I have to admit I’m kind of surprised that the topic of meditation and writing haven’t crossed paths already. Meditation and mindfulness is kind of everywhere psychology related at the moment – It will be interesting to see if this is a trend that carries on.
Also from Weiland, a more practical blog on Antagonistic ‘proxies’ a useful way of making sense of ‘bad-guys’ and adversity, both pragmatically and thematically.
Personally I think being able to synthesize between is a hugely useful skill. I don’t know if its 100% as easy as ascribing everything to ‘taste’ but its certainly worth paying attention to the source of your feedback. Especially asking questions like “what are their motivations?” I’m not saying that other people have nefarious motives per se, but people have varying tolerance or appetite for harsh feedback depending on the situation and relationship. Don’t be swayed too much by positive encouragement by friends and family but equally don’t be dismayed by say online comments that the poster wants to prove how good their chops are.
I love this question (partly because I actually have a sort of answer for it) But I feel its really important for new and old writers come back to what actually makes a good story, and in my opinion and good story simply has to have SOMETHING attractive about it. Perhaps its something original that people haven’t seen before, or it tugs at the heart-strings or its just incredibly entertaining. A story doesn’t have to be all those things but I certainly don’t think a good story is one that simply follows all the blogosphere’s “on writing”
An off topic for the blog – but I love talking about bad (and good) arguments. One of the bad one’s I’m trying to get better at spotting is the ‘Motte and Bailey’ this is where you link something with a strong evidence base to something without and try and make it sound like your weak subject is well backed – for a controversial subject example someone might say “Vaccine side effects are a serious and real concern. I So don’t think taking the Covid-19 vaccine is helpful against Covid-19” (side effects are a serious and real concern BUT the vaccine does help against infection too)
Back to writing – I think making characters stand out is a hugely overlooked topic. I think a lot of authors just slap a name/description/motivation and hope the reader does the rest. It might seem cheesy and obvious to a writer writing it but having distinctive features, quirks, history etc really helps the sense of a person. e.g. Harry Potter’s lightening scar is a stroke of genius (having Sauron’s and Saruman’s names so similar is NOT IMHO).
Anyway that is me for the week! Remember to comment or forward me stuff you think are good shares for writers!
Well a little after weekly as last weekend was my BIRTHDAY (yikes)
How dare they make a meme about me??
How dare
I really like this essay on comedy – although as I might rant again several times on this post, I note a lot of writing youtube channels focus on script-writing (which is fine although I note its often to promote their novels which is by no means seevy at all but it is telling of the challenges of balancing social media content).
Much of this focus I assume is because its more popular, and in a general sense there are less movies and great shows versus books and are far more ubiquitous and accessible to create content about. Where it does become a little tricky for consumers is you have to consider whether the advice does translate well from screen to novel.
In the above video the focus is mostly on humour as a ‘tension breaker’ but I think there are many many other uses to which I might save for a singular post.
I’m sure I’ve shared this before but I just LOVE this video. Discussing ambiguious endings and metaphor in fiction in a way which IMO isn’t pretentious or overblown.
I always devour a Just Write video – kind of a strange/funny and unexpected topic I totally agree that the 2nd two movies in the trilogy were super convoluted but also that probably in retrospect are really high qualDon’t normally do politics on this blog but a Ban on Ban-on-books is music to my ears (even though I had to reread the headline to double check it meant being pro-books LOLAnd if you don’t like politics here is a Dad jokes for you instead!
So right of the bat, I want to establish that I really like this book and this post isn’t mean to be a deep critique or criticism, but I did want to use this book as an example of something that is oftentimes considered a mortal sin for a fiction author.
Namely that is genre shifting.
Now I’m not 100% sure the story of Leviathan would be considered a genre shift but it definitely has a big tonal plot change at its midpoint.
To start I’ll provide a plot summary below and then discuss the ins and out of genre shifting using Leviathan as an e.g.
The Leviathan
Sees Thomas Treadwater return from war, a battle between monarchists and democrats(?) (not sure that is the correct label). The catalyst for his return is a letter from his younger sister, claiming their father has been bewitched by a sinister and evil new servant. Thomas himself is wounded and jaded and no longer believes in God, let alone witches and demons. Nonetheless the scenario worries him as he returns home.
What follows as he returns home is I suppose a sort of murder mystery / 1600 witch hunt. “Chrissa” the servant is accused of witchcraft and we meet a variety of cast members of the story including witch-hunters, politicians, rich benefactors, pimps and so forth. This section of the story even borrows tropes from Silence of the Lambs as Thomas attempts to balance his own beliefs with also investigating potential natural wrongdoings. The story revolves around Thomas speaking to, occasionally fighting with, travelling to see, sneaking around all these characters to make sense of the situation.
As the story progresses to a midpoint it becomes increasingly apparent that something supernatural is going on, but it is in fact Thomas’ sister that is the source!
When this is established the story takes a strange turn. The vast majority of the cast disappears, after effectively being used to reach the midpoint of the story (some are mortally dispatched) but most are simply not mentioned again – the story shrinks to Thomas and Esther Treadwater, Mary the originally accused lady and her brother Henry and brief visit from none other than The John Milton. Esther is contained/imprisoned by Thomas and the story jumps between flashforwards to Thomas’ old age where Esther is still under lock and key, and revolves around their efforts to retrieve Esther from an apparent possession and/or better understand who or what has possessed her.
Does this count as a genre shift?
In my opinion the midpoint switch is a change from a supernatural mystery whodunnit, to a more cosmic horror vibe. If perhaps its not a complete genre jump say something ridiculous from supernatural to sci-fi but it was notable in the abrupt change in tone and direction of the plot.
Problem?
So the conventional wisdom about genre switching is that is would “annoy the reader” now I’m not some writing puritan person who somehow wants writing to not consider the reader (not sure if that person actually exists or is a ghost I invented, but it seems like a lot of people want to ignore readers in their writing). So I think not annoying the reader is a fair reason to do or not to something.
But I do feel its worth asking why switching annoys a reader.
The Contract
Some refer to the contract between writer and reader. Basically suggesting that switching genre violates a contract promised to readers earlier on the book. I do agree but I feel there are more complex dynamics at play, at least in my case-study example.
There are two sorts (at least) of things that can shift in a novel that may detract from reader experience. One is weird happens that may kick the reader out of the story, say for example in Leviathan if the ‘possession’ turned out to be an alien using advanced technology – this doesn’t really damage the characterization or specific tensions, but the silly premise would indeed be “annoying” to readers. Personally I don’t think its just the contract between reader and writer, or rather more precisely its about the delicate fictional world built around the story. Context creates subtext, and abrupt shifts in context IMO demolish subtext or at least kick it solidly in the balls.
The other detraction is more within the tensions of the story. A genre shift may diminish the worries and questions and hopes built in the early part of the work. For example in Leviathan there was much tension built around the persecution of ‘witches’ implying that when the sister was discovered to be the cause of supernatural concern this would cause much issue for Thomas, torn between protecting his sister and the external forces seeking a witch. However as the second half of the story progressed this tension was simply a reason that they characters remained much isolated – there was no further mention of the majority of the characters involved in the original witch-hunt, to the point where one feels a little listless, the tensions introduced in the first part were not relieved by the second.
So can it work?
I have mixed opinions on this. I enjoyed Leviathan, but the genre shift was relatively minor. Another story that springs to mind is IQ84, not exactly a genre switching novel but more an author that has a reputation for strange stories that blur in form. In IQ84 you get introduced to a tense underworld of female assassins, but the story ‘resolves’ by the characters apparently drifting out of time and space, unrelated to organized crime or paid-for murder.
When shifting works I think you need to have adequate planning, 1st to not kick a reader out of the story, which usually requires some sort of foreshadowing or similar prep work, and 2nd to maintain the tensions of the story. Ironically I think both techniques by definition reduce the amount of ‘switch’ actually occurs – which kind of implies genre switching is baseline bad, you can just mitigate it sometimes.
That said I feel big shifts in a novel especially can elevate a story beyond a mere genre adventure. It’s not something I feel competent at as a writer but like the idea at least! LOL.
Comment your thoughts on genre switching below! And if you’ve read The Leviathan give us your thoughts!
Honestly I just linked this video because I wanted to talk about ‘prolific’ writing routines a bit. I DREAM of being able to get up and walk 5km before doing 2 hours of fresh writing and an afternoon of revision.
Correct if I’m wrong but I believe King suggests 2000 words per day to smash out a first draft (in his book in the attached video they are testing 6 pages per day). For the last month or two I have actually managed to hit this amount but I have several thoughts:
2000 words is actually ALOT. Sure might not seem that humongous on paper (so to speak). But bear in mind that writing fiction also requires the brainstorming, creativity, word choice etc etc. Add to this that most of us aren’t full time writers, we have jobs, kids, partners and other obligations. 2000 words is a solid 2-3 hours of writing which is a huge amount of time to squeeze into a busy day.
IMO this amount of word count contradicts with the advice to ‘write every day’ 2000 words is a big effort for everyday, and you’ll need breaks and gaps to outline and plan and revise
Word count goals are good for getting a first draft done but honestly mean very little in the bigger picture. I remember being snobbishly annoyed when several years ago when the internet meta was obsessed with word-count, and poster said they’d written 1,000,000 words AMA!!! People were lapping this up asking this person all manner of advice and I was feeling like… but did they publish anything, does anyone like any of their millions words??
I agree with Brandon Sanderson on the topic that you do what works FOR YOU. With a small dose of if discipline is a problem then write everyday is good advice.
Okay, first up I must confess:
I didn’t get Blood Meridian…
People rave about this book, but it just did not gel with me, like say The Road or No Country for Old Men. I am considering a reread thanks to this video but if anyone has any insights or advice do comment.
Back to the actual topic of the video, I really enjoyed listening to someone talk about adaptations. Interestingly I am in disagreement with the poster in that I think the best sort of adaptations aren’t about faithfully capturing everything from the source material and brining it to a different medium – I think good adaptations take something usually a powerful theme or a strong characterization from the source and create something a bit new. That said I think any adaption can be done poorly or well usually hinging on the craft quality of the new piece. (e.g. compare Lord of the Ring to the Hobbit).
Now I’m actually one of the pretentious people that thinks YES you do, but here’s the unpretentious part: IMO themes don’t need to amazing mind blowing, subtle or even ‘deep.’ Just something consistent.
I used to hate ‘secret identity’ stories in many many 90s superhero tales (e.g. plots of subplots that hinged on the hero ensuring their identity remined secret) However I really enjoyed these themes in the recent Spiderman film(s). Why? Because in No Way Home Peter’s identity and related themes was central and related to the whole story. It’s annoying when you’re promised a kick-ass superhero battling super villains who then has to pause and cover up their identity for little or no thematic reason.
I’ve said it before but part of the reason I’ve been doing these roundups is to repeat stuff sometimes I think is worthwhile. For the most of us a first draft is going to need a tonne of work, and assuming its junk or crappy is a good way to ready oneself for the rewrites and edits that are going to be needed.
It doesn’t mean that everyone’s first draft is going to be terrible or that one cannot take a meticulous approach and try to start with a great first draft. It’s just a 99% of time a process is going to be get that first draft onto paper and then get into the next step of hard work.
I actually had tonnes more videos to link but not time to watch them myself! Maybe next week – take care all. Nga Mihi Nui
I was intensely interested to get into reading Wee Free Men, as I thought I’d read it before and not enjoyed it at the time – but realized I hadn’t actually finished the whole book before.
In a similar vein to the Amazing Maurice, the style is very different to other Discworld novels – much more traditionally structured, although perhaps moreso than the previously mentioned book, Wee Free Men feels a little more zany as a Discworld should.
I suspect the reason I struggled last time I read this is I didn’t fully get all of the Free Men’s utterances (admittedly I still didn’t this read-through either but enough for a laugh). I also felt like the Free Men were a bit of a duex ex machina, except when reading the book fully through Pratchett balances their appearances really well the final act more focussed on Tiffany’s character than random appearances from the little blue guys.
Anyway this is the exciting beginning of reading the rest of the Tiffany Aching books which I haven’t read at all, so its all new to me.
I really like this video – it covers some very important and interesting points about villains and antagonists. Interestingly in many of the story examples “pure-evil” villains often don’t take the role of antagonists – for example in Lord of the Rings, most of the antagonism is fulfilled by the Denathors, Gollums, the character’s internal struggled with the Ring and so on.
That said, some really key points of the video are that even irredeemable and unexplainably evil villains can still be interesting, and most of all you want the right type of villain for your protagonist/hero to develop them the most. (typically tragic backstory, understandable villains, actually undermine or reduce the impact of the protagonist’s actions as they are now against someone morally grey.
I should probably study this video a little more. My current process I would vaguely describe as “outlining by the seat of my pants” e.g. I tend to plan ahead somewhat and then pants my way ahead until I start to stumble and then to some more planning.
I really like Jessica Brody’s resources however they aren’t all easily linkable in my blog. She sends out regular newsletter posts, holds courses and other useful bits and pieces. Some may be aware of “save the cat” as a somewhat well known script-writing method, Brody is the author of “save the cat” writes a novel – which is IMO quite different but I found SUPER helpful in learning the craft.
Not only is this a great blog post, Jarakit shows impeccable taste in header images! There isn’t much to add to what is already said in the post, which pretty much covers everything theme.
Good for a laugh! I remember I did a similar post on Reddit yonks ago (like 7 years and by the way looking through my past posts was very cringe)
I think this is good rewriting advice, I don’t know if anyone else writes like me but when I draft I don’t think of things like how interactions with antagonists match up to story beats or plot points. It’s one of those areas where there might not be right or wrong answers, but more is your story doing the things you want it to?
Lonely Power Poles 