Put your characters in charge

Do you ever get those writing sessions, halfway through a first draft, and you find your writing is stale, boring, lacks texture and emotion? You tried your best, yet it looks like garbage? Sometimes a writer will hit a wall. You will be unsure as to how to proceed, and may make the mistake of pushing or forcing the story through. As a result of doing this, your story or chapter may end up stale and lifeless. This in turn creates frustration.

If you were to put your characters in charge, what would the the worst that could happen? (image source: pixabay.com

Here’s a solution: Let your characters do the work for you.

Don’t be afraid to let your characters take over the story. You will have created enough room and scope within your first draft to be able to give yourself the day off, so to speak. Rather than force everything towards the ending that you have planned, let your characters have a shot at conducting the work for you.

Giving your characters free reign, and free will, draws your story forward in a manner that will surprise you. They will change things and improve upon your work, removing quite a bit of the responsibility from your shoulders.

There are times when I myself have done this, over a days writing, and when I looked back upon what had been written, I found that my characters had created an engaging story for me. Had I tried to force or plan the story through myself, I would have ended up with something completely different.

Find out what happens when you let a character’s personality change the direction of your story. Watch them make their own opportunities, which may steer your plot line off course for a while. Your characters do not need to be in opposition to the plot, however give them a chance to explore things for themselves. They create more plot drivers for you by accident through their own dialogue, actions and goals.

Remember: humans are erratic, unpredictable creatures in the real world and commit actions that are random, irrational and spontaneous. Whether they are outgoing, deceitful or compassionate, sit back and watch them interact with the surroundings you built for them.

Your plot will still be able to make it to the finish line you have planned, and when you get there, you will have a character driven story in your hands that will reward you as both writer, and reader of your own work.

Remember to ‘like’ AGP on Facebook stay connected for more writing tips. If you are looking for a premium publisher, you can check out AG Publishings.org for more information.

Good luck with your writing, and remember: Writing is a solo activity, however there is no ‘I’ in team, and this is where your characters come in, be they antagonist or otherwise.

AGP

The primary components of creative writing

A lot of writing that is created by you, or any other creative writer for that matter, will be created spontaneously without you necessarily being aware of how you do what it is you are actually doing, such is the science of creativity. Whether you do it sooner or later, you will need to be aware of what the writing process is, and how it actually works. For whilst there is an art to science, there is also a science to art.

What are the basic components of writing, when you strip them to their simplest form? (image source: pixabay.com)

Whilst writing is a highly rewarding pass time conducted by countless millions, it is in fact a highly complicated subject. As with any complicated subject, it is best that we boil it down to its simplest parts. Whilst each component is highly complex, take solace in the fact that when it comes to writing, nothing exists outside of the four primary components:

• Plot
• Character
• Setting
• Pace
• Theme

Understanding what each of these four primary components entails and brings to your story, will do your craft great justice.

Personally speaking, I once wrote a 200 page novella. When I had finished my first draft, the story really didn’t sit well with me and it bothered me for a while, until I resolved the issue by realising that I did indeed have worthy characters, it was just that my plot didn’t work. Thankfully, writing is one of those pass times where we learn to develop and improve with each written passage. By reverting back to the four primary components, I was able to improve upon not only the novella, but my writing style in general.

If you feel that you have a great idea for a story and just want to begin writing, go straight ahead. You don’t need to learn how to write a story in order to write one. Those of you who learned to ride a bike will know what I mean. So start writing your story without learning how to do it, and make the mistakes.

When you find yourself having problems, revert back to the four primary components listed above and see if you can use them to identify what the weakness or problem in your story may be.

Remember to ‘like’ AGP on Facebook to stay connected for more writing tips. Furthermore, you can check out our website agpublishings.org for more information.

Good luck with your writing, and remember to revert back to the four components if you ever get lost. There is a science to the art after all.

AGP

Write your novel backwards

Every book has a beginning, a middle and an end. You work on your story to bring your reader on an entertaining journey. When writing your novel it makes sense to write the plot out fully, chapter by chapter, in chronological order.

Well, doesn’t it?

Try this tip: Start writing your story from the end first. Not the very last scene, but the last most climatic chapter. The juicy one that you write the book for.

I know it sounds nuts, but here’s why it works a treat for both the writer and the reader: Once you’ve written the last climatic scene first, you ask yourself, ‘’what would have to come before this scene, in order to make this happen?’’. Do this for every previous scene, as you work backwards towards the very beginning.

This technique can yield some amazing plot twists in your writing that may not have come about had your written your story forward, as you normally would have.

Hence, when your reader reads your novel, they’ll struggle to figure out what is coming next. The last thing you want is for them to take your journey, and look down the straight, neatly paved path with the end in visible sight with their binoculars. You want them to hike forward along your badly beaten dirt track, as they navigate through rough curved mountain paths into the wilderness. You want your reader to be blind as they struggle, alongside with your characters, towards an ending that they cannot see, but continually search and strive for.

Keep your reader guessing as to where the path of your story leads. There’s no fun for them if there’s no surprise.

As a result, your reader won’t know what is around the corner, they won’t see the ups and downs, the twists the turns, the side roads that look like they lead to no where.

When you begin at the end, you work through the logical structure of the causes that preceded each chapter as you move back. This is a very enjoyable process.

Writing a story backwards can be one of the best styles of story writing. Writing is about slowly revealing hidden knowledge to your reader. They know the knowledge is hidden, and they want to find it themselves. If you already know the scene that is revealed, you can think about the scene that precedes it, whilst generating the next thing that will be hidden from the reader before they read it.

The twists and turns in the road, and the unexpected occurrences are easier created when you write your story backwards. The technique gives your story a more grounded, convincing and solid feeling. Every scene you create, you forge substance for the reader as you ask yourself questions about how your characters arrived there in the first place, and keep the reader guessing.

Give it a shot.

You don’t have to apply this to every novel you write, but I do urge you to try it out on your next attempt. This writing process gives birth to a result which is truly rewarding personally, for you, the writer.

Remember to ‘like’ AGP on Facebook to stay connected for more writing tips. Furthermore, you can check out our website here for more information.

Good luck with your writing, and keep the reader guessing.

AGP