Character Arc

Even though you’re working with a fraction of the page length and word count that novelists work with, short story readers want to see some character arc- at least from your protagonist. If you’re including, let’s say, a group of friends in your short story, your audience won’t be expecting character arc from every single member of the group. That would be a ridiculous expectation for a 30-page story. Simply hone in on your protagonist’s story and brainstorm ways to make sure they’ve changed by the end of the story. Remember, your short story should be selected to take place during a time of character growth for your protagonist. Focus on how the events of the story will change your protagonist as a person- for better or worse.

As few characters as possible

Because your page length is very limited and there’s a lot that needs to happen, you’ll only be shooting yourself in the foot by trying to include dozens of characters. You won’t be able to fully realize your protagonist’s development and the plot of the story if you’re focusing on establishing all of these different characters and their unique traits. Not only that, but your readers will be frustrated. Even in a novel, it’s difficult to have several characters introduced at once- let alone in a story less than 1/4 the size.

Emotional Impact

It may not happen often, but have you ever watched a commercial or music video and found yourself bursting into tears? Even though you’ve been viewing this tiny story or advertisement for a mere few minutes, what you watched was so simple and touching with its own little story. You leave surprised something so short could impact you so much emotionally. That’s exactly how your short story should feel. All of the best short stories, similarly to these mediums, hone in on the emotional core of an experience and, because they’re short and can get right to the point, have a way of being extremely touching. Stories like Why the Sky Turns Red When the Sun Goes Down and Delicate Edible Birds are just a few of hundreds of stories to use as examples of how to do this well.

Clear theme

Whereas novel writers can touch on several themes or topics throughout their stories, short story writers are encouraged to hone in on one and focus on dissecting it. And it can’t be a general idea like simply love/relationships, politics, or war- hone in on a specific aspect of these big ideas. For example, Jhumpa Lahiri’s A Temporary Matter focuses on the relationship between a couple who suffered a miscarriage and how it affects their relationship.

Less exposition, more action/imagery

Though novel writing will inevitably involve some exposition, in a short story you should include as little as possible. Focus on showing the details of your character’s internal state and their feelings through setting, observations that the character makes, objects they see, people they interact with, and body language. For example, let’s say your protagonist’s dilemma is trying to decide whether they want to have kids. Maybe throughout the story, as they maneuver through life, they observe different kid/parent interactions- some sweet, some sad, some annoying. This way we aren’t being told how the protagonist feels, we get to see them noticing things and their body language or reactions can tell us how they’re feeling about what they’re observing.

The post Writing For Your Audience: Short Stories appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Memoir vs. Autobiography: Know the difference

Writers often make the mistake of using these two terms interchangeably, but they are actually two very different things. An Autobiography is the story of the entirety of one’s life. All of the events one has experienced or remembers from birth to present. Typically these are done chronologically with an emphasis on factual information, but that isn’t required.

A Memoir, however, draws on a select set of stories or anecdotes from your life to support a specific theme or message. This message would either be something the readers are meant to learn from or a statement on the human condition as a whole. So, for example, say you wanted to write about your experiences being a victim of domestic violence. A memoir would involve pulling the specific stories necessary to tell your experience with that part of your life and, ultimately, how you overcame it and the lessons you learned along the way.

Choose Wisely

Which you choose, ultimately, depends in part on both your goals as well as your influential status. So, for example, if you’re writing the book to be a piece of you to leave with family so they have a chronical of your life, an Autobiography would be best. In addition, an Autobiography would also work well if you’re a celebrity or an influential public figure. When you have influence, readers clamor to hear all of the intricate details of your entire life.

However, should neither of those be the case, we’d recommend going with the Memoir format. This style is more about allowing readers to experience and learn from your life and, if you’re hoping to be established as a writer through this book, this is the right way to go. The focus of a Memoir is more to how to allow readers to gain something valuable from your book, which is conducive with building a following.

Choose a Theme

If you choose to write a Memoir, your first step will be choosing a theme. You’ll likely already have something in mind because that’s typically what prompts people to pursue Memoir writing in the first place. But think on the subject in more detail. You may have a traumatic experience or unique upbringing you’d like to share, but ask yourself: How did the experience affect me? How does it still affect me? Did I overcome the adversity I faced? If so, what did I learn from it? If not, why didn’t I? Make sure you’re choosing a subject that involves a conflict or a journey of some sort, otherwise readers won’t be able to gain any insight from your experiences. Think about it, if your book is about how you easily put yourself through grad school, how are readers supposed to relate? What would they learn from that experience?

Organize Your Story

This next step is applicable to both Autobiographies and Memoirs: get organized! Figure out the best order for the story you want to tell. For some, it’s chronological, but for others, their stories work best jumping back and forth in time. You want to create suspense, drama, and reveals–this is part of what makes any story good. Write down all the events that get the readers from point a (the conflict) and point b (learning the lesson) and figure out the most effective order of events.

Be Brutally Honest

You’re not going to like where we’re going with this, but bear with us. Some writers make the mistake of writing a memoir or autobiography that is actually a barely disguised Burn Book. They write the whole novel from the perspective of how blameless they are for every misfortune in their lives and how everything bad about their life is person A and person B’s fault. If you go this route, similar to the girls from Mean Girls, you’re making a big mistake -huge (different movie, but you get it).

Readers want to relate to you as the protagonist of this book and it can be difficult to relate to someone who paints themselves as perfect. In addition, if you make yourself seemingly flawless and blameless, you’ll come across as arrogant. Never be afraid to own up to things you’ve done wrong and paint a flawed picture of yourself. Not only will readers gain a lot more insight from an honest take, but they’ll relate and empathize with your journey a whole lot more.

Use Fiction Writing Techniques

This is solely for Memoir writers- start thinking like a fiction writer. The goal of your book is to create a compelling story with a specific theme or message that readers can receive. To do this effectively, you’ll need to think of yourself not as yourself, but as the protagonist of a story. Show details rather than tell them, create scenes in a visual and sensory way that readers can experience rather than simply hear about. Use direct and indirect dialogue, character arc, point of view, setups/payoffs, etc., the way a fiction writer would in order to tell a compelling tale that will hook readers in. Your life is no longer your life now, your life is a story. What does that story say?

The post Genre Spotlight: Autobiography/Memoir appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Find your theme

If you’re thinking of writing a cookbook, you likely have at least a general idea of what you want to focus on. You probably have it narrowed down to a fairly broad category like dinner recipes, party recipes, etc. But the more specific you are with your theme, the more likely your book is to be successful.

There are so many cookbooks out there already, that you really have to narrow down your theme to set yourself apart. For example, you could write a cookbook about bridal shower recipes, vegan party recipes, or low-carb desserts. If you struggle to narrow down your scope, do some research. See what type of foods or restaurants are high in demand and go from there!

Get organized

Although a cookbook doesn’t have a formal narrative, it still needs to tell a story. Whether you decide to organize yours by course, season, protein, type, or cook time, there needs to be some kind of order. Your table of contents should be easy to navigate and the recipes need to be somewhat organized. For example, if you’re writing a dessert cookbook, your readers shouldn’t have to flip through the whole book to find the cake recipe they want. The cake recipes should be grouped together so they can easily comb through and see which one best suits their present needs.

Get Creative

Of course cooking in and of itself is a creative art, but when it comes to the writing part, the creativity is in the titles. Make sure you’re coming up with fun and catchy titles for recipes that suit the theme of your book- rather than just writing “Apple Pie Recipe” at the top of the page. Readers can easily find recipes online nowadays, being creative and cohesive with your theme is what will set your recipes apart. Readers won’t know whether or not your recipes are any good until after they purchase the book- this why you need to hook them in with your creativity initially. They’re much more likely to buy the “Apple of My Eye Pie” than the boring “Apple Pie”.

Employ a good graphic designer and photographer

One of the major appeals of a cookbook is the visual aesthetic. It needs to stand out in terms of layout design and cover because there are so many other cookbooks out there. This, like the titles, is another chance for you to convince readers that your book is different. Not only that, but photography is absolutely key. When readers see pictures of your recipes, their mouths need to salivate and their tummies need to grumble. So make sure you have a great graphic designer and photographer on your team. It may seem like the easier option to just take the pictures yourself, but trust us when we tell you that having them professionally done will make a huge difference.

SaveSave

The post Genre Spotlight: Cookbooks appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

]]>