First part of Life-Writes: Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas From? It’s called Life

 Chapter One: Part One - Absence of Thought

“Within the space of fifteen minutes, the horse escaped from the paddock and went down with colic … two swallows flew into the cottage and got trapped in the sitting room … three large dogs pitched in to help expel the invaders … and in the midst of all this mayhem, the magazine deadline was looming ...”

The second most common question a writer is asked, is ‘where do your ideas come from?’ [The first is: ‘Do you make any money from it?’] Experienced writers don’t go looking for ideas; ideas come to them. An experienced writer just has the knack of spotting what makes a good story (in this case, an editorial) … or what will make a good story once it’s been given the right spin … because none of us, if we’re honest, will let reality get in the way of a saleable piece of work.

The opening dramas really did happen, but they took place over several hours without any of the fauna involved suffering adverse side effects. The horse had an injection; one swallow escaped without help, while the other required an open window before it made its exit. The greyhounds had a Bonio apiece and went back to sleep; and The New Writer was duly despatch via www.mailbigfile.com on schedule. Condense the story into a 15-minute drama and it gives a thumb-nail sketch of the hectic domestic life of a freelance writer and editor. Tell it like it really was and the reader response would be: ‘So what!’

All editors are looking for an element of action, drama or surprise, even in non-fiction. It’s what catches their attention and makes them pause to read further; and the key to any editor’s heart is originality. Not necessarily a new departure in style or genre, but a refreshing and original slant on a popular theme. The writers whose work has been accepted for publication, managed to spark the editor’s interest because those particular typescripts stood out from the rest on a dull, wet Monday morning.

It’s not always easy to be objective about our own work, but the first question we need to ask is: why did those other writers stand out? What was so special about that particular piece of writing? What made the editor decide to published them over the hundreds of others (including our own submission) arriving in the office during that month?

• It may have been brilliantly written – but so are hundreds of others.

• It was probably topical – but so are hundreds of others.

• It probably met every point in the contributors’ guidelines – but so did hundreds of others.

The answer, without doubt, was that particular writer’s approach to a common or popular theme was so fresh and appealing that it was almost as if the editor was reading about the subject for the first time. In other words – originality!

One of the first instructions I usually give at a writers’ workshop is to always discard the first idea that comes into your head. And while you’re at it, discard the second … and third idea,

too. This is because a hundred other writers will have had an identical thought for an article (poem or short story) stimulated by something seen on television, read in a magazine or newspaper, or heard on the radio. We may not consciously realise that this has been the source of our inspiration but the seed has been planted firmly in the deep recesses of the brain.

In fact, running the annual TNW Prose & Poetry Prizes we can usually predict the predominant theme(s) for competition entries and, more often than not, the approach to the subject itself, will also be repetitive. Here the only difference between a good and bad submission is the standard of writing and use of language. And the thing that makes a submission stand apart from the rest is where the writer has thought outside the box and developed the idea laterally. Linear thinking rarely wins prizes or editorial selection.

Let’s say, for example, that a national scandal has erupted in the news involving key players in the horse-racing world, and the question is raised as to whether they will be present at Aintree some months down the line. You may have a passion for the geegees and think that there will be a market somewhere for a piece on the Grand National … but so will hundreds of other writers. The collective subconscious has been busy and already thousands of fingers will be busy typing out a history of the race, with or without a list of past runners and riders.

Stop and think for a moment: The editor of The Racing Post, won’t be interested; top equestrian magazines such as Horse & Hound will have seen it all before, and publications aimed at other horsey disciplines will not be featuring a historical article on the ‘sport of kings’. Unless you’re a known name in sporting journalism, it’s doubtful whether any of the top trainers or jockeys will be willing to talk to you; and unless you have some fabulous, previously unpublished racing photographs of Royalty, there’s little scope for anything by a freelance. Or is there … several ideas spring immediately to mind:

• The groundsman responsible for the maintenance of the hallowed turf, or all-weather track, providing an interview doesn’t infringe on race day and you are capable of asking intelligent questions.

• The private owner is always good for a story – like the couple who had a runner in the 2010 Grand National, which they kept stabled on their allotment!

• Work riders and/or stable staff grow very attached to their charges and although you won’t get any inside information on the horses, there’s scope for a career piece on what it takes to work in a busy racing yard.

• Ladies’ Day sees the women competing for the best dressed prize and some fashion tips on how to jazz up an existing outfit for the occasion might appeal to a fashion editor in these times of recession. Exactly what do you wear for a race meeting?

• Everyone is interested in food these days and an insight into the catering arrangements provided for the hospitality suites, with suitable adaptations for home cooking might just make an editor’s mouth water. Find out the name of the caterer and obtain some sample menus if no one is available to talk to you.

• Former apprentice jockey Jim Anderson turned his hand to poetry and paid this homage to the great dual Derby winner and 1981 champion, who was stolen from his stable by the IRA and never seen again, after their demands for ransom were refused:

SHERGAR

So that was it old friend. So much for men.

The Crowns and laurels count for nothing now

And those who came like sneak-thieves in the night,

Have Cain’s eternal mark upon their brow.

They did their master’s bidding; made their name;

Not as you did in battle’s glorious fire.

No courage, spirit, heart or talent asked.

Just worthless souls which cheaply were for hire.

Reprinted by the kind permission of SportsBooks Limited of Cheltenham

Shergar & Other Friends: An anthology of horseracing poetry

Added to that, there are several possible target markets here that wouldn’t normally be interested in horse-racing, including regional magazines if there is a local connection. Equine publications aimed at the young rider might accept a career article, even though they may not usually feature horse racing. Women’s magazines could feature an Aintree, Ascot, Kentucky Derby or Melbourne Cup luncheon for the ladies, while the men are glued to the television, or off watching the race. Trade or professional papers catering for park-keepers and groundsmen might consider an interview with the man responsible for keeping the course looking good. And even if you miss Aintree, there are dozens of premier race meetings taking place all over the world, throughout the year that might adapt themselves to this kind of spin.

Learn to think outside the box.

Life Writes is available from Compass Books at www.compass-books.net.

Kick-Start the Novel: Session 6

The End Is The Beginning

These sessions are now complete, and those of you who have worked through it from the beginning are now at the stage where you need to bring your own critical judgement into play and decide whether your novels will stand up to the scrutiny of a publisher’s reader or literary agent.

Because this is a first novel, it is advisable to complete the type­script before approaching a publisher or agent, simply because these days few are willing to work with a new novelist on the basis of a synopsis and sample chapters. Writing a novel always takes much longer than planned, especially when there are other aspects of life to get in the way, and you need to be in a position to come up with the goods if a publisher likes what he sees. If there are still months of work before the typescript is finished, the offer might be withdrawn if the publisher has to wait — or the commissioning editor moves on to another company.

In an article published in The Author, the quarterly journal of the Society of Authors, a commissioning editor admitted that if she wasn’t sold on an idea in five minutes, then the proposal was rejected because this was the length of time she had to sell the idea at the monthly commissioning meeting. This is why it is essential to make every word count and why a great deal of time and effort should be made when putting together your submission package.

For the purpose of this exercise, you are asked to prepare a covering letter, synopsis and two-three sample chapters. Admittedly, most of those taking part will have a long way to go before their novels are finished and ready to go but it’s an exercise that might just tip the balance in your favour when the time comes. Most publishers have very strict rules about whether they will, or will not, accept submissions via email, so make a point of studying the websites of those who publish in your genre as they usually include detailed submission guidelines.

The Synopsis

Any successful author will tell you that preparing a synopsis is almost as difficult as writing the whole damned book! It’s the ultimate test in editing skills and every word must count in terms of conveying an overview of both plot and characters. For such an important element of the creative writing process, however, there are no ‘carved in stone’ guidelines as to the correct length of the thing, and individual editor’s requirements can differ quite considerably: as can the instructions given in the various how-to books.

Popular writing tutor, Chriss McCallum, gives the following advice, which is pretty standard throughout the industry. She tells us to send: “A concise synopsis of the whole novel, written in the present tense . Touch on key scenes, making it clear who is your main character, what their ultimate goal is, who and what stands between them and that goal. Show how the story ends. New writers often try to conceal the ending in an attempt to intrigue. This is a big mis­take. The agent or editor needs to be able to assess the story as a whole.”

Generally speaking, the synopsis should be no longer than one A4 page and single spaced, al­though it is not uncommon for some to be anything from 5-10 pages! Keep it short, sharp and concise; make every word count and spend some time in getting it right. Don’t leave it until the last minute. In fact, think of it as a job application and give it your best shot.

Ask yourself: ‘Would this tempt me into buying the book?’ If in doubt ask someone else

The Sample Chapters

The sample should consist of the first two-three chapters, not a random selection from the middle of the book. It is not uncommon for a publisher to receive Chapters 35 and 54 with the explanation that these are considered to be the best example of the writer’s work!  As we’ve said before, the story must hook the attention from the first page and if it doesn’t, no one is going to bother turning to page two. Every­thing hinges on that opening but once hooked, the reader will, hopefully, go on to judge your writing style and story-telling ability.

Make sure that the presentation is crisp and readable (no fading ink cartridges if submitting by post), double-spaced and runs to approx 50-pages in order to give a fair representation of the plot/storyline. Attach a cover sheet stating title, author’s name contact details, together with a word count.

The Covering Letter

Again, keep it sharp and concise. Do not include details not pertinent to the novel since your contri­bution to the parish magazine doesn’t interest a professional editor … unless the plot revolves around such a scenario. Do include any profes­sional credit as this gives the indication that you are able to work to a deadline.

Check on the commissioning editor’s name and address the letter/email to them personally. This shows you’ve not merely stuck a pin in the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, al­though it does give good advice on the preferred method of approach for each publish­ing house or agent … ignore this at your peril. Bear in mind that personnel change, so phone the switchboard and ask for the name of the editor in charge of, for example, romantic fiction.

Lastly, and most important, don’t forget to in­clude adequate return envelope and postage if submitting by post.

Publishers & Agents

Hopefully, all the time you’ve been working on your typescript, you’ll have been keeping an eve on who’s publishing your sort of story and will have an idea of who’s going to be the recipient of your prized baby. Again, there is little point leaving this until the last minute … successful authors should know as much about the marketplace as they do about writing.

It’s often been said that it takes twice as long to sell a piece of writing as it does to write it. The road to publication is a long one and fraught with disappointments and pitfalls and it helps to under­stand a little of what goes on behind the scenes. Remember that an agent doesn’t receive a penny until your book has been sold and fewer are taking on new writers, simply because the time and effort spent trying to market the typescript may be more than its worth in terms of commission. You may be pleased with an offer of a £2,000 advance but the agent will have only earned £200, which may not cover the expense of selling it.

Whilst it is now generally considered permissi­ble to simultaneously submit your typescript to several publishers, it is not considered good form to try to hook more than one agent at a time. They do talk to each other and will not be best pleased to find that you’ve been dealing with a competitor. Both agents and publishers are notoriously slow in getting back to the author, who is nervously chewing their fingernails and anxiously waiting for a reply. So how long do we give them to respond?

Someone should manage to make some sort of response within a month. If you haven’t heard back within that time, send the typescript off to the next one on your list. Some publishers state they don’t want to receive simultaneous submissions and this is fine if they get back to you by return. One writer of our acquaintance has been waiting over a year for a re­ply, having been asked to submit the full typescript and does not want to jeopardise her chances by sending it to someone else. Personally, I wouldn’t have given it six weeks — but then this is where personal choice comes into the equation.

Starting on the Next One

Once you’ve finished your novel and it’s been bagged up and shipped off to its first destination, start thinking about the next one. Publishers like to think you’ve got something else in the pipeline because these days they are not interested in one-off novelists, so make sure you mention Number Two in your covering letter, even if it’s only in the planning stages.

Be prepared for the second novel being more difficult to write than the first. This is probably because you will have temporarily emptied your store of spontaneous creativity. Don’t worry, it will come back if you use the same formula for plotting but you may have to work a little harder to come up with new thoughts rather than simply re­hashing ideas from your first book.

DIY – DTP

There is an alternative to consider in publishing your novel yourself – and nothing could be easier.  Have a look at Amazon.Kindle and the various on-line companies that can produce the book on a ‘print on demand’ basis.  You won’t earn a fortune but your novel will be out there.  It is important to have it professionally proof-checked because no matter how thorough we think we are, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and typos always slip through the net.

Exercise – Session 6

• Prepare a synopsis as per the brief given in Session 6.  And take your time – this is an important part of the submission process.
• Prepare the new first three opening chapters even if the rest of the novel hasn’t been proof-checked.
• Prepare a covering letter that includes any information pertinent to the novel submission.
• Make a list of where you intend sending your novel, either direct to a publisher or via a literary agent.  And list your reasons for selecting this route.
• Think carefully. Have you any plans for a second novel at this stage?  If so, is it a fresh idea, or will you be attempting to breathe new life into an old one?
• Do you feel that the sessions has been beneficial in helping you to understand what is required by today’s publishing industry?  Is there any aspect that you feel should have been included that we haven’t discussed?  Any comments would be appreciated.

Kick-Start the Novel – Session 5

Bones & Padding

Writing the first draft of a novel is the easy part. You’ve off-loaded all the ideas, introduced an interesting sub-plot, got all the characters going in the right direction. There have been a few unexpected developments but nothing you couldn’t han­dle — but it still doesn’t work. There’s something missing.

These flaws usually manifest in what is sometimes referred to as ‘the padding’. This is the element of the novel that adds depth and dimension to the story. This does not mean that pages of descriptive narrative can cure the problem because the solution is far more subtle than that.

Firstly, look at the characters you’ve created. Are they real enough for the reader to            em­pathise with their traumas and difficulties, their lives and loves? Have you put too much empha­sis on A’s background, so that it becomes a total cop-out for de­cent feeling? Why are you, the author, justifying B’s reaction to C, when you are condemning D for a similar mistake? Is their story believable?

Which brings us to the plot. Have you explored every­one’s motives? Nobody does anything without a reason, valid or not, so is there sufficient ex­planation for X’s behaviour to Y? Or does it sound hollow and contrived?

Going back to the points covered in Session Three, do you really care what happens to your characters? Because if you don’t, how can you expect the reader to feel anything other than indifference? It’s the interaction between charac­ters that moves the plot along and gets the reader believing in it: if it’s not working then it’s back to the drawing board, I’m afraid.

Long physical descriptions need careful pruning, especially those usually found padding out Chapter One. If your hero­ine’s eyes, instead of being ‘liquid pools of sapphire blue’ were replaced with ‘eyes that developed a slight squint when­ever she was nervous or uncomfortable’, you kill two paragraphs with one edit. Physical description should only be used to imply character (which is why those weekend colour-supplement interviews are such useful study exercises), and add depth to your story-telling. To­day’s readers are more interested in what goes on in a per­son’s head, rather than being told how beautiful the heroine is, so cut the ‘shimmering, long blonde hair’ routine and concentrate more on body language. Spend some time with Desmond Morris’s books on human be­haviour (Old favourites like Gestures, The Naked Ape, The Human Zoo, Man­watching, etc, never let you down!) and broaden your characterisation.  For example: one writer added a tantalising glimpse into her heroine’s character by revealing that her designer clothes and accessories were all expensive fakes. Nice touch because it said quite a lot about the character without saying anything at all!

If you feel your characters have enough padding on their bones to make them real and compelling, what about the location of the action? Again, pages of de­scriptive prose will not necessar­ily give the right atmosphere to draw the reader into the story. A 500-word waffle on the herba­ceous border incorporating the pride of the Sutton’s seed cata­logue, can probably be reduced to the ‘astringent, dew-sharpened scent of …’  Lists of flora and fauna do not a novel make.

Also to be avoided are the Miller’s Antiques Guide or a Pickford’s removal inventory when it comes to describing the interior of a house. Again you cannot create atmos­phere from a furnishings or arts catalogue; neither does estate agent’s parlance pass for good scene setting. Atmosphere is the key word when it comes to location, rather than tedious detail. If you can’t see your location, how can you expect your reader to?  If you’re having problems with your location, invest in a few back issues of magazines similar to Homes & Gardens, or (again) the weekend colour sup­plements. These are real family homes and often reveal the idio­syncrasies of the individual members in the way their per­sonal belongings are casually scattered about. Don’t copy – implement your own ideas. For example: in one Gothic novel the author wanted to get away from the cliché of the old crumbling country house and instead used the idea of a com­bination of styles similar to Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Falling Water’ and ‘The Storer House’. 1930s Art Deco archi­tecture isn’t usually associated with modern gothic but – so far – it’s working!

Unless you’re familiar with your subject, make sure you have sufficient reference books to hand to fill in the gaps, or take yourself off for a weekend break to somewhere similar to what you have in mind. At one novel workshop, a writer had her story taking place at a large country house, but the biggest stumbling block was the fact that she was totally unaware of how real country families run their houses and therefore the narrative didn’t ring true. The large country house was an integral part of the plot and so I suggested that she change the background to a family-owned period country hotel to prevent any social gaffes being made. These changes also allowed for a greater diversity when it came down to the background of the characters involved.

We’ve also discussed the importance of getting the de­tails right about characters’ job descriptions. These back­ground details also provide an extra dimension and should provide useful side-roads and blind-alleys for the plot to weave along. No detail should be brought into the story unless it has some part to play in moving the story along.  In one murder mystery, the heroine was attracted to a local natural-fence maker but the only reference to this was when she arrived as his work-shop to find him making fences! There was no hint at to why this man should have chosen this pro­fession, or that he loved the out­doors and local wild-life … and he was the hero!

The padding is an important part of the novel but not when it is merely included in order to knock up the word-count. Extraneous de­tail sometimes has to be cut ruth­lessly, even if this goes against the grain of our natural prefer­ences and susceptibilities. Far from inhibiting our fine literary style, however, we could find that cutting actually improves it.  Here are a few suggestions for improving your novel:

Dispense with anything unnecessary. This sounds obvious but what is necessary? Only that which sets the scene, promotes the action, and activates the characters. The rest is ornament – though this too can play a part if used in moderation.

Avoid over-description. Understatement and/or suggestion is often more effective.

Never repeat information, unless for deliberate effect.

Tightening sentences by shortening, especially in passages of tension.

Make the dialogue racy and natural, perhaps by omitting the occasional pronoun.

Don’t sustain description for too long. Once the mood, setting or character is established (as succinctly as possible) forget it. Keep moving.

Avoid slack ‘tell all’ dialogue. Remember: dialogue has three essential functions: To pin-point and develop the character, further the action; usefully explain something previously unknown. Once any of these have been utilised there is no need to go on using the device.

Use cross-conflicts or mini-conflicts along the way.

Make full use of suspense-tension, temporary relief, then more tension.

Intrigue the readers by fresh additions. Hint subtly at things to come but make them wait.

The next stage of your novel is to now sit down and write through to the end. Remember that all the examples given are hypothetical problems, but every first novel is subject to some (if not all) of them, and every author who has ever written a novel has made the same errors in the early stages of their career. So don’t be afraid to admit yours. There is a tremendous satisfaction in completing a novel but as with every form of saleable writing, you need to be much, much more than just a good writer.  The secret is being your own sternest critic!

Exercise – Session 5

Describe briefly what you feel to be the most significant flaw in your novel at this stage of writing?  What do you need to do to put it right?  Are these major flaws, or merely ‘technical hitches’ that can be rectified at a later date as the novel progresses?

Have you put enough time and effort into researching background material for your location.  Give a brief outline, in no more than 300 words, of the principal setting for the story and state why you have chosen this particular location.

Write a reasonably accurate ‘job description’ for your principal character, including qualifications, etc., necessary for the job.  In other words, make it real.

Do you feel that you have enough material, background and focus to carry on with the first draft of the novel?  If you are unsure, describe what you see as the problem?

Roughly speaking, how long do you think it will take you to finish the novel?  Have you set yourself a deadline?  If so, have you taken your family, job, holidays, etc into account?

Are you happy with the changes, alterations, or different focus to the plot from when you first started?

Kick-Starting the Novel – Session 4

Pace & Narrative Style

The pace and narrative style of a novel is all about holding the reader’s attention and making them want to turn the page. In Writing A Novel, Nigel Watts tells us that the reader’s attention will be held mostly by the author raising intriguing questions and delaying the answer. “Although a single important question may be enough moti­vation for a novel, significant questions should be raised in every chapter.” These ‘questions’ should be automatically raised as part of the natural flow of the story and the viewpoint of the narrative/narrator.

It doesn’t matter how good your idea for a plot, or how charis­matic your main characters, if the pace and narrative style doesn’t hold the interest and sympathy of the publisher’s reader, then the submission will fail.

Pace

All novels have a time-frame. From ‘A Day in the Life of … ‘ to a grand epic like War & Peace, that charts a family saga over a number of years. In Building Your  Story: A Guide to Structure and Plot, Kelly Michelle Lawrence suggests that this should be one of the first things you think about when plot­ting a novel because this can be one of the easiest ways for a begin­ner to start. Once you do this, you have parameters to work within. Your characters must achieve their goals and aspirations within cer­tain time-limits. And you can plan and pace your plot accordingly.

Many first-time novelists will begin their story much too far in advance of the actual ‘plot’, which means that the opening impact is delayed because we are wasting time scene-setting and working up to the real beginning of the novel. If we are writing an epic, then we can begin at the beginning but if our story is set within a natural time-frame, we need to cut to the chase to maintain reader interest.

Whether you set your story over fifty years, five years, five months or five days the pace is of paramount importance. If the pace is too fast or too slow, then you will not hook the publisher’s reader. In truth, the passage of time within the story is often a major problem for new writers because they find it difficult to balance the time-frame for the beginning, the middle and the end. Some parts become barren wastelands because there is no purposeful action; in other parts the passage of years are crammed into a single chapter because nothing of interest has happened to enhance the plot.

This is where we need to learn the subtle techniques of moving the plot along. Of course, our characters need to have back­grounds, histories and pasts to make them credible but we don’t need to clutter up the proceedings in order to reveal these in chapter and verse.

Firstly, look with a critical eye and decide if your current plot is really adequate for the length of time in which the story is set in terms of action. Novels, like life, are made up of peaks and troughs but it would not be advisable to include every trivial detail just to fill the pages. By using a ‘plotting graph’, try to contain the story within a realistic time-frame with very little slack-water in between. Your graph should show the high points of action (with brief notes), with the lows giving the opportunity for character devel­opment and ‘padding’. Even in romantic women’s fiction there should still be peaks and troughs of action and inaction. The graph enables you to plan when certain dramatic interludes can be intro­duced into which chapters, and where the reader needs a respite from the action. Plot each chap­ter with as much attention to de­tail as the whole novel.  Using the technique of intro­ducing peaks and troughs enables you to decide exactly when you are going to suspend the action in order to keep the reader in sus­pense and encourage them to read on.

The action is the easy part, simply because this is what drives the story along and it is probably already well-thought out in your head. What we need to concentrate on now is how to introduce the more intimate and! or personal details that will flesh out our characters, without hold­ing up the action. The following are simple devices but they are extremely effective for adding depth to the character without resorting to lengthy description and/or narrative.

Flashbacks

A device for giving readers information about a person, place or event that happened before the novel began. Here a character can have a past mem­ory triggered by a happening in here and now, which helps the reader to understand his or her actions or responses to a current situation. Flashbacks enable us to filter information in a subtle way that does not hold up the action and gives the reader information on a need to know basis, which can only add to the suspense — but don’t overdo the sauce and use them sparingly.

Dialogue

Dialogue should always move the story along and if it doesn’t, then it is superfluous. Again, if you need to inform the reader of something that happened before the start of the story, then it can be introduced in the form of a conversation between people. Think in terms of ‘real’ dialogue and how much information you would give away to a stranger. “Tell me about yourself” isn’t an invita­tion to start a pre-school and work your way through to re­tirement.

Reverie

The use of a character’s thought processes allows us to convey the type of intimate or personal details that the charac­ter may not want to reveal. Of­ten presented in italics, reverie can be used to express the char­acter’s real thoughts, while the dialogue is saying something completely different. Reverie can also be utilised if the character is alone and running over events in their mind prior to action. It is a method of recalling events that may have been subtly introduced earlier in the story.

Written Word

A clever way of dispensing with pages of unnecessary scene-setting is the employment of a letter, newspaper clipping or diary that can speak volumes about why events have come to pass.

Narrative style

Narrative style or viewpoint is the method we choose to tell the story. Many beginner novelists start off by writing in the first person but often find they run out of steam, simply because every­thing that happens must be seen, heard and experienced by the character telling the story. Working with ‘I’ very quickly becomes tedious, since ‘I’ cannot be everywhere at once and com­menting on everyone and every­thing.

Having said that, author Nigel Watts had this to say: “Because the readers can know only what the protagonist knows, it is easy for the author to spring surprises on them. Suspense and tension, therefore, often work well with a first person viewpoint.”

Third person narrative is much easier to attempt and, depending on the length and/or structure of the story, we can chose either the third person single viewpoint or the third per­son multiple viewpoint.

The third person single view­point can be equally as restrictive as first person narrative. This is less personal but your principal character needs to be strong enough to carry the whole novel on his or her shoulders. As Nigel Watts also observes: “In order to make the character credible and au­thoritative, you will need to be privy to his or her thoughts, see­ing the world through your char­acter’s eyes. Although it is im­portant to know all your main characters well, you should know your viewpoint character inside out.”

If using the multi-viewpoint, it is advisable to stick to one at a time, because the reader will quickly become bored if they are constantly trying to work out who is doing or saying what, and to whom. Decide which of your characters will play out a particu­lar scene — and stick to it: the easiest way to deal with multi-viewpoint is to utilise it chapter by chapter but do limit the num­ber of character-viewpoints to the main players.

Tense

Novels are normally set in the past or present tense, and alternat­ing tenses can often be confusing unless some clear demarcation line is drawn.  In a recent submission the author used the present tense to convey the elderly characters’ thoughts and reflection, and the past tense to tell the story.

The tense you choose is all part of the narrative style and if you find that the story isn’t work­ing in, say, the present tense, change it over to past tense and see if it flows more easily.

Exercises – Session 4

1. Describe your reasons for setting the novel within the chosen time-frame and make a plotting graph showing the peaks and troughs of dramatic action throughout the chapters.

2. Work out a rough estimate of how many chapters you think your novel will take, and then be honest about whether your plot is adequate for its length.

3. Are there any areas where you feel your novel shows signs of weakness?

4. How many viewpoints do you intend to use throughout the story? How many ‘main’ characters will be involved? How well do you know your principal character?

5. Is your story to be set in the past or present tense? Would any purpose be served for using both for added emphasis?

6. Do you intend to include any form of humour in the narrative? Are you using it for the sake of being funny, or is it intended to be a natural part of the narrative?

Kick-Starting the Novel: Session 3 – Characterisation

Whether your novel is plot-led, or character-led it will not generate any interest unless the reader can empa­thise with the main character. They can love or hate your ‘lead’ but they do need to feel something.  As a starting point, let’s consider the following:

• If you don’t care about your characters, neither will the reader
• Characters must be credible, but they don’t have to be likeable!
• Avoid stereotypical characters and cardboard cut-outs
• A strong supporting cast is essential

In most cases, the novel starts with a germ of an idea relating to how a certain character is going to think about, react, or experiment with, a situation that life throws at him/her. In a nutshell, this central character is the pivot around whom the rest of the story is constructed – and you the author will have to maintain the reader’s sympathy/empathy/hatred for him/her for the next 80,000+ words.

You’ll know when you’ve got it right because the character will be­come real for you. You will be equally aware of his/her likes and dis­likes in the same way that you know your closest friend would, or would not, do something that went against her principles. Your character must be real to you or he/she will not be real for the reader. The reader must want your character to win through, whatever the odds.

Which brings us to the credibility of your characters within the story. Unless we’re talking about   fan­tasy, supermen or women really don’t work, simply because there is no provision for failure or the human elements that provide con­flict and misunderstanding. The main characters must fit comforta­bly within the period/setting of the story.  When the author was first marketing The Wild Horseman, one literary agent took a dislike to the main male character and suggested that the plot be re-written around the other character, a sixteen-year old girl. Now in war-torn France, it would have been highly unlikely for a teenager to take centre stage, simply because the story was about survival and the male was a survivor. To do as the agent suggested would have given the whole thing a ‘Famous Five’ slant and ruined the story!

When we are talking about credibility, we are also talking about character flaws that can make the man or woman more appealing. Let’s face it, the fact that the sight of blood always turned Inspector Morse’s stomach, never made him less of a man in our, the viewer/reader’s eyes, did it?

Another of our authors created a character who, in her youth, was too intense and self-obsessed and had we worked through the novel from A to B there would have been very little about the girl to make us care whether she lived or died. In this case, the author told the story in flashbacks from the vantage point of an eighty-year old woman, who could see all too clearly with the benefit of hind­sight, just how her intense and self­ish behaviour had cost her dear. We like and respect the older woman for her honesty, and there­fore are more sympathetic towards her younger self as the story un­folds.

Think back to the sadistic camp guard in Merry Christmas Mr Law­rence, whose geniality belied his callous treatment of the POWs. Then there was the film director who told a scriptwriter that he could totally destroy his image of a hard­ened contract killer, by having the man stop and stroke the head of a cat, while on his way to a kill. These subtle nuances can add depth to what could be perceived as a one-dimensional character.  It’s also very easy for the subcon­scious to take over the ‘drawing’ of characters. As one author found to her horror, when she discovered that in her draft typescript, all her ‘goodies’ were blonde, and all her ‘baddies’ were dark haired! Is this a subconscious throw-back to the days of black and white films, when the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black?

This is what we mean by stereo­typing – when characters are so predictable that their appearance and behaviour are almost a cliché.  Another typescript that came our way featured the heroine (a gentle and rather colourless creature) and her rival, a glamorous ball-breaker. The problem with the story was that the author had made the glamour-puss so consistently awful that it was impossible to see why the chap they were fighting over, was attracted to her in the first place. To break the impasse it was sug­gested that there should be a few added dimensions to the glamour-girl’s personality to at least make her credible and give a reason why she was moving in such a social circle. The author’s reaction was that she wasn’t supposed to be liked and that there wasn’t any good to be found in her anyway. The real reason, one suspects, is that the ‘heroine’ was so wet, that any quarter given the protagonist would have merely made her appear wetter!

Characters that move woodenly through the story will bog down the action and bore the reader to death. Allowing char­acters to grow as the plot develops may work for experienced authors but that it can be a disastrous as­sumption for a beginner to make; creating a character profile for the central char­acters is as necessary as any other form of plotting. So spend some time producing a full c.v for each of the important people involved in the story and indicate where their lives interact with the others. Just remem­ber that no character should be 100% perfect.

Although they are not often an integral part of the plot, minor char­acters are equally as important and can provide:

• light relief
• help move the story along
• chance encounters
• red herrings
• throw a spanner in the works
• wisdom

Minor characters should be there to serve a purpose and for that we should turn to the greatest ‘bit player’ of them all, Shake­speare. He created bit parts throughout his plays that are often the ones the audience remembers – like the gatekeeper in Macbeth, for instance. The only ‘bit’ of light relief in the whole play.  Minor characters can be the woman who keeps the local post office and the focus of all village gossip – just think how many red herrings that one could provide – and she only need appear as a ‘bit’ player throughout.

Beware, however, of creating a supporting player who appears quite fre­quently at the beginning and then sinks without trace, for no appar­ent reason – this is more common than you would believe. Minor characters are there to move the plot and dialogue along when the author feels it is necessary to inject a piece of information, but doesn’t want it imparted by the main char­acters.  Here are two simple tricks for creating the perfect blend of ‘people’ for your novel:

The casting couch. How many times have you been disappointed by the casting when a favourite book has been turned into a film or television series? Use this process in reverse and think of an actor who has played a similar part to the one required in your novel. Mentally take the image and superimpose it on the character you wish to create. In other words, if you were casting your own novel as a film, who would you get to play the parts both main and supporting roles.

Astrology. There are plenty of books around on the subject (try the charity shops) that give the positive and negative traits of all the ‘sun signs’ and I know several authors who use this method to create multi-dimensional charac­ters by using a fictitious birth sign as a starting point. It will even help you sort out who is compati­ble, and who is a potential pro­tagonist.  [See recommended reading]

Choosing the right name for characters is also important because a name can say an awful lot about a person, without the need to go into a long and involved description about colour of hair, eyes, etc.   Avoid having two people whose names begin with the same letter (unless it’s a comedy), i.e. Jason and Jayne, Robert and Rebecca, or James and Jamie. And watch those names, first and surnames, ending with ‘s’. Or you’ll be forever writing James’s  …Mrs Prentiss’s

Get the point?  Names should reflect the fashion, society and history of the period and avoid using something that no one can comfortably pronounce. One book that should be on every fiction writer’s shelf is The Oxford Names Companion, which will provide end­less sources for both first and surnames, as well as place-names.

A character’s occupation should also be an integral part of the story. There’s no point in slinging in the fact that Cyril is a retired antiques dealer and not exploiting this to the full in the narrative. Your story will revolve around the main character’s occupation, so more than a little detail needs to appear, if only to convince the reader that they are about to enter this particular world. Unless your plot centres around the double-dealing of high finance, then an art expert, fighter pilot, or race­horse trainer is going to appear much more glamorous than a com­modities broker.

The vast majority of Dick Francis’s novels were in some way related to the world of horse racing, but he wasn’t frightened to go out­side these parameters and explore other worlds. And it shows in his writing.  There is an obvious enthusiasm for the subject and the reader learns something in the process. One of his best novels involves an injured jockey becoming involved in his deceased brother’s gem business. Here Francis resisted the urge to go over the top and, instead of pre­cious stones, the business special­ised in the importing of semi-­precious stones. The confusion of the jump-jockey in this unfamiliar world was actually shared by the reader as they were drawn in to almost actively participate as the story unfolded.   In today’s society, we are what we do, so it makes sense in terms of publisher interest, to spend some time researching this important area. Who knows, it might spark further ideas to give the plot more depth, since it will require the interaction of other characters in order to make the ‘work-place’ credible.

One of the best examples of creating a character in the reader’s mind, is the style of interview found every weekend in the colour supplements. Bearing in mind that lengthy de­scription is ‘out’, obtain a few back issues and study the way that the interview is constructed.  The angle is usually related to the celeb’s current work but throughout the 3,000 word piece, there will be single sentences that skillfully de­scribe what the subject is wearing, appearance, mannerisms, attitude, etc.  This is the approach you should aim for when developing your char­acter’s personality throughout the narrative. Sharp, incisive thumb-nail sketches rather than lengthy descrip­tion, allow the reader to recreate the ‘person’ in their mind’s eye and participate in the story, rather than just being a casual observer.

Exercise: Session 3

1. Write 150 words giving the opposite characteristics of your main characters, i.e. what are the ‘flaws’ in your ‘lead’, and what are the good points about the protagonist?

2. What is it about your main character that you like (a) best, and (b) least? What else could you add to make them more believable?

3. Have you paid enough attention to the occupation of your characters, or is it merely a throw-away piece of information? How can you exploit this in the plot?

4. Conduct an imaginary interview with your main character, using the style of the colour supplements. In 200 words, create a thumb-nail sketch of how they look, what they are wearing, manner, etc.,

5. Create a character profile for a secondary character, who will play an important, but minor role in your story.

Recommended reading:

Astro-characters, by Judy Hall (Compass Books)

Creating Convincing Characters, Nicholas Corder (Compass Books)

www.compass-books.net