Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for March is Magic, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Brian Leung and I discuss:

• How to turn a real life event into a novel, especially when you are close to the event.
• Bringing out the emotional truth of a story and remaining true to the characters.
• Why it can be tricky to write first person narratives and how to make them sound distinct.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About Brian Leung

Brian Leung is the author of the novels Lost Men, Take Me Home, and Ivy vs Dogg: With a Cast of Thousands!. His short-story collection, World Famous Love Acts, won the Asian American Literary Award and the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. Born and raised in San Diego County, he is a Professor of Creative Writing at Purdue University as well as Core faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts. All I Should Not Tell was published by C&R Press in Spring, 2022.

You can find them on his website, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

You can also check out Brian’s article on DIY MFA, #5onFri: Five Tips for Finding the Kind Genius Writer in Your Mad Genius Writer.

All I Should Not Tell

In All I Should Not Tell, Conner Grayson, fourteen, wants nothing more than to see, Cudge, his intensely abusive step-father destroyed. He considers it a blessing for himself and his younger, too-innocent, brother, Sammy, when the man disappears, though he’s convinced that his mother has done something unspeakable to her husband. With Cudge gone, there’s no threat of exposing Conner’s deepest secret, his love for Mark, another boy in Orgull, a fictional river town outside of Louisville. But almost immediately, Mark disappears as well.  Flash forward two decades. Conner remains tortured about his past, including the apparent suicides of his biological father and his brother. But, he has found a certain level of happiness with the family he’s built with his wife, Lamb, as well as his boyfriend, James. It’s complicated. When Cudge’s octogenarian father shows up from California to investigate Cudge’s long ago disappearance, Conner spirals into a series of unwise decisions culminating in discoveries about his past that may destroy his current family. It might be there’s only one person who can pull him from the wreckage.

You can order Brian Leung’s book, All I Should Not Tell, via this C&R Link.

Link to Episode 402

(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 402: Writing About Difficult Subjects with a Distinct First Person Voice – Interview with Brian Leung appeared first on DIY MFA.

J.L. Torres is the author of a novel, The Accidental Native, as well as the short collection The Family Terrorist and Other Stories, a collection of poetry, Boricua Passport, and Migrations, a short story collection that won the inaugural Tomás Rivera Book Prize. 

He has published stories and poems in numerous journals and magazines including The North American Review, Denver Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Eckleburg Review, Puerto del Sol, Las Americas Review, and the anthology Growing Up Latino. 

Born in Puerto Rico, raised in the South Bronx, he currently lives in Plattsburgh, New York. In addition to the Ph.D., he also holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. 

He co-founded the Saranac Review and served as its Editor for many years. On a more personal note has no known hobbies, has never been in prison or any gangs, has never had quirky and funky jobs and is notoriously inept with tools.

In this episode J.L. Torres and I discuss:

• Writing for two audiences and how world building plays a major role in that process.
• What factors he considers when selecting the order of stories for a collection.
• His definition of “voice” and why it is so important in keeping readers engaged.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About J.L. Torres

J.L. Torres is the author of a novel, The Accidental Native; The Family Terrorist and Other Stories; the collection of poetry, Boricua Passport, and Migrations, the winner of the inaugural Tomás Rivera Book Prize. He has published stories and poems in numerous journals and magazines including The North American Review, Denver Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Eckleburg Review, Puerto del Sol, Las Americas Review, and the anthology Growing Up Latino. 

Born in Puerto Rico, raised in the South Bronx, he lives in Plattsburgh, New York. Besides the Ph.D., he holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. He co-founded the Saranac Review and served as its Editor for many years. He has no known hobbies, has never been in prison or any gangs, has never had quirky and funky jobs, and is notoriously inept with tools.

You can find J.L. on his website or follow him on Twitter.

Migrations 

A ‘sucio’ goes to an underground clinic for therapy to end his machista ways and is accidentally transitioned. Ex-gangbangers gone straight deal with a troubled, gifted son drawn to the gangsta lifestyle promoted by an emerging music called hip hop. Dead and stuck “between somewhere and nowhere,” Roberto Clemente, the great Puerto Rican baseball icon, soon confronts the reason for his predicament. These are a few of the characters in J.L. Torres’s second story collection, Migrations, the inaugural winner of the Tomás Rivera Book Prize.

These stories take us inside the lives of self-exiles, unhomed, and unhinged people, estranged from loved ones, family, culture, and collective history. Despite the effects of colonization of the body and mind, Puerto Ricans have survived beyond geography and form an integral part of the American mosaic.

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 389

(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 389: A Master Class on Short Fiction, Voice, and Opening Lines – Interview with J.L. Torres appeared first on DIY MFA.

Rena hails from Miami Beach, Florida. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars Program and holds an MA in history from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood was listed as “One of the 100 Best Books” of the year by Publisher’s Weekly.

She currently lives in Israel with her husband, five children, and a pug, where she works as a literary agent. Her grandparents and great grandparents are from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, and Romania. Their stories inspire her work.

Today we’ll be discussing her latest novel, The Light of the Midnight Stars.

In this episode Rena and I discuss:

• Why narration is the element that most directly connects the reader to the story.
• Her process for creating different voices and making them each distinct.
• How she juggles being a literary agent with her writing career (and personal life!).

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Rena Rossner

Rena Rossner hails from Miami Beach, Florida. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars Program and holds an MA in history from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood was listed as “One of the 100 Best Books” of the year by Publisher’s Weekly. She currently lives in Israel with her husband, five children, and a pug, where she works as a literary agent. Her grandparents and great grandparents are from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, and Romania. Their stories inspire her work.

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

The Light of the Midnight Stars

An evocative combination of fantasy, history, and Jewish folklore, The Light of the Midnight Stars is a fairytale-inspired novel from the author of The Sisters of the Winter Wood.

Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they pray, sing and perform small miracles – and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters. Each one is blessed with a unique talent – whether it be coaxing plants to grow, or predicting the future by reading the path of the stars.

When a fateful decision to help an outsider ends in an accusation of witchcraft, fire blazes through their village. Rabbi Isaac and his family are forced to flee, to abandon their magic and settle into a new way of life. But a dark fog is making its way across Europe and will, in the end, reach even those who thought they could run from it. Each of the sisters will have to make a choice – and change the future of their family forever.

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 355

(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 355: Weaving Together History, Folklore, and Fairy Tale – Interview with Rena Rossner appeared first on DIY MFA.

Do you have any suggestions on how to write a story as if the MC is looking back at earlier events? For my story to work, I feel my narrator needs the accumulated knowledge and wisdom to be able to describe many of the things she encounters and make sense of them.

I don’t want to include a scene with her as an old woman telling her story, and I’m trying to avoid “If I had known…” and other similar cliches that drop readers out of the story.

I had hoped that the fact that I wrote it in past tense would imply the story has already happened but my beta readers disagree.

Is there a way to hint that something has already happened without killing the suspense?

Sincerely,

Stymied

Dear Stymied,

Narrative voice (Who is telling the story? When/where is the story being told? Why are they telling this story?) is probably the hardest element of writing to get “right”. As you’ve already discovered from your beta-readers, you can think you’ve gotten it just perfect, only to discover your readers were lost, confused or disconnected from the story. Each new story presents its own narrative challenges. I could probably write a whole series on voice to try to answer your question. For now let’s look at those three questions, to see if they reveal anything else about your particular narrative’s problem.

Who is telling the story?

The interesting thing about voice and point of view is that it can be invisible or it can be completely dominating. The goal is to figure out what you need the narrative to do for the reader. If you didn’t need narrative at all, your story would be comprised entirely of dialogue between characters. But have you ever tried to write that way? It gets confusing pretty quickly.

The narrator in any story has a very particular role: to help (or less commonly, to hinder) the reader make sense of the story. The character in the midst of the story doesn’t know what she doesn’t know yet the way that the reader does. That’s part of good foreshadowing, allowing the reader to catch a glimpse of and anticipate what is going to happen next.

Sometimes writing from the main character’s point of view as they experience the story makes more sense. Sometimes revealing too many details of the story’s world or other characters’ experiences in the story kills the tension. In that case, writing from your main character’s perspective is ideal. That way your reader learns important details of plot and other characters’ motivations at the same time as the main character, adding the element of suspense and emotional impact.

One thing to consider, as you work out what your readers need to know versus what your character knows: Is your main character (protagonist) really the narrator? Think of stories like The Book Thief; The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe; Wuthering Heights; and even the Harry Potter series. We see the world and the action often through the eyes of the protagonists of each of these stories, but in each case we have a narrator who has a wider knowledge of the story and the world to help us (the reader) make sense of what the characters might not understand yet.

When is the story being told?

It might seem obvious, but the “when” of a story has very little to do with the verb tenses you use in constructing the lines of your narrative. Some writers use first person, present tense to convey urgency and being in the moment to the reader. But this isn’t always necessary. Can you imagine reading a battle scene from Lord of the Rings in first person present from Aragorn’s point of view? Whew!

Conventional storytelling leans heavily on third person past tense. Does this mean that the reader feels like the story is taking place in the past when they read it? Not always. The magic of storytelling is transporting your reader into the moment with your character. This happens in spite of the verb tense, often. Third person past tense, in this case, gives the reader just enough narrative distance from the plot to be able to process what’s happening, without losing the immediacy of the action. They’re still immersed in it, experiencing the story as it happens to the characters.

As you revise, consider: If your story is being told by a character looking back on events that happened in her past, and you want your reader to understand that, you may have to tell your reader that in as obvious a way as possible, especially if you want to avoid using cliche terms like “If I’d only known…” You could give the framework a structural element (like diary entries) or reveal everything about the narrator’s circumstances in the prologue, or something like that.

Recognize what this kind of information does to the reader’s experience of the narrative, though. I am pretty squeamish when it comes to reading (or especially watching) scary stories. But I was able to read and enjoy World War Z for one very important reason: The narratives were all obviously being told by characters who had survived. That element of suspense (will they make it or won’t they?) that often drives the reader’s connection to the character was, for better or worse, removed.

If your readers need particular information to understand a scene, but the character learns it only after they survive the scene, and you want to keep that element of suspense, you may need to consider this next question.

Why is the story being told by this particular voice?

This last question relates very closely to the first one. Omniscient narrators are best when they can be neutral, helping the reader connect details in the story to particular characters but not trying to influence the reader overly much. They don’t have any agenda or particular reason for giving you details other than to help you get a clearer picture of the story world and the characters.

When you tell a story from a particular character’s point of view (for a paragraph, for a chapter, or for the full length of the manuscript), it’s because you want the reader to experience the story through that character, because they have something important to tell us that none of the other characters in the story could share in quite the same way. Remember that each character has their own agenda and personality. That’s what makes their perspective so distinct from the other characters.

Orson Scott Card took this to the extreme in his Ender series. The book Ender’s Shadow has the same plot as the book Ender’s Game, but it’s told from the perspective of a secondary character. Because this character has such a different perspective from the main character of Ender’s Game, even though you know exactly “what will happen”, the story feels new.

What you need to consider as you tell your story is that your character who is the narrator and the character who is acting out the plot are not the same person. Sure they have the same name, but the story changes your character as she experiences it. So by the time she gets to the point where she’s ready to tell it to you, she’s a completely different person. And this story is obviously very personal for her. It’s her story! That adds another layer to the question: It’s not just why is she telling this story? It’s why is she telling this story? Is this character the only one who can tell this particular story and share the details the reader needs to know? Are those details a strong enough reason to sacrifice suspense?

The answers to these questions will help you decide who your narrator is.

How to “Ask the Editor”

Send your questions to ekauffman@writingrefinery.com. Limit yourself to a few paragraphs to introduce yourself and the problem at hand. “Brevity is the soul of wit,” after all. And keep an eye out for opportunities to send in longer submissions for critique.

Elisabeth Kauffman is a freelance editor in California. Her favorite genres are YA fantasy, sci-fi, and romance. She regularly obsesses over board games, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter. Come share your ideas with her on Facebook and Twitter and on the web at www.writingrefinery.com. Also, check out her author website and her author page on Facebook.

The post Ask the Editor: Tips for Identifying Your Story’s Narrative Voice appeared first on DIY MFA.

But what about your fiction? If you’re like me, the trick of bringing that voice to fiction, and writing believable characters—with their own voices—is not so clear. In my first article on voice, Solving the Riddle of Voice, I compare overlaying your voice and creating believable characters to work as a kind of alchemy. To understand this, let’s first look at the types of voice we’re discussing.

Voice, in general, can be thought of as the way a story is told. Its shadings and emphasis, its accessibility or complexity. By now, you know that your writer’s voice is simply that: you. An accumulation and distillation of your topics, word choice, word order, sentence structure and rhythm.

A character’s voice is the same, only from a fictional person whose life and backstory you’ve created. This voice is presented in our works in two parts: inner (internal dialogue) and outer (conversation with other characters).

Alchemy Unmasked

To understand how the writer’s voice overlays the voice of the character, picture Atlas supporting the world. The writer’s voice is present, providing the very real scaffolding holding the character up. Her voice shows in the choice of the novel’s genre, its story structure and ambiance. The characters’ voices show in their conversation tics, reactions to the novel’s stressors and what they do and don’t say.

Just as the writer’s voice is tinted by life experiences and her own predilections, so too is the character’s voice. Rachel Caine, author of the Stillhouse Lake series and many others, discussed this dynamic in an impromptu conversation/interview we shared recently via Twitter:

BJP: I do like your writing voice and how it carries across the genres you write. […] Do you have any ideas on [voice and character creation], if I may ask?

RC: […]  As far as voice and character creation … I really think the past of the character forms the inner voice (if not the outer). Family history, what they’ve been through in their life … Claire (in my Morganville YA novels) grew up a shy girl with a stubborn streak, so it took several books for her to shake the innate desire to Just Get Along. Zara (in the Honors series I co-write with Ann Aguirre) is funny but dark; she had childhood trauma and a take-no-shit attitude ever since, so her voice is confrontational most of the time. Gwen’s [main character in the Stillhouse Lake series] is paranoid, because of her experience(s) with Melvin and stalking.

[…] I try to make them all sound different based on how their past experiences have shaped them … but at the same time, undeniably, they all sound a bit like me, too.

BJP: […] In what ways do you think “they all sound a bit like” you?

RC: Hmmm, I think they have to sound a bit like me simply because I have a (sometimes unconscious) style that I can’t necessarily put aside. The only book where I’ve been fully able to do that (maybe?) is Prince of Shadows, because I was very consciously trying to mirror a Shakespearean style and form. But I think an author’s “voice” is something that people do follow, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing?

BJP: I agree with you that having a voice is not a bad thing. I certainly follow writers to hear that voice again and again. It’s what I’m attracted to as much as the story itself and why I buy their works. […]  [W]hat do you think your writing voice is and how would you describe it?

RC: My writing voice … wow, that’s hard to define from my end. In a word, I suppose: involving. That’s what I most strive to do is involve a reader in the journey of the characters in a way that feels organic, as if the reader has joined a group as an invisible companion, rather than having a story told to them at a remove. I, as an author, should disappear in favor of the characters, of course; that’s what makes a book truly immersive. And I suppose that being a multi-genre and multi-category writer means being a bit of a chameleon in that voice and pacing has to also conform to the standards of each genre and category. It’s funny, I recently had a discussion with a new author about “branding,” and what I told her was that unless her series was a monster smash hit, her brand is not going to be one series, but herself. It all aggregates up into a feeling people have about an author’s work, which equates to a brand. And voice certainly has to be a big part of that.

Magic = Practice

Mastering the ability to “disappear in favor of the characters” as Caine describes, lies in the work of writing. There is no shortcut, no magic, save writing and creating character after character until they seemingly breathe and live independent of us, their creators. While I can’t eliminate the work, I can point the way to articles and books which can help in our character writing apprenticeship:

• Ask the Editor: Character Motive by Elisabeth Kauffman
• #5onFri: Five Tips For Creating Characters Readers Will Connect With by Irena Brignull
• Episode 99: Create Compelling Characters – Interview with Susan Breen by Gabriela Pereira
• This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley

All of the pieces are here; the only thing left is for us to do the work.

Brenda Joyce Patterson is a poet, writer, librarian, and lover of short writing forms. Her poetry and flash fiction have been published in Vayavya, Gravel Magazine, and Melancholy Hyperbole. Along with works by Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Alice Walker, her travel essay “The Kindness of Strangers” appeared in Go Girl: The Black Woman’s Guide to Travel and Adventure.

The post Practical Magic: Voice in Character Creation appeared first on DIY MFA.

Her new book, Tiny Little Thing, hit bookstores on June 23 and is out now. I’m reading it right now and let me just say, it’s incredible! In this episode, Beatriz and I talk about her creative decisions as she crafted this fascinating book.

In this episode, Beatriz and I talk about:

• The inspiration for Tiny Little Thing.
• Point of view and how it helps the reader know the character or keep a character obscure.
• Using the dual narrative to create a seamless structure for your story.
• Weaving in symbolism to support the theme.
• World building and picking a telling detail to capture the essence of the moment.
• Engaging your reader and trusting them to fill in the blank spaces.

Plus: Beatriz shares her #1 tip for writers.

Resources:

If you’d like to learn more about Beatriz Williams, check out her website or follow her on Facebook or Twitter!

Beatriz Williams’s Books

The Secret Life of Violet Grant     |     Tiny Little Thing    |    Along the Infinite Sea (Nov. 2015)

Overseas     |     A Hundred Summers

Link to Episode 49

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 49: Mastering Voice and Point of View – Interview w/ Beatriz Williams appeared first on DIY MFA.

But before I dive in, I want to give a shout-out Leanne and say thanks for writing in with this great question that sparked today’s episode. Leanne writes:

“I love to write from multiple perspectives, but if I’m writing in first person I struggle with making each character sound distinct. I’d love to know how to practice making voices stand out in a manuscript.”

Great question, Leanne. Though we all know what voice is, it’s hard to define and even harder to figure out how to practice it. Today we’ll look at a couple of techniques to not only make each character sound distinct, but also to help you find your voice as as a narrator and writer.

Character Voices

The best way to learn about writing character voices is to see it done well. Read pieces with distinct character voices in them and study the techniques the author uses to give each character its own life.

For two good examples of crafting distinct voices in your characters, read the first chapter of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and the first chapter of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Look for other examples, too, group scenes (with 4 or more characters) and try to get to the bottom of how these characters come across.

Power Tip: Copy a couple of paragraphs from these “mentor texts” by hand, to help ingrain them in your mind

Another way to help you find a character’s voice is to try what I call Method Writing. It’s like method acting, but for writers. Just like in method acting, practice becoming your character. Put yourself in their skin. See what they see, feel what they feel. Then you will be able to write how they speak.

Narrative Voice

Finding narrative voice is a little trickier to talk about but I have a simple exercise that does wonders to help you identify your voice. Take a simple scene or nursery rhyme and try writing it by imitating the voice of an author you admire (e.g. write “Jack and Jill went up the hill” in the voice of Toni Morrison). Once you’ve done that, pick another author with a dramatically different voice and repeat the exercise. The key here is to put voice into action. After all…

“The only way you can truly understand voice is if you do it.” via @DIYMFA
Tweet this.

Keep practicing. Follow in the footsteps of the masters. Trust your process and your voice will come.

Link to Episode 33

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 33: Find Your Voice appeared first on DIY MFA.