phenomenon are.

Episode 02: Discovering Characters

Episode 02: Discovering Characters

In which we discuss our individual methods for creating characters, and building characterization.

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Links discussed in the show:

Young Writers Society: Character Development

20,000 Names

Wordplay: Change is Key to Powerful Character Arcs (Suze wanted to say that she completely misremembered where this came from)

Frequent Themes

One of the things that I have a problem with in my work is repetitive themes. I was talking with Suzanne about this the other night. She mentioned that marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, seem to pop up quite a bit in the stories that I write. I can’t really refute that. But is this a bad thing?

The reason that I pose the question is because not a month or two ago I had an incident where using a theme repetitively got me in a bad spot with my writing. With that, it was the idea of half human characters like mermaids or centaurs (I write speculative fiction, in case you couldn’t tell). Is there something to be said for using the same theme repeatedly in different stories? After all, some people make a good thing off of it.

The conclusion that I’ve come to, at least for myself, is that having themes that show up quite a few times is not in and of itself bad. But you have to take care that they do not take over your stories. The incident of a month ago was bad because I was ignoring good characterization and just creating what you would call gimmicky characters. So long as having these themes you enjoy does not compromise your work, I would call it all right. But what do you all think?

Writing Resource: TV Tropes

www.tvtropes.org

TV Tropes is simultaneously both a blessing and a curse for writers. It is a blessing because here you can find many archetypes that are used in fiction and see examples of them. You can use this to help you include them more effectively in your own fiction.

At the same time, however, it is a curse because you can easily spend several hours at a time just browsing through it. This is a phenomenon similar to what can happen on Wikipedia, where you click on a link in an article, which takes you to a new article, where you click on a link in that article, and so on and so forth.

Despite this danger though, I’m still going to link you guys to it, because I believe that it is a very useful resource for giving these characters, settings, and ideas that are used in fiction both names and semi-quantified definitions. Check it out. If nothing else, the lover of fiction in you will be entertained.

Crazy Blog Stats

Our blog stats are out the window for yesterday and today. It’s crazy! You guys are coming from… well, I know where you guys are coming from!

I thought I’d give a quick thanks to Snoink from the Young Writers Society for making out blog a staff pick. I didn’t feel like making my own site a staff pick was fair, so I’m glad someone else did it! You can visit Snoink’s Site, and see what she is up to, as well.

Both Conrad and I have been trying our best to find the time to put another podcast together. We already have the idea, but life keeps intervening. At the latest, they’ll be a podcast released this weekend. In the meantime, what would you guys like to hear us discuss on future podcasts? We have our own ideas, but I’m sure our readers have a few requests! Let us know and we’ll be sure to yak about it one of these days.

Finding the Time to be a Successful Author

We’re all busy people. Busy going there, going here, doing this, that, and the other thing. Twitter, grocery shopping, eating, TV, family. But I still manage to fit in writing, even while at university.

But as S0burself points out in his blog post, Are you a Vanity Author or an Enterprise Author?, writing a novel is only the first step to being an author. Whether you follow the route of self publishing or a publishing house, you still have to market yourself and your book in order to make some sales. Sure, you could just let your book sit and do nothing – but then what was the point? You want readers, don’t you?

The question I’ve been having to ask myself lately, though, is if I will have the time to actually do that. It’s not just about tweeting or sending out copies to reviewers. Marketing your novel would be a full time job, including possible book signings, interviews on local news stations, among many other ways to market yourself. It’s going to take time and work, like owning your own business. (My mother owned her own pet store business and I saw her struggle with it on a regular basis.) This wouldn’t be such a problem if I didn’t have a different idea entirely for my dream job. As much as I’d love to be a published and best selling author, I don’t think I’d want it as a job. (Which might very well be a topic for another post.)

Being in Love with Writing (Even When You Hate it)

I’ve got a horror story for you, in which I felt and looked a lot like that lady for a long time. I’m sure we’ve all had our moments of writer’s block, whether you believe in writer’s block or not. And I’m sure we’ve had those times where we hated our writing, and would come up with any number of excuses not to work on it. But what about those days where all you’ve wanted to do was write, and it just wouldn’t happen? What about those years?

From February 2009 until May 2010, I hadn’t written a single thing. Oh, sure, there were small bits and pieces: an attempt at NaNoWriMo, trying to edit a past draft, poetry. (Silly me considers poetry more like personal play than serious business, mostly because it’s so difficult and makes me angry.) For the most part, though, I got no writing done during those months. It was even worse than that, however. Not only was I not writing, but I also wasn’t thinking about writing, talking about writing, or reading. I’d talk to my writer friends – who, of course, were all in the middle of their own beautifully blooming projects – and I’d only get more depressed about my lack of writing. I started to believe I would never write again. Writing was just something I did before university, before I had a social life, before I had real goals about my career. I couldn’t call myself a writer anymore because what kind of writer doesn’t write?

Writing Prompt: Characters You Hate

For this week’s writing prompt, think up a character who you do not like. Give them a viewpoint that you do not agree with. If you happen to be liberal, then make them conservative. If you believe in the right to bear arms, have them believe in gun control. Make them so against what you believe that you dislike them. Then, write a short story and portray them as heroic and sympathetic.

Episode One Addendum: Ideas from Art & Music

A friend of mine listened to the first podcast and brought it to my attention that we only barely grazed the surface of getting ideas from songs, pictures, art, whatever else. I think part of the reason we hardly touched it was because we were also discussing not being too derivative, and for that you must have been inspired by something that inherently has some kind of story-quality to it.

I thought it’d be good to make a blog post on this, then. I don’t think it could make up a full podcast, but no reason not to talk about it!

I don’t really know how other people use songs/pictures when getting ideas for writing, so I can only give my thoughts on it.