If I were a painter, I would daub oil paint across a large canvas. I am not a miniaturist, not one for too much introspection. Back in my dancing days, my dance partner and I choreographed ambitious full-length productions with just the two of us. Later, as an arts manager, I loved producing big-scale theatrical events. When I made a documentary film, it was feature-length. 

As a writer, I love pitching characters into big worlds or challenging situations. In my debut novel, Wayward Voyage, I pitched Anne Bonny into the gritty 18^th Century world of piracy. With Blind Eye, I sent my main character into the murky world of illegal logging. Before becoming novels, both stories were conceived as screenplays i.e. visually.

In my novels, I want to put readers bang smack in the middle of my world. But how do you make scenes real?

Let’s begin with research.

Building the world for The Find

My third novel, The Find, was published in autumn 2022. The seed for this story began with my husband. He told me his idea when recovering from a fever, and I reckon his brain was still scrambled! I loved the off-field premise and urged him to write it down. 

The Find is a high concept “What if…?” Here’s the story outline:

When human remains are found deep in an Ireland peat bog, the National Museum of Ireland takes charge, and their bog body specialist, Dr. Carrie O’Neill, begins to investigate. As more is revealed about the bog body, repercussions ripple throughout the world.

I love research, but bog body science? Where to start?

1. Desk Research 

The internet is my friend. I always work with two monitors open, my laptop to write on, and a screen to my left with the internet ready to explore.

Academic papers by scientists are readily available. I read some, gleaning information that might be useful, and I watched YouTube videos of well-known bog body finds being cleaned. That was visceral, and I could imagine myself in a laboratory picking flakes of peat off old leathery mummified skin.

When considering philosophical angles and differing beliefs, I dusted off old study texts, bought or borrowed new ones, and listened to YouTube and podcast lectures.

And Google Earth was a handy tool.

Over several months, I drafted and redrafted The Find manuscript. My husband was fully invested, loved researching with me, and thrilled to see his initial idea flower into a fully visualized world. He made valuable suggestions on edits and additions, and we argued about one of two things… as you do.

Take away: Anything and everything is available to research on the internet. Make use of it.

2. Specialist Advice

Amongst online content, one academic paper caught my eye. It was an undergraduate thesis from a few years earlier dealing with the practicalities and ethics of displaying bog bodies. Just what I needed! I contacted the British University that had published it, reaching out to the student who by then was completing her doctorate. Might she assist me?

Dr. Emma Tollefsen entered the spirit of my story knowing instinctively to keep the scientific touch “light”. She ensured bog body science procedures and timelines were correct and provided specific information I would not otherwise have known. 

I emailed the National Museum Dublin’s Assistant Keeper. This real-life bog-body specialist provided me with readily available documentation.

Take away: Never be embarrassed to reach out to specialists. They’ll usually be happy to help and the worst they can say is “No”.

3. Boots on the Ground

With my husband, we booked five nights in Dublin combining holiday and research.

First to the National Museum’s Archaeological Museum. This institution is central to my story, with one particular (real) exhibition of major significance.

The Kingship and Sacrifice Gallery is where some of the museum’s own bog bodies are displayed. It was important to experience how human remains were sensitively contextualized.

I paid attention to the layouts of museums and worked out the travel time between sites, driving and public transport. I took photos and videos of interiors and exteriors and became familiar with locations that Carrie O’Neill and her colleagues inhabited.

I was disappointed to find the Irish Times building closed with journalists working from home (Covid restrictions) as I had wanted to see where my character, Finn, worked. However, I know the deli across the street is where he’d pick up a coffee, and I passed a newspaper kiosk where he would pick up morning paper. All helps.

I traveled by bus and tram so I could figure which suburbs I wanted Carrie and Finn to live in, taking photos of streets and houses, and figuring out routes to work.

At St. Stephen’s Green, a city park, I recreated one scene where my character, Carrie, is sitting on a bench soaking up the wintry sun. Did a shadow pass across her closed eyelids when someone walked past, as I had imagined? Did the slatted seat move as someone sat at the other end? My husband re-enacted. Yes!

Take away: Experiencing environments for yourself can be invaluable. There are distinctive smells, sights and sounds that can add color to your story, and details you can only pick up by being there.

4. Beta Readers

It was time to test my story. From some, I wanted general reactions, from others I sought specific feedback. Had I got the nuances of Irish life correct and did the dialogue ring true? 

For example, police are called garda in Ireland, but either name is used. Two readers who grew up in Ireland assured me my story felt authentic. Emma gave me the “all clear” on redrafted scientific sections. As The Find touches on faith-based belief, I sought feedback on whether my story might offend? All good.

Take away: Before offering a manuscript for editing/proofreading, prior to publication, you must be confident the world you have created hangs together. Get feedback from a variety of readers who can comment on different aspects of the story. 

Does research work? The proof is in the pudding.

Once published, nothing gives me greater pleasure than endorsements from people who live and breathe the worlds I sought to create. Here are two favorites.

Wayward Voyage: “Anna is a natural storyteller and a gifted writer using colourful language that makes the reader so absorbed they feel part of the adventure.” Jim Lawlor, The Bahamas Historical Society.

Blind Eye: “This book may be a fast-paced environmental thriller, but for me it is real. Thank you.” Dr. Leonie van der Maesen, life-long rainforest campaigner.

Stories with big themes written as page-turners are Anna M Holmes’s speciality. She loves research–exploring and building worlds and complex characters. The Find is her latest novel following Wayward Voyage and Blind Eye. Initially, she worked as a radio journalist before a career in arts management working with UK Arts Councils and as a creative producer. Writing, reading, dance, and yoga shape her life. Originally from New Zealand Anna lives in South-West London.
To discover more about Anna M Holmes you can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The post Research: The Key to Immersive World Building appeared first on DIY MFA.

But for a lot of us, writing those initial piles of words is difficult. Really, beginning is harder than almost anything. First drafts perk up your inner perfectionist, who insists on immediate edits. I like to call her Judgmental Judy (Nothing against folks named Judy! I just like the alliteration). She peers over my shoulder whenever I’m writing, continually explaining that all of my words are awful and I might as well quit writing altogether.

Oh! Do you know Judy too? Come on down to our club! We meet at the ice cream shop every Wednesday. I’m thinking about making t-shirts!

Getting out from under that inner perfectionist’s beautifully manicured talons is hard. And, even once you’ve done it, you’ll find that you have to repeat the effort over and over.

Darn it!

And the truth is that editing is easier with all those words waiting and ready to spark your inspiration. As the wise Jodi Picoult said, “You can’t edit a blank page.”

That initial pile of words (or what Anne Lamott calls “the sh*tty first draft”) cannot be avoided. And since most of us must find our writing time in the nooks and crannies of our busy lives, we can’t waste our time resisting the effort.

It’s time to get serious about getting those first words on the page.

Practice Writing a Rough Draft

Now, I can hear some of you calling out, “Who needs practice to write a rough draft? They’re awful! Why would we practice?”

And that’s just the thing. Because they are awful, because we’re ashamed of the inelegant wording, because we can’t completely shut Judgmental Judy’s constant criticism out of our minds, because the process is filled with stops and starts and distractions and questions with answers we don’t have, we don’t want to write them.

And thus, writing them is hard. What could be a carnival of glorious fun is changed into a morass of self-doubt and horror.

So, what do we do when something is hard? How do we build up our skills so the process becomes easier?

Practice.

By practicing writing rough drafts, the work becomes familiar and Judgmental Judy’s voice fades into the background. We get used to making mistakes and writing without stopping to care if words are spelled correctly or things make sense. And as those concerns become less and less a part of our first drafting, the fun of writing can begin to sneak back into our process at this early point.

Ready To Give It a Try?

Here’s the exercise: write the worst draft you can for five minutes. Make it horrible. Use cliches. Stuff metaphors in by the dozen. Is that an adverb? Why use one when you could seriously, hopefully, arguably use three? Start multiple sentences with the same word. Give your heroine three different names.

Write quickly. Write awful. Write short.

Want a prompt? Here you go: It was a dark and stormy night….

What? You expected something good? No way!

Give it a try. Write the most awful words you can for five minutes. Really try to make them bad. Work your hardest to write the worst thing imaginable.

When you’re done, rejoice! You did it! Woohoo!

How did it feel to just let loose and write whatever came into your mind? To know that when Judgmental Judy told you your writing was horrible, you could just say “Well spotted, Jude! That’s what I was going for!”

Be kind to old Judy. After all, you want to stay friends with her. She’s going to help you when you get to the editing stage.

By rejoicing at the end of each rough draft, you reinforce the pleasant aspects of this part of the process. And each time you do that, you teach yourself that writing that rough draft can be fun. By training your brain that rough drafting is more play than work, you reduce your resistance to starting and undermine the tendency toward procrastination.

Plus, each start has the potential to become a beautiful finished object. And sometimes, our first instincts are gorgeous. That grotesque metaphor that made us choke back shame when we wrote it down? That one was spot on. One small tweak and it gets into the final draft. And that sentence that seemed filled with beauty? It may be chucked out in the first rewrite.  

Remember, this is a practice, not a magical spell that eliminates your inner perfectionist. It’s normal to find her yammering on about word choice. This practice helps you to push her to the back of your brain during that initial draft and keep getting those words onto the page.

And that’s the point.

Rough drafting is an unavoidable part of our passion, and the only one where we can allow ourselves the unvarnished ridiculousness of our minds. Why not have some fun with it?

Write a pile of gloriously horrid words now, so you can return to edit and reveal its beauty.

*This piece is informed by and uses Kaizen-Muse Creativity Tools.

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois is a certified Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach who empowers you to embrace JOY as you manifest your creative goals through her Creativity and Business Coaching. Battle resistance, procrastination, and overwhelm with her at your side, gently encouraging with humor and heart. Discover more at her website, labourgeois.biz.

The post Perfect Your Pile of Words appeared first on DIY MFA.

Middle grade is a genre near and dear to my heart. It’s the genre that captured me and made me a reader, but more than that, there’s something honest and heartfelt about the voices of middle grade characters.

In my career as an editor, I’ve noticed that often when a story isn’t working, it’s not the setting or the plot that usually lies at the center of the problem, it’s the voice of the main character, and sometimes the lack of voice.

What is Voice?

I heard the term “voice” a lot in my college creative writing classes, but as a budding writer who was just beginning to take my craft seriously, there were so many terms that would bounce right off of me. Voice was one of them. After all, what does one even mean when they say that your story needs a strong voice?

Voice is the combination of not only the manuscript’s point of view but the narrator’s thought pattern and vocabulary and how you as the author express the emotional tone of the book (i.e. humorous, suspenseful, etc…). 

For example, in the middle grade novel The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, the story is told from the first-person point of view. This allows the sincere and witty protagonist Coyote to be emotionally close with the reader. The world of the novel is colored by her view of it, and through that, she brings the reader lots of insight, and the reader in turn gets to be part of her struggles and emotional journey in a more intimate way than if the story was told in third-person. Coyote’s way of speaking in dialogue, thoughts, and the actions she performs in the book also creates a strong sense of that honest, curious, wit that makes up the voice of the novel.

Above all in middle grade, your kid protagonists need to sound like…well kids. Readers should be able to pick up your book and hear themselves in the voice of your main character, no matter what tone you are taking. But how do you know if you are achieving that?

How Do You Know if Your MC Has an Authentic Voice?

Here are a few guiding questions to get you started:

• Does the point of view of your story lead the reader to experience the action of the story in the strongest way possible? Would changing the POV make the story stronger and allow the character’s voice to be more resonant?
• Does the protagonist (outside of historical fiction) use words and language that is contemporary with kids today? Protagonists don’t need to use all the current lingo that kids use, but they shouldn’t be using lingo you used as a kid if the story isn’t set then. Again, kids need to hear themselves. Be sure your MC doesn’t sound like an adult in a kid’s body.
• What tense is your story told in? Does it help or hinder the voice of the story? If you write it another way, is it easier to express your character’s voice?
• What is your character’s personality? Have you expressed their personality through your linguistic choice (grammar, syntax, and diction), their emotional behaviors (their attitude and overall temperament including in actions), and the way they experience the world and express the world around them (this could include the cultural references they might mention).

Use these questions as a jumping-off point for understanding the voice of your manuscript and the main character who is driving it.

Crafting Strong Voice

The questions above are a great starting point, but I wanted to touch on a few more ways to create a strong voice in your story.

Remember When?

Remember when you were a kid? Hopefully, you do because you are going to need to draw on that to create an authentic voice in your middle grade novel. I want you to think back on being a kid. What did you want when you were a kid? What were your fears? What did you love doing? What was important to you? If you really want to tap into the hearts of kids and create an MC that resonates with them, you need to tap into your inner kid first.

Get to Know Kids Today

Understanding kids living in the world right now is also crucial to creating an authentic voice in your story. This goes for both contemporary realistic fiction writers, as well as sci-fi fantasy writers, in the middle grade space. Get to know the difference in voice between an eight-year-old and a twelve-year-old. Read lots of great books that have been published lately to help you get the sense of voice in middle grade lately. Ask your librarians what middle grade books kids have been loving. Kids today want to hear about kids like themselves. 

Kids want to feel understood and see themselves in your characters. So make sure you know them first!

You Won’t Get it Right in the First Draft

I always love a good challenge, and before I finished the first draft of my novel, I probably would have stubbornly fought against this point. The perfectionistic tendencies in me drive me to want to get the voice right in the first draft. To have my character ready to shine when they reach the metaphorical finish line at the end of the book.

But…here’s the truth.

Your first draft is about discovering the voice of your story, not polishing it. Odds are that it will take you the entire book to find out who your character is and what their voice sounds like. But don’t let this discourage you. You will find the voice of your character and manuscript by the end, and if you don’t, put it away for a bit and let your brain work on figuring it out for you. But, where you really start strengthening that voice is rewriting.

As William C. Knott, in The Craft of Fiction so articulately put, “anyone can write–and almost everyone you meet these days is writing. However, only the writers know how to rewrite. It is this ability alone that turns the amateur into a pro.”

Since we aren’t aiming to make the voice sharp in the first draft, mentally prepare yourself to do a lot of rewriting and editing in the second draft. I was shocked at how easy it was to scrap the whole first half of my manuscript and rewrite it. In the first draft of my manuscript, my main character was boring, and his voice was bland at best for about 50% of the book. It wasn’t until I reached the end that I understood him and loved him. I felt his personality and voice come to life. So it was easy to go back to the beginning and redraft the whole first half of the book to match that voice. And, I have to say that even though it was a ton of work; I adore this version of my character and his story much more. 

Don’t be afraid to tinker and rewrite your darlings until you can hear them come alive on the page.

Books with Strong Voice to Them

Here’s a small list of books that have brilliant characters with strong voices. As always, I urge you to go out there and scour your local libraries and bookstores and find your own list of books with strong voices. Find authors that resonate with how you want to write and read their work.

• The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart
• The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
• Tight by Torrey Maldonado
• Voyage of the Frostheart by Jamie Littler
• The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling
• Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

Young readers want to resonate with the characters in middle grade books, so don’t be afraid of taking extra time to find and polish the voice of your manuscript. I promise you it will pay off for you and your readers.

Tell me in the comments: What was the biggest insight about voice that you got from this article?

Olivia Fisher is a children’s lit writer and freelance editor with an English degree from BYU-Idaho. When she isn’t dreaming about living in a treehouse or chasing down her two young boys, she enjoys curling up with a book, watching Star Wars, writing her next adventure, and trying to live in the state of child-like wonder that we all secretly, or not so secretly, miss. Follow her adventures on Twitter or Instagram, or hire her for your next editing escapade on Fiverr.

The post Tapping into the Hearts of Kids: Crafting Authentic Voice in Middle Grade appeared first on DIY MFA.

Personally, I am a huge advocate of applying at least some level of structure before you begin your first draft because it makes the process of writing and revising so much easier. In fact, a well-developed story structure applied right at the beginning of the writing process will save you months or years of pointless frustration and dead ends.

Although there are arguably many steps in developing a truly robust story structure, I have distilled down the five most important questions that you can ask yourself to make your novel’s structure much stronger and more resilient.

I will use The Hunger Games for my examples because most people have either read the book or seen the movie.

1. What Is the Point of Your Novel?

Every great novel ever written has a Point. It has something big it’s trying to say about the world or the human experience. And even though authors never beat their readers over the head with the point of their novel, it’s there, subtly peeking through in every scene, making the reader understand that the story is worth reading and talking about.

The Point usually sounds super cliche, and that’s absolutely fine. Why? Because that means it’s probably universal and maybe (if you’re lucky) even a touch profound.

The Point of the novel The Hunger Games is “You can and should fight back against an unjust system.”

If you don’t already know Point you’re trying to make with your novel, take some time to figure it out. Ask yourself what you want readers to walk away understanding about the world or themselves after they finish your novel. This might just be the most important information to know about your story because it is the yardstick by which you measure every other element you put into the novel.

 In essence, every scene you write becomes an argument for the Point you’re trying to make, so you must have a crystal-clear understanding of what that Point is before you start writing. 

2. What Is Your Story Question (Major Dramatic Question)?

Successful novels must have an implicit but central Story Question (also called a Major Dramatic Question). This is the big question that readers are flying through pages to uncover the answer to. This question is often focused on something external and intricately related to the main plot.

The Story Question in The Hunger Games is “Will Katniss survive the Hunger Games so she can continue to provide for her family?”

Notice how without this Story Question, the audience would not know how to measure the events of the narrative? The Story Question alerts the audience what to keep track of and what matters.

3. What Does Your Protagonist Want, and How Do They Change by the End of the Novel?

Everybody wants something, and your protagonist is no exception. And whatever they want must be big enough and visceral enough to drive the story forward and make the reader understand why they would go to such great lengths to get it.

At the same time, your protagonist is going to grow and change and learn the Point of the novel along the way. And at the end, they should be 180 degrees from where they started. Voila! They have transformed into a new (hopefully better) version of themselves.

In The Hunger Games, Katniss wants to survive because she is determined to provide for her family and keep them safe. In the beginning, this is the only thing driving her. However, during her time in the arena, she learns that survival isn’t the only thing that matters. She grows to trust Peeta, and she is willing to risk her life to stand against the system so they can both be victors.

4. What Is Your Ticking Clock?

A Ticking Clock is a very concrete, time-bound event or consequence that your protagonist is trying desperately to manage. The major Ticking Clock of the novel is often related to the Story Question and is usually framed something like this: If the protagonist doesn’t do X by a certain time, Y will happen.

And make no mistake, every story needs a Ticking Clock or there is no suspense and no tension. After all, why would there be? If nothing is shoving your protagonist along their path, they could decide to address their problems next year. Or, you know, the year after that.  

In The Hunger Games, the Ticking Clock is the game itself. Once Katniss is in the arena, there’s no putting off trying to survive. Nope, she must do everything in her power to gain an advantage before one of the other 23 tributes kills her.

5. What Is Your Inciting Incident, Your Midpoint, and Your Finale?

The three of the most important, journey-defining moments of your novel are the Inciting Incident, the Midpoint, and the Finale, and you need to have a clear idea of what each will be as early in the drafting process as possible because they are the pillars of the novel.

The Inciting Incident is an event that happens to your protagonist early in the novel that catapults them out of their status quo, “normal” world and into an “upside-down” version of their world. This event has to be big enough and urgent enough that they can’t just decide to ignore it (because if they can, they will). It must utterly upend their life.

In The Hunger Games, the Inciting Incident is the moment Katniss’s little sister Prim is chosen as tribute and Katniss volunteers to take her place in the Hunger Games.

The Midpoint is the story-defining dramatic event, twist, or reversal that happens right in the middle of the novel that ensures the suspense and tension do not lag mid-book. It often takes the form of a false victory or false defeat. And it’s during this scene that the protagonist takes a moment to look inside themselves and begin to realize that they’re on the wrong path. They start to shift away from their superficial Want and to a deeper need (which, of course, moves them closer to understanding the Point of the novel).

In The Hunger Games, the Midpoint is that moment when Katniss realizes that Peeta is not really working with the career tributes and that he saved her life. She begins to realize that simply surviving is not enough. 

The Finale is the most high-stakes, tense, riveting moment of your novel. This moment answers the Story Question, and is that juicy, nail-biting moment when your protagonist either achieves their goal or fails to achieve it.

In The Hunger Games, the Finale of the story is when Katniss and Peeta win the Hunger Games together, but the Capitol tries to change the rules, and, once again, pit them against each other. But Katniss is through being a victim now (because she has learned the Point of the novel) and decides to stand against the system. She and Peeta decide to kill themselves by eating poisonous berries rather than kill each other. And with this very dangerous gamble, Katniss outwits the game makers and forces them to renege. Both Katniss and Peeta are allowed to win.

Final Thoughts

Remember, writing a novel is a marvelous and creative venture, but it’s also one of the hardest projects you will ever take on. And it’s always best to set yourself up for success right from the beginning by making sure your novel has a sturdy structure and a satisfying arc of change for your protagonist.

Dr. Heather Davis is a storyteller, Author Accelerator certified book coach, certified copy editor, author platform expert, and the founder of The Kreative Authorpreneur. She helps aspiring diversity authors create emotionally complex novels that readers rave about and agents request.

Heather has studied under story experts Lisa Cron and Jennie Nash. She is a frequent contributor to Jane Friedman’s popular writing blog and has been featured on podcasts such as Editing Writing and Turning Readers into Writers. In the fall of 2022, Heather is slated as guest speaker inside the wildly popular Women In Publishing (WIP) School.

Heather lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where she loves trail running, sipping iced mocha lattes, and binging Audiobooks like some people binge Netflix. She is currently entangled in the process of editing her first speculative fiction novel (with the expert help of her own phenomenal book coach, of course). To find out if your novel is structurally sound and reader-friendly, take this quick QUIZ.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post #5onFri: Five Questions That Will Guarantee Your Novel Has a Sturdy Structure appeared first on DIY MFA.

Entry hooks can be one of the hardest elements of a story to write, regardless of the genre. But if you can nail them, not only can you grab your readers’ attention at the beginning of your story, but also reuse your newfound skills to repeat each time a new chapter starts.

First, to the basics! In case you’re just starting on the journey to write your first book and you’re wondering what an entry hook is and why it’s important, look no further!

What Is an Entry Hook?

The opening line (usually the first line) that grabs the readers’ attention and makes them keep reading. This is the line where the author can truly show the readers why their book is worth reading. So, a wonderful exercise might be to ask yourself one simple question.

Ask yourself: Why is my book worth reading?

Why Are Entry Hooks Important?

A great entry hook is important to make sure your readers don’t put down your book. You need to introduce something exciting enough that shows your readers, “You should not put this book down!” If you nail your entry hook, you will keep your readers focused on and willing to immerse themselves into what you’re offering them.

Now that the basics are out of the way, shall we see what works best as an entry hook for Speculative Fiction? Today, I offer you:

4 Entry Hooks That Work in the Genre of Speculative Fiction!

1. IN MEDIAS RES

This is a classic strategy. Drop your readers in the middle of an action. Not only does this scene and its pace make a reader want to tear through the pages, but starting in the middle of an action also leaves a lot of unanswered questions. What will the readers have to do to find the answers? Keep reading on!

By using in medias res as your entry hook, you are creating an intrigue. And here’s a secret to nailing this hook: Don’t plunge your character into some catastrophic event. Instead, show your readers the emotional aftermath, especially if this is the beginning of the novel.

The reason is that your readers have yet to connect with your characters and this is a beautiful way to make them connect. Of course, the catastrophic middle of an action scene can be an entry hook in later chapters when your readers are connected to your characters.

How to make it work for speculative fiction? We already have an edge of the ‘What if’ intrigue. By using in medias res as your entry hook, you can turn up that dial however many notches up.

How many of you are into sci-Fi or horror movies? I am! Most of these movies start in the middle of an action. Ever heard of the movie ‘Train to Busan’? Yes, the Korean zombie hit! If you’ve watched it, you know it’s unlike any other zombie movie or TV show out there. But you know what hooked me right in? The first scene.

Spoiler Warning! (Maybe?) A truck carrying delivery goods is allowed to pass through a road where a biotech plant has had a leakage. No sooner, the driver, distracted by a phone call, hits a deer in the middle of the street, and from the looks of it, the deer should not be getting up. Ever. But as the driver drives away, the deer contorts itself and wakes up with foggy eyes.

This beginning left me with so many questions. Talk about intriguing the audience!

Ask Yourself: How can I introduce my ‘What if’ question in the middle of action?

2. UNIQUE SETTING 

Now this entry hook is like a match made in heaven for Speculative Fiction. Why? Who else has more unique settings than writers working in our genre? Though a setting itself might not be interesting enough for a reader to keep reading, these unique settings can amp up the intrigue game. You don’t have to info dump your setting on the readers, just give enough details to draw your readers in.

Another way to look at unique settings is to make sure characters are somewhere they aren’t supposed to be. Think of a police officer in solitary confinement. That makes you wonder what is going on here.

A Game of Thrones is a very interesting example of this. In the prologue, and with the very first line, we are left intrigued:

“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. “The wildlings are dead.”

For anyone who has zero clue about Game of Thrones, they might be left wondering, “what are wildlings?” But the further we move into the prologue, we know this isn’t some usual story. The speculative element is high in this one!

3. SECRET OR QUESTION 

Tell me if there is anything more intriguing than being left out of a secret or with an unanswered question! This is the kind of opening that leaves readers with more questions than answers. They want to know it all!

This type of entry hook immediately engages the reader because they ask the basic question: “Why?” Why is this happening? I’m asking you to tease your readers.

How to make it work for speculative fiction? When you have your “what if” element, introduce it in the opening line in such a way that it creates more questions than it answers.

The opening line of Peter Pan is a great example of this:

“All children, except one, grow up.”

The formula to nail this kind of entry hook in our genre is to create your “what if” question into some sort of puzzle. With the Peter Pan example, think: How can the essence of Neverland be introduced without really introducing it? With that opening line right there!

Ask Yourself: How can I create an intriguing puzzle/secret/question with my “what if” element?

4. THE CONTRADICTION

Anything that is contradictory is going to create so much intrigue your readers cannot put the book down. I am not talking about forcing something to look extraordinary when it is not. We need an honest contradiction here.

These can be contradictions in action, in emotions, in setting (like we’ve talked about in the unique setting entry hook). If you properly set up this entry hook, we are also looking at a great conflict introduction. Whether it is within the character or interpersonal.

How to make it work for speculative fiction? Your “what if” element can itself be a contradiction to how our regular world works! Show your readers that contradiction.

Remember: Entry hooks can be as unique as your story. If you nail them, you can keep your readers till the last page. Which entry hook will you be using?

Until next time!

Disha Walia is a lifelong storyteller and an enthusiastic writer and editor in love with the idea of exploring the creative world of words. While making her space in the world of non-fiction and fiction alike, Disha loves to spend even her free time daydreaming about what to write next. Connect with her on www.quillinary.com. You can also follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

The post How to Write a Hook for Speculative Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

Over the next year and a half, I agonized and swore and sweated over minor revisions to this piece. I fretted over the same eight to ten sentence-level edits, afraid that if I did anything more significant, if I dared touch it too much, I would ruin the piece. 

Y’all, I spent a year and a half on one story. If a writer’s journey to mastery is like building a boat, I accomplished what amounts to sweeping a small corner of the mess deck. What I didn’t accomplish over that year and a half of hand-wringing was real progress, a better understanding of craft, or a new set of skills and techniques I could apply to other projects.

So just how can a writer combat this sort of stasis? Here is what I have learned so far.

Write, write, write. Then, write some more.

Daunting advice, to be sure. Especially when you are just starting out, writing can feel like a monumental effort that yields a meager handful of good prose. It is no wonder each word at that stage seems irreplaceable. And when a stunner of a sentence happens to drop perfectly formed into your head? It feels like maybe a once-in-a-lifetime favor from the literary heavens.

In my experience, spectacular writing, even when it feels spontaneous, is generally the cumulative result of previous work, discipline, and persistence. Moments of brilliance that cede truly exquisite prose are much more likely to happen after I have drafted and stubbornly rejected less sparkly, less sexy, perhaps even underwhelming and unsatisfactory prose first. 

You must write (and write regularly) to open yourself up to flashes of inspiration. You have to be there, ready and waiting, when your muse deigns to grace you with her presence.

So get writing! The more you write—both for sheer enjoyment as well as towards the goal of mastering the skill—the better at it you will become. At the same time, as you complete project after project, the individual sentences or paragraphs required to get there will feel less and less precious or unsurpassable.

Rewrite

If the process of drafting is daunting to the newbie author, rewriting can feel even more terrifying. I certainly used to approach major revisions with a combination of dread, loathing, and fear.

But the fact is, most of my work is truly forged during the revision process. My first drafts tend to be rather shapeless (though earnest and well-intentioned) beings. Rarely though are they actual stories. 

Drafting is a bit like trying to sketch a moving object. The process of rewriting is what brings that object into focus, sharpens its lines, and makes the object recognizable and perceptible. What started as a flat scribble or a blur of visual noise slowly transforms, through progressive drafts, into what you and I can identify as an apple, a sleeping bear, or a house on a hill.

In Elements of Fiction, Walter Mosley states this perfectly, “Writing is rewriting, and rewriting will bring you home.”

During your initial passes of a first draft, look for any recurring thematic elements, evocative imagery, and surprising but telling behavior or bits of dialogue from your characters. What do they seem to reveal about the story’s message, theme, or central question? Let this information guide your rewriting and reshaping of the next draft.

Learn How to Receive and Apply Feedback

How do you tell a stunning scene from a stinker? A deliciously explosive sentence from a dud? It can be hard for a writer to make these distinctions on their own. And sometimes an author can be too close to a project to be their own best critic.

Enter writing groups, your secret weapon when it comes to feedback, information, and encouragement. A good writing group can serve as a more analytical proxy for first-time readers, offer varying interpretations of your work’s central question or symbols, identify plot holes or contradictions, and of course, motivate you to keep working.

Seen from a different perspective, that line of dialogue you couldn’t bear to delete last month might no longer be so darling. Fellow writers can also offer concrete, actionable advice, which can make it that much easier to start rewrites. While you won’t (and shouldn’t) necessarily apply every change they suggest, if each member of your critique group unanimously agrees that your precious piece is simply too full of purple prose, it is worth serious consideration.

It is significantly easier to let go of less than stellar prose when you have a team of other writers cheering you on and affirming your potential. And if you need help with my first bit of advice to write as much as possible? Use some of your time with them responding to freewriting prompts or other generative exercises.

Set it Aside, and Revisit Later

Sometimes the best thing to do, when you are stuck on a piece, is to set it aside for a bit. Start another writing project with which to play, experiment, and rediscover the sheer joy of creating new sentences. Distance yourself just long enough to be able to evaluate the piece more objectively the next time you look at it.

You might also benefit from a short break from writing. Are there other stressors in your life that are contributing to this inability to further develop your own work? Yes, you are a writer, but you are also a human being with other needs, interests, and responsibilities.

With self-care in mind, I also urge you to embrace the non-writing activities that tether you to the real world and make you grow as both a person and a writer. Go on adventures, travel if you can, care and be fully present for your family, read as many books as you can. Then, come back to your writing with more experience and wisdom, a mind that has absorbed more gorgeous, brilliant prose than it had before, and higher standards for your own work.

Keep a Scrapbook of Sorts

Finally, if you just cannot bear the thought of entire sentences or scenes disappearing with discarded drafts, create a scrapbook or “graveyard” of sorts. Paste all the cuts of your most precious prose into a separate document or file that you can revisit at a whim.

I support whatever works for you to take your original manuscript from “good enough” to great.

Now, a Prompt

Draft a short but complete story between 600 and 1200 words that involves an apple, a sleeping bear, and a house on a hill. 

Then, cut at least a third of what you have written. Be ruthless and courageous. Wield your red pen like a devastating scythe. 

Do the cuts change your story? How? What have they done to the central question of the piece? Does anything surprise you? 

Rewrite and flesh out your story from there.

The elder daughter of Korean-Canadian and Austrian immigrants, F.E. Choe currently lives in Columbia, South Carolina. When she is not at her desk trying to craft true and beautiful sentences or piecing together her latest short story, you will find her feeding the dog scraps under the table, reading, or training her backyard flock of hens to walk backwards. Follow her on Instagram @f.e.choe.

The post Overcoming the Preciousness of Your Prose appeared first on DIY MFA.

“WTAF?” is a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. What’s the point of crying, of protesting, of sharing my feelings online? What’s the point of trying to make my voice heard when it’s clear no one is interested in hearing it? 

With everything—and I mean, everything—going on in the world lately, it’s easy to wonder what the point is…and even easier to struggle coming up with an answer. This is especially true with our writing.

Why Do I Write?

Last month, I celebrated the two-year anniversary of my debut novel, Inconvenient Daughter, while chipping away at my second novel—still unnamed and still unfinished. As I alternated staring at a copy of ID and the blinking cursor of my work in progress, I asked myself, “Why? Why do I do this?”

As a beginning writer, I wrote because I thought I had something to say. I wrote to be seen, to be heard. Part of me wrote to settle scores and prove people wrong. Another part of me wrote so others would bear witness to my pain. 

It wasn’t until after Inconvenient Daughter hit shelves I realized writing is about connecting.

I don’t know you, but…

After ID dropped, I received probably fifty emails that began with this phrase. 

“I don’t know you, but I wanted to thank you for writing this book.” 

“I don’t know you, but after reading this book I feel like I finally know myself.” 

“I don’t know you, but this is the book I needed when I was a young adoptee.”

Adoptees from all locations, ages, and situations reached out to let me know they felt seen by the book, that a voice had been given to their grief, pain, and anger…that they gave the book to someone they loved in the hope of coming to a better understanding and healing.

The act of writing may be solitary, but the act of reading, of relating, is communal. We may write to understand who we are, and the things that have happened to us, but we read for the same reasons. 

It is in reading that we find community, and community is everything.

One Is the Loneliest Number

As an adoptee, I’ve always heard the same thing: I was given a better life. It was as if, by adopting me, my parents had spared me some unimaginable suffering. It was impressed upon me as gospel, and I developed a sense of obligatory gratitude. I was convinced I had to repay my parents for the life I’d been with loyalty, with being a good student, etc.

But as I came of age, I began to wonder about my birth mother, about why she relinquished me, about why she had never come looking for me…and I was angry. I was angry all the time. My rage burned through me like a fever I could never seem to cool down from. 

My brother, who is also adopted, didn’t seem to have the questions I did. Neither did the boy down the block, a domestic infant adoptee. And neither did the two girls my mom’s friend had adopted from South America. And so, I thought something must be wrong with me. There must be something different about me. I must somehow be defective.

Worse than rage, pain, and anger is loneliness. 

In these times of uncertainty and threat, we must continue to write. We must continue to share. We must continue to make our voices heard…for we don’t know what hope, what comfort, and what strength we give to others by doing so.

Lauren J. Sharkey is a writer, teacher, and transracial adoptee. Inconvenient Daughter is her debut novel, and loosely based on her experience as a Korean adoptee. You can follow her at ljsharks.com, and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The post Writing Is about Connecting appeared first on DIY MFA.

How trends can help you as an author 

1. A Great Place to Start

Let’s face it: when you have to get down to putting words on the pages, even the little speck of dust on the table looks more interesting. There are just so many details that it feels like it will take years to organize everything and get started. 

And where do you even get the idea from? Well, if you’ve ever hopped onto a TikTok or Instagram trend, you know it is a great place to get ideas from. I am guilty of taking a trend going around on Instagram and giving it my personal touch. Are you?

2. Better Forecasts

Understand a trend and you will be able to surf through the challenges of the writing process, early warnings, and even get some ideas on marketing! 

In short, trends help you understand what to do and what to avoid.

3. Personal SWOT Analysis

I wish writing was as easy as many people make it sound. Trying out a trend can help you understand what you must improve in your writing, querying, publishing, and/or marketing based on what’s going around.

Trends in Speculative Fiction

Without further ado, today on Worldly Wise, let’s find out what’s hot in the genre of Speculative Fiction and what’s not!

WHAT’S HOT

1. Gender-focused fiction

Here’s a thought. Take your amazing speculative fiction idea and blend it with the concept of gender as a central theme. 

We’re past the age where characters are to be confined to their traditional gender roles. This is my absolutely favorite trend because I enjoy nothing more than bending the gender roles with my characters.

The oh-so-popular “Grumpy and Sunshine” trope? Well, I’ve turned it into “She’s only soft for him” with one of my stories. And guess what? My audience is in love with the strong and complex female protagonist. Also, I think at this point, my male characters are just as much in touch with their femininity as my female characters are in touch with their masculinity.

Besides, do you know what people are really into these days? LGBTQ+ books. Readers don’t want a token representation. They want to devour characters that identify as LGBTQ+. If you can keep gender as a focus in your story, don’t be scared to experiment.

2. Climate Fiction

The good ol’ global warming. While these books might not necessarily be speculative in nature, since let’s be real, the threat is staring us right in the faces, there are some really interesting speculative takes on this trend.

Of course, dystopia, utopia, and sci-fi are the go-to ways for approaching this trend. You can always sit back and think of new ways to approach what is affectionately known as “Cli-Fi.” The main idea that is almost always the backbone of these stories is that we must understand the climate crisis that is forever going to shape our lives. Got any fun ideas?

3. Thriller

The dark, high-stakes, on-the-edge-of-your-seat fiction is definitely gaining popularity. Now, speculative fiction is all about the “what if” questions, but by adding the essence of thriller, that is, the “ticking clock,” we can take our story to a whole new level.

People are really into fast-paced, “great heroes going against even better villains” kind of stories. Why? The adrenaline that flows through the readers with every twist and turn makes the readers feel euphoric. And that feeling is very addictive. Yes, you can literally get your readers addicted to your story!

WHAT’S NOT

1. Kingdom Fantasy

Raise your hands if you’ve heard of a fantasy novel set in some kingdom. Something like A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. With every trend, there comes a point when said trend becomes oversaturated. Sadly, it seems the trend of Kingdom Fantasy is coming to its saturation point, if it is not already there.

I’m not saying don’t write Kingdom Fantasy. That’s just ridiculous. However, your work as an author increases if you are going for Kingdom Fantasy. You have to find an angle that hasn’t been approached yet. Readers are more than willing to read multiple novels in the same genre, which is why tropes are so famous. Why? Because execution matters!

If you can execute Kingdom Fantasy in your own interesting way, go for it. Just remember, this section of speculative fiction has a lot of competition. So, fasten your seatbelts. The ride might be long, but it will be worth it.

2. Pandemic Theme

The Pandemic theme is when It is either mentioned or the entire plot is based around it. Tell me I’m not the only one who has found books, TV shows, and movies that somehow include it. 

At first, I did not mind. But as I’ve said earlier, with every trend there comes a tipping point, where the said trend starts becoming oversaturated. Unfortunately, that tipping point for the Pandemic Theme is fast approaching.

However, just like with Kingdom Fantasy, you only need to tread with caution. As long as your execution is unique, your work will find its audience.

3. Over-saturated Mythical Creatures

Vampires, werewolves, and all those popular mythical creatures have been doing rounds for centuries now. Let them rest. 

Instead, let us find lesser-known mythical creatures and work with them. That way, your work will not be lost amongst other vampire/werewolves novels out there. And it will still enjoy the perks that come with writing supernatural fiction! Isn’t that cool?

Next time we meet on Worldly Wise, let me quickly drop in some writing prompts to help begin your writing journey! Until then!

Tell us in the comments: Do you enjoy hopping onto a trend and making it yours or are you all about paving your own way? 

Disha Walia is a lifelong storyteller and an enthusiastic writer and editor in love with the idea of exploring the creative world of words. While making her space in the world of non-fiction and fiction alike, Disha loves to spend even her free time daydreaming about what next to write. Connect with her on www.quillinary.com. You can also follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

The post Trends in Speculative Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

Alexander is the author of the collections Universal Love and Children of the New World, which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a best book of the year by NPR, Google, and Electric Literature. His fiction and interviews have appeared in Rolling Stone, World Literature Today, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Best American Experimental Writing.

He is the founder and director of The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and is a Professor of Creative Writing at Siena Heights University. Today we will be talking about his latest story collection: Universal Love.

In this episode Alexander and I discuss:

• How he balanced hope and cynicism in stories set in the not too distant future.
• His process for building a short story collection and choosing what was included.
• Why you should embrace the mess of early drafts and take plenty of risks.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About the Alexander

Alexander Weinstein is the author of the collections Universal Love and Children of the New World, which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a best book of the year by NPR, Google, and Electric Literature. His fiction and interviews have appeared in Rolling Stone, World Literature Today, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Best American Experimental Writing. He is the founder and director of The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and a Professor of Creative Writing at Siena Heights University. 

You can find Alexander on his website or follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

Universal Love

A hypnotic collection of speculative fiction about compassion, love, and human resilience in the technological hyper-age, from Alexander Weinstein, author of Children of the New World. 

Universal Love welcomes readers to a near-future world where our everyday technologies have fundamentally altered the possibilities and limits of how we love one another. In these gripping stories, a young boy tries to understand what keeps his father tethered to the drowned city they call home. A daughter gets to know her dead mother’s hologram better than she ever knew her living mother. And, at a time when unpleasant memories can be erased, a man undergoes electronic surgery to have his depression, and his past, forever removed.

In an age when technology offers the easiest cures for loneliness, the characters within these stories must wrestle with what it means to stay human in an increasingly cybernetic future, and how love can endure even the most alluring upgrades.

In the vein of Weinstein’s critically-acclaimed first collection, Universal Love is a visionary book, written with one foot in the real world and one stepping bravely into the future.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 366

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 366: The Art and Craft of a Short Story Collection – Interview with Alexander Weinstein appeared first on DIY MFA.

Jeff grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he spent two of his high school years at a boarding school much like the one depicted in his debut novel Attachments, which we’ll be discussing today.

In the ’70s, he studied film/tv/theater production at Emerson College in Boston and then moved to LA, where he worked as a concert lighting designer and toured the country with national rock and reggae acts while teaching himself to write screenplays on the side.

Years later, he was teaching high school English and running a martial arts school when heard the call to write again. In 1989, he sold the school he’d built, rented a small office, and gave himself one year to write three screenplays. 

The second of those―a quirky romantic comedy where the two lovers don’t even meet until the very last page―sold almost immediately, and Sleepless in Seattle became a surprise megahit worldwide. 

For his screenplay, Jeff was nominated for an Oscar, as well as for Writers Guild and BAFTA awards, among others. His other credits include the Disney adventure film Iron Will, New Line’s romantic comedy Sealed With a Kiss, and the independent comedy Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys. His script for Saving Milly, based on Mort Kondracke’s searing memoir, earned the 2005 Humanitas Nomination, an honor he treasures. 

Jeff is a father, stepfather, father-in-law, and grandfather and is based in Malibu.

In this episode Jeff and I discuss:

• His method for moving characters with their own agendas through the plot.
• How to avoid the dreaded info dump and his advice for what to do instead.
• Why you shouldn’t focus on the theme, but should worry about the story instead.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About Jeff Arch

Jeff Arch grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he spent two of his high school years at a boarding school much like the one depicted in his debut novel Attachments. In the ’70s, he studied film/tv/theater production at Emerson College in Boston and then moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a concert lighting designer and toured the country with national rock and reggae acts while teaching himself to write screenplays on the side. Years later, married and with a young family, he was teaching high school English and running a martial arts school when heard the call to write again; in 1989, he sold the school he’d built, rented a small office, and gave himself one year to write three screenplays. 

The second of those―a quirky romantic comedy where the two lovers don’t even meet until the very last page―sold almost immediately, and Sleepless in Seattle became a surprise megahit worldwide. For his screenplay, Jeff was nominated for an Oscar, as well as for Writers Guild and BAFTA awards, among others. His other credits include the Disney adventure film Iron Will, New Line’s romantic comedy Sealed With a Kiss, and the independent comedy Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys. His script for Saving Milly, based on Mort Kondracke’s searing memoir, earned the 2005 Humanitas Nomination, an honor Jeff treasures. Jeff is a father, stepfather, father-in-law, and grandfather and is based in Malibu. Attachments is Jeff’s first novel.

You can follow Jeff Arch on Facebook and Twitter.

Attachments

At a boarding school in Pennsylvania, a deathbed request from the school’s dean brings three former students back to campus, where secrets and betrayals from the past are brought out into the open―secrets that could have a catastrophic effect on the dean’s eighteen-year-old son.

Told in alternating points of view and time frames, Attachments is the story of best friends Stewart (“Goody”) Goodman, Sandy (“Pick”) Piccolo, and Laura Appleby, the girl they both love. The friends meet in 1972 at a boarding school in coal-country Pennsylvania where they encounter Henry Griffin, the school dean, whose genuine fatherly interest and deep human bond with them is so strong that when he has a severe stroke almost twenty years later, he uses what could be his last words ever to call out their names.

Attachments is a puzzle―and the only one who knows how all the pieces fit is in a coma. In the process, longtime secrets are unearthed, revelations come out into the open, and Young Chip Griffin is about to learn something he may or may not be able to handle.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 359

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 359: Trust, Threat, and Truth: A Journey Through the Craft of Writing – Interview with Jeff Arch appeared first on DIY MFA.