Tag: book-review
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Disclaimer: I am not a certified writing teacher. I’m just a fellow writer sharing my background and experience with other writers
Introduction
Who are the characters, what do they need or want to happen, and how far are they willing to go to achieve it. Where and when do the events take place. Inciting incident. That is: the event or circumstances that disrupt the protagonists ordinary situation, causing him / her to take action, driving the story forward. I usually write the inciting incident during the introduction phase of the story.
Rising Action
Events that create tension and conflict, be it internal or external, or both. The rising action is like the rising slope of a roller coaster, building anticipation and tension, gradually rising toward the climax of the story. This can be achieved by action, dialogue, or events, or better yet, all of the above. The key is to complicate the situation for the protagonist, raising the stakes, which builds the tension.
Climax
The highest point of tension in the story. This is where everything reaches its peak, comes to a head, and the protagonist must face things head-on and seek to resolve the situation / problem. But it can’t be too easy. Giving the protagonist false hope can make the story that much more riveting. Have them learn from mistakes until they finally find the answer. This marks a turning point in the story.
Falling Action
The events that take place between the climax and resolution. release of story’s tension, the downward slope of the proverbial roller coaster. To me this is one of the most hardest parts of writing. Tying up loose ends, lessons learned by protagonist, character growth (they should have changed somewhat since story’s beginning) Degree of change is writer’s choice, but some change should take place, even is writing an episodic series. (more on that in another blog)
Resolution / Denouement
All loose ends tied up, problems solved, story has a fitting ending. Always make sure there are no untied loose ends. And whatever you do, check for plot holes and if there are any fix them. Readers / Audience don’t take kindly to untied loose ends and plot holes.
That’s all I have for today. As always, thank you for reading. And Happy Writing.
Ray
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Note: As I like to say, I am not a trained writing teacher; I am a fellow writer sharing my thoughts and experiences as a writer with fellow writers. The following mini-blog is about choosing your POV character.
So, you’ve created interesting characters and you have a story to tell. Great! Have you chosen a point of view character yet? If so, did you choose the right one? I learned this lesson the hard way when I realized a third of the way through a story that I chose the wrong character. The character I picked made a good, solid supporting character, but was not the right choice for point of view. This can happen when you have an ensemble cast of characters and any one of them could be the main or POV character. When you have five or six strong, solid, well developed characters, it is easy to pick the wrong POV character. I know; I did it, myself.
I have since learned to think more about the story I want to tell and putting more thought into determining which character should be the main and / or POV character. You can have multiple POV characters as long as you don’t do too much head-hopping, because chances are the audience will not like it. I try to keep multiple POV to two characters; definitely not more than three. As a rule, the main character is generally a POV character, although the two are not necessarily one and the same. Example: POV character is an outsider observing at a distance, like an investigative reporter, or an associate, or an analyst.
Know your characters, know your story. Before you type a single word on the page, plot and plan from beginning to end. Think things through. That’s why I always recommend doing an outline. (I will blog about that topic at a later date). A common mistake among newer writers in particular is establishing a POV character early on, then midway through the character’s role is diminished and are seldom heard from again. Another common mistake is a secondary character becoming a POV character several chapters in. The audience will wonder why this character was in the background for several chapters, then comes to the forefront. And believe it or not, I’ve read things where character arcs were not thought out well enough and there were holes leaving me wondering what happened to such and such a character. Mistakes like these mark a writer as amateurish, and you may lose your credibility with the audience. They may not read another single thing you ever write.
Some other helpful hints are the following:
Which character is the focal point? Which character has the most to gain or lose? Which character has the highest stakes? Which character changes the most over the course of the story; that is, whose character arc is the most profound? Chances are that is the character you want not only as your MC but for POV as well.
That’s all I have to say today. I hope you found this informative and helpful. As always, thank you for taking the time to read my mini-blogs. Likes and comments are always appreciated and welcomed. Please consider subscribing to my page. As a general rule, I usually follow back. Until next time…
Ray
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Social commentary vs. political commentary. Why do so many people confuse the two, or believe they are one and the same? As a writer of fiction who likes adding social commentary to add a bit of flavor to the story, or use it in subtle ways to support the theme of what I’m writing about, I thought I’d tackle the subject in a mini-blog.
Recently, I was on a social media fan page where the page owner and administrator posted that they didn’t want real world politics on the page, that it was a page intended to celebrate the franchise. In this case, it was a Star Trek page; I’ve seen similar things happen on other pages. Someone would post something and members would bring real world politics into the conversation. Many people find that annoying, including myself, which is why I don’t permit real world politics in any group or page I manage. So, I don’t blame the page owner for doing so. There was immediate backlash with people saying Star Trek was and still is political in nature. That brought up a question in my mind. Do people equate political commentary with social commentary? If so, why?
Political commentary involves politics, government policies, and matters pertaining to government; social commentary involves things like poverty, class struggle, racism, equality, equal justice, war, etc…in other words, human interest stories or social commentary. Thus, those who argue that Star Trek “was always about politics” I can confidently say they are wrong; Star Trek is about social issues that pertain to everyone regardless of political affiliation, race, creed, or social status. That is the definition of social commentary.
Since this mini-blog turned out shorter than I anticipated, I’d like to take a moment to say that if you are a writer, and want to add social commentary to your work, make the commentary come through by way of your characters’ words, actions, and situations, and avoid long winded speeches by a character and / or exposition narratives. Nobody likes to be preached to. If somebody wants to hear a sermon, they’ll go to church. I find that preachiness in a lot of books and in particular, TV and movies, and it annoys me no end. You’ll go further by putting your characters in situations and action where empathy for said character will happen spontaneously without the sermon. Whether you are a character driven writer, a plot / action driven writer, or a combination of both, like myself, subtlety gets better results than heavy handedness. I can’t tell you how many books and movies I never finished reading / viewing because I felt I was being preached to rather than entertained. You’re not going to get any kind of message across without the entertainment. Note: I am not a certified teacher of writing; I’m just a fellow writer passing along some advice. What you do with it is your own business.
That’s all I have today. And, as always, thank you for reading. I welcome you to comment below, give this piece a like, or subscribe to my blog.
Best wishes and may peace be with you.
Ray
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As with all my writing advice mini-blogs, a brief disclaimer: I am not a certified teacher of creative writing; I’m just a writer offering thoughts and opinions regarding blog topic–today’s being writing diversity–creating a diverse cast of characters and how to do it effectively and properly
So, I write murder mysteries in a fantasy setting with a touch of Sci-Fi, drama, mystery, intrigue, subtle humor and a bit of romance. Twice published with a third novel on the way. I love crafting and talking about the art of fiction writing. So, a diverse cast of characters is a given in the imaginary world I created. We have humans, aliens, human-alien hybrids, witches, and other creatures associated with Sc-Fi and Fantasy. But, what if I was writing contemporary fiction? How would I go about it? Let’s have a look.
1–Avoid the stereotypes. Even writing about Aliens, witches, and hybrids, I find it easy to change it up and make these character types unique and avoid the A-typical depictions. Turn it upside down, flip it mean the opposite, give the character traits not usually associated with the type of character they are. Avoid the tropes, or make it your take on the trope. It’s your fantasy world; make it yours. In Sc-Fi and Fantasy there are no set rules, no rigid formula. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. As for contemporary fiction, avoid stereotypes. Such as: The angry black man, the helpless cripple, the woman who is too feminine to fend for herself, or too weak, the proverbial damsel in distress. You get the picture.
2–Avoid token characters. You don’t earn diversity points by adding a person of color, or a paraplegic, or a gay person. Such characters should be given the same level of development as your MC or supporting cast. And if they are part of your supporting cast, it’s all the more important to create complex, fully fleshed out characters. Who are they as a person? What do they do for a living? Are they wealthy, middle class, or poor? What motivates them, what is their want, need, or desire? In other words, Characters people can identify with. Nobody can identify with a shallow, cookie cutter character. Tossing in a member of a minority group so you can say you have a diverse cast of characters falls a bit short. There won’t be a single person of color surrounded by whites, one person with a physical handicap, or one gay person surrounded by straight people, whether in a city, the suburbs, or a rural town. Nor should it be in your novel, screenplay, short story, whatever.
During the Pandemic, there was a lot of social unrest and strife, caused mostly by high-profile minority deaths in clashes with law enforcement that had gone out of control. I won’t get into that here, but as a result writers starting using their talent to create stories “with a message” in the form of social commentary. I’ve blogged about how I go about planting messages or themes into my stories, so I won’t get into that here, either. That’s another topic altogether. But, as it relates to writing diversity, I choose to write characters who don’t have a chip on their shoulder or an axe to grind unless it is germane to the plot. In my case, a motive for murder, as an example. I refer back to the “angry black man.” I created an African-American character who owns and operates a restaurant and lounge. He’s successful, and is a love interest to a main character, a white woman who is a defense attorney. In my last novel, my lawyer character defended a black man who was a respected medical doctor accused of murder. So, your minority group characters should be depicted as productive members of society rather than as victims. Depicting them as victims is fine as long as they are also strong enough to overcome their obstacles. If the author gets on their high horse or their soap box that’s not storytelling; it’s preaching a sermon.
So, that’s all I have to say today. Please feel free to like or comment. I’d like to start having discussions here, but I’m still in the infancy stage of building my audience. Still, we can have a discussion with handful of people. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. And as always, thank you for reading!
Ray
Ray Rogers, Novelist 