Everyone says you should read a lot if you want to improve your writing. A blanket statement if ever I heard one. 

Anyone can read. There are readers out there consuming 100, 200, and even more books a year. You don’t see them automatically writing bestselling novels. That’s because just reading isn’t enough. I think there should be a caveat to that sentence. It’s not enough to just read. You have to analyze, deconstruct and synthesize that reading into your work. That’s what we’re going to look at today.

A Word on How You Read

When I say you have to read consciously and not lose yourself in the story, many people object, because “escapism” is half the joy of reading. Look, I’m not saying you’re never allowed to read solely for fun. What I’m saying is to try and keep part of your brain conscious. Allow it to roam the pages for sparkling dialogue, description that sings, or characterization that takes your breath away.

Underline those sentences, or if that’s too much like sacrilege, use a sticky tab to highlight where you found sentences that jumped out at you.

How to Pick up on Sentences

In order to find interesting sentences, I ask how or why an author created that particular sentence or effect. I go into detail on this topic in The Anatomy of Prose, my latest book. Here are some examples:

Dialogue

• Why did that line of dialogue make me laugh?
• How did the author use the back and forth between two characters to show insight into their emotional wounds?

Description

• How did the author use punctuation to create descriptive rhythm?
• Why did the author choose those words to create a descriptive metaphor?
• How did the description shed light on a character’s personality?

Technical Observations

• How did those conflicting words create such a powerful juxtaposition?
• Why did the author choose to break that writing rule in this sentence?
• Why did the use of alliteration in this description work so well to create vivid imagery?

How to Analyze What You’ve Read

It’s all good and well telling you to ask questions, but the real lesson comes from the analysis and then putting it into practice. So, let’s do just that.

Worked Example

I dug through my file of quotes (yes, I collect quotes from books where I think a lesson can be gleaned) and found a great example:

“I see no secrets in your gaze,” I said. I see only night and smoke, dreams and glass, embers and wings. And I would not have you any other way.” Roshani Chokshi, The Star-Touched Queen.

There are many observations we can take from this quote. But I’m going to focus on just two: 

Observation 1

Chokshi has created characterization as well as character description by elaborating through the narrator’s inner dialogue. This means the narrator doesn’t want the character being described to know what they think or feel about them. It also shows the narrator’s vulnerability as it’s clear she “likes” the character she’s describing. 

Observation 2

Chokshi has used a specific repetition technique and rhythm to create the description. Specifically, “X and X”. Her words are:

“night and smoke”
“dreams and glass”  
“embers and wings” 

You can take both these literary techniques and use them in your own work with your own words.

Putting Lessons into Practice

Note that we are not copying the author’s words, their characters. or characterization. That’s plagiarism. Instead we are using the literary techniques like inner dialogue to increase characterization, or the X and X rhythm of description to create our own descriptive flow. Some techniques might work for you, others you may hate. But unless you try the tools and techniques you discover while reading, you won’t shape your own writing voice. 

To give an example of this in practice, I’ve used two characters I’m currently developing for a new series: Earl (the narrator) and Scarlet (the woman he’s describing). If I wanted to use the same techniques and rhythm Chokshi used, I could create something like this:

“There is death in your eyes,” Earl said. Death and blood, vengeance and war, power and victory. Everything I like in a woman.

You’ll note that, while I used the same techniques, my sentences are completely different from Chokshi’s. Different words, different characters, different tone and feeling.

If this feels too similar to Chokshi’s sentence, I could include Earl’s thought in the narrative description rather than inner monologue, like so:

“There is death in your eyes,” Earl said. Death and blood, vengeance and war, power and victory. Everything I like in a woman.

Or I can get rid of the X and X technique while still using the narrator’s inner dialogue to show how he really feels about his counterpart.

“You reek of death,” Earl said. I like that in a woman.

If I preferred shorter, cleaner descriptions, I could still use the X and X rhythm but make it sharper by removing all but one instance, like this:

“There is death in your eyes,” Earl said. Death and blood. Everything I like in a woman.

You can see how much you can take—both lessons and technique-wise—from the analysis of just one quote. Yes, reading is important, nay, essential as a writer, but I truly believe it’s more than that. What’s important is what you do with your reading and how you analyze what you’ve read. It’s that intentional practice that truly helps you develop as a writer. 

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post What “Read More to Improve Your Writing” Really Means appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

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I often hear writers worrying that their characters all sound the same. The worry is either over description or dialogue. Today, I’ve got three tips to help you differentiate your characters. They come from my new book The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences which is jam-packed full of tips to help you improve your story and craft at the sentence level. 

There are lots of ways you can differentiate your characters at the sentence level, but three of my favorites are: impact, details, and dialogue.

1 – Impact Over Sight

What makes a new character more memorable than their physical description is how they make your protagonist feel. 

Forget eye color and clothing. Yes, those things are important, and yes, you probably need to describe them at an early opportunity because it creates a picture of the character, but they don’t tell you about that character. They don’t give the reader anything memorable to take away or think about after they’ve put the book down. 

If a character comes into the scene and makes the protagonist feel jealous or afraid or hot under the neck, then your reader is more likely to remember them because they’ve had an effect on the hero. They’ve done something.

Another trick is to have your protagonist notice the new character having an impact on another character. When you describe this impact, it deepens both character’s personalities.

Whenever it’s time to describe a new character, I ask myself a key question:

When the character leaves the scene, what one thing do I want the reader to feel about them?

2 – Details Matter

Another way to create differentiation is to ensure your protagonist notices the unusual details…ones no other character would. This creates something unique to your hero or heroine and also shows readers what’s important to them. 

If, for example, you have a character who’s super empathetic, they’re more likely to notice small body language changes, emotions, and subtleties in human nature that others miss. Knowing this will help you create more authentic actions, thoughts and descriptions. The protagonist’s empathetic side will be shown through your word choices, be present in their dialogue, and flavor their observations about other people.

For example, if we were in an angry character’s POV, their observation might read like this:

She was short, stocky I guess. Full of attitude.

Whereas an empathetic character’s POV observation might read like this:

She was short, and at first glance, you’d think she was standoffish. But when you looked closer, there was an ache in her gaze, as if she was protecting herself from old pain.

This not only deepens your protagonist in the eyes of the reader, it also deepens the character being observed, too.

3 Differentiated Dialogue 

Of all the character worries I hear, differentiating a character’s dialogue is the biggest. But there are a stack of ways you can do this. 

Just like the details a character notices, the most important factor in differentiating dialogue is understanding your character’s personality. 

If for example, you have a stuffy professor, they’re likely to use long stuffy words in their conversations. Words like: 

• Furthermore
• In addition
• The definitive conclusion
• That’s unsubstantiated

But if your character is a gang member, then they’re unlikely to use the same vocabulary. Instead, they might use slang words or gang-specific words that might not have a meaning in common language.

To help keep you on track with these differences, create mini vocabulary lists for your characters with the most distinctive personalities. It will be a refresher and help you bring out their true voice every time you write their dialogue.

Don’t forget to look at the rhythm and flow of your character’s dialogue, too. The professor, for example, might use longer, more flowing sentences—especially if he’s pompous and likes the sound of his voice. You could edit his dialogue to have longer sentences, use more commas and more words than necessary. Though a word of caution here, reading dialogue like that all the time would be hard going for a reader. It only takes a sprinkling of personality to create the effect you’re after.

Likewise, the gang member might use shorter, sharper sentences with fewer words, if you reflect that right down at the punctuation level, you’ll augment their personality and deepen their characterisation. 

So that’s quick three ways you can differentiate your characters. The most important thing you can do is to truly know your character. Who are they and what do they value? Once you know that, you can let it influence your sentence-level choices. If you enjoyed these tips, you can get lots more in my new book, The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post 3 Ways to Differentiate Your Characters appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Humans are social beasts: we live together, we yearn for the comfort of quality time, of family memories, and of physical closeness. But right now, touch has a bad rep. In the midst of a global health crisis, humanity must distance themselves from loved ones, colleagues, and friends. So I thought I’d talk about touch in a positive light. It’s a fantastic sense to use in writing but is usually underused.

The Touch Sense 

Being touched, even if it’s as innocuous as a handshake, makes one vulnerable because you allow others into your personal space. The same is true for our characters. Sure, the touch could be for romantic reasons, but what if someone in the story is a secret assassin? Your protagonist letting them get close enough to kiss them is a terrible decision—but one that will up the tension in your plot.

The senses are regularly used in isolation in prose, but all of them are connected; that’s why when you taste something, you often smell, too. Touch, when it is used, tends to be found in romantic situations—caresses and skin-on-skin. But oh, my dear writers, touch is so much more than just a caress, especially when it’s layered with other senses.

Mixing Touch and Taste

Touch, while usually reflected in our fingertips’ connections with objects, is augmented by tangential elements. It’s these often-neglected elements that bring the most depth to your writing. 

Taste, for example, involves a range of textures. I’m sure you’ve eaten crunchy foods or those with squelchy, gritty, or sloppy textures. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine with me…

• the resistant crunch of undercooked broccoli
• the fluffy inside of a roasted potato
• the tender bite of a juicy piece of meat

Food is universal; every human on the planet has to eat to survive, so it’s extremely relatable. When you add those food touches into your writing, you don’t have to work as hard to convey the image you’re trying to create.

Think Beyond Texture

You don’t have to stop layering touch there.  Yes, primarily, touch is about texture: coarse, rough, smooth, sticky, slick, undulated, rocky, etc. But touch has other aspects, like heat, pain, pleasure, and vibrations.

Here’s a quick example:

Scarlet ran her fingers first over the blade. Its surface was smooth and icy, far colder than the air around her. Odd. Her fingers slipped to the cutting edge. As she examined the shape and lines of the weapon, she drew her index finger down the edge. It was so sharp it stung hot as it sliced into her finger tip. She smiled; she hadn’t pushed hard enough to cut her skin. The blade was obviously hungry for flesh. A drop of red rolled to the metal tip and she swore the blade vibrated in response: deep, rumbling. Almost as if it was greeting her: one weapon to another.

“I’ll take it,” she said and slung a pouch of coins on the counter.

~Sacha Black, Murdering Magicians

When you’re using touch in your writing, deepen your description through elements other than texture. Consider how you can add temperature or other sensations to create something unexpected.

What Can be Described Through Touch?

If you’ve struggled to incorporate touch in your prose, consider what other things can be described with this sense. Here are some ideas from my new book, The Anatomy of Prose (which is available for preorder!):

Buildings: “Buildings have an array of opportunities to describe textures, from glass and brickwork and the structural foundations of the building to the furnishings and objects inside.” As well as describing what you see, allow your buildings to have sensations, and temperatures, or perhaps they create an aching memory for your protagonist.

Weather and Air: “The sun can burn or warm, the wind can caress or ravage, the rain can patter on the arms or pound the body with hail, and the air can be dry or humid.” Weather is often used as pathetic fallacy, so add layers by considering how the weather affects your protagonist. How does it interact with their skin or mood?

Ground: “The ground can squelch with treacherous mudslides; it can undulate or be rough and hard.” The ground is a good obstacle for any protagonist on a journey. They can sit on it, or touch it, or fall on it. Layer the description to give deeper meanings. Let the touches symbolize the bigger mood in your story.

Skin: “Can be rough, brittle, leathery or smooth.”

Weapons: “Sharp blades, cool barrels, or the smoothed, polished wood of a mace handle.”

Clothes: “Fabrics are a great way of including textures as there are so many, from smooth silks to rough hessians, soft fleeces and rubbery wetsuits.”

Again, with weapons, skin, and clothing, try to get your descriptions to work twofold for you. How can those touches mean more than just an interaction with an object? Can the cool point of a blade foreshadow a death to come? Can the skin of a lover’s hand feeling brittle and worn be an omen of their death?

Nature: “Nature is the ultimate texture haven. Plants have thorns, rose petals are silky, some plants are furry.”

Emotions: “You might not think of emotions as having a texture, but they do! Think about the hot throbbing of rage or the cold prickle of fear.” 

Layering description for emotions is one of my favorite things to write, and something Angela and Becca’s Emotion Thesaurus will help you with. Consider the physicality of the emotion. How does it touch your characters viscerally? Does it hurt or feel pleasurable, does it have textures? And don’t forget you can layer the other senses on top, too.

Touch is an underused sense, but I hope I’ve given you some new ideas for how you can incorporate it into your stories. (The Texture Thesaurus at One Stop for Writers can also help with this.) Think outside the box; look at the settings and environment for ways to layer in touch, and remember that it should be more than fingertip caresses.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post Breathe Life into Your Prose with the Sense of Touch appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

I’ve always loved the energy of a New Year. It’s alive with intentions and goals and the buzz of a fresh start. This New Year feels even more special because it’s the start of a new decade too. With that in mind, do you know where you want to be in ten years? What do you think 2030 will see you doing? 

I spent years dreaming of writing full-time but it wasn’t until I developed a money mindset that the dream of quitting my day job became a reality. This post outlines some of the tips and tricks I used to set myself up, which I hope will help you move into the next decade able to make your dreams a reality too.

Tip 1: Know What You Need

Before you can embark on quitting your job to write full-time you need to know one fundamental figure:

How much money do you need each month in order to survive?

I get asked this question a lot, but no one other than you can answer it. Depending on the cost of living where you are, the amount of bills you have and the amount of debt, that figure will be different for everyone. 

Action: create a spreadsheet with your incomings and outgoings. 

If you don’t want to create one, head to Google—there are plenty of budget templates available there. 

If you do create one, include everything that costs you money. For example:

Utility bills, local taxes, food, insurances, TV licences, Netflix or other subscriptions, internet, sports memberships, childcare, school fees etc.

You should also include potential spending. For example, I go to the local coffee shop once a week to write so I know I need $20 a month to cover that. I also spread the cost of Christmas and summer holidays out over the year by saving each month, so I include that figure too. And, I may or may not give myself a monthly book-buying budget because, you know… we’re all book addicts here.

Essentially, anything that will cost you money needs to go on the list. Once you’ve got your list, tot it up and see what the monthly figure is. That is the minimum amount of money you need to earn regularly from your writing business before you leave your job.

Tip 2: Lose the Debt

A controversial one, I know. But, the fastest way to leave your job is to need as little as money as possible. The more money you have to earn, the harder it is to reach that figure—especially as a new business owner. Most businesses don’t earn a good profit for the first 2-3 years.

If your monthly bills (including debt) total $3000 a month, that’s a lot harder to earn than if you’ve paid off all your debt and reduced your outgoings and as a result only need $1500 a month.

Before I quit my job, I paid off £40,000 in student and car loans and fertility treatments. It meant I needed £800 less each month and that made my monthly figure far easier to reach.

No one’s saying you’re only going to earn $1500 a month from your business forever, but if you want to quit, then the lower the ‘must-earn’ value is, the easier it is to achieve. 

Tip 3: Have Savings

I know it’s boring and no one wants to hear it. But trust me, every business will have cash flow issues at some point. 

Once you leave your day job, you also leave the security of consistent paydays each month. It means you have to be stricter about pulling money out of your business and ensure you have enough to cover bills no matter what date they’re coming out. 

If you do client work too, you have to factor in that sometimes they’ll pay late, and you might need to pay bills in the meantime. Having a pot of cash set aside for this (and also any emergency flat tires, doctor’s appointments, or new tumble dryers) is vital so you don’t put yourself in a financial hole.  

A great book covering this topic is called The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape.  You could also check out Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki, which is specifically about business and money. 

Tip 4: Separate Bills from Income

If you’ve published a book, are providing a service (or you’re about to), or you have any other form of secondary income, then I implore you to separate out your finances. It’s easy enough to set up another current account. You don’t need a fancy business account when you start, but you do need to separate the business costs from the normal day-to-day cost of living.

Why? Because come the end of the tax year, you’re going to need to go through your spending and income line by line to work out whether you’ve made a loss or a profit. Having it separated from your household bills will make your life an awful lot easier.

Tip 5: Track it All

We’re words people, not numbers people. But this is one set of numbers we all need to track. If numbers scare you, then keep it simple. All you really need are a few columns in a spreadsheet and a habit of putting in your income and outgoings each month.

I have two spreadsheets, an income one and an expenditure one, though if you’re spreadsheet savvy, I’m sure you could amalgamate them. For your spreadsheets, include these basic columns:

• Income and any explanatory title you want to give it like Amazon sales, Kobo sales, editing work, etc. 
• Expenditure, and (again) a description of the type of expenditure, like office furniture, software, or stationery.
• Dates. It’s helpful to keep dates associated with the income or expenditure so you know what tax year it falls into and can find any associated receipts if necessary.

If you’re more technical, consider using a piece of software. There are lots out there that will pull the transactions from your bank into their software and make the accounting and end-of-year tax assessments super simple. I moved to using Xero this year, but there are lots of other options like QuickBooks and Sage. Carefully read the terms and conditions and check for hidden costs.

Tip 6: Have Multiple Income Streams

Lots of writers want to write all day rather than deal with the business or marketing side. And that’s fine, we all have our preferences. What’s dangerous is to leave yourself with only one income stream—e.g. only book sales. 

People employed by others generally have more stability than those who are self-employed. But you only have to look at the 2008 financial crash to know that you could be made redundant and lose your income at any time. Which is why, even if you want to write all day, you should protect yourself financially by having other sources of income. If you don’t want to take away from your writing time, then choose passive sources like investments or affiliate income. 

Having multiple sources of income will keep your business stable and ensure that no one source has the power to cripple you if it vanished. Some ideas, if you’re confident and have the right skills:

• Editing / critiquing
• Coaching writers
• Formatting
• Organizing writer events etc
• Patreon

You could also think about:

• Investing in the stock market
• Investing in property
• Freelance consulting back into your old career
• Utilizing other skills you might have, like making cakes or sewing, and selling those services  

If you only do a few things this year on the business side of your writing, let it be these. Separating out finances and tracking your income and outgoings are the foundations of any business, creative or otherwise. And who knows, 2030 might see you writing full-time.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post Six Steps to Setting Yourself up Financially as a Writer appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

In the last two years, diversity in fiction has become more and more prevalent. We’ve seen blockbuster film and TV hits from award winning books like The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas or Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. The positive side to this is that marginalized authors are having their stories published in their own voices. This also goes some way to removing hurtful stereotypes from the past.

But what about authors writing diverse characters when they’re not part of that diverse group themselves. Is that okay? As with all things, it depends on how it’s handled, but we’ve all seen vitriolic social media reactions toward authors who’ve gotten something wrong when writing diverse characters. Even books vetted by sensitivity readers aren’t immune to scathing criticism and (sometimes) online bullying. This response has made many people wary of writing characters who are different from them.

So many writers edge back to the traditional safe ground of writing what they know. But all this does is create fear. And we know what fear does: it cripples and blinds, muting the voices that would tell the stories the world so desperately needs to hear.

It’s okay to write diverse characters as long as we do our homework and avoid hurtful stereotypes. Here are some tips for how to write a character who’s different from you.

Research

If you don’t know how to do something, the first thing you usually do is Google it. Diverse characters should be no different. Look for articles written by diverse voices. For example, the Huffington Post has a homepage series for Black Voices, Queer Voices and Latino Voices. 

If you prefer audio-visual formats, look for podcasts and YouTube channels like this one: Bisexual Real Talk. Remember, most of the big social media platforms have supercharged search functions. You can type whatever you want into YouTube and find a solution on how to fix the knob on your washing machine, which means you can also use it as a research platform for character development.

If you’re more into audio, try Listen Notes. It’s a thematic search function for podcasts. Want to find interviews with trans people? Type that in. Want to find information on the history of Native Americans? Type that in, too.

The important thing to note is that if you want to include a character from a specific people group, make sure you learn from people of that background rather than gathering second-hand information.

Reach Out to Advocacy Organizations

Most advocacy groups are only too keen to help spread the word about the people they work with. There are tons of organisations working with minority groups, from Stonewall for LGBTQIA people to Mind, a mental health charity. 

Better still, if there’s a local branch, you can pop in and ask whether you’d be able to speak to their service users. That way you get primary research and first-hand accounts, which bring a richness to your writing that you can’t get any other way.

Read Fiction AND Non-fiction

Writers are always told to read as much as they write. So why wouldn’t you do the same if you want to create a character from a different background than yours?

You can use information sites dedicated to diverse books like this one, which has lists of everything from queer stories to Asian author lists, middle eastern fiction, and much more. Or you can always use Goodreads’ huge book lists to find stories from every single genre and type of minority you could think of. 

But don’t forget, it’s not all about fiction. If you want ideas about personal experiences, read memoirs or nonfiction books about history and culture. Pop into your library and ask the librarian for recommendations or go to your local book store and do the same.

Speak to People

I know writers are often introverted, but it’s time to step outside of your comfort zone. Besides, it doesn’t matter what country, gender, or ethnicity people are from, it’s human nature to want to talk about yourself, and that’s what makes gathering primary research so easy. 

If you want to create an African American male character, speak to African American males. If you what to write a Latino character or a girl from Nigeria or maybe a transgender Chinese boy, guess what… go speak to them and ask questions.

Nine times out of ten, if you ask someone about their heritage, cultural practices, or their experiences of coming out, they’ll be only too keen to tell you. And if they aren’t, the worst they will do is say no. But the improvement and quality of your words if they say yes far outweighs the risk of a ‘no.’

Sensitivity Readers 

Once you’ve written your book, you can use a group of sensitivity readers to make sure you’ve not said anything that would cause harm or offense. 

A sensitivity reader is someone who is a prolific reader or who has a background in writing and editing and also has personal experiences of the topic you’re writing about. The aim is to highlight any misrepresentation, bias, unconscious or blatant racism, homophobia, or unintentional stereotyping.

Opinions vary widely about the topic of hiring sensitivity readers. Is it an imperative for accuracy? A form of censorship? Would not hiring sensitivity readers be a barrier to publication? This is something you’ll want to research yourself, to figure out what you believe and what’s best for your story. 

If you decide to hire sensitivity readers, I’d advise starting in author forums, be it on Facebook or otherwise. If you have a mailing list of readers, you can always do a call out in the same way you’d ask for advance readers or reviewers. And if, when researching, you speak to people from the desired background, you can always ask if they’d be willing to review your story once it’s finished.

Regardless, it’s important to have more than one person read your work. I, for example, am a woman of color with a mixed heritage. I’m also a lesbian woman. However, while I could read and give an opinion on a character like me, my experiences aren’t universal to all lesbian or mixed raced people. Therefore, it’s important to get a range of views and find the middle ground in them.

Universality of the Human Condition

You might be wondering why I haven’t talked about craft. There’s a reason for that: you need to treat your diverse characters in the same way you treat all of your other characters. They should still have character arcs and goals and motivations because realistically, under our skin and gender and sexuality, we’re all human. But there’s one thing all humans share: emotion. 

I could go into detail about how to write emotion, but Becca and Angela have that covered in spades. For more information, check out their compilation post, containing over a dozen links to posts on how to write character emotion. Or use the search function in the right-hand sidebar to find more.

Bottom line: it doesn’t matter who your character is or what ‘minority’ they come from. The way you make them real to a reader is by concentrating on their emotional journey. 

Be Fearless

This is really the message I want to leave you with. We’ll never normalize minority groups if we don’t bring them into the limelight. Be brave, talk about experiences, ask people from different backgrounds questions, and learn about cultural differences. If you’re unsure about whether you should be the one to write a particular experience or story, ask the people within that group. Then go forth and populate your books with characters that are different until different becomes what it should have been all along: normal.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post Diversity in Fiction: Writing the Character You’re Afraid to Write appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that only horror books should contain an element of fear, but I’m here to challenge that thought by claiming that all books – regardless of genre – need a sprinkling of it.

Why You Need Fear in Your Novel

Fear is a driver. It drives plot, pace, tension, and emotion—which, when you combine those elements, creates the climax of your story. Status quo would suggest that desire is the predominant motivation pushing a hero towards the climax of a story, and sure, it might be. But fear is a secondary motive.

Why?

In most stories the hero wants something: to save the day, to save a loved one, to stop the villain. But having those goals also means the hero has something to lose…the world, their loved one, innocent lives.

Having something to lose – something of value – creates fear. The fear of losing something important will naturally drive your hero onwards.

5 Tricks for Creating Fear

1. Insinuation and Implication

When the Blair Witch Project came out in 1999, I was twelve – not old enough to watch it. But I’d seen the trailers and couldn’t understand what the fuss was about. Afterall, you didn’t see any monsters in the clips. What you did see was a lot of running, heavy breathing, and twig snapping. 

So I asked my dad (who had seen it), what exactly he’d seen to make it so universally scary. He said, “Well, you don’t see anything.” That made me realize that a reader or viewer’s imagination is FAR superior to any words or clever film trickery. 

One could argue that fear doesn’t exist; it’s an emotion caused by a perceived threat of the danger of pain or harm. In other words, it’s just an idea in someone’s head.

And that’s something we writers can take advantage of. We can insinuate that bad things will happen and that’s enough to send a reader’s mind racing.

2. Use Psychological Fear

The types of fear that are popular tend to cycle. For example, since the early 2010s we’ve seen the rise in popularity of psychological thrillers like Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) and The Girl on The Train (Paula Hawkins). But in the late 70s through to the mid 90s, physiological fear was huge, especially in gory films like the Halloween series, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

How to Create Psychological Fear

At the heart of psychological fear is the emotional state your characters (and therefore your readers) are in. Therefore…

• Make sure your hero has a fear that the hero, reader, and villain are aware of. The villain can then capitalize on it and make the hero face that fear in order to defeat them. 

• Remove all possibility of hope for your hero. Make it seem like he or she will lose. That drives up the tension and heightens the fear factor by making your reader assume that losing is inevitable.

• Make sure your hero is vulnerable. Vulnerability can be a form of foreshadowing; if your hero is in a dangerous situation and all alone, the reader automatically knows something is about to go down. Note: you can also make your hero emotionally vulnerable, which is particularly effective for inner flaws or genres like romance.

3. Use Physiological Fear

This one does what it says on the tin: violence, gore, torture, or anything gruesome. It’s not for everyone nor every genre, but the prospect of injury or maiming will inevitably create a sense of fear for both your hero and your reader.

4. Capitalise on Your Hero’s Emotion by Using the Senses

Fear is an emotion, which is why it’s essential to utilize the senses in your descriptions. Hopefully you’ve read Becca and Angela’s Emotion Thesaurus, which will tell you that fear is a physical reaction heightened by your senses. When you’re afraid, your face turns white, you blink rapidly, your muscles tighten, and beads of sweat run down your back. Your villain should provoke that sort of reaction in your protagonist. If he does, your reader will feel it too. 

Likewise, showing the reader (rather than telling her to be afraid) will also increase the sense of fear she feels:

“Don’t tell me the killer is standing in front of you holding a knife covered in blood. Show me the table where the knife used to sit, and a trail of blood droplets on the floor that finishes at your feet. Let me hear the creak of floorboards or the click of a lock that no one’s had a key to for a decade.” Sacha Black, 13 Steps to Evil – How to Craft a Superbad Villain

5. Withhold Information

Knowing what a monster looks like creates one type of fear, but NOT knowing what’s coming creates something different. Let the reader (and the hero) know something awful is coming, but withhold just enough information so they don’t know what, why, or when. When authors do this it reminds me of the movie technique of making music crescendo into a fever pitch and then dropping to silence. It puts me on edge every time.

No matter your genre, fear is vital. Whether you want to increase tension and pace or create depth for your hero’s motivations, it’s one tool that should be in every writer’s toolbox. These five tips will get you started, but try exploring multiple genres, as well as film, TV, and theatre, where you’ll find plenty of subtle tricks and techniques for crafting fear.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post Why Every Novel Needs a Sprinkling of Fear appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

When I get a new story idea, I fly into the start of it with as much gusto as a kid in a candy store. I’m filled with the buzz of ‘newness’ and the anticipation of where the story might take me. But 30 – 40,000 words in, the honeymoon is over. I hate my characters, my characters loathe me, we’re bickering worse than siblings, and my earlier projectile vomiting of words has ground to barely a hiccup.

I’ve hit the saggy middle.

What Is Saggy Middle?

There are lots of ways to recognize that your middle has gotten a little droopy. Some of the common indicators:

• A lack of tension or pace
• Your subplots are more interesting than your main plot (or you’re writing more about them than your main plot)
• There’s something wrong with a subplot
• A lack of action
• Huge information dumps or explanations

If you recognize one or more of these red flags in a particular scene and you’re beginning to suspect that it might need reworking, ask yourself some these questions: 

• Is this scene/chapter essential to the story?
• Does it push your character towards their goal?
• Does it add conflict?
• Does it reveal something important?

If the majority of your answers are no, then it’s time to trim the fat.

Getting Rid of the Saggy Middle

There are dozens of ways to handle this. Here are a few top tips.

Add a Mini-Climax. Your novel doesn’t have to have just one large climax at the end. You can tighten your novel’s middle by having a smaller climax (or climaxes) earlier on.

Conclude a Subplot. Having too many subplots can confuse the reader. If you’ve opened lots of threads in your first act, tie one or two of them up. This gives your reader closure and drives them towards the ending.

Open a Subplot. On the flip side, you could open up a new thread. This helps to create questions your reader wants answered and therefore pushes them through your story. It also helps with foreshadowing if the new threads will continue into your sequels.

Kill Someone. Pull a George R.R. Martin and kill off a few characters. It adds shock value and sets off a few fireworks in your character’s lives.

Add a New Character. Bringing fresh meat into your story always creates new tension because it puts established character relationships into a state of flux.

Add a Source of Conflict. This is my favorite method of de-sagging. Adding a source of conflict in the middle of your story will up the pace and tension and give your characters new things to focus on. It also creates action, mystery, and questions that your reader will want to have answered.

Types of Conflict

Generally speaking, there are three types of conflict you could add to your story:

Macro Conflict. This is large-scale conflict—world wars or society-against-the-hero type stuff. Stories with this kind of conflict often have two antagonists – the villainous character and a more intangible ‘societal’ villain. This type of conflict could cross states, history, natural forces, the law, races, and more. This happens in The Hunger Games, with the intangible Capitol being embodied by President Snow. For another example of this kind of conflict, check out The Day of The Triffids by John Wyndham.

Micro Conflict.This is a more interpersonal form of conflict, such as the battles the hero might have with other people and characters. Good examples include tiffs between lovers, friends, family, colleagues, and enemies.

In Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, the whole plot is a micro conflict. Will, the leading male, has a motorcycle accident that paralyzes him and leaves him wanting to end his life. But Lou comes into his life, falls in love with him, and tries to change his mind, and their desires come into direct conflict. 

Inner Conflict. This is the most acute type of conflict as it’s internal to the hero. It happens when the hero battles personal flaws, emotions, and values. Though it’s insular, it creates the most emotional conflict for the reader because they’re viewing the story through the hero’s eyes. If your hero hurts, so does your reader. 

Ned Stark from Game of Thronesis rife with inner conflict. He has to choose between two values—his loyalty or his wisdom—in order to save his life. In the same series, Theon Greyjoy is torn between his blood family and the adopted family that brought him up. 

No novel should have a saggy middle. While most authors naturally grow tired half way through a project (because, let’s face it, writing a novel is a marathon) there’s no reason for your plot to suffer. There’s a plethora of ways you can snip, trim, and tighten that sag. But if I were you, I’d torture your characters and add a little conflict. 

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post Saggy Middle? Use Conflict to Nip and Tuck It appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

We writers worry about all sorts of things: traits, arcs, themes, motives etc. But even when we’ve got all of those things sorted, bridging the gap between the black ink and the reader’s heart can still require something more… That little je ne sais quoi a reader can’t always put their finger on.

Well, I can, and I want to let you in on the secret.

It’s all about The Hero Lens.

What is the hero lens? The Gestalt of book writing. It’s what makes the whole more than the sum of its parts.

Your hero is a funnel… a telescope, a strangely muscular pair of hero-shaped glasses, a… I’ll stop. The point is, your hero is the lens through which your reader experiences your novel. Everything your hero does, sees, feels and thinks encloses your reader in a book-shaped bubble. Your hero is the lens the reader looks through when reading your story.

The lens is made up of four parts:

1. Actions
2. Thoughts
3. Dialogue
4. Feelings

These four things are entirely unique to your hero and they separate her from every other hero in literature. It’s not traits or motivations that make your hero unique; those things are universal. What makes your hero unique is how she embodies those traits and how she reacts to her motivations. For example, is turquoise more blue or more green? I bet half of you said blue and the other half green. The answer is irrelevant. What it demonstrates is how important our perception is. It’s important for your hero too.

Rather than telling the reader that the hero feels angry, let the reader get to know your hero implicitly. To do this, let the world unfold as your hero experiences it.

Top Tip: While it’s tempting to lace your book with backstory and world-building details to help shape your reader’s perception, only include backstory when it’s relevant to the plot or when your hero comes into direct contact with it. Backstory can jar a reader out of your story because it usually refers to information from the past.

Let me give you an example of the hero lens at work. Here are two heroes; both of them are experiencing the same town parade:

Hero one:

“The villagers weave through the street brandishing placards like rifles. They’re soldiers marching into their last battle. The war-drum beat of their feet grinds into my ears, rattling my teeth and making my blood boil.” (Sacha Black, 10 Steps To Hero, p.154)

Hero two:

“They move like a current, each person flowing past the next. Supposedly united in their cause, but as they chant and sing for solidarity, it sounds like the melody of mourners. I see the tiny fractures, the gaps they leave between each other, the scattered looks, the fear of isolation. Each of them is drowning in a swelling crowd, and yet, despite the mass of bodies, they’re all fighting alone.” (Sacha Black, 10 Steps To Hero, p.154)

I didn’t tell you anything about the heroes before you read those two passages. But even in those short snippets you can tell hero one is angry and hero two is much more melancholy and sad. That’s the hero lens at work. Notice how I also didn’t use the word angry or sad to create those perceptions.

To make the differentiation between the emotions stark, we need to look at the sentence level and examine the differences.

Hero one: Anger as an emotion is sharp, explosive and hot. Which is why in the first snippet the sentences are shorter to reflect that sharpness. Likewise, the metaphors and similes are more violent – comparing the footfall to war and the drum beats and placards to rifles.

Some of the words that specifically invoke anger include: rattling, blood boil, grinds, brandishing and war.

Hero two: The emotion for hero two is different. Sadness aches and blurs and sometimes isolates a person when they withdraw into themselves. That’s why in the second hero’s paragraph, the sentences are longer. The increased use of commas is on purpose. It makes the sentences blur into each other. This also helps to imbue the sense of melancholy and depression. Instead of comparing the parade to war, hero two compares it to death and mourning and being alone.

Some of the words that specifically invoke sadness include: scattered, drowning, fractures, alone and supposedly united.

Top Tip: Next time you’re writing a scene, think about the emotion your hero is feeling in that moment. Consider how that emotion impacts the way your hero sees the events unfolding. What could you change at the sentence level to reflect that emotion?

Traits and motivations aren’t what set your hero apart from anyone else. What separates her is the way she embodies those traits and her expression of them. How her personality influences the way she sees your story world. Let your hero’s traits and emotions influence her description of the world around her. And allow them to extend right down to the details of your word choice and punctuation. Doing that will help you to add depth to your character.

Your hero is biased, your story should be too. 

If you enjoyed this post and would like to read more about the hero lens, you can in 10 Steps To Hero: How To Craft A Kickass Protagonist.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post Want Readers to Fall in Love With Your Hero? Create The Perfect Hero Lens appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

You might think a villain can’t be redeemed. After all, they’re sinister and twisted and think killing people is a post-dinner dessert choice. But even villains are people, and, no matter how coal-crusted it gets, they have a heart buried somewhere inside their ribs. Besides, readers love a good twist and what’s better than a villain suddenly seeing the light?

What is a Villain Redemption Arc?

A character arc defines the change a character goes through during your story. Typically a hero or protagonist will start from a lower point (flawed) and then, as the story tests them, they’ll build up to overcoming their flaw and defeating the villain.

A classic villain will spend the entire plot descending into the pits of evil, where eventually he’s defeated – in other words, it’s a straight-shot into the hell mouth. But a bad guy on a path to redemption doesn’t follow the same arc path. Note the diagram above is illustrative, not literal. Arcs will vary depending on your individual stories and plot points.

So how do you create a redemption arc?

If your villain is going to do a 180 and become good, then there should be a reason. Humans don’t do things without reasons, and in order for your readers to swallow such a significant change, you need to ensure you’re clear on why he’s doing it.

There are two things you need to know to create a realistic redemption arc:

• Why your villain is evil in the first place
• Why your villain is trying to redeem himself

Realism is derived from a multitude of factors, but one of the most important is having authentic motives. Villainy is a dark path for a reason – it’s hard to come back from – which is why you need a super-bright ‘why’ torch to help your baddie see the light.

The best way to create a ‘why’ (or a motive) is to understand where it comes from. For example:

• Maybe your villain wants a bigger pay off and this is how he thinks he will get it
• He could be taking an order from someone more powerful
• A more emotional reason might be that the hero appeals to his heart by saving someone the villain cares about
• Or perhaps the villain just wants to right a wrong or past mistake

Quick Tip

Whatever the plot point for justifying your villain’s redemption, you can create added depth to their motive by linking it to an old wound in his past (you can use Becca and Angela’s Emotional Wound Thesaurus to help with this).

Types of Redemption

Life-or-Death Redemption

There are lots of outcomes to a redemption arc, but the two most common are ‘life’ and ‘death’. Either the villain dies in the course of redeeming himself (often to prove he’s become ‘good’), or he lives because the heroes see the change in the villain and do the right thing and save him. Regina, The Evil Queen from the hit TV show Once Upon a Time, is a good example of this. After spending several seasons as a villain, she endeavours to right the wrongs she caused by using her powers to delay the explosion of a device that will kill everyone. As a result, Henry (one of the heroes) says, “You’re willing to die to save everyone, that makes you a hero.” And he and several others work together to save both their town and Regina who is redeemed by her willingness to sacrifice herself.

Epiphany Redemption

Sometimes we don’t realize we have bad habits until someone tells us or we suddenly become aware of them. One of the most famous epiphany redemption examples is Scrooge from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The entire plot revolves around Scrooge going through an awakening. With the help of Christmas ghosts, he’s shown the impact of his actions which causes him to see that he’s been a leading a terrible life. The end of the story shows him as a changed man, being kind and charitable to others.

Quick Redemption Tips:

• It takes time. Just as a hero takes an entire novel to overcome her flaw, it will take some time for a villain to make this monumental change. Don’t let them flip-flop like a beached fish between good and evil – the change needs to build slowly throughout the book.
• Foreshadow, foreshadow, foreshadow. Readers don’t like to be cheated. You need to drop breadcrumbs throughout your story to let your reader know subconsciously that the villain is going to change, otherwise they’ll feel cheated. It doesn’t take much—the occasional soft glance from the villain, a nicely spoken sentence, an action that is ‘good’ rather than evil. Tiny clues.
• Don’t make it easy. It’s hard for the hero to overcome her flaw and likewise, it should be hard for a villain to overcome his. A quick way to make it harder for the villain to redeem himself is to catch him between two of his values. For example, while this character isn’t a villain, it still illustrates the point: Ned Stark in Game of Thrones values loyalty and wisdom – his wisdom tells him if he helps his King it will inevitably lead to his death, and yet, his loyalty forces him to help the King anyway.
• Don’t let them go soft. Villains are villains for a reason. Keep them authentic by retaining some of their sharper personality edges. Just because their actions are good doesn’t mean the whole of them will be.

Redemption arcs create killer twists because a villain doing a 180 is unexpected. But there’s lots of pitfalls you can fall prey to. Make the change of heart genuine by giving your villain a solid motive, let the change grow with the story, and remember that foreshadowing is key to bringing your reader along with you.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post Create Killer Twists: Learn How to Redeem Your Villain appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

A good book, once finished, often leaves you with that feeling of something more. I like to think of it as the book’s essence. It kind of hangs around like a ghost, occasionally prodding you with reminders of the realization you had while reading it, or bringing to mind that character who never left you. Of course, there are plenty of facets in your novel that help to create this ‘ghost,’ but two key factors are the theme and golden thread.

These terms are often used interchangeably, but in my mind, they are slightly different, although inextricably linked.

The theme is the big idea or moral message underlying the story. For example, in The Hunger Games, the theme is sacrifice, or sacrificing yourself for others.

The golden thread refers to all the elements throughout your novel that piece together near the climax to reveal your book’s theme or inner truth. Think of it as a hook on a bookish fishing line that pulls your reader through your novel. As it does, it attaches more and more pieces of bait until right near the end, it catches a whale of a fish for the win.

In The Hunger Games, the theme is sacrifice. Collins lays pieces of sacrifice bait throughout the story, from the early chapters where Katniss volunteers herself for the Hunger Games in place of her sister, right through to the final chapter where she and Peeta make a pact to sacrifice themselves for the greater good and take down the games.

So how do you lay this golden trail that will lead readers to your story’s theme?

Tip 1: Pin down your book’s theme in a single sentence

Why? Because it will help you unearth what pieces of bait to lay through your book. Ask yourself: In a single sentence, what is my book’s theme?

The Hunger Games’ theme can be summed up this way: Sacrificing yourself for the greater good is necessary. Or, sacrificing yourself for others will lead to greater good.

(More information on determining your story’s theme can be found here.)

Tip 2: Position your main characters on opposing sides of your theme

Your hero and your villain should sit firmly opposite each other, particularly when it comes to the theme. For example, Katniss, the hero, sacrifices herself for everyone else. Whereas, President Snow sacrifices everyone else for his benefit. This provides lots of opportunity for conflict and tension.

But the hero doesn’t have to be perfect from the start; more often than not, the hero will start out flawed, on the wrong side of the thematic line. Through your story and your hero’s developing character arc, they will face a number of challenges that will force them to confront their actions and the choices they’ve made (on the wrong side of the theme). Eventually they’ll reach a thematic conclusion near the climax of the story when they’ll see the error of their ways and make the right choice that leads to saving the day.

Tip 3: Show the conflict via your theme in three ways

• Pit the character values based on the theme against each other (i.e. hero and villain)
• Make your main characters have different embodiments of the theme (i.e. differing levels of willingness to sacrifice or different views on sacrifice)
• Give your hero a decision based on the theme

Tip 4: Weave your theme into each major plot point

Plot and theme connect seamlessly. Most plots have key elements like plot points (where something significant happens), pinch points (with the villain ramping up pressure), and turning points (usually a significant event in favor of the hero). At each of these points, you need to bury the theme into your story, whether it be through character action, decision, dialogue. or otherwise.

For example, in The Hunger Games, the story opens with the principle of sacrifice and Katniss’s decision to volunteer for the games on her sister’s behalf. Throughout the story, Collins continues the theme of sacrifice, albeit in different ways:

• During the Hunger Games Katniss refuses to sacrifice Rue (another very young tribute) – risking death herself.
• Katniss also puts herself in danger to go and find much needed medicine for Peeta when he’s injured.
• She also weaves in the flip side of the theme: not only are these children murdered (sacrificed) live on TV in the games, we later discover that Snow has turned the old tributes into mutated wolves, sacrificing them again.

Tip 5: The Ultimate Decision

In and around the final battle, your hero should face the ultimate thematic decision. In the case of Katniss, she and Peeta are on the brink of winning the Hunger Games, but President Snow decrees that only one contender may live, meaning one of them must kill the other.

This prompts Katniss to have a thematic revelation: they will never beat the Hunger Games the way they want to (with both of them living). Therefore, it is better to sacrifice themselves so their deaths prevent Snow from getting his single winner.

It’s the old adage of if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. But the sacrificial suicide pact saves them both because Snow would rather have two winners than none. The reason this is such a satisfying ending is because Collins uses sacrifice bait throughout the story to lead you to this conclusion.

If you bury the theme within your story’s plot points, scenes, and characters’ actions, you hook the reader with tiny pieces of theme bait. It leads them to one glorious thematic conclusion in your story’s climax.

More to the point, sowing these breadcrumbs makes the reader feel like they are having the thematic revelation personally; it provides an ‘aha’ moment, rather than having the theme told or explained to them. And that right there is how you leave them with the book’s essence, the magic, the ghost of a revelation they’ve had, and a story that will haunt them forever.

—

The Ultimate Tool for Theme

If you need help distilling your story’s underlying theme and finding symbols and motifs to reinforce it, don’t miss this incredible resource on theme. This database covers many possible themes, and the mini-lesson included will give you even deeper insight into how your chosen themes will draw readers in and keep them thinking long after the story is over.

To start using this database, sign up to One Stop for Writers and start a free trial.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post How Do You Lead Readers to Your Theme? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Writing one book is hard. Writing an entire series of books, with their interconnecting subplots, arcs, and golden threads, weaving first book to last, is even harder. It’s like doing a puzzle with no opposable thumbs and a blindfold wedged over your eyes. But there are things you can do, to help you progress through your series.

Create a Book Bible

The most useful lesson I ever picked up from writing a series is to create a book bible. This is a document containing all the most important information about your plot, characters and world without including the actual 100,000-word plot!

Why have a book bible? Unless you’re Einstein, I doubt you can remember every detail, character, timeline and subplot. Having a reference guide helps prevent you from turning a thin character into a podgy one or a science tech into a teacher. It can also be handy for other people working on your  novel, like editors and beta readers.

What should you include? The list below is long (and not exhaustive), but only use what’s relevant to you and your series. My book bible started with just a few lines of notes; it’s taken three books to record all of the below.

• Timelines—for each book, the series as a whole, and even events that happened before the story started, if relevant
• Brief description of EVERY character—including distinguishing features and any key plot information where they change events or create action/tension
• Key characters’ ‘wants’ and motivations
• The character’s relationship to the protagonist or other key characters (where it’s relevant to a plot or subplot)
• Family trees
• Spelling of names, locations or special words—including relevant capitalization of words and made-up words
• A map or list of key locations–for example, the fact that your character always takes piano lessons on the 5^th floor of a building
• Glossary
• World building laws—e.g., rules of magic, both how it can and cannot be used
• Societal structures—government, judicial, royal, military hierarchies, etc.

Understand Entry Points

Most readers have to start a series at book one (an entry point). But that creates reader drop-offs because not everyone will read to the end of a long series. It also makes selling the final book in your series, decidedly harder than selling the first. And that gives you a giant marketing problem. But there are ways to get creative with the series and provide multiple entry points for your readers.

Bella Forrest does this beautifully with her multi-million-selling A Shade of Vampire series. It has seven “seasons,” each told from a different family’s viewpoint and containing around eight books. This gives Forrest’s whopping 50-plus book series seven entry points and lots of opportunity to read across the seasons.

When you’re planning your series, consider whether or not you could add one or more of the following:

• A prequel
• A novella slotted between two planned books
• A spin-off series based on other characters

Decide on a Series-Long Character Arc

One of the first lessons we learn as writers is to ensure our protagonist has a character arc – that they change and develop past their flaws into a fully-fledged hero at the end of your book. But what happens if you’re writing a series? Ensuring your characters are engaging for the entire series requires a little more thought. Here are some popular types of arcs you can use over a series:

Groundhog Day Arcs – These characters never change, no matter how many books you run them through (such as James Bond or Sherlock Holmes.)

Same Old Arcs – Characters in this model take an entire series to grow through their flaw—like Harry Potter, who works on leadership and confidence until he’s strong enough to defeat Voldemort.

New Story, New Problem – These characters have to overcome a new flaw or problem in each book. Or they have a different ‘thing’ to get over in each story arc. For example, Woody from Toy Story has to get over his jealousy of Buzz (film one), move past his ego in favor of his heart (film two), and let go of the past (film three.)

Line Up the Villains

Much as it pains me to say it (because I love a good villain), most villains have a three-ish book lifespan before your audience needs closure or you lose the believability of your hero and the credibility of your villain. If your character is chasing the same villain for ten books without any resolution, the audience is going to get tired. And yes, before you mention Harry Potter, I know he chased Voldemort for seven books.

Except, did he? Each Harry Potter book had a different villain or ‘antagonist’ that needed defeating, whether it was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher or an ethereal form of Voldemort. But technically Voldemort himself didn’t ‘come back to life’ until the end of book four. Meaning each book had a separate villain or conflict, and Voldemort was the overarching series villain.

How do you keep the villain from getting stale over the course of your series?

Here are some suggestions:

• Have two villains, one for the first half of the series and another for the second half
• Have a minor and a major villain—for example, a physical villain and a more societal or intangible villain that’s not embodied in a person. Like President Snow and The Capitol in the Hunger Games
• Have a different villain for each book

A Word On Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers are like Marmite: some readers love them, others hate them. But they’re mighty useful for keeping your audience ploughing through a series. If you include cliffhangers at the end of each book consider the following:

• You need to make absolutely sure you round off every other subplot and story arc in your book.
• Readers prefer faster releases in the series if there are cliffhanger endings.

Series are hard to write, but there are lots of things you can do to make yours the best it can be. Think about your individual book arcs as well as a series arc, consider how many villains you need to keep the story flowing, and finally, remember that more entry points equals more readers and more sales.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post How NOT To Mess Up Your Book Series appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

One of the fastest ways to improve your writing (and therefore your story) is to get jiggy with the nitty gritty, and by that, I mean honing your sentence level quality.

So here are five tips to help you improve your sentences.

1) Filtering

Filtering is when you, the author, add in unnecessary narration, causing the reader to be removed one step from the character. For example:

• I heard
• They saw
• She felt
• He thought

Filtering words like these add in an extra layer, and instead of the reader looking through the eyes of the protagonist, they look at the protagonist. They’re observing the scene. For example:

I heard the owl hooting in the trees and saw the leaves rustle in the canopy.

The reader doesn’t need to read heard or saw because it’s implied in the description of the sound. Those words also put the reader at a distance, where they’re stuck watching what’s happening instead of experiencing it along with the character. Remove those filtering words to bring readers in closer to the scene, so they can hear and see things for themselves:

As the owl hooted in the trees, the leaves rustled in the canopy.

You don’t have to remove every instance of filtering, if, for example, removing it will affect the meaning. But where possible, remove these words to tighten your sentences.

2) Juxtapositions

One of my favourite quotes is a juxtaposition that pits perfection against failure.

“I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion.” (Yohji Yamamoto)

Using a juxtaposition in your description can add depth to both your writing and your characters because they’re symbolic and often produce metaphors and similes, which create vivid imagery.

“The screams continue, some only a few feet away, some so distant and forlorn you could mistake them for something else, for owls, maybe, hooting peacefully in their trees.” (Delirium, Lauren Oliver)

Pitting the horror of screams in the night against the peaceful hooting of owls creates a vivid description that is unexpected for readers.

3) ‘Sense’-ational Sentences

Stories are often compared to pictures; you can produce a simple pen-and-ink drawing or a mixed media, full-color piece of art. If you want to produce the latter, one of the best things you can do is include the senses in your descriptions.

Pen-and-ink: As the night draws in, he puts his arms around me and kisses me.

Full-color: I lose myself in his arms, as the forest, the chirping of night insects, and the rustling of the undergrowth, disappear as his lips touch mine.

By reaching beyond the visual to incorporate sounds and textures, the description becomes more tactile, engaging the readers’ senses and pulling them more fully into the story.

4) Captain Obvious: Crutch Words, Wordiness, and Clichés

Crutch Words

These are the words we habitually sprinkle throughout our text, and most of the time, they can be banished from the story without losing any meaning. Examples include words like but, just, then, so, shout, etc, but everyone’s crutches are different.

If you don’t know what your crutch words are, ask a friend to read a few chapters and look for any pesky repeats. You can also use a word frequency checker or phrase counter to find them.

Wordiness

Next, rid yourself of unnecessary wordiness and adverbs. How? You can streamline your sentences by eliminating any word that, when removed, doesn’t impact the meaning of the sentence.

Bad habits: But then as he gritted his teeth, he realised whether he liked it or not, he really ought to rescue Analise.

Good habits: He gritted his teeth. Whether he liked it or not, he ought to rescue Analise.

Likewise, strengthen your verbs by swapping bland ones for words that help a reader to visualise the scene.

Bad habits: Even though his arms were weak, he held the baby and sang to her.

Good habits: Even though his arms were limp, he cradled the baby and whispered a dreamy lullaby.

Clichés

Clichés are over-used describing phrases: fit as a fiddle, brave as a lion, head over heels. They’re wasted words in your sentences that readers have seen a million times.

She picked up the sword and sliced through his armor just in the nick of time.

The cliché can be removed to tighten the sentence without losing any meaning:

She picked up the sword and sliced through his armor.

5) First and Last Lines

I’m an obsessive sentence collector. When I see a sentence I love, I highlight it (on my kindle, I’m not committing sacrilege on physical books) or I copy it down into my notes. One of the best places to find amazing sentences is in a book’s first line:

“Joost had two problems: the moon and his mustache.” (Six of Crows , Leigh Bardugo)

Why is this good? Because it’s unexpected, and using the unexpected in a sentence (especially your first sentence) surprises the reader and will hook them straight into your book.

Likewise, there are hundreds of famous last lines, often capturing the theme of the book or giving a teaser hook into the next book

Last line (book theme): “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (Animal Farm, George Orwell)

The final part of the last sentence, showing that the animals can no longer discern between their original human rulers and their new ‘thought-to-be-better’ pig-rulers, is the essence of the book’s moral, political, and philosophical debate. Ending with this thought reminds readers of the idea that’s been reinforced throughout the story.

Last line (series hook): “But now our friendship is gone, replaced by the one thing we still have in common. Our hatred for Maven. I don’t need to be a whisper to know we share a thought. I will kill him.” (The Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard)

Why does this work? Because for one, two people who hate each other are now teaming up due to their mutual dislike of another. Mor importantly, the words I will kill are a statement of action. As the reader, you’re now desperate to know if she succeeds.

Final Quick Tips

Collecting sentences is a great way to deconstruct and learn from them. If you don’t want to wait until they pop up in the books you’re reading, try searching for them in other places, such as famous quotes, song lyrics, poetry, and moments of epiphany in films where the protagonist has a realization linked to the theme.

We have to get our story and character arcs right to hook our readers and create a tension-fuelled plot. But remember that it’s the sentences that get read and contribute to a reader falling in love with your characters. Next time you’re editing your manuscript, spend a little time focusing on the nitty gritty, and I promise you your readers will thank you for it.

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

Twitter ǀ Facebook ǀ Instagram ǀ Pinterest

The post How to Improve Your Story By Strengthening Your Sentences appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.