1) “If you’re only going to write when you’re inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you will never be a novelist — because you’re going to have to make your word count today, and those words aren’t going to wait for you, whether you’re inspired or not.”

Novel writing is a long and arduous process and if you’re constantly waiting for inspiration to strike, you’ll never finish your book. Gaiman encourages writers to write even when they aren’t inspired- set a daily word count goal and make sure you meet it every day. Eventually, you’ll stumble your way into inspiration.

2) “Tell your story. Don’t try and tell the stories that other people can tell. Because [as a] starting writer, you always start out with other people’s voices—you’ve been reading other people for years… But, as quickly as you can, start telling the stories that only you can tell—because there will always be better writers than you, there will always be smarter writers than you… but you are the only you.”

Although you should absolutely read other writers that you look up to or admire, it can be easy to accidentally take on their voices instead of your own- especially when you’re a new writer. Try your best to learn to distinguish your own voice and figure out what’s unique about it. Because that’s a large part of why people will read your books.

3) “Write more. And remember that everyone who writes anything good wrote a lot of bad stuff first. You are learning, be kind to yourself, just as you would be kind to anyone learning to do something hard, like juggling or ballroom dancing or surgery.

Learn from your mistakes, and get better, and one day you’ll write something you won’t loathe. (Also, it’s fine to dislike something you’ve written. But don’t dislike yourself for having made it.)”

This last line here is especially important for writers to keep in mind. Writing can be a constant uphill battle with your own self-esteem. It’s extremely difficult to critique your writing without also critiquing yourself since they’re so closely attached. Don’t hate on yourself just because you wrote a bad line- every great writer has written plenty of them.

4) “On the whole, anything that gets you writing and keeps you writing is a good thing. Anything that stops you writing is a bad thing. If you find your writer’s group stopping you from writing, then drop it.”

If you find yourself in a writing slump, try to identify what’s causing it. Eliminate the cause as best as you can because the writing should come first. You may think that writer’s group you joined will help you stay on task, but if it’s only making you more nervous since you have to share your writing with others then it needs to go.

5) “Show [your story] to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that it is. Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”

Unless your friends are editors, they have no business ‘playing editor’ with your manuscript. What Gaiman is saying here is that, when you’re having friends examine your work, you want them to be doing so from a reader’s POV. If they identify an area where they feel something is ‘off’ or didn’t quite make sense, you should reexamine that area. If they were confused, other readers likely will be as well. But once they step over the line and start bossing you around about your work without the expertise of an editor- simply tune them out.

6) “If you like fantasy and you want to be the next Tolkien, don’t read big Tolkienesque fantasies – Tolkien didn’t read big Tolkienesque fantasies, he read books on Finnish philology. Go and read outside of your comfort zone, go and learn stuff.”

Although we’d still advocate for brushing up on authors you want to emulate, Gaiman makes an excellent point here. Most great fantasy/sci-fi authors found inspiration for their world-building from mythology or something outside of that genre. It could jump-start some inspiration if you branch out and study some history, philosophy, or anything outside of the genre you’re working within.

The post Neil Gaiman’s Writing Tips appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) What is a frame narrative?

A frame narrative, to put it briefly, is like a story within a story- story-inception! There are a few different versions of a frame narrative or frame story. First, it could involve a narrator or main character of a story relaying various smaller stories over the course of a book like in the novel The Book of the One Thousand and One Nights. On the other hand, it could be a specific character from a story selected to relay the events of the novel as opposed to simply telling the story objectively. In this second option, it may be a specific character that has a connection to another character or characters. An example of this would be Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, where the story is told from the perspective of Robert Walton as the information was relayed to him by Doctor Frankenstein. On the other hand, the framing could simply be that the story is told from the protagonist’s perspective, but after the events of the story have already taken place. Using this perspective allows the protagonist to relay information with insight as (s)he is an older and wiser version of him/herself.

2) Determine the purpose

When used well, a frame narrative creates an incredibly fascinating and multifaceted tale with many perspectives to delve into. If used incorrectly, however, this can create a confusing and continuity-impaired story. Therefore, a writer should employ this technique only if it will truly benefit the story to do so. Before you go any further, ask yourself honestly, how will a frame narrative better my story? The main benefit of a frame narrative is to tell a story (whether it be the entirety of the book or individual stories throughout) using the voice of a specific character who exists outside the confines of the story. Whether that’s a future version of your own protagonist or a side character who would give good insight to the story’s events, ask yourself, how would this structure strengthen the events or themes of my story?

3) Choose a narrator

As stated previously, the main purpose of the frame narrative is to use a specific character’s voice to convey the events of the story as opposed to using an impartial narrator or first person present perspective. Once you’ve decided to use the frame narrative structure, you must first choose who will be telling your story (or stories). Think about what your goal of using the technique is and who will be the best voice to accomplish that goal. Possibly the most popular version of this structure is using a future version of the protagonist to tell the story of what they’ve gone through. One of the major setbacks of employing this technique, however, is that it completely does away with a lot of the suspense created in a story. When your reader is hearing a story from someone years in the future, it lets them know right away that your protagonist survived the events of the story. However, remaining aloof about the protagonist’s present circumstances can allow a certain amount of suspense to remain.

If you choose a narrator who isn’t your protagonist, you must ask yourself what connection this character has to the events of the story. What unique perspective will they be able to provide that no other character can? For example, in William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, William uses himself as a frame narrator, but a fictionalized version of himself who is simply editing a pre-existing story that another author, S. Morgenstern, already wrote. This creates a unique reading experience because you’re reading this swashbuckling tale and suddenly you get a little note from Goldman telling you ‘this part was too long, so I cut it,’ or ‘this was always my favorite part.’ It creates a strange line between the editing and writing process but also allows you to feel like you’re reading the story along with its biggest fan.

4) Get organized

As we’re sure you can imagine, creating a story employing this technique can be extremely confusing. Since the story will be told using one person’s perspective as opposed to an omniscient narrator who can jump perspectives, you have to make sure each character’s arc is thoroughly plotted before you even begin the writing process. If done correctly, the stories will likely intercept with one another, so make sure you know where in each person’s timeline each interaction takes place.

Once you have all of this thoroughly organized, the next step is to make sure your narrator is believably privy to all of this information. He/she has to be the piece of the puzzle that fits all of this together. Is the story being told this because the narrator happened to be there to witness all of this as it unfolds? If it’s not believable for the character that you chose to be in every single scene you’ve mapped out (and it likely won’t be), how will they be getting this information in order to relay it to the reader? Did they receive a letter, text, or phone call from someone who relayed the information to them?

5) Allow your narrator to interject and have opinions 

One of the most important and advantageous aspects of writing from a frame narrative is the character’s voice. When using this technique, allow your narrator to interject on the events as they occur. Allow them to reflect on them, have opinions, and be angry or happy or annoyed. Use them to foreshadow the climax of the story or have them give their opinions on the nature of certain characters. This is where you create intrigue. Imagine you’re using a future version of your protagonist to tell the story. The future version shows a lot of animosity towards the current protagonist’s best friend, and this allows the reader to wonder, what did that character do? thus creating suspense that wouldn’t otherwise exist.

Another aspect that you may want to consider playing around with is the reliability of your narrator. Perhaps the narrator of your story clearly hates a certain character (maybe even the protagonist), but as the story unfolds, you start to see that the character is actually really kind and harmless. Or maybe the narrator is really down on him or herself, but as the story continues, the audience can see that they’re actually just being too hard on themselves. Or perhaps the narrator doesn’t remember how a certain event took place, and instead just gives the reader the gist of it. This creates another added layer to the story and allows the reader to form opinions and judgments of the narrator and their role in the story as a whole.

The post How to Write a Frame Narrative appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Dialogue is an area where a lot of writers struggle. It can be difficult to separate your own voice from your character’s voice. If you’re writing a line and thinking, “Ooh, this will sound clever,” you’re most likely doing it wrong. You have to think solely about your characters- where they came from, how they grew up, what their family was like, what experiences they’ve gone through and then ask yourself: how would this person talk? It’s not about sounding good or poetic, it’s about staying true to your characters. If your character is a really simple-minded person and then all of a sudden they’re spewing incredibly poetic speech, it’s just going to leave your readers scratching their heads.

One of the best ways to get better at separating your own voice from your characters is to start paying attention to how people around you talk. Notice how different people talk when they’re from different age groups, ethnicities, genders, backgrounds, and personality types. Take notes on different nuances and oddities in their language and apply them to similar characters in your book. This will make your characters feel more real. And, for additional practice, try these exercises:

For both exercises, use the setting and characters outlined below:

Setting: A small dive bar, midday on a Sunday afternoon. The bar is scarce, just a few patrons. There are two younger guys who seem to know each other, but it appears everyone else came alone. Most of them are older men, in their early 50’s. The bartender is a relatively handsome young man in his early twenties.

Character One: A young man in his mid-twenties. He loves classic rock and country music, just graduated from a nearby college with a degree in Creative Writing, and he grew up in Texas.

Character Two: A young woman in her early twenties, currently attending a nearby college and aiming to graduate a semester early. She’s double-majoring in business and communications and her favorite shows are House of Cards and Grey’s Anatomy.

Character Three: A middle-aged man with a military history. He has a wife and two kids, grew up in the south, loves watching Sons of Anarchy and The Sopranos and he’s currently trying to quit smoking.

1) Use characters one and two to construct a scene solely using dialogue. Find what the two characters have in common and allow a conversation to ensue.

Ex. Characters One and Two are sitting near each other at the bar. Character one notices Character Two and decides to buy her a drink.

2) Use characters One and Three and do the same as previous exercise. Hint: How do Character One’s demeanor and level of comfort change when he’s around Character Two vs. Character Three? Show this through his dialogue.

Ex. Characters One and Three are sitting near each other at the bar. Character Three is accidentally served the drink that Character One ordered.

For both exercises, focus on making the two characters in each scene sound different from one another. How would a man in his twenties talk vs. a middle-aged man? How would their voices differ?

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One way to accomplish this is to ask your character(s) a series of questions and learn about them through their responses. The French Novelist, Marcel Proust, is credited with a questionnaire that is still an excellent tool in this regard. Proust believed that, by answering the list of questions below, an individual reveals their true nature. Using this questionnaire is a great way to start to hear your character’s voice.

Marcel Proust Questionnaire

1. What is your idea of happiness?
2. What is your greatest fear?
3. What is the trait you most deplore about yourself?
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
5. Which living person do you most admire?
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
7. What is your current state of mind?
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
9. On what occasion do you lie?
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
11. Which living person do you most despise?
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
16. When and where were you happiest?
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
21. Where would you most like to live?
22. What is your most treasured possession?
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
24. What is your favorite occupation?
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
26. What do you most value in your friends?
27. Who are your favorite writers?
28. Who is your hero in fiction?
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
31. What are your favorite names?
32. What is it that you most dislike?
33. What is your greatest regret?
34. How would you like to die?
35. What is your motto?

Though this questionnaire is a good jumping off point, there’s a layer to characters that Proust didn’t account for. The truth is: characters may not always be honest enough or self-aware enough to answer these questions truthfully. Proust’s questionnaire doesn’t take this inconsistency and level of awareness into account, it assumes that the character it’s speaking to will have complete self-awareness. It ignores the differentiation between the characters awareness of themselves, the awareness that others have of them and the author’s awareness (or the truth).

Unless you address this disconnect, you may run the risk of completing the above questionnaire without really getting to know your character’s voice at all. For example, your character may believe their greatest fear is snakes, when really it’s the disapproval of his father and he has yet to come to terms with how much he needs this approval. But, if you ask him the question and he answers with the latter, he’s exhibiting a level of self-awareness that he won’t have in your story. This may allow you to get to know him a little better, but not his voice.

To help you begin to navigate this great divide, we’ve compiled a list of questions to ask yourself about your characters:

1. What does your character consciously want? Subconsciously? Do these wants align, differentiate or conflict with one another? Explain.
2. Why do they want it (consciously and subconsciously)?
3. How does your character perceive the world and what do they believe? How are they right? How are they wrong?
4. In the above questionnaire it asks what the character’s greatest fear is. Was your character (or would your character be) honest about their fear? Is there something they’re afraid of they don’t know about or don’t want to admit?
5. How would your character describe himself or herself (personality, appearance, mannerisms)? How would one of their friends describe them? How would someone they hate describe them? How would a stranger describe them? Finally, how would you, the author, describe them?
6. What do the differences between the above descriptions say about your character’s level of self-awareness? Compare the descriptions above to your description of the character. Does everyone perceive your character correctly or incorrectly? Does your character perceive himself or herself correctly or incorrectly?
7. How does your character show love or affection to friends or partners? What are they doing right in their relationships? What are they doing wrong in their relationships? What do they think they’re doing right and wrong in their relationships?

These are just a few questions to get you started. After you’ve answered these, go back over Proust’s questions and ask yourself: Would my character be honest about his or her answer to this question? Does my character have enough self-awareness to know the real answer here? If not, add in that other layer or rewrite that section based on how your character would actually answer that question, if asked. Eventually, with enough thought and practice, you’ll hear your character’s voice. Or you’ll go insane… or maybe both. 

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