Chapters (Part 2) - Cliffhangers

Unfortunately I didn't edit much of my novel this week. It has gotten to a point where I just won't mention any progress and if I did do something substantial then I will tell you. But I am happy to be able to have this post up early Monday morning so that I can get back into a steady schedule, even if there isn't any progress on my story.

It's not that I don't have time to write, it's that the time I do I am so mentally exhausted from studying for my next round of midterms that I can't concentrate for more than a few seconds before becoming sidetracked. At this pace I don't expect that I will do any substantial editing until the term is over in December, after having slept a few days straight. In university there is no time to relax completely. Once you do, you find yourself way behind.

So now my goal is to have these posts on time and as edited as I can make them every week.

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Chapters are used to give the reader a break between large chunks of story. At least that is what the reader is made to think. But the writer is actually doing everything in their power to prevent you from putting the book down. So while you might expect each chapter to conclude a nice little sub-story so that you can finally catch up on your sleep or get on with your day, you are solely mistaken.

There are many ways to heighten the intrigue at the end of a chapter to keep the reader interested. The most obvious way would be a big cliffhanger. For example, if you are writing about a post-apocalyptic world, the chapter ends with the main character watching mutated creatures limping from the rubble all around to attack them. Then fade to black. But with this technique it is easy to overdo it because it can quickly become laughably obvious what the writer is intending. Like all aspects of writing, when you don't notice something while you're reading, you're probably doing it right.

I don't like doing it this way because I would never be able to get away with it without it coming across like a soap opera. Instead, I prefer to leave the reader subtly intrigued to keep them hooked. Every time the chapter ends I stop and think to myself whether the reader is anticipating and excited about later chapters. This can be for an event, a confrontation, a characters' developing relationship, anything. But there has to be something for them to anticipate or else they will grow bored and choose not to pick the book back up again.

Of course, it is much easier to talk about this than to put it into practice. The first step when trying to implement this technique is to consider who your audience is and what they are looking for in your story. If you are writing it for readers whose preferences match your own it is easier to figure this out because you only have to ask yourself what your favourite parts of books are. If you are writing a romance I can guarantee that your readers want to anticipate the hero and the heroine getting together. If it is a horror, there needs to be a promise that the killer is closing in.

Since I am writing a fantasy my small hooks tend to be things like the main character discovering that someone was holding a piece of information back and that in the next chapter we will get resolution to that in a confrontation. Or else she is on her way to a location and only hints are told of what that place resembles which is completely different from our world.

Basically, try not to conclude all your loose ends at the end of every chapter. There has to be some ongoing conflict or tension so that the reader will feel inspired to pick up the book and keep reading.

Chapters (Part 1) - Titles

Since editing a bit every week is proving to be a challenge, though I am doing some it is basically negligible when looking at it in the big picture, my goal is to write my next post on Sunday next week so that it can be up on Monday morning. Also, I want to read more of the novel that has been sitting on my shelf for a long time now, so long it has probably started to gather dust. 

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As someone who is always concerned with detail, I pay close attention to how a chapter is announced. I especially like when a book will use chapter titles that suit the tone of the book. For example, in my copy of Lord of the Rings the chapters are written in roman numerals which makes sense because the story feels old and powerful.

Some novels will include a quote at the beginning of every chapter. I find that they either spoil what is about to happen or don't make any sense. Then I forget to skip back to it and read it after I'm finished the chapter to understand the underlying message. Usually I will skip the quote if they are longer than a sentence because I will be so excited to get on to the next chapter.

One thing that I've noticed that I like recently is when there are chapter titles. For example, the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is called "The Boy who Lived". Other titles that might appear are "Diagon Alley" which is fitting because in that chapter it's the first time they go there. They are fun because it is straightforward and if I'm rereading the book then it allows me to find the chapter or scene I wanted to read more quickly.

Another fun addition can be artwork at the beginning of the chapter. These are always nice touches, especially if they are unique symbols or drawings that capture the feel of the story.

Any way to give a hint across to the reader without spoiling anything is a good because it allows them to get excited for it and it builds suspense. If you have been teasing a certain object or confrontation for a while and one chapter has it in the title it will make the reader eager to read it and finally get to see something develop.

Writing Programs (Part 1) - Nanowrimo

I did get some writing done at the beginning of last week before homework began to take over my mind. It's like every free moment where I don't have anyone to distract I want to spend doing work or else the future me will be disappointed in my productivity. It isn't until its Sunday that I realize how little I've done and how I should carve out just a bit of time each day to do it. At the time, when I do have that half an hour break, I waste it on the usual stuff like Youtube or movies. Even if I were to do fifteen minutes of writing, by the end of the week that would be almost two hours of work which is quite a bit.

We'll see if I can improve it this week.

What I am most annoyed with is not having my post ready for Monday. I have been doing so well I post these on the same day and I am scared that since I missed it once it will be so much easier to miss it again. Hopefully if I can get more writing done then I will be so excited to report back how I have progressed that I won't postpone writing this.

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Nanowrimo is a big deal in the writing community. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. Writers from all over the world attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. It isn't all aspiring authors either. One author in particular who participates in this competition is Marissa Meyer. She has said on her blog that she wrote her Lunar Chronicles series during this time.

Some other very popular books have come from this competition:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Now, this is a competition purely done against yourself so you don't win any prizes besides your self satisfaction. But if you are classified as a "winner", the site does offer you discounts on printing your novel.

One of the best parts of his program is the forum. People discuss plot holes, genre issues, basically anything to do with writing. It is full of writers who are supporting each other. There are so many other events happening at the same time. People host all sorts of things on Twitter. There is also the Camp Nanowrimo which occurs in the spring over several months.

I took part in this in my grade eleven year in high school. I succeeded, though I did start a few days earlier in October. To be fair, I deducted what I had written before November 1 from the tally so I didn't technically cheat. I even extended it into December because it ended up being around eighty or ninety thousand words. But I didn't like the story very much so I haven't touched it since.

While I loved the experience, I find that I am not inclined to do it again because I don't need something like this to motivate myself to write more. Furthermore, since I am in university there is no time to write in November. Perhaps when I have graduated and everything has settled down I can give it another try just to enjoy the community but that isn't for a while.

But I highly suggest trying it out if you are interested.

Separating Artist and Work

With midterms last week there was no time to do anything but study. But now that I have gotten used to the rigor of university life I want to try to see if I can do at least ten or fifteen minutes of editing every day. My goal is to finish the chapter I am currently by next weekend. Even if I don't get large chunks of work done, I want to keep the story fresh in my mind. The more time I take off in between working on it, the harder it is to get back into it because I will have to refresh myself even more each time.

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With the surge of the internet, information is quickly accessible. Therefore we know more, much more, about things than before. This certainly allows for many conveniences but it also forces certain preconceptions to change. It used to be that authors were nothing more than faceless beings somewhere, weaving stories from the air with their omnipresent abilities. We didn't know any more about them then what could be read in the bio at the back of the book.

Now that a quick search on google can give us their entire life's story, the relationship between reader and author has changed. They are actively engaged in social media and can be accessed in ways never before thought of. One bad twitter post, a fraction of the words they have written in their novels, can have the power to cause huge damage.

That was dramatic, but it is true. The public can now share its opinion quite vocally and they have the confidence to do so. Since we are all hidden behind our keyboards it is tempting to share opinions that we would never voice face to face. It is difficult for an author to keep secrets hidden for long and when they are uncovered readers are faced with a decision as to whether they can enjoy someone's work even if they can't agree with that person's morals or behaviour.

For example, take James Frey, the author of I Am Number Four. The novel was popular and even adapted to a movie. But what most of the public isn't aware of, is this man was the creator of the publishing house Full Fathom Five, a publishing house. He takes advantage of new writers by having ridiculously repressive contracts which basically sign all their rights over to his company. They get paid an advance of $250, aren't promised to have any credit for the work they have produced, and can be faced with a fine of $50,000 if they admit to working for the publishing house without having permission to release that information. There are numerous blog posts and articles detailing other atrocities this man has committed: here, here, and here are good places to start if you would like more information.

Of course this is an extreme example. There was a scandal a little while back after an author posted this article on the Guardian, basically her detailing having stalked a girl online and gone to her doorstep to confront her for a bad review. The backlash on the internet has been harsh as many criticize her actions. This has opened up a new discussion as the limitations an author has, whether they can ever answer a negative review--or even a positive review--of their book online.

This works in the opposite way as well. If you were to follow an author on Twitter that you thought was funny, wouldn't you be more likely to pick up their book? And if you did like the author when they posted on their respected social media, you would also be more likely to see past the faults in their writing that you would notice with an unknown author.

I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, only that it can be perceived both ways. The internet has taken over and nothing can truly be hidden from the public's eye. This is simply another influence for readers to take into account when choosing which novel to read next. Or else they can choose to read books without knowing anything about the authors at all. But where is the fun in that?

Authors in Multiple Genres

The beginning of my week was hectic: there were so many assignments to do and small errands to complete that I didn't even get time to breathe. But on Thursday, after my final quiz of the week, I had a large chunk of time to get work done. After a few hours of homework I began to lose steam as I completed all the assignments due relatively soon and the only thing left was to study for next week's midterms.

Then I decided to get some writing done. Not the "fun story" that I talked about last week, but the one that I'm editing. It took me half an hour of Youtube and two cups of tea before I decided to tackle it and it felt great. I didn't get much time to do it because of another commitment later on in the day, but the act of editing my story felt like a relief. Even though I haven't been feeling very homesick lately (that was the first week), it was comforting.

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Most authors become brands. When you think of John Grisham your mind immediately jumps to thrillers. But if you were to pick up a novel with his name on the cover and it turns out to be a romance book you will be confused, like if Nicholas Sparks wrote a horror or StephenKing wrote a . For this reason agents and publishers encourage authors to stay with one genre.

When an authors gains popularity, they cultivate a fan base. There will definitely be some readers who will be willing to transfer with the author into another genre, but it will require a lot more marketing before they can hope to attain the same popularity. It is as though they as starting from scratch. Of course, famous authors can get away with this because of how well known their name is, but they can get away with a lot more than an author with only a few novels to their name.

One way to circumvent this problem quite easily is to use a pseudonym. After the phenomena of Harry Potter, JK Rowling used the pseudonym Robert Galbraith to write her crime series. Interestingly, she sent her new novel to many publishers who rejected her. They claimed to have enjoyed her novel but not loved. The publisher who finally accepted her novel was the one she had used for Harry Potter.

By using a pseudonym, whether it is known or not, allows readers to differentiate between that author's genres. There are authors like Brandon Sanderson who write for middle grade, young adult, and adults but all his novels are fantasy.

In my opinion, unless you are an established author, do not attempt to write in two different genres. It will just make your journey that much harder. By devoting your time to two genres, you will write less books in each and it will be more difficult to retain interest from your fan base.

Though there is something to be said for writing in different genres to keep your interest high. By rehashing the same material it can make your creativity go stale. Instead consider meshing your genres. If you usually write science fiction and you want to write a mystery, simple write a mystery with a science fiction setting.

But at the end of the day, you should be writing what you love. If you want to write a fantasy, don't force your way through a contemporary because your frustration will come through in your writing. When you make the decision, make sure that you are aware of the issues that come with it.