How to Craft An Engaging Fantasy World

Sorry about the radio (or blog) silence last week, faithful scribes. I had my wisdom teeth and a molar removed and lost track of my regular life for a little while.

However, I'm back! And for your patience, I'm doing two posts this week to make up for it. The Bonus Post will follow this post shortly, so keep your eyes peeled.


Now, to get down to the real reason you're here. Do you love fantasy novels?

I sure do. I remember falling in love with them as a middle schooler when I read a plethora of fantasy and magical realism novels. Some of my favorites that still stand out to this day include:

The Skull of Truth by Bruce Coville

Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

The Wayside School books by Louis Sachar

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

...and many many more that I read and that are no doubt stuck back there in my subconscious, guiding me everyday.

Have you ever coveted the ability of these books and others to stick so strongly in the minds of readers? How do these authors make everything so vivid, so readers never want to leave the lands they've discovered there? What makes a novel worth reading again and again?

Characterization, plot, and description all have a little something to do with it, but especially in the fantasy genre, setting reigns key. So, today, I'm going to share with you a few ways to improve your fantasy world and make it more engaging so readers are immersed and never want to leave.


1. Draw a Map: You've probably seen maps in the front or back of epic fantasy novels (think LOTR) to help characters know where everything is placed and how it fits together. Maps are especially important if your characters are going journeying through the land and the reader needs to keep track of many locations and cities. However, maps are also great for stand-alone novels that take place in a single town. You don't have to be an artist, a simple, sloppy stick-figure map is great so you can look back at it and remember where the grocery store is, the blacksmith, and especially how to get back to the enchanted sword the protagonist buried in chapter 6.

2. Write a Bible: The best story worlds are so engaging because there are clear rules that the characters must follow or there will be consequences. Now, you can't have consequences if you don't first know the rules of your own world. Sit down and write a bible for your land. What are the steadfast rules that cannot be broken? Who has magic and who doesn't? Why? Explore every possibility back to the Old Testament where wars were waged and won and lost to shape the world your protagonist inhabits now. One word of warning, though; if you write your bible before your begin your first draft, make sure you're flexible to changing it. Some rules might be tweaked or made more rigid in the writing process and you'll need to be able to change your bible to fit accordingly. You can do this because YOU are the god of this fantasy world. YOU make the laws. No one will come and smite you unless you do it yourself.

3. Info Dump: After you've drawn your map and written your bible, go ahead and open a new blank page. Info dump all over the place there. Tell us the history of this holy site and all the smells, feels, and sights of your protagonist's bedroom. Get all the exposition out of the way here, too. Really go nuts. Now that you've gotten it out of your system, open a completely different blank page and begin your first draft for your novel. Allowing yourself to have that info dump moment allows you as the writer to get familiar with the fantasy world and its characters before you bring readers into the mix. Now, you can pick and choose sparingly which details you're going to include where - so the story unfolds naturally and the reader meets and acquaints himself with your world in due time. You'll be able to write more freely because you won't be worried about forgetting some detail or leaving out too much because you've got it all saved in a separate document that will never see the light of day.

4. Steal From the Real World: If you're writing a novel with integrated fantasy elements or magical realism, this is a no-brainer. Your story could be set in Indiana or Scotland or some other real tangible place. Go ahead and steal that. Even if you're writing an epic fantasy in a new world of your creation, think of places you've been that may give you concrete details from our real world. The supermarket, for example, or the doctor's office. Maybe you have a favorite stream in your hometown your protagonist goes to think by. Steal from the real world because it gives readers something familiar to relate to. However, even if you are basing your setting in a real world place, remember that you're writing a fantasy novel. Go ahead and infuse the fantastical. Make up a new and interesting coffee shop where the cups float to you when your order's ready. Have dragons and rainbow colored goats walking the London streets. Take from the real world and the usual and make it something amazing.



So, that's it! My steadfast rules to helping flesh out a fantasy world. Even if you don't employ them all, using just one or two will help you to better understand your world and its rules and history. It will help you write better, deeper material, even if you're writing a picture book. It may also help you to uncover avenues of adventure you'd never thought of before.

Before long, yours could be the next book causing people to stay up way past their bedtime, engrossed in your world.

Market: Ekphrastic Challenge - Rattle Magazine

Many of you know I am an artist as well as a writer. In fact, many pieces of writing inspire me to create art and many pieces of art inspire me to write a short story or poem.

If you find yourself in the same boat, may I suggest a relatively new market from Rattle, a poetry magazine.

If you go here you can read the guidelines for their monthly Ekphrastic Challenge.

Basically, each month they post a new image of photography or artwork and ask poets to craft poems that are inspired by them. The artist picks their favorite and it is published, and an editor also picks their favorite and it is published.

It's also a fantastic writing prompt to get your muse going on a sluggish creative day.

So, head over to Rattle poetry and see if this month's image inspires your writer brain. If you happen to get a poem out of it, why not submit?

Mastering the Slight of Hand

Writers often have to be many different people when they're in writing mode. There's your creator hat, your editor hat, your researcher hat...the list goes on and on.

Today, I am going to ask you to don yet one more personality. The Magician.

Being a magician when you write is very important for one essential aspect of a good story: the slight of hand.

With this method, you introduce important plot information in one hand, but as the magician, you distract the reader's attention with your other hand. It's the good old, "look what's happening here and don't be distracted by the curtain to my right."

When the slight of hand is played correctly, it plants the seed of information in your reader's mind without causing them to focus on it and figure out the plot way before your protagonist does. It keeps the story from become too linear, predictable, and boring.

What's great about slight of hand is it doesn't only need to be utilized while giving giant clues into the major plot of the novel. Slight of hand can also give great depth to characterization of both major and minor characters. It can also be used to describe setting and time period.

Let's look at an example:

Plutonimus, your main character, is a banking man at Crooney Credit by day and a Slim City drag queen by night. However, the reader doesn't know the drag queen character in the book is Plutonimus until later in the narrative. To plant the seed of information in your reader's mind, slight of hand will be a great ally.

In this scene, Plutonimus is getting lunch with his coworker from Crooney.

"Why in the world would you approve that home loan?" Gregor asked, sliding his tray further down the line.

I selected a pink plastic fork from the rainbow colored cutlery bucket. "They seemed like they understood the repercussions of taking on such a large sum-"

"If I said I understood what it meant to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, would you sign off on my suicide note?"

I shrugged, considering it. 

Gregor groaned. "Give me a pen."

I pulled a Slim Street Banking pen from my pocket and clicked it open. I extended it toward him, then pulled it back. "How were they supposed to know he was going to lose his job, huh? How do you plan for that?"

"You don't take on a loan you can't repay." Gregor snatched the pen from me. 

In this example, the reader is focused on the conversation between Plutonimus and his coworker. They're worried over what the consequences will be for the protagonist's mistakes. However, there are two slights of hand in this scene as well.

First, the pink fork. With an array of colored cutlery in his reach, Plutonimus selects what would be considered a strange color for a man in his profession to gravitate towards. Sure, he could have simply grabbed without looking, and that's what Gregor undoubtedly thinks, but our narrator makes a point of saying the fork was pink. So we know he chose the color consciously.

Then, though he works and banks at Crooney Credit, Plutonimus hands Gregor a pen from Slim Street Banking. Is this simply a pen a customer of his left behind on his desk? Of course not. This is where Plutonimus puts his drag queen earnings so he can keep his second job a secret from his daily life.

So, as you can see, slight of hand not only adds depth and interest to a scene, but it also allows you to reveal info early in the story without being so transparent and giving everything away.

It's a method employed in mystery and thriller novels for decades, but there's no reason YA, MG, inspirational, women's lit, and fantasy shouldn't have it either.

The next time you write, remember to bring your magician's hat along and create some slight of hand magic.

Naming Characters

Writers say it all the time: My story is my baby.

We nurture it and watch it grow and pick it up when it falls down. We're actively involved in the progression of its life.

I see the resemblance.

Why, then, don't we put more time into our characters names?

Parents spend months trying to find the best name for their little ones. Books are read, friends are consulted, names are Googled. They want something unique and memorable, but they also think about who they wish their child to be. Want them to be strong and taken seriously - better find a name that matches. More interested in your kid being creative - pick a name that fosters that.

Yet, as writers, we often think of name, write it down and then never go back and question it again.

Why is this a problem? Well, I'll give you an example;

The other day I was revising a short story I wrote. One of the main characters has a unique name that just kind of popped into my head one day. It was pronounced like it was spelled and it was powerful, all the things I wanted him to be. I researched everyone else's names, but this one character was always - from the very beginning - stuck to his name.

Two rounds of beta readers and five revisions later, I was ready to begin submitting the manuscript around to magazines and journals. Right before I began searching for this story's home, though, something made me pause.

I did a quick Google search of that one character's name and found out that it was the same name used by a Russian gang in the 40's.

Now, this character was not Russian, nor would he approve of gang membership. I knew instantly that I had to change his name. I went on baby naming sites and looked up names based on first letter (I knew it had to start with B), and based upon his culture and ethnicity.

I found him a better name, but it was almost a disaster. If any reader Googled his name, they would have found many hits on Russian gangs and probably would have thought very differently about my character.

But - don't fret - there are two ways around making this critical mistake.

1. Let's say you need to write, like - RIGHT NOW - because the idea's there and the magic is flowing. Okay, do it. Write your little heart out. Rather than stopping to research names, use what I call the First Date method. "He walks into the room and looks around. She notices him and waves. "'How are you HE?' she asks." ---- This allows you to write the scene you need and worry about naming your darlings after you've figured out who they're going to be.

2. Does the First Date method drive you bonkers? Well then your other option is to take the time and research baby names. (Google "baby girl names" or "Sanskrit names" or "Jewish names" to find millions of lists out there for free.) When you've found the names you need for your characters, begin writing then.

Whatever you do, don't leave one of the most important aspects of your characters up to chance. Sure, it's always nice to have a name pop into your head like a magic perfectly-fitting slipper, but it may not always be the right foot you're applying it to.

Take the time to name your darlings.

Your children would want that kind of dedication from you.

Challenge Post: Opposite Day

I was recently told that I have to do a pretty hefty revision of a short story I wrote months ago. In my mind, the piece was just as it was supposed to be with enough tension and explanation of the plot to get to the next story in the series while still allowing this piece to stand on its own. Of course, that was 5 months ago, so I probably feel differently about it now. (Readers and editors sure do! lol)

To keep myself from the defensive rut of, "I need this paragraph of delicious prose" or "How can they not understand the subtle characterization?", I'm challenging myself to an opposite day.

The rules of opposite day are simple: You must write in an area or manner which is completely opposite to your normal style.

For instance, I normally write behind tightly closed doors where no one but my rabbits (who are too short to see the screen anyway) can hear my fingers dance along the keyboard. I prefer a tomb-like silence and stillness and even the fan of my laptop kicking in can throw me from my meditation.

So, on opposite day, I'm taking my laptop to the coffee shop uptown and writing amongst human beings. There will be talking, cell phone noise, espresso sounds and smells. People will probably come up and ask me what I'm doing. I will have to be cordial.

The whole idea of opposite day is to jolt you out of your normal routine and mindset and make you see your work from the perspective of new readers - readers who often first encounter your piece on their commute to work, or on their lunch break, or while also watching TV.

But I don't want to be the only one using opposite day. I challenge you, fellow blog reader, no matter what day you stumble upon this post, to do opposite day with me.

Do you normally write surrounded by bustling action and many people? Then find a way to write in peace (yes, even if you have to shut yourself in the bathroom). Do you write listening to blaring music? Take off the headphones and see what your characters say in silence. Vice versa.

Change something. See what happens. Even if it sucks, you'll have tried one more option and be another step closer to perfection.

Why It's Important To Ride Out The Storm

I recently wrote a short story with a pretty great plot (as long as my writing group isn't lying to me) that all stemmed from one simple thing: Brainstorming.

Remember in elementary school when your teacher would set aside ten minutes a day for you to brainstorm new ideas for your writing journal or so you could come up with a slightly more creative approach to your essay on the Underground Railroad? I sure do. A good 80% of the time, it worked, too.

And yet, very few writers brainstorm daily or even when they're out of ideas.

Instead, we wait around for inspiration to strike. We do laundry, we go to the store, we sit and stare at a blank screen at the coffee shop. We think, "It'll happen. I'll just ignore it and it'll come forward like a shy deer." When a smidgen of an idea does finally come, we usually stop it before it grows to its full potential. We outline it and worry about the characters to fill the idea, but we never let the idea grow crazy and wild before trimming it back. We wish it to grow inside our defined little box of "my genre" and "things I write".

But if brainstorming proved to be so beneficial as children, why do we so easily turn our backs on it?

The answer is, because it can be difficult.

It's scary to go unbridled into the lightning and thunder. It's dark most of the time. What if we can't come up with any ideas? What if we come up with a ton and they all suck?

These are questions everyone has asked before brainstorming.

And it's true: sometimes, nothing happens.

However, other times bad ideas turn not so bad. They grow and shift and change with each strike of lightning - illuminating themselves a little more to the writer.

I've personally set a goal to brainstorm at least once per week. Rather than getting stuck on my writing and going off to make cookies, grocery shop, or watch Project Runway (admit it, you've been there), I force my creative muscles to flex. I sit down with a timer, gluing my fingers to the keys and my butt to the seat.

And you know what? It works. Pretty soon ideas come and characters show themselves and plots unravel. Pretty soon my brain stops procrastinating and shrieking like a tired two year-old and it starts to have some fun.

That's why we got into this in the first place - it's why we do what we do - because we find writing intoxicatingly fun and we can't stop.

So, next time you're at your rope's end and you want to throw your hands up in frustration, try brainstorming. It may give you a new idea for a poem or novel, or it may help you riddle through the portion of your work-in-progress that has you at a standstill.

Need a new idea? Brainstorm.

Can't think of a title? Brainstorm.

Have an extra ten minutes while the soup boils? Brainstorm.

Incredible things happen when you give your creativity slack like that. You'll bring up things you never thought imaginable. They're all right there in your head, waiting for you to get out of the way so they can be seen.

Tailor Fit Stories

Today we're going to tackle the classic debate: What came first, the story or the publisher?

Indeed, for every writer the answer differs, and for every story it differs as well.

Some writers fall very strictly in the "story first" category. They argue that, because the story is the most important aspect, it should be completed in full and revised and shined up all nice and 'perdy' before you even begin searching for a possible magazine or publisher to send said story to.

Those on the other side argue that stories (and probably most commonly, nonfiction articles) should have a clear focus and should be tailored specifically for each publication. That means, you might research one or two and then write your story tailored specifically to their specifications. On another hand, it could mean researching publications and magazines and garnering ideas from their sites or guidelines (like the list of things they're "currently looking for") and writing your story by inspiration from that.

No matter which camp you fall into, remember not to get bogged down in the cons of each method. If you're a "story first"er, remember that eventually, your story does need to be finished. Without a market in sight, you could get trapped revising, reworking, and editing forever and ever.

And if you're a "publisher first"er, keep your spirits up. If your target magazine or publisher rejects the story you tailor made for them, don't give up on it. Don't throw it away in a box somewhere or delete the file off your computer. You can take that story somewhere similar and submit (sometimes with little to no tweaking involved) and it could find a perfectly happy home in plan #2.

Personally, I've crossed the fence into both camps. I write stories because the stories need to be told, and then struggle to find the right market for them afterward, and I also keep my eye on new and emerging markets and what they're in desperate need of, then write a story from that.

Both have worked out. Both have been published. Both have made me very happy.

So, tailor made or out-of-the-slush? What do you think?

We Won't Go Until We Get Some

If you think of the holiday season, one thing that doesn't normally come to mind is creativity. After all, most of us are too busy and stressed to think creatively at this time.

But someone, at some time, made the holidays the most creative stories out there. The giant Easter Bunny hiding eggs. An old, fat man in a red suit breaking and entering and leaving presents. Rudolph, a reindeer with a glowing nose. Cupid, who shoots people with arrows out of love. Tiny green leprechauns who love money and gold.

So, even if your writing becomes scarce or nonexistent this holiday season, remember, your creativity can still flow without halt.

Take a deep breath, bring out that figgy pudding and let your brain run wild! Your relatives will.

Pondering Lit Mags and some Advice from Doug of Pixar's UP

You know when you go to a favorite literary magazine's submissions page and read their guidelines? About two paragraphs in there's a page-long rant about how you NEED, DEAR GOD, NEED to read their magazine at least for a good year so you understand what they like and accept. So you understand what kind of story they'll publish. Then you'll understand that if your story isn't a carbon copy of these previously published stories, you shouldn't waste their time and your own by submitting it to them.

I often find myself turned off by these rants. Even when it's a literary magazine I've subscribed to in the past or one I really look up to. It can sometimes feel that the literary community has turned against us as writers. If they want nothing new and inventive - if they want us to write only what's already been published - then why are we here? What are we striving toward?

This is something I've been grappling with for years. The American culture puts so little value into the arts. If you're a creator or an innovator, whatever you make had better generate its own cash-flow or you're worthless.

However, other cultures, like Japan, can see the value in the arts, and they respect things that are beautiful and innovative not solely from a basis of profit but from the aspect of a cultural advancement.

Because, really, what are we without art? Will we ever grow as a species if no one thinks outside the confines of what we already know and accept? Why do we put so little heft into the words or pictures brought forth by artists that wish to broaden our definition of humanity? Why do we ridicule the artist herself so?

These questions are the ones that boggle me. They are even more boggling when the community that is supposed to be supportive of the artist and his work turn against him.

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for these questions, or a reason that America seems to dislike those who wish to allow us to grow and see things through new eyes. Perhaps it will not be within my lifetime that our thoughts switch and we value art.

Most humans, after all, dislike change.

But we keep doing it, why? Because we love it, and we can't stop. Even when no one else believes in us or shows us any support.

To keep you rolling with your writing, even when the haters get you down, here's a list of 22 tips on better storytelling from Pixar:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/191403052888669266/

Write Like a Child - Even If You Aren't Writing For Children

You know those play castles erected for children at restaurants, parks, and (most brutally) water parks? The ones equipped with slides, ball pits, water cannons, and monkey bars. Basically everything short of an actual cross bow?

And you think - whether as a parent or as a bystander - wow, those kids must really be having fun.
No. They're killing each other. It's like the Hunger Games in there.

How do I know this? Because the mini getaway I had last week took place at a water park in the Wisconsin Dells, where one of the best slides outside had a line that wove through the kid's play castle. I'm sure their goal was to cut as far back on the line as possible by drowning out 90 percent of the guests that attempted entry. But not I. I stayed even though some jerk of a child blasted a high pressure water gun at my head for five minutes, moving the flow back and forth across my scalp, so I was drenched both down my face and down my neck. Breathing became an exercise done solely through the mouth.

When he finally turned the gun to spray another slide hopeful, I spun around to see who this kid thought he was. And there, on level three of the castle, a sadistic, pudgy little nine year-old was the culprit. I was being tortured by a third grader. It didn't take long for him to tire of the other person ignoring his water jet, and his eyes set on me again. We stood off for about half a second and then he shot the gun right at my face.

I think I still have water behind my contacts.

What could this possibly have to do with writing? Well, other than making a good story, I want to use this barbarous child to prove a point about story structure and plot. (I guess I should thank him for making my wait in line so terrible, but, I just can't.)

Your characters need to unleash their inner sadistic third grader in EVERY scene. They need to take chances and do things unexpectedly - things we wouldn't do in normal life. That's why people read stories: to see how the characters react and then how they justify those reactions.

Have you ever seen a dog left in a parked car on a hot day? Did you call the ASPCA or just shake your head and walk on? Ever been to a wedding with a really good favor like an entire bottle of wine or movie tickets? Did you want to take more than one, but restrained yourself?

Make your characters push the limits. Have them call the ASPCA and break into the locked car to free Fido. Make them stuff four bottles of wine in their suit jackets or nick the entire roll of free tickets.

If your character was in my water park situation, have her chase the kid down through the watery torture dungeon, or maybe have her flip the kid off (and of course, his mother would be within the vicinity and then a whole 'nother can of worms can open).

Unleashing your characters' "inner child" will up the stakes of the scene and therefore create more tension. Not only that, but if your character acts predictably in every scenario, wouldn't you put the book down? Boring, right?

Push the limits and your plot will improve, your characters will be more dynamic, and you'll have more fun writing.

But, Alyssa, you say, I've been within the clutches of modern society too long, and I can't think of a way to push my characters to their inner heartless happy place.

My advice: go talk to your nieces and nephews. Take your friend's kids to the Burger King play center or, worse, add water. Just remember to bring extra padding and a snorkel before you leave. It's brutal out there.

The Word Choice Chart

We've spoken before about word choice. Along with plot and characterization, word choice is one of the fundamental aspects of writing. If you have bad word choice, writers will put down your novel. No questions asked.

It's natural for us, as humans, to reuse the same words over and over again. You know the people who use the word "like" every other sentence. However, reusing your words within the same paragraph - even within the same page - is tedious for the reader. Rather than focusing on your amazing writing, the reader will be looking for nothing but the next time you use the word "turned".

Another word choice snafu is using boring words or words inappropriate for the situation. For example, you could definitely use the word "walked" all the time, but wouldn't it be more interesting (and more descriptive) for the reader if you used "trundled", "lumbered", "promenaded", or "skipped"? And if you're writing a dramatic or somber scene, you don't want to use words with a positive connotation or risk pulling the reader right out of your scene.

To help you switch up your word choice in new and original ways, I found this chart of Pinterest. So, the next time you want to say your character is "mad" for third time, consult the chart and try something new.

 

Original from: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/476326098061437968/

That third freckle, ten centimeters from his left nostril.

From the title of this post, you have probably inferred we're talking about detail this week. Details are at once important and easily overdone.

Readers need detail to feel submersed in the story. Where is the character? What does it feel like, smell like, look like? For example, say you're writing about Wisconsin. If you've ever visited, you know that saying "Wisconsin" is not enough. Is it northern or southern? Eastern or western? Is it Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, or Road Construction season? This will all make a difference. Is it seasonably cold or ridiculously cold - like this year, where Easter Eggs will have to be found under two feet of freshly fallen snow.

Do you see what I'm getting at here? Detail - especially sensory imagery - is needed by the reader. Not only does it spice up your writing, but it gives the reader a place to imagine you characters in.

There's a fine balance when it comes to detail. Too little and your readers won't be able to orient. They won't care how great your prose is until they know what to picture. Too much and they'll put your book down out of boredom. There isn't enough action to keep your hook ensnared in their reader minds.

To keep this balance up, I use the method of presenting a few key pieces of detail up front: like setting and a few important snippets either of characters or their surroundings. Then start the action and dialogue. To slow down a scene or break up a long exchange of dialogue, add more details that you haven't added before to "set the stage" so to speak.

P.S. Beware repeating the same detail. For example, if you've already mentioned the store your protagonist is in is crowded, don't mention it again unless you're foreshadowing.

P.P.S. The title of this post is a prime example of TOO MUCH detail. If this ever happens, DELETE, DELETE, DELETE!

The Number One Writing Mistake (Late Post Tally #3)

Second late post this month, third of all blogging time (since last January). Wow, I'm on a roll.

Since this post is late, let me tell you how I spent yesterday so you know why I'm tallying again. After work and a massage to get out the "at the computer 24/7" shoulder knots, and grocery shopping, and cooking dinner, and cleaning up, and then shopping for new winter boots since mine are leaking wet into my socks every time I go out (and this is a massive problem in Northern Wisconsin, since it has yet to be above negative or single digits for 3 weeks and snow only keeps coming), *inhales deeply* I finished reading a book.

It was terrible.

It was so bad, I told my mother, "I don't think I'll ever read another book of her's again, in case she does the same thing."

This is the kiss of death for a writer. I (as a reader) did not enjoy the story. I told someone else it was terrible. She will probably tell another 3 people, so on and so forth, and then this writer will have to live out of a cardboard box behind Wendy's. Bad word of mouth travels.

Why was this story so terrible, you ask? It was terrible because the writer let me down.

Common ways to let your readers down:

• Using 3/4 of the book to hype up a supposedly explosive meeting between protagonist and antagonist, and then when they finally meet on page 368, they have a slightly strained "talk" and work out their feelings sans shanking and bullet wounds. 
• Building up a world with rules and boundaries, only to smash it to bits and tiny pieces in the third to last chapter.
• Anything along the lines of, "Turns out they're government experiments".
• Anything along the lines of, "Turns out it was just a dream".  

You get where I'm going with this. If you lead the reader to believe one thing (that your world's rules are solid and unbreakable) then feed them something else entirely (whoops, looks like she can bend time afterall thanks to a government mutated gene hidden deep in her genetic code...no, wait, that was a dream, she's really dead), they're going to feel let down and they will hate you - or at least your book. They may never read another word you write.

New ebook? Nope, not taking it if it's free. Score a nonfiction magazine article deal? Flipping past it, in case that's just a dream, too. You sent me a Christmas card? Trashing it, in case it's mutated by the government.

Letting the reader down is the number one mistake you can make. We can all see past a little diffused tension here, a little crappy writing there, and a typo or two, but none of us will ever get past being let down. It's like the time your friends said they'd pick you up from your house on the way to the airport, but then left on the plane to Vegas without you. They're not your friends anymore.

People's time is precious. Don't waste it.

Don't live behind Wendy's in a cardboard box because you could have done some more creative thinking - or better yet - trashed that one story you didn't know how to end properly.

That is all. Write better and more prosperous, my friends. (I'm going to leave myself a note and hopefully, we'll speak again on Tuesday!)

The New and The Old of it

I'm going to let you know something that bothers me. It happens all too often, especially in literary or student work. It's experimental styles - not to enhance the story or contribute to plot, but for the sake merely of experimentation.

Now you're saying, "Alyssa, if writers didn't experiment there would be nothing new."

And I agree. I experiment with my writing all the time. However, the difference between experimentation for the betterment of the story and experimentation "just cuz" makes all the difference. It's like the difference between writing for publication and writing for only yourself.

There's a reason all those writing books and programs focus on traditional plot, character, and setting elements. There's a reason genre sections in the bookstore are so popular. Readers expect a certain reliability on these elements from the writer. In fact, when traditional style elements are followed, the story can be really far out there in content. Readers are more apt to put up with digesting it.

In review: Experimental styles and elements are just fine - if and only if - they contribute to enhancing the story, or they make sense for the tale you're telling. Experimental elements for the sake of experimentation should stay on your hard drive for your eyes only. Then we'll never have to read another book review or hear another teacher comment that, "Well, I appreciate he tried something new," which we all know means, "it sucked, but I need to find something to say."

Be better. Be braver. Let your writing and your story speak for itself.

Working on the Working Title

The "industry" (am I allowed to use that word without sounding pompous?) defines "Working Title" as the title you give your project either while you are working on it, or before it is finalized by a publisher/you if you're self publishing.

Now, I'm going to say up front that I don't find the working title to be very important when it comes to writing. In fact, tons of things are more important: plot, character, setting description, good metaphors, etc. But, when you're in a bind, it could help to think about your working title. Not only because it gives you a break from fretting over your current problem scene, but because a title helps you understand your work as a whole.

Writing can force you to work on your manuscript on a scene to scene basis. This is a good and bad thing. It's good because you want every scene to be as good as possible. It's bad because you can lose sight of the work as a whole. Coming up with a decent working title (note the word choice - not "good", just "decent" because this can be changed rather easily down the line) helps you to re-grasp your manuscript as an entire piece of art or entertainment.

Choose a working title that fits the feeling, mood, and voice of the story. Is your writing terse? Your title should be too. Is your writing fanciful? Try a matching working title. Do you write spiritual or inspirational work? Keep that thread in your working title.

Another plus side of the working title is, if you're like me, it allows you to deflect the, "What are you working on?" question.

"The Pharmaceutical Hippopotamus." Nuff said.   

Invention of the Spnife

When my brother was young, he thought he'd revolutionize the cutlery business. He was sick of having to remember the names of and use so many different utensils. He didn't like washing them afterward, either. So, in a genius plea to save himself all the trouble, he did what it seems only children can do efficiently, and created a new piece of silverware.

It's name? The Spnife!

(Pronunciation: spe-knife)

The Spnife eliminated all other utensils because it combined everything into one. Here is a very, very rough diagram (sorry for the hideousness in advance) of what the Spnife would look like;

The new utensil consisted of the already lunch-pail-popular spork (fork on the top, spoon in the middle) with sharp knives on the sides for easy slicing. Then, instead of three utensils per person, you'd only have to wash one.

The Spnife posed a few safety hazards, though. First, if you were trying to eat a chicken breast or steak with the Spnife, there'd be no way to hold down the meat while you sawed at it. In essence, you'd still need two Spnives which equals more dishes. Also, and perhaps most alarming, if you were using the Spnife in its spoon function (say, with soup), you'd put the Spnife in your mouth and then slide it out to get the soup off the spoon part. This would result in the knife ends slicing your cheeks open like the Joker.

Recently, my brother and I were reminiscing about his childhood invention, and he said, "Yeah, I think I'm going to have to abandon the Spnife idea."

This admission (though it is 10 years in the making) turned out to be a fantastic piece of advice for my writing. I'm sure you've been here too: You write something you think is stunning and fantastic (first draft) and then you reread it and realize that it doesn't work. What went wrong? Sometimes it's a matter of revise, rewrite, and revise again until the piece works. Other times, you have to abandon the Spnife. This is true not only for fictional inventions found in fantasy and sci-fi, but also for faulty characters, extraneous scenes, and over-explained metaphors.

It may take 10 years (though let's hope not), but in the end, you have to abandon the Spnife. As William Faulkner said, "In writing, you must kill all your darlings." Stephen King then took it a step further, "kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings."

Late Post Tally #1 (or When Plans Go Wrong)

Hi everyone. Sorry this post is a day (almost 2!) late. It's been one of those work weeks. On the bright side, my unpunctual post has reminded me of a topic I've wanted to discuss with you. That topic is:

What happens when the things you want don't go as planned?

For example: You really want BBQ for dinner, but as you near the restaurant, you realize it's Tuesday and the place will be closed. Or, you thought the shift was covered at work but there was a breakdown in communication that had you running to the office when you didn't expect to. Even better, you start a story, knowing your protagonist has to walk down Main St for the progression of the plot, but then in the act of storytelling, he turns down an alley.

Uh-oh

Your plans are thwarted. Gone is the comfortable feeling of knowing what's on your schedule. Gone is the outline and your plans for the evening. Now, if you're like me, you're probably frustrated and wondering why your protagonist took a detour. Why couldn't things just work out the way you wanted them?

I don't think I've found an answer to this. My best guess is that the universe is trying to steer you in another direction. Here you are, thinking you know what you want, when really you only think you know. Trippy, right? Your protagonist's detour may be a frustration at first, but the outline-wrecking move may set up something bigger and better. That half-baked story you'd scour for a theme has just created its own. Suddenly you're publishing a profound piece about life and happiness and you're winning awards (or something like that).

In essence, though it may at first be frustrating, the detour is probably happening for a reason - a better one than you originally planned. It may not be a revelation immediately or even a few weeks down the road. It could take decades to understand why your plans crumbled, but know that it happened, there's no way to take it back, and you have to move on and go with the flow. Just as the lack of Tuesday BBQ forced you to find that out-of-the-way Thai restaurant you'd been wanting to try, a botched plan can be something incredible.

Live Condiments? Beards Made of Fog? Underwater Birds? Sure!

Is that too weird?

That is the question I asked myself while writing my most recent short story. It's a fantasy story, and though I grew up on magic wands and talking animals, I always wonder whether the reader will come along with me on a story where the setting or characters are impossible in our modern world (depending on who you ask, of course). And while you need to make sure your characters are consistent - see this post - and the rules of your world are just as concrete (ex. if dogs can fly in chapter 1, they need to also fly in chapter 12), it's just as important that you're creative. One of the biggest complaints of people who read sci fi and fantasy is that it can easily be cliché, old, or stale. To avoid this, you need to remember to be original.

This advice applies to all genres. Originality is why we read. We want to hear a new point of view, meet a new character, or experience a new world. It helps us grow our own imagination, which, to me, is the mot important part of a human being. Without imagination, we wouldn't come up with creative ways to solve problems. We wouldn't have artists or dancers or writers outside of technical purposes.

Napoleon Bonaparte once said: "the default of our modern institutions is that they do not speak to the imagination".

That's why artists are so important. So if you're asking yourself if the story, character, or setting you're writing is too weird, don't worry. Write it as crazy as you want. You can always go back and tweak, revise, and reimagine if it truly doesn't work. But we all need originality - we need to feed our imagination. Who knows, your story may not only help exercise your imagination but it may help a reader solve a problem in his square cubicle or fix his relationship by seeing things in a new light.