Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Fiction tips: what's important to you when you create characters?

Make writing fiction easier when you create an ensemble

I’ve been reading Harriet Steel’s period mysteries, the Nuala novels, set in 1930s Ceylon. Ms Steel assembles a wonderful cast of characters, including pets.

Currently there are 11 novels in the series, so at the start of each novel, there’s a cast list. It’s ideal to refresh your memory on who’s who, if you’ve forgotten who the characters might be.

Why not make a list of the main characters in your current novel? A list helps you to decide whether you have characters who are too similar, or who don’t suit the genre—it’s always good to try and suit your characters to the genre in which you’re writing.

Here are the main tips from our meeting.

 

Fiction tips: what to do if you're beginning your fiction career

Several new members have joined our group in the past year. They’re eager to get started with fiction, the “right” way. Not only are they eager for writing tips, they want to know about the complexities of publishing.

We decided that the most important tip is just to write stories. As a new author, you don’t know which stories you have to tell: you need to write them.

1. Fiction is stories: they have a plot, and meaning

Much as I love pantsing short stories and novels, there are challenges if you’re new to writing fiction. You can end up with a story which isn’t a story at all. Or, you can end up with a mishmash: trying to cram three or five stories into one.

For beginning fiction authors.

 

Editing your novel? Here's what to check

n 2020, I wrote “Writing Fiction: An Essentials Checklist For Your Novel”. My writing students found it useful, as did blog readers.

Here’s the checklist:

1. Thrills and spills: make bad stuff happen to your characters
2. The bad stuff must make sense

3: Contrast your characters: each character must be different

4. Pay attention to setting: location, location, location…

5: Alternate your storylines (you need at least two)

6. Add humor in a later draft, if you can
7. Keep your backstory out of your story (keep secrets from your reader)

Learn more about the expanded fiction checklist.

 

Fiction: if you're struggling with motivation, get organized

Here’s an essential tip: writing comes first. Schedule writing time into your calendar each day, and be aware that only writing is writing: research isn’t writing, nor is organizing and cross-referencing your files.

Apps can help you to manage the chaos.

1. Use an app to organize the 1001 bits of information your novel generates

I use Obsidian to organize my writing. If you do too, try this: create a separate vault for fiction projects; it’s less distracting. You can keep both your primary vault and your fiction vault open, and use Obsidian URLs to link them together as needed.

More tips to develop a process for writing fiction.

 

Writing fiction? Develop an easy editing process

Big scenes, little scenes—and scenes you don’t need

When you’re reading, before you start editing, think about your BIG scenes: the essential scenes. A novel may have five big scenes—scenes you can’t avoid, because if you avoid them, the reader will feel cheated.

In a romance, the meeting between the hero and heroine is a big scene; in a whodunit, you may drop clues or red herrings in big scenes.

Turning point scenes are big scenes too. The climax is your biggest scene; everything in your novel needs to build toward it.

How to build your editing strategy.

 

A vital question, if you're writing fiction

Here’s a quick writing tip: if you’re writing fiction, start by deciding how many words your novel, novella, or serial needs. For efficient writing, deciding on a word count eliminates many uncertainties.

As you may know, I mentor authors. Last week, an author contacted me about her romantic mystery. After writing a few thousand words, she was ready to give up.

When I asked about her final word count, she wasn’t sure. So I suggested she start with that. Word count matters; it helps with characters, plotting, and the structure of your fiction.

Discover word counts for popular genres.

Fun exercises for fiction: they're easy (and powerful)

1. Create first lines to spark your creativity, now, and later

The first sentences of a novel set the tone and voice for the book, so they’re important.

First lines can be memorable; even famous. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again” is the famous first line of Daphne du Maurier’s bestseller Rebecca.

Of course, you can write any sentence you like as a first line, and change it later, but you need the book’s voice: its emotional key. The emotion sparks your inspiration for the book. Until you have the novel’s voice, it’s a challenge to write with confidence. The voice inspires you.

Here’s an example of how this works.

 

Love writing fiction? Get paid for it

Let’s look at why ghostwriting might be the perfect career for you if you enjoy writing and publishing fiction.

1. Clients are looking for authors: your books are your portfolio

Have you published fiction? Excellent. Your published books act as your ghostwriter’s portfolio. Potential clients can check out your books on Amazon, to decide whether you’re a good fit for their projects.

If you haven’t published any fiction yet, clients will nevertheless hire you. However, they might want a little evidence that you can write at book length—much as a traditional publisher would.

So, be prepared to create a “partial”, that is, an overview of your novel, with a couple of chapters and an outline of the rest.

Learn more.

Want to start writing fiction? Ideas you can try

If you want to write fiction, it’s a good indication you CAN

A writer in our group said, “if you want to write, you can. And if you keep writing and studying, you’ll improve.”

What about “talent?” Some people are better with words and making up stories than others. However, your desire to write will help you to persist. Without persistence, talent means little.

Let’s look at some ways to get started.

1. Morning Pages: allow your creativity free rein

Have you discovered Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages? Try them. They’re spontaneous writing, and can teach you a lot about writing and about yourself. You can try your hand at writing fiction during your Morning Pages’ sessions.

More ideas.

 

The easy way to write fiction: try this exercise

When you start with the story, you don’t even need to create your own story—use stories in the public domain (PD).

We’ve already looked at public domain stories and why you should use them. After all, if it’s good enough for Shakespeare and Disney, it’s probably good enough for you. (Grin.)

Many fiction authors start with public domain stories; it’s a popular trick.

Many authors know the “story” trick to write novels

Some of these authors write fairy tale retellings, or Jane Austen retellings—it makes writing fiction much easier. Others don’t; they merely use PD stories as kickstarters.

Why not try it yourself? Choose a story that’s in the public domain—almost everything written before 1923 is in the public domain by now. Then use the story to kickstart your fiction.

Read the article, and do the simple "story" exercise.

 

 

Characters in fiction: imperfect is perfect

Perfect characters annoy readers, AND they’re unbelievable

Recently I read a novel by a bestselling author. Although the author’s known for creating glamorous characters, the main character in this novel was way over the top:

• She’s a doctor: a consultant pediatrician. She’s also…
• A gourmet cook;
• Married with three children under seven;
• An athlete, who’s entered several marathons;
• Flies her own plane for recreation…

After around 30 pages, I thought: oh come on… No one has enough hours in the day for a stressful job, a family, and lots of free time to run marathons and fly planes. This author created a classic Mary Sue.

Read the article.

 

Write a novel, or write a serial? Choose

The more novels you write, the more skills you develop in keeping a novel organized, so you write better books. However, writing those novels can be challenging.

On the other hand, when you write serial fiction, it’s less like writing a novel—it’s more like writing several short stories. You’re only concerned with a limited number of words per episode, so there’s less to keep in mind, and you’ll write episodes more quickly.

Let’s look at reasons to consider publishing serial fiction in more detail.

1. Faster publishing and reader-feedback inspires you

With a novel, you can’t know if it’s a dud or a bestseller for months, or even years. It’s challenging to keep your motivation. With a serial, you publish more quickly, so you win readers, who inspire you.

Read the full article.

 

Struggling to create real conflict in your fiction?

Let’s look at some tips to help you to create believable conflict.

1. Try to make your characters’ conflicts stem from who they are

The most realistic conflicts between characters stem from who they are. The Odd Couple is my favorite example of this type of conflict. When Felix and Oscar live together they’re so different that conflict is guaranteed.

Have you watched any episodes of the long-running TV series, MASH? The series’ major conflicts came from the Korean war, but the characters were all in conflict too.

Most of the conflicts in your novel will be minor, but your major conflicts should be difficult or seemingly impossible to resolve.

Read the article.

 

Writing a novel? Consider a series

Let’s look at some tips on how to get inspired to write a series.

1. Write a series: perhaps you’ve already started

You may already have written the first novel (or short story) in your series.

Many bestselling series which are focused on a single character “grow” as the the character grows. However, you don’t need to write chronologically.

For example, bestselling author C.S. Forester published the novel The Happy Return, in which his naval hero Horatio Hornblower is already in command of a ship, in 1937. Forester didn’t publish the start of Hornblower’s naval career until 1950, with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower.

Read the article.

 

Fiction: easy tricks to create characters readers love

Something important MUST be at stake in your story. If not literal life or death, then metaphorical life or death. When there’s nothing at stake, readers don’t care, and they won’t read.

For readers to care, your characters must care.

Let’s look at ways to create killers, saints, and idiots.

1. One-word characterization: “killer”, “saint”, “idiot”…

Here’s an easy trick you can use to plan, plot, and create characters for all fiction.

Start with a one-word characterization: he’s not (undecided name), he’s the killer. She isn’t (undecided name), she’s the saint.

Read the full article.