Category: Writing Advice

The Language of Writers

robertmcloughlinWriting Advice

When I started to learn about novel writing through classes, podcasts, and videos – occasionally I would hear a term used where I was unsure of its meaning. Most of the time the speakers used it so casually, so matter of factly, that I thought I might be the only person in the world who was confused about its proper meaning.

So I started to make a list and look up these words and their definitions. Each word had a meaning which was simply stated in one or two sentences. But then, I found whole essays written about what a word meant in the literary world. It appears that some of these words are not as simple in use, as their definitions might imply.

I’ve always thought that anyone could use a complex word to succinctly represent something. But it took a highly intelligent person to describe that word, that term, in simple English. So below, I will share a few of the words that I came across which were strangers to me not all that long ago, which now are slowly becoming favourites of mine. Many of these may be old hat to you, yet nevertheless you’ll have to admit that they are good terms for writers to keep in mind as we transfer thoughts and ideas into our written stories.

TROPE:
A significant or recurrent theme familiar to the reader. A ‘foreign’ taxi driver or a ‘criminal’ wearing a leather jacket, with tattoos, and smoking a cigarette, are both tropes. Clichés are old, unwanted, and overused tropes (It’s raining cats and dogs outside). Tropes are necessary for stories to be efficient, to move along and make sense quickly. (more…)

Writing Flash Fiction

robertmcloughlinWriting Advice, Writing Experiences

So I belong to a writing group which meets once a week at a local library. We show up, share some small talk, then the leader provides several writing prompts. We choose from among the prompts and then write for 20 minutes. Each of us then reads aloud what we’ve written. The group members give a bit of positive feedback. Then we repeat the process, but only write for 10 minutes the second time around. The prompts could be single words, a single sentence, or physical objects or images.

Many writing groups and writing classes follow a similar format. What we end up with usually is 200 to 500 words of a short story. This is the average length of a ‘Flash Fiction’ short story. Though some people say a flash fiction story can extend up to 1,000 words. (Whereas normal short stories might run all the way up to 25,000 words in length).

I have been attending basic writing groups and creative writing classes off and on for some time now. What I do, as well as many other writers, is to let the prompt stir up a memory from our own lives. Then we either write out our experience as an autobiographical piece, or we use the memory to create a new fictional story. Usually about a single experience, place, or person. (more…)

When is Enough, Enough?

robertmcloughlinWriting Advice

I am editing and rewriting my first novel, still. I am learning as I am going along. One thing I have been worried about is that I may have too many characters in my novel. I have an investment in each and everyone of them. And together, I belief they are a complete symphony of people who are needed to cohesively tell the story of my novel. Sort of like if you take out a piccolo and French horn player, would the symphony sound the same. So I’ll come clean and give you some numbers. My story is a character driven novel told first person through the protagonist. Then I have ten secondary characters who at times also serve as antagonists to varying degrees. Then I also have about another 10 minor characters and finally, another 18 walk-on characters (Who are briefly only in one or two scenes.) My novel should finish up with about 70,000 words.

So is that too many? Well, ‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoy contained 134 characters. While the 19th century novel ‘Walden’ by Henry David Thoreau had only one character. How many characters do you need in your novel? Too few and you are likely to bore the reader. Too many and the reader may become confused and find it difficult to follow the story. So the answer is you need enough to competently tell the story you are writing. Vague answer? Yes. So keep on reading for the tangible advice that will better explain how to arrive at the ‘Goldilocks Number of Characters’ needed in your novel.  (more…)

Perfection: The Key to a Horrible Novel

robertmcloughlinWriting Advice2 Comments on Perfection: The Key to a Horrible Novel

In a previous life I used to be in a relationship with a woman whom I’d tell friends that she was ‘perfect’. This woman asked me not to describe her that way as it put too much pressure on her to try and live up to my description. She of course was right. Our own mothers told us so, ‘That no one is perfect. That we are all human’.
Yet many authors have a protagonist in their novels who seem to be superhuman. They want their central character to be the hero which the world has been waiting for to save us all. These are the kinds of books that only get read part way through before they are closed and put back on the shelf by bored readers.
Our protagonist needs to struggle, needs to fail time and time again as they try to resolve the central problem of the novel. Ellen Brock, YouTube presenter and novel editor does an excellent job of explaining the need for our protagonist to not be perfect. Below you will find my summary of her nine minute video on ‘How to Write a Character Flaw’. I have also provided a link at the end so that you can go directly to her video if you choose.

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Learning by Watching

robertmcloughlinWriting Advice, Writing Experiences

Years ago I was with a friend. We’d traveled to Oberlin College in Ohio to listen to a storyteller perform on stage there. We’d never seen him, but he came highly recommended. As we sat in the auditorium, a janitor came out and set a chair in the center of the stage. Then he returned with a cushion and a lamp. He plugged the lamp in and turned it on and off a few times, testing it. As he was bent over he looked out at us and gave a little wave. A few people laughed. He told us that no one ever tells him anything and he wondered why we were there. Someone called out politely that there was a storyteller who was going to perform, hopefully soon. He looked at a few people in the front row and mumbled that his father used to be a good storyteller. That when he himself was growing up, for better or worse, he was the cause of his father having stories to tell. He then apologized and said he’d be moving on as soon as the show was ready to go on. He said, ‘But there was this one time when my parents had a big party at their home and he’d ended up trapped on top of the roof’. We were five minutes into his story before we all realized that he was the story teller. (more…)