Writing a Novel

Finding Ideas for a Short Story

What Literature Can Do

Merry Christmas, everyone!

At this time of year, many people enjoy reading Christmas stories and that has become a part of their family traditions. Of course, Christmas stories from the Bible are especially important to share because they tell us why we have Christmas in the first place. The story from Luke 2 combined with John 3:16 can share a powerful message, along with other favorite scriptures you may have.

One loved book is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Years ago, I grew tired of all the take-offs of this story that were done on various television series. It helps that I don't watch much TV these days!! But my interest was revived when I read the original book. I've also collected a few different versions of movies based on the book. A favorite is the 1951 movie starring Alastair Sim, but there are others.

This morning I found an article at National Review Online that talks about the contribution Charles Dickens' book made to the way we celebrate Christmas. It's called "A Dickensian Christmas" by Rich Lowry. I thought you might enjoy reading it this Christmas season, and thinking about the influence a good book can have on our lives.

Again, Merry Christmas!!

On Writing and Reading

Today's writing link: SpecFicWorld Lots of resources and articles about writing for your perusal.

I am still wandering around somewhat on this blog, but I hope my links have at least given you lots of writing tips and ideas for your own writing. I don't feel ready to share my own writing. That wasn't my original idea for this blog--sharing writing tips was. I'm not sure that is interesting enough, though, so we shall see.

I do encourage you to read lots of different types of writing. That will go a long way in helping you to decide what type(s) of writing you would like to do. Right now, I am reading The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. It is what you might call a literary murder mystery. Set in Canada in the 1860s, it is written in a different style than I am used to, but is not so far out as to be difficult to follow. I am only about halfway through, so I don't know yet if I will recommend it totally, but so far so good! The author switches back and forth between characters and uses present tense quite a bit. There is a first person narrator for parts of the book, but the author takes us often to third person narrative for some of the other characters.

Some Podcasts about Writing

Since I last posted, I have discovered that there are podcasts about writing out there! Imagine that! I will share links below. Some haven't put up new podcasts lately, but you can still enjoy what is there. You can download or listen at the site. They are free.


Creative Writing Podcast at American Writers


Fantasy Writers Weekly (This one doesn't have any podcasts yet, but promises to soon.)


Holly Lisle on Writing


The Writing Show


If you know of a good writing podcast, please post the url in the comments. Thank you!!

Genre Fiction

Genre fiction is fiction that fits into a particular category, such as mystery or horror or science fiction. Each genre has its general rules about types of setting, plot, characters, and so forth. For more detail, see Wikipedia's article on "Genre Fiction".

Although genre fiction is generally considered to be less than literary fiction, most literary fiction fits into one of the genre categories. Also, a number of writers who write genre fiction are so good as to be, in actuality, literary writers. I find that the distinction is just a matter of opinion and it seems as though writers who deliberately set out to write literary fiction fall flat. Of course, that's just my opinion!

Genre fiction is usually most popular with readers. It's interesting and unpretentious, with characters you care about and plots that catch your attention. It's good for writers to explore different types of writing to see what they might like to try their hand at. Good research and writing will make any book good and attract readers.

The Short Story

If you would like to try your hand at writing short stories, here's some help for you. There is a 2-page pdf file called "How to Write a Short Story" that provides some basic how-tos. You can also take a look at "How to Write a Short Story" at wikiHow.

The Wikipedia has a lot of articles that can provide you with information and links also, such as this article on "Fiction" or this one on "Short Story".

Another article is "Writing a Great Short Story" by Lee Masterson. It's at the site Fiction Factor which I've mentioned before as having a number of useful articles.

Edited to add a link from the comments: "How to Write a Short Story" blog.

If you've never tried writing a short story or if you have and have not been too happy with the results, these articles might provide you with some good tips. Enjoy!

Are We Hungry for the Classics?

Townhall.com posted an interesting column this past week titled "Harry Potter and the Great Relearning" by Jerry Bowyer. Mr. Bowyer writes about the educational impact the Harry Potter books have had on his family, and offers up some of his own ideas about the symbolism in the books, as well as some comments about J. K. Rowling's intent. Here's a sample paragraph:

What I make of that is that Jo Rowling has a wonderful talent for tapping into Biblical and literary symbolism. From the very beginning, I've believed that Hogwarts is the literary representation of the Christian Church. Towered over by stone spires, filled with living icons of great men and women from the past, Hogwarts is a place where ancient books are studied to relearn great wisdom from the past. Hogwarts was founded by four great wizards over a thousand years ago who were united in the belief that their knowledge should be passed on. Like the four evangelists in early church literature, each has its own seals and symbol and its own special focus of virtue. Many of those wonderful names, such as Godric Gryffindor, Rowling revealed in a recent interview were, taken from medieval Christian saints.

And he closes with:

Rowling made a bet which, if it had been stated explicitly, would have been rejected by every large publisher in the Western world: She wagered her labor and reputation on the proposition that children were hungry for the good stuff. That they had eaten their fill of literary junk food, and wanted the stories, the words and phrases, the atmosphere and the 'feel' of the greatest stories every told. Happily for us, Rowling kept her mouth shut and walked her manuscript past the sleeping dragons of political correctness and 'realistic' (meaning sexual) teen lit. It worked. It's just like they say at Hogwarts, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus," that is, "Never tickle a sleeping dragon."

It's an interesting column. Mr. Bowyer talks about the curiosity about many things that the Harry Potter books have stirred in his children. Do you think he's on to something? I do. Whether or not you agree with some or all of his interpretations and ideas, the books can awaken a desire to know more about classic studies, such as Latin, and about literature, Christian history, and world history.

I hadn't really thought about the Harry Potter books in this light, but I know that when I read them, besides enjoying a good story, I wanted to study all kinds of subjects--they awakened a curiosity in me.

Townhall.com allows comments from readers on each column and, as of this morning, there were 43 comments on this piece. You might enjoy reading those, too.

Comments?

In My Humble Opinion

I confess I don't understand how anyone can enjoy reading depressing books (Thomas Hardy leaps to mind) that portray life as defeat for the protagonist. I admit that books portraying life as all rainbows and roses are dull, too, but surely there is a happy medium.

To me, books that portray the protagonist in an important conflict, with himself or other people or nature, yet end with said protagonist triumphing in some way are the most satisfying reads. Perhaps the depressing books are touted because they are technically good, but that doesn't strike me as enough to warrant wading through such sad reading. It is true that real life doesn't always come out the way we want it to. We don't always triumph in our conflicts. However, books aren't real life. I would think that ending a book on a hopeful note would give the reader the courage and hope they need to continue with their own struggles.

I suppose I look on books as teaching tools. They portray conflict and then show ways to approach the conflict so that the protagonist overcomes the conflict and is able to put it behind him and move on with his life. Obvious teaching and preaching are also not good, but the example of persisting in the face of conflict surely is a good use of writing talent, rather than portraying gritty realism ending in defeat for our hero.

I realize that there are many viewpoints among people, but I have to wonder if anyone really likes depressing, defeatist books. Do they pretend to like the books because those books are supposed to be intellectually important? I do not believe that intellectual maturity requires that we torture ourselves emotionally. If they really like the negative books, what does that say about their view of life? Are they just naturally pessimistic? I confess I don't know the answer to those questions.

I think that showing a protagonist using all his faculties to overcome a conflict is a more true intellectual exercise. It is also emotionally satisfying. There is no reason that such a book cannot be technically good, as well, if that is what the reader is looking for. On top of everything else, such a book can be an example of persistence and diligence, of how to use one's abilities to their limit to overcome the conflict. It gives hope to the reader that he, too, can overcome the conflicts in his own life. That seems to me to be the best gift that a writer can give to the reading public.

Finding your Voice, Editing Your Fiction, Building a World

At Fiction Factor I found an article called "Finding Your Unique Voice" by Rob Parnell. In this piece, Mr. Parnell discusses how to find your own "voice" or "style" in your writing. He says:

You should always write in the style that is most natural to you. It may well be different from your speaking voice but should always reflect the way your mind works.

Another thing Mr. Parnell writes is:

Secondly, your voice doesn't have to be 'original'. You can waste years of your time wondering what 'originality' is and trying to define and acquire it.

When critics, publishers and agents say they want 'originality', I believe they have no idea what they mean. They merely confuse writers by demanding something so nebulous and indefinable. I think what they should really be asking for is 'honesty'.

The simple truth is you already possess all the originality you need. You are already unique. No-one else thinks and writes like you do - trying to undo your own originality by constantly striving to be anything less than yourself is counter productive. Trust yourself.

"Voice" is one of those things that is difficult to pin down for a writer, but this article explains it well and gives some methods that a writer can use to discover his or her own voice.

Another very useful article at Fiction Factor is "Editing Fiction" by Lee Masterson and Tina Morgan. It goes beyond looking for typos and grammar mistakes and gives you a list of questions to ask yourself about your piece of writing in an effort to make it much more interesting and readable. The questions cover plot, pacing, setting, characterization, dialogue, and point of view. Very helpful, I think.

An entire set of articles at Fiction Factor is on world building. If you are planning a novel set in an imaginary world (usually fantasy and science fiction, but you may find other uses for this information--perhaps in a poetry cycle or an epic poem), these articles should help you create a complete world for your characters to inhabit. Creating a consistent and believable (in the context of your story) world isn't the easiest thing to do, but it will make your story much better if you plan ahead.

The Novella

At the blog, A Motley Vision, William Morris has a post called "Why Mormons should embrace the novella". A Motley Vision is a Mormon, or LDS, blog, but if you are not LDS, you can still benefit from his commentary. In fact, the whole blog has lots of interesting articles about the arts. As far as the novella post goes, William Morris describes the strong points of the form and why he believes it's time to bring it back into use.

As for more information about the novella form itself, you can find good descriptions here and here.

There doesn't seem to be much of a market for novellas now, but the possibility of publication exists, and the market may swing back in the direction of shorter, more focused fiction. Think about your writing style and what you like to write about and see if maybe a novella would be a good choice for you.

"Depth, Complexity, Quality"

I'm linking to a page from Professor John Lye at Brock University that might help you understand better what makes a quality piece of writing, whether it's a poem, a short story, or a novel. The page is titled "Depth, Complexity, Quality" and gives some characteristics of those concepts.

Professor Lye starts by writing:

A common way of identifying the qualities that characterize literature as 'good' is through the concepts of depth, complexity and quality.
The basic idea behind depth and complexity is that literature, as does any art form, represents human experience in a way that is both revealing and compelling, that tells us something about the world, holds it up for our examination, and does so in a way that engages us. This telling about the world will also tell us about ourselves, about the nature of human experience.

As there are local as well as broader components to any understanding of the world -- values and ideas which are common to a particular place and time as well as those which tend to encompass large numbers of groups over time -- fiction will also tell us something about the specifics of a time and place, about how a certain group or time saw the world.

The skilful use of the resources of the art form in evoking depth and complexity is known as quality.

He then discusses each concept briefly. It's not a long page, but might help you think about the use of these concepts to give your writing depth, complexity, and quality.

Professor Lye also has a page called "Critical Reading: A Guide" which can give you some help with analyzing literature, as well as noting things that will make your own writing better. These pages are written for college students, but, if you're like me, you can learn a lot from these types of explanation.

Links for Writers

A website for writers (and readers) is Writing Corner. You can find resources and articles on every type of writing. Explore and see if you find something that helps you. They also have links to author's websites, which is interesting.

There is a page on "How to Critique Fiction" by Victory Crayne that lists a lot of questions you can ask yourself about your own work to help you make it the best it can be. This page would also help you if you are ever in a position to critique someone else's writing. This is part of a website on writing by Victory Crayne. Lots of other information there, too.

Another page you might enjoy is about pitfalls writers may encounter. It's part of a website for author Vonda N. McIntyre.

Hope you find something useful, or at least fun to read!

Messages in Your Writing

Should you use your writing to promote pet causes? Probably not. However, if you're writing posts on a blog, that is likely the whole point of your writing--to promote certain ideas or to teach something or spread the word about a viewpoint. Essays also might be written for the express purpose of showing why a specific idea is good and to provide supporting evidence for it.

When it comes to fiction and poetry, though, you probably will do well to not overtly promote a cause, although your worldview will probably spill into your writing somewhat. At least it wouldn't be lecturing or preaching that hits the reader over the head or bores the reader silly.

Your writing will have a theme or themes, and that might very well be considered something of a promotion of a cause. There will be some sort of conflict (Man vs. Himself, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature) and the way that is resolved may illustrate your views of one thing or another. Perhaps the best we writers can hope for is to be reasonably subtle and to tell a darn good story to illustrate our view.

The more I think about it, the more I think that in everything from theme to word choice, a writer likely gives away at least some of his opinions on things, but again, if it is subtle and there is a good story over all, it won't be a problem. Writing should capture the reader's attention and interest, not annoy the reader. Let any ideas or opinions or viewpoints flow naturally from the characters and the story, and you should be able to do it all.

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy (and Other Kinds of Novels/Stories)

I've discovered a writing course online (and it's a freebie!). It is Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy by Jeffrey Carver. I've put a link in the sidebar, too.

There are things you can learn from this course that will help you write any type of fiction, even though the focus is on science fiction and fantasy. Mr. Carver, a published writer, has a Quick Launch section to get you started writing very quickly, plus what he calls Hyperspace for more in depth learning.

Give it a read and see if it helps you.

Writing Fiction

I have discovered a website for author Holly Lisle that contains not only information about her books, but also articles and podcasts about writing fiction. Scroll down the screen and look at the index on the right side.

There are articles, FAQs, and workshops to read. Ms. Lisle has put together a website with a lot of help for the aspiring writer or the already published writer. You'll find some things that will encourage you and give you some tips for overcoming problems.

Another site you might enjoy and find useful is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. website. There is a lot of information there--a nice index box is at the bottom of the screen. The writing page has articles for writers--some funny and some serious--which you will enjoy.

These two sites will give you some ideas and information to help you on your way. Much of it applies to any type of fiction.