When planning your stories, consider
what sort of emotion you are trying to get your readers to feel. For example,
in a thriller or crime story you might want to generate a foreboding mood through
your writing. This might be achieved by dropping in little hints of troubles to
come; or creating darker scenes through your narrative. Dialogue could include
a character's worries and concerns; you might pile on the layers of difficulties
to add to that overall sense of foreboding through your description, narrative
and dialogue.
The same applies if you're
trying to create a sense of intrigue and mystery. Let everything you write go
towards that mood and atmosphere. Or perhaps you're writing about the grandeur
of something, a royal palace, a sumptuous banquet, so you want to create a
sense of occasion. Again, build up the atmosphere through description, using
all the senses.
Maybe you're trying to write
something humorous. You'll definitely be hoping your readers will have a sense
of humour and will see the funny side of what your characters are saying and
doing. You'll no doubt find that the characters themselves aren't deliberately
trying to be funny. The humour often happens through their tragic circumstances,
as things go wrong for them.
So, think carefully about the
mood and atmosphere in your scenes, know what sort of 'sense' you're trying to
get across to readers. Keep that in focus as you write your stories.
Common sense
Unless you're writing about a Frank
Spencer or Homer Simpson type of character, then your characters should be blessed
with a bit of common sense. So that in any given situation, they would use
their common sense. And this is worth remembering if you're not going to irritate
your reader. For example, your character might be facing some sort of emotional
or physical conflict that could be easily sorted if they just used their common
sense.
Try not to let your plot become
contrived – if a character's difficulties could all be overcome if they'd just used
their common sense. For example, all would have been sorted if they’d spoken to
Uncle George, or opened the letter, or said they were sorry etc. It’s so annoying
for the reader when the character doesn’t do the obvious.
If it would ruin your plot for
them not to act in the most obvious way, then be sure you have a very good reason
for them not to have acted as any normal person would. Otherwise readers and editors with be groaning
with frustration. Look at your plot and make sure your characters do the
obvious. It might mean you thinking a lot harder about the conflict facing them,
and their situation.
Sensing when it’s
right
As writers, we have to use our
senses too, especially when trying to work out whether we've got a piece of writing
right, or whether there's something wrong with it. Far better to sense that it's not right and
then to work on improving it, rather than thinking it's great – when it's not.
So how do you do that? I can only say that it comes with practice and
with learning. Writing is a craft that you can learn. If you don't bother
learning the rules of grammar, punctuation, viewpoint, the tenses, adverbs, dialogue
etc., then you won't be able to see your mistakes. Additionally, it’s so important
to read. You learn by reading and seeing how other writers create their magic.
But even if you've done all
that, you still need to develop a sense of knowing whether your work is finally
as good as you can get it – or not. This comes with edits. You need to go over
and over your work, tweaking, re-arranging, re-phrasing, reading it aloud,
listening to the euphony of every sentence, listening for repetitions. Look out
for bad writing habits. Know when something jars. Have a keen ear and listen to
anything that doesn't sit quite right.
If you're looking to create a tear-jerking
scene, it should bring tears to your eyes. If you're creating a dramatic scene,
then you should feel anxious as you read it. If you're creating a humorous scene,
it should at least bring a smile to your face, no matter how many times you go
over it.
Be critical of your own work, but not to the extent that
you're never happy with it, or you lose confidence in your abilities as a writer.
Develop that sense of knowing when something isn't right, but also develop the sense
to know when it's well written. Learn to trust your own senses.
Narrative in
brief
- Always
aim to keep the reader reading. Don’t make it easy for them to put your book
down, or to put your short story aside before finishing it.
- Don’t let there be a let up from the action. When
one trouble is over another one is just beginning.
- When the action isn’t so dramatic or intense,
consider using a transition to move the story forward. Also, feed the
reader with tasty little morsels or hints of the drama to come.
- Plot and plan your story scene-by-scene, or by
chapters so action and/or emotion rises to a crescendo at the end of that
scene/chapter. Stop at a point where the reader is desperate to know what’s
coming next.
- Don’t be afraid to use cliff-hangers. Let your
protagonist be in some sort of predicament – emotionally, physically or both.
- If you have more than one viewpoint character,
make them as interesting as each other.
- If a section is feeling even slightly long
winded or tedious to you, shorten it, either in content or in the sentence
structure. Or consider whether it’s even necessary. Make every word count.
- When describing people and places and things,
pick out the most poignant aspects. Always tell the reader something they didn’t
know.
- Create characters that the reader will be interested
in.
- Use good dialogue to move the story forward.
Let characters say how they are feeling.
- Hint at troubles to come though the narrative
and the dialogue.
- Adjust punctuation. You can create tension
through your punctuation. Add a more breathless feel to a section by
deliberately shortening the sentences.
- Occasionally highlight poignant words, phrases
or thoughts in italics.
- Always use the senses. Let the reader see,
hear, feel, smell, touch and taste everything the character experiences.
- When you want to ‘up’ the tempo of your story,
let there be a deliberate switch, something happening in the story that
changes everything.
- Plan scenes to give a ‘calm before the storm’
type of feel.
- Make good use of the weather and environment
to add drama and atmosphere.
- Show don’t tell: Don’t say a character is afraid/happy/excited
etc, show it by how they behave and what they say, do and think.
- Read aloud. You may find that adjusting the punctuation
and re-phrasing may turn something mundane into something dramatic.
Exercise 1
As an
exercise think of an object. Now describe it using the relevant senses i.e. what you might see when looking at it; what
sounds it might make; what it tastes like; what it feels like; what it smells
like. Ask a friend or relative to try and guess what you have described. Repeat
the exercise until you are bored (or your friend is).
Tomorrow: Editing your work.
Thank you Rob Tysall, Tysall's Photography for the image. This was taken at the Nuneaton & Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary.
