There is always discussion about happy endings in literature. Readers have distinct opinions about what they want to happen with the characters they have become attached to...and writers have equally strong opinions about what should happen to their characters. So how should you decide if your protagonist should get happily ever after, devastation and loss or something in between?
Here are three things to consider when you are working on your ending...
1. What genre are you writing in? Readers of certain genres have expectations about story endings...the Romance genre for example tends toward having happy endings for their heroines. Not always of course, but readers tend to expect it. You should know which genre(s) you are writing in and take into consideration the trends of that genre.
2. What is authentic for your protagonist? Is your main character someone who has been down on their luck the whole book, nothing going right, forces aligning against them? If so would a happy ending fit with your book? Is it believable that someone who has had bad stuff happen for 200 pages suddenly gets it all right? Maybe...but it would be a hard sell.
3. What is authentic for your the author? Your writing style and approach play into this question as well. Can you write happiness in a believable way? What about unhappiness? You need to be true to yourself (as well as your character) in order for readers to find you authentic.
If your approach to your ending is thoughtful and in line with your genre, your character and yourself you will find that happy or not, readers will respond to it.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The Power of a First Line
I have long wanted to write a book made up only of first lines for other books. To me writing the first line is the best part of writing. Often even if I have a story written in my head I can not put words to paper until I have come up with that first line.
Your first line is your best opportunity to draw in a reader. It is your chance to hook them. One sentence. Just a few words...and it can make the difference between someone pouring through your book and not making it past the first few pages. So what makes a good first line? Here are a few approaches...
Set the scene
"It was a dark and stormy night." While now cliché this first line tells us something...and not just that it is night time. From this line we get a sense of unease, of foreboding. That something is not right in this world.
Introduce a character
"The day I was born had one thing in common with ever other bad day I had, it rained." The line, from The Day the Rain Came seeks to introduce you to the main character. From this line you can infer a lot about her...she has a dark sense of humor, she hates the rain, she probably hates herself.
Give it all away
Sometimes a first line tells us exactly where we are going before we get there. "I only ever killed Jacob Barnaby because of the cat." Using this type of first line starts us in the middle, or sometimes even the end of a story. Sometimes this tells the reader that we are going to be jumping around in time. Or that knowing this piece of information will be crucial to understanding the larger story.
And there are many more approaches to writing great first lines...but whatever approach you take remember that your first line is the readers first chance to interact with your characters. So make it count!
Your first line is your best opportunity to draw in a reader. It is your chance to hook them. One sentence. Just a few words...and it can make the difference between someone pouring through your book and not making it past the first few pages. So what makes a good first line? Here are a few approaches...
Set the scene
"It was a dark and stormy night." While now cliché this first line tells us something...and not just that it is night time. From this line we get a sense of unease, of foreboding. That something is not right in this world.
Introduce a character
"The day I was born had one thing in common with ever other bad day I had, it rained." The line, from The Day the Rain Came seeks to introduce you to the main character. From this line you can infer a lot about her...she has a dark sense of humor, she hates the rain, she probably hates herself.
Give it all away
Sometimes a first line tells us exactly where we are going before we get there. "I only ever killed Jacob Barnaby because of the cat." Using this type of first line starts us in the middle, or sometimes even the end of a story. Sometimes this tells the reader that we are going to be jumping around in time. Or that knowing this piece of information will be crucial to understanding the larger story.
And there are many more approaches to writing great first lines...but whatever approach you take remember that your first line is the readers first chance to interact with your characters. So make it count!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
3 Myths About Writing a Novel
It is said so often people joke about it..."I'm just going to quit my job and write a novel." And with the changes in publishing, the rise of the e-book and the increasing validity of self-publishing pretty much anyone can write, and publish their work. This is amazing...but just because you can do it doesn't mean it will be easy...so let's debunk the top 3 myths about writing your first novel:
Myth 1: I have a great story in my head all I need is the time to write it down
You may have a great story in your head. But writing a novel is a lot more than that. It is the dedication to write every day, to re-write and delete. It is going through the process of editing and formatting and designing. A great story does not a great novel make...so if you have a great story, start writing, but that is only step 1 in the process.
Myth 2: Writing is easy
Anyone who has tried to write a novel knows this is not true. Even if writing is easy, writing a novel is not. Even when the content flows easily and your story is engaging it is still work. It still requires discipline and thoughtfulness. You need to create characters who come alive on the pages, who your readers invest in. You need to avoid the types of mistakes that disconnect a reader form the story...mistakes about time and place for example. You need to consider who you are writing for...this will inform the types of words you use or references you make.
Myth 3: I can do everything myself...I don't need an designer, proofreader, publisher
You are right you can. But that doesn't mean you should. This is where your friends and colleagues can help you...you don't need to spend thousands for a professionally designed cover but you should talk to the guy you get coffee with sometimes you designs websites for a living and see if he can help you. You don't need a proofreader, but you should ask your friend who always remembers which "there" to use if she would read it over and mark it up for you. You don't need a publisher, but you will need to learn about formatting for the different platforms you can self-publish on and you will need to think about how you will market and promote your book once it is done.
Writing a novel isn't as glamorous as it sounds...but it is rewarding and it is doable. Just make sure you think the whole process through...that way your final book will be something you are proud of.
So where do you start? Wherever you want...write a character sketch, start at the beginning, start at the end, draw out a timeline or create a family tree. And then do something every day.
Myth 1: I have a great story in my head all I need is the time to write it down
You may have a great story in your head. But writing a novel is a lot more than that. It is the dedication to write every day, to re-write and delete. It is going through the process of editing and formatting and designing. A great story does not a great novel make...so if you have a great story, start writing, but that is only step 1 in the process.
Myth 2: Writing is easy
Anyone who has tried to write a novel knows this is not true. Even if writing is easy, writing a novel is not. Even when the content flows easily and your story is engaging it is still work. It still requires discipline and thoughtfulness. You need to create characters who come alive on the pages, who your readers invest in. You need to avoid the types of mistakes that disconnect a reader form the story...mistakes about time and place for example. You need to consider who you are writing for...this will inform the types of words you use or references you make.
Myth 3: I can do everything myself...I don't need an designer, proofreader, publisher
You are right you can. But that doesn't mean you should. This is where your friends and colleagues can help you...you don't need to spend thousands for a professionally designed cover but you should talk to the guy you get coffee with sometimes you designs websites for a living and see if he can help you. You don't need a proofreader, but you should ask your friend who always remembers which "there" to use if she would read it over and mark it up for you. You don't need a publisher, but you will need to learn about formatting for the different platforms you can self-publish on and you will need to think about how you will market and promote your book once it is done.
Writing a novel isn't as glamorous as it sounds...but it is rewarding and it is doable. Just make sure you think the whole process through...that way your final book will be something you are proud of.
So where do you start? Wherever you want...write a character sketch, start at the beginning, start at the end, draw out a timeline or create a family tree. And then do something every day.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Facing Failure: When the Play Dough Container Won't Open
Yesterday my daughter "failed" to be able to take off the cover to the play dough container. In some ways it is hard to call this a failure because she is two and those containers are tough. But it is a failure none the less. On a small scale for sure, but she got frustrated, didn't want her brothers help and finally abandoned the Play Dough all together and did something else. It seemed to me almost like a microcosm of what happens on a larger scale all the time. We try something, the result is not what we like, or expect and we abandon it for something else. And we give it a "nasty" word.
You failed to get the promotion. You didn't succeed in getting to spend more time with your family.
You failed at your marriage. You didn't succeed in leaving someone who never made you happy.
We celebrate our successes and hide our failures and this takes so much work. And is counter productive. In a recent study on failure conducted by ES Communications they asked respondents about their experiences with failure.
The first two things that jumped out at me was that when asked if failure was a private thing 2/3 of respondents said no. Individuals perceive that their failures will be public knowledge. This fact along plays a large role in how people feel about failure. Since we feel it will become public we are forced not just to think about the failure but also how we will handle how other people in our life will handle the failure.
The second area of interest was around the areas of our lives where people feel they experience failure. At the top of that list is friendships. Followed by work and then failure with our significant other/spouse. When we think about these results the first thing that comes to mind is that our self-reporting is flawed. We feel the worst about our interpersonal failures and so we report on them as being more prevalent then they are.
You failed to get the promotion. You didn't succeed in getting to spend more time with your family.
You failed at your marriage. You didn't succeed in leaving someone who never made you happy.
We celebrate our successes and hide our failures and this takes so much work. And is counter productive. In a recent study on failure conducted by ES Communications they asked respondents about their experiences with failure.
The first two things that jumped out at me was that when asked if failure was a private thing 2/3 of respondents said no. Individuals perceive that their failures will be public knowledge. This fact along plays a large role in how people feel about failure. Since we feel it will become public we are forced not just to think about the failure but also how we will handle how other people in our life will handle the failure.
Failure isn't easy. From the moment we realize we can't open the Play Dough container ourselves to our inability to make up with a friend to feeling like we can't buy someone the gift we want because we don't have the money. All feed our desire to succeed and our need to be praised and recognized for something good. What if we could turn it all around. Change our thinking about what it means to fail...could it become something positive?
Saturday, January 4, 2014
It's not an Autobiography...
So The Day the Rain Came was published about a week ago. I wrote it almost 20 years ago. It is the real voice of a 15 year old girl...but it is fiction. It is not my story.
The main character is dear to my heart...like an old friend I haven't seen in a while but who I would like to find on Facebook. I put her through a lot...took a lot from her...and left her with less then she started with. She has my voice, but she is not me.
The thing that has been interesting to me is that I have this feeling that if anyone I know reads it...and that in and of itself is a big "if"...I think they will think it is based on my life. And suddenly that makes me feel very exposed. Because Ashlyn has struggled through a lot and some of the things she has had to face aren't comfortable topics for people. Perhaps the upside is maybe it will help continue conversations about sexual abuse and rape, about violence in teen relationships, about how the culture of our society prefers to blame the victim still.
The main character is dear to my heart...like an old friend I haven't seen in a while but who I would like to find on Facebook. I put her through a lot...took a lot from her...and left her with less then she started with. She has my voice, but she is not me.
The thing that has been interesting to me is that I have this feeling that if anyone I know reads it...and that in and of itself is a big "if"...I think they will think it is based on my life. And suddenly that makes me feel very exposed. Because Ashlyn has struggled through a lot and some of the things she has had to face aren't comfortable topics for people. Perhaps the upside is maybe it will help continue conversations about sexual abuse and rape, about violence in teen relationships, about how the culture of our society prefers to blame the victim still.
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