Thursday Technicalities – The Fantasy Nook

Thursday Technicalities: Genre-Switching In a Series

Introduction

When I asked those who follow this blog on Facebook to give me some topics they’d like discussed, this was one of the suggestions. This is a somewhat nuanced topic, and the question is: how do we approach genre-switching in a series, and is it going to lose readers? That’s the question I will be getting into today.

When can you employ genre-switching?

First of all, every book in a series has different needs to make it a good story. Generally, series stick to the same overall genre, but they may change in tone or flavor through the progression of the series. For example, book one in a steampunk fantasy might focus more on action and fantasy while maybe the second one moves to a more urban fantasy/steampunk mix.

A good example that comes to mind is Orson Scott Card’s Ender series. Ender’s Game is mainly action/sci-fi. But the second book, Speaker for the Dead, sees Ender a bit older and traveling through space. The book takes on a heavily political tone with less action/adventure undertones while remaining sci-fi. The books after that were more philosophical than anything, though, again, they remained sci-fi.

So what do we take from this? Primary genre shouldn’t change. If book one is fantasy, you can’t switch to realistic fiction and romance in book two. But you can change the secondary genre. Perhaps book one is fantasy romance but in book two the characters are now married and the focus shifts from romance to adventure giving you a fantasy adventure. As long as the transition is smooth, you’re unlikely to lose readers over this. A well-told story is more important than a contrived adherence to secondary genres or elements.

How do we make the genre-switch?

This depends on the needs of your series. Some switches are easier than others. Going from action to adventure or from fantasy to science fantasy is easier than going from urban fantasy to high fantasy might be. The goal is to make the transition smooth whatever switch you are trying to make.

Abrupt changes in genre are no better than abruptly going from a kick-butt heroine to a whiny teenage girl between books with no warning (Divergent…). We want a gradual transition. Setting up a shift in secondary genre–especially if the change is big–is a part of setting up for book two. It’s your job to leave the clues there in the end of book so that the reader is unsurprised by the genre shift.

Unless the series is made up of standalones tied by some sort of theme besides genre, you don’t want your genre-switching to be a surprise. Again, I want to stress that how this is achieved varies from book series to book series. I would be doing you a disservice if I told you there was a one-size-fits-all solution. That is rarely true in writing, even in grammar.

How do i know if genre-switching is working?

I have two suggestions when looking at how well genre-switching is working for your series. First, you should be an avid reader. If you are a writer and want to be a good one, you need to read. You need to know what a good story looks like to construct it. As is the case in so many things, learning by example and by doing is much better than reading thousands of books on the topic. If you have been reading well-written fiction, then the first suggestion I have will work well for you. Use your intuition.

So long as you’re honest in your assessment of the transition, your intuition can go a long way in helping you decide if genre-switching is working.

Second, get outside perspectives from friends who read a lot of books, especially ones that are well-written and in your genre. They don’t need to be fellow writers, but if they are, that’s a bonus. This is especially important if you’re a new writer or don’t read much because your intuition will likely catch only the most glaring issues.

However, even seasoned authors should be looking for outside input. I started writing at eleven. I’m twenty-two now, and even after eleven years of writing, I still hold the insight of my beta-readers (or listeners since my mom prefers I read the stories to her instead) in high regard. No matter how well I can write or edit, there will always be blind spots I have that my readers don’t. Every honest, seasoned writer admits the same. Never discount the usefulness of beta-readers and critique partners. They are indispensable and the really good ones deserve your appreciation and a huge thank you at the very least.

Conclusion

I hope this has been helpful in providing you with guidance on handling this nuanced area of writing. There’s no one way to handle genre-switching mid-series, but there are some ways that work better than others. So be willing to try several methods until you find the one that works for your series. You can always delete, re-write, and edit. It’ll be worth it for a piece that is of exceptional quality.

Getting Back Into Writing After Publishing

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Introduction

Anyone who has published before knows it’s a long, involved process. It isn’t easy, and getting back into writing after publishing can be hard. After pushing so hard to reach the finish line of publication, we often feel burned out and unprepared to dive back in. But if we’re trying to build our list of publications, we have to keep writing. So how can we get back to writing after publishing?

Tip #1 For Getting Back into Writing: Take a Break

Not all of us are able to do this. We may have deadlines looming for other projects. This is the case for me as I just finished editing Trader Prince of Aleshtain and am preparing to launch in in December, but I also have to dive headlong into pounding out the words on my Children of Chaos project then editing and launching that, all before April 2021. It doesn’t leave much wiggle room to take a break.

However, if your deadlines allow for it, do take a break! Often, we feel burned out because we haven’t properly balanced work with life. I know I’m absolutely horrid about balancing these two areas. My family and best friend will tell you that I would probably work myself to death if my health issues didn’t flare and force my body to quit going at some point. And even, then, I still push myself far past when the first warning signs of a breakdown in health appear and frequently need to be told by others I trust and respect to stop. So I know very well how easily imbalance leads to burnout, unfortunately. While the opportunity to step away is often impossible during the process of getting a book publish-ready and then actually published, a break after goes a long way.

Tip #2 For Getting Back into Writing: Lessen Time

If you can’t take a full break, try lessening your time on other projects for a bit or breaking it up a little more. This allows for a little breathing room if you’re struggling with burn out or going back to writing after publishing. This is most frequently the method I employ, and it’s the one I’ve employed with Shadow’s Dissident for the Children of Chaos series. After the whirlwind of writing and editing and now formatting with Trader Prince of Aleshtain, I really do need a break, but I can’t take one. Lessening my time spent a bit and breaking it up so that I can focus on sewing (something else I really love) in between or can go read really works wonders.

Tip #3 for Getting Back into Writing: Vary What You Write

This one is a little less obvious, but sometimes I find that writing in a different genre or having two projects going that I can switch between does help. Especially if one of those projects is just for fun and has no deadline. It helps me to remember why I love writing, and that makes it easier to go back to the writing that’s on a deadline. It puts the life, creativity, and fun back into things and gets me out of any ruts I might have ended up stuck in with the previous project. It also gets the previous project out of my head. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the project you just finished because you’re so invested and you just need to find a way to let go and be excited about something new.

Tip #4 For Getting Back Into Writing: Rewards

We are reward-driven creatures. None of us does anything on any frequent basis that we don’t feel like doing unless there is a reward for it or, alternatively, an unwanted consequence for not doing it. Since there aren’t always consequences to choosing not to write when you should be (especially if you are only answerable to yourself for the missed deadlines), rewards are the way to go. It doesn’t have to be big, but set small goals and corresponding rewards for finishing them.

Tip #5 For Getting Back Into Writing: Take It At Your Pace

Lastly, take it at your pace. There’s something to be said for sitting down and writing a little bit each day, even when you’re not feeling inspired. It builds a good habit. However, overwhelming yourself with huge word count goals or large time commitments right after a large project’s completion is setting yourself up for a struggle at best and failure at worst. Start small and build into your routine for the new book. No two books are the same, and you may find that the routine you had with the last book changes for the new one. Be flexible and learn to know when you’re overdoing it.

Conclusion

Everyone handles burnout differently. These are just a few tips I’ve found work well for me. Some may work better for you than others, and some may not work at all. That’s fine! The important part is finding what works for you so you can still get writing done if you need to without burning out. Have tips to add? Feel free to share them in the comments!

Thursday Technicalities: Blogging – To Blog or Not to Blog?

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Introduction

One area I often hear discussed by groups organized to help authors is blogging. It is repeated over and over that authors should have blogs, but many of us have no idea what to do with a blog if we even decide to take the advice to start one. So these authors frequently start one up and then barely touch it or procrastinate out of uncertainty on where to start. Starting a blog can feel overwhelming. So let’s break it down in relation to you as an author. Knowledge is power, as they say.

Blogging Tip #1: Decide on Your Subject

Okay, so it’s a bit over-repeated, but you should be blogging. That’s not something many dispute. The problem is where to start, and I recommend you start with the main theme or subject of the blog.

Well, that’s easy you might say. I’m an author, so there’s the subject, right? Me as an author. Well… Not precisely. While readers may want to know things about you as an author or about your books, it’s unlikely they care to hear about Fluffy the cat or your grocery store trips. So you as an author or a person is not the subject in most cases unless your everyday life is both highly interesting and relevant to your writing.

So what is your subject? Well, if you write fantasy like I do, your subject matter could be anything from fantasy book reviews to serial fantasy provided for those reading each week. If you have a lot of writing experience, then writing tips or discussions could also be your subject.

Blogging Tip #2: Decide on Your Audience

Once you have a general subject or topic, decide on your audience. Is it readers? Writers? Some other group?

This is one of the most important pieces of blogging because it determines what kind of content you focus on within your subject area. Your opinion of fantasy books isn’t likely to attract many authors since they’re busy writing their own things, but it would interest fantasy readers (some of whom may also be writers but are there as readers, not writers).

Blogging Tip #3: Decide on Your Approach

The third key blogging tip is to decide on your approach to blogging before you write anything. What will the tone be? Light? Humorous? Educational? This choice matters a great deal as it informs what and how you will write for the rest of the time that you are producing content for the blog.

The step should not be neglected because, much like the other two, it will help to give you structure and direction. If you’ve been feeling like you have neither, this may be the missing link, particularly if the first two have already been set in stone.

Blogging Tip #4: Decide on Self-Hosting or Free

Free always sounds good to us, doesn’t it? Undeniably, self-hosting is not cheap in blogging or any website endeavor. If you’re just starting out, I don’t recommend self-hosting unless you can afford to sink 200-300 dollars on it a year. That said, if you ever intend to offer anything for sale via your website or wish to know your content will never be intentionally removed from your site (unless it’s illegal), self-hosting is in your future.

If you can afford the cost, start with self-hosting when you begin blogging. Switching from WordPress.com to a self-hosted WordPress platform was nothing short of a stressful, nightmare-inducing process even with all the help from Bluehost tech support. I sorted it out eventually, no thanks to the WordPress team over on the non-self-hosted site, but I could’ve saved myself the headache if I’d chosen to go with self-hosted to start. Unfortunately, with little knowledge of blogging and an even slimmer budget, that wasn’t an option. But if it is for you, I recommend saving yourself all the hassle.

If you can’t afford it, save all of your blog posts somewhere you won’t lose them and then expect to have to repost them on the new site when you move to self-hosted. I did not anticipate this, and that was a large part of my issue since I could not migrate the site with the backups that the free version of WordPress offered.

Blogging Tip #5: Decide on a Schedule

Finally, be consistent. As consistent as possible, that is. Life happens, but try to post at least once a week and have a set day you do so. I like to schedule my posts for the same day and time every week so long as I have the content to schedule.

The schedule will help you to turn out content regularly so you can build up your content sooner. It also allows regular readers to know when to go look for your newest post, which will often encourage one-time readers to become more frequent readers as well.

Conclusion

Blogging isn’t easy. But using the five blogging tips provided here will give you a strong starting point. If you work these things out prior to starting your blogging journey, you will be better prepared and can have more confidence in where you’re headed. As I said in the introduction, knowledge is power.

Thursday Technicalities: Philosophy in Writing

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Introduction

Recently, it struck me that one of the reasons I rarely find anything to challenge my mind in indie fantasy (and even in many traditional fantasy pieces) is that the authors do not often intentionally use worldview and philosophy in writing their books. They generally tell a good story, but it doesn’t challenge me to think or to consider a different perspective on anything in particular. While the occasional mindless read can be stress-relieving, turning one’s brain off isn’t the purpose of reading, in my opinion. I’d watch TV if I wanted that. So how can we ensure we’re including philosophy and worldview in our writing in a balanced way? We’re going to go over that here.

What Do I Mean by Philosophy and Worldview in Writing?

When I say philosophy or worldview in respect to writing, I mean the unique set of beliefs and the outlook on life you possess. These may come out subtly, but in fantasy, it’s easy to become so divorced from reality that we don’t concretely ground our work in the world around us and in our own unique take on that world. We then lose even the smaller ways that those views may come to light. But when we fail to give to our work the underpinnings of reality, philosophy, and worldview, things tend not to resonate as well with readers.

In the Interest of Honesty With Philosophy in Writing

When dealing with worldview or philosophy in writing–particularly in fantasy–we have to be careful to keep ourselves honest and transparent. This doesn’t mean that we hit the reader over the head with our point of view, but it does mean that we have nothing to hide and are not trying to use our words to in some way trick the reader into agreeing with us when they would not otherwise do so. We’re not propagandists; we are authors looking to tell a good story that also imparts some truth or viewpoint that might not otherwise be as well received outside of a story context. (Or even truths that are. There are many reasons to include even basic truths in our work, particularly if we’re writing books that are meant to teach good values to a younger audience.)

This transparency and honest might come in the form of an author’s note at the beginning if the purpose or inspiration directly relates to real world issues, your philosophy, and your worldview. But it could be more subtle in that the worldview may simply manifest in an easily seen theme or element that acts as an undercurrent to the entire story. There are many ways to handle this area, but the goal should be honesty and transparency. Present your viewpoint and let the reader decide what to accept or reject, whether your viewpoint or another you have also represented that may not agree with your own. It is particularly crucial we do this when writing for younger audiences who are highly impressionable and may not always be able to pick up on worldviews if they are not clearly presented. Whatever your audience, fantasy is still fantasy. We’re looking to tell a good story at the end of the day, and adding in worldview is part of that goal. We aren’t interested in sacrificing the story for the sake of creating a soapbox out of it to preach against whichever philosophies we dislike or for those we do like.

Avoiding Heavy-Handedness Using Philosophy and Worldview

One thing I know many authors I’ve spoken to struggle with is how to include philosophy and worldview without hitting the reader over the head or becoming preachy with it. There’s no one right way to handle this area in order to avoid the pitfalls. However, i have found a few that work well for me or that I have observed used to great effect by others.

Philosophy in Theme

This method is one that I frequently utilize. Each book I write has one or two concepts (occasionally more for longer works) that provide the underlying theme of the book.

For example, Trader Prince of Aleshtain’s theme is mostly living for what’s right in the face of persecution and the struggle to decide whether it’s right to leave a place bent on destroying you for doing the moral thing. Bane of Ashkarith focused on the theme of truth, its worht, and the ways that people can take objective truth and twist it or subvert it until it is considered a lie. In Darkness Lost focused on how we handle suffering. My short story for Glimpses focused on submission to show readers the strength that can be found in a person who chooses to submit to another’s authority while still retaining the capacity to think critically.

All of the themes have a great deal of variety, but each fits neatly with the story showcasing it. Theme is one of those pieces of a story that should develop naturally from the plot and your worldview intersecting. This, rather than weakening the story with poor attempts at philosophizing through the story, strengthens and deepens it because it is a natural result of story and worldview instead of being forced.

Philosophy in Allegory

Allegory is often considered a device used only in religious fiction. While this is often one of the largest uses for it, the technique can be used to convey any sort of idea or philosophy through story so long as one or more elements intentionally and clearly represent their real world equivalents. I haven’t employed this technique as often, though I suppose some might say my Eclesian Chronicles series has allegorical elements when you get into books two and three. But for a better example, you’ve got C.S Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia or something like Idi and the Oracle’s Quest by T.N. Traynor (see the review I did for that here.)

Philosophy in Individual Elements

And the last major way to achieve our goal is to include elements of the philosophy directly and intentionally where the story allows. If you’re making a social commentary, for example, on poverty and caste, you might weave both into the story to great effect by simply doing it directly. If you’re trying to illustrate the destructiveness of certain habits or beliefs, having characters and/or societies who have these beliefs or habits and discover their destructiveness can also be extremely effective. You get the idea. Every story, particularly in speculative fiction, varies in the degree to which you can employ this technique, so use discretion in how much you use it and where.

Conclusion

Worldview is a vital part of writing. We can’t escape it as readers or as writers, nor should we try. More and more, we see that today’s fantasy is particularly shallow in this area, but we don’t have to contribute to that trend. Let’s start utilizing worldview and encouraging our readers to engage mentally with our works even as they enjoy a good story.

Thursday Technicalities: Story Ideas

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Introduction

Today, we’re talking about story ideas, both before and during the writing process. After all, all the things we’ve been discussing about plot do us no good if we have no ideas or concepts to play with. Often, people I meet discuss the idea of writing a book but not the idea they will write about. One results in a pipe dream that never happens. The other gives the chance, at least, to see a dream become reality. Fellow writers and those aspiring to be writers alike have asked me how I come up with ideas so easily, hinting to me that–especially in the realm of fantasy–they don’t know all of the areas of inspiration open to them. So let’s talk about where ideas can come from and what to look at when you’re stuck.

Story Ideas in the Real World

One of the things I notice disappearing from fantasy as a genre these days is the grounding in reality. The great fantasy writers of old, and even today, certainly included many fantastical elements, but they also brought it back to Earth by including in those elements a glimpse of reality. They took real world problems into their fiction, whether it was through the ideas of the day or a specific event they wished to focus on. For example, Tolkien’s inspiration for the final scene in the Shire has been said to be the destruction of the countryside he loved so well in the real world. He drew that into his story, and it leaves something that can resonate with fellow lovers of nature and idyllic beauty seen in the countryside. We can do the same in finding story ideas.

All of us have experiences and see the events around us in our world. Why waste those two things? They make the books you write, however fictional, seem even more real to the reader when you artfully weave reality with your fictional world. This is what an author does. They tell truths in the form of artfully woven lies. The truths are the themes behind the tale, and the story itself is the lie since it isn’t reality.

Experiences

This is, in a way, a subset of the real world, but we all have experiences that have taught us things about life. We can use those experiences which are unique to us to find story ideas that can inspire or touch others. My book, In Darkness Lost, is entirely founded on that premise. It is fantasy, but it is inspired entirely by an experience that occurred in my life when I was around eleven or twelve. You would be surprised how many people are more connected to a book that has its roots in a personal experience of the author.

In Darkness Lost received the most notes from readers who were touched by it and wanted to tell me it had encouraged them. Readers have said my other works are eye-openingly realistic at times. However, they have not left notes saying that it was an encouragement. Why? Because the encouragement to the reader came from hearing a story rooted in personal difficulties. They then read about the real story behind the book in the author’s note and felt encouraged. They felt that encouragement, many times, because someone else understood their pain.

Story Ideas from History

The third place of inspiration is history. You may have heard the saying that reality is often stranger than fiction. Well, it’s true. Even if your book isn’t about history, you can find many strange tales in history to draw ideas from. In the process, you give your story grounding in the real world even if the tale itself is fantasy. It brings that sense of humanity to the story that otherwise might not have been present.

As an added bonus, this has the effect of expanding your mind and your knowledge. Two birds with one stone, right? You get story ideas and a chance to learn interesting things you hadn’t heard before.

Story Ideas from Other Books

This is the final place I frequently find inspiration. You have to be careful here because you don’t want to plagiarize, obviously. However, other books can be great places to draw inspiration, ideas, and learning. I’ve found some of my greatest inspirations for books in reading someone else’s handling of a topic then having an idea spark on the topic from another angle. You can do this as well.

This one, like history, has an added bonus. You get to see the trends going on in your genre and in the world of writing in general. For authors, this is indispensable. Knowing what the competition is doing so that you can stand out in a manner appealing to your target audience is essential. So while you’re drawing inspiration for your own work, you can also use it for research purposes.

Conclusion

There are so many avenues of inspiration available to us if we will learn to stop, observe, and remember. Wherever you choose to find inspiration, there is little reason to be bankrupt of ideas when you’re actively taking the time to observe, live, and learn. Even fantasy writers can use these sources of inspiration to give them the characters or a plot for their next novel. We just have to learn how to utilize it. Once we do that, we often end up with more ideas than we know what to do with!

Thursday Technicalities: Upping the Stakes

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Introduction

Today, we’re going to talk about upping the stakes. Last week, we talked about sub plots, and we’re going to tie together our sub plots and upping the stakes. Often, sub plots are the result of upping the stakes. Whether you end up with a sub plot or not, however, upping the stakes will always result in more complex plots.

What Does It Mean to Up the Stakes?

Simply put, upping the stakes just means making things more difficult and more important for your characters. You want the outcome of the story to come to matter so much that the character cannot walk away. In some cases, the stakes may rise so much that the character’s stake in the situation is a life or death matter. But making things matter so much for them is going to require some work on your part. Let’s take a look at how you can achieve this.

Upping the Stakes – Where to Start

The exercise to figure out where and how to up the stakes for characters is relatively simple. Get out a piece of paper and a pencil or pen. Then write down the characters and, next to their names, what it is that matters most to them. Once you know that, ask yourself how you make that thing matter even more. Keep listing out reasons until you run out of ideas. Then set it aside and come back to a little later to see if you can add even more ways it will come to matter.

Using the Exercise

Once you’ve listed out all the possible reasons that what a character wants most comes to matter, look over the list. What are some of the best reasons in your list? What will work well with the story or add layers of complexity to what you already have? Are there any surprising reasons on the list? Often reasons that add complexity or are in some way surprising are the best ones to add in. They keep the story interesting and engaging for the readers while simultaneously forcing the character to a point where they must make choices, fight for what they want, and decide not to walk away (or perhaps are unable to do so).

The key is to take away from the exercise at least five or six good reasons that you can develop as the story goes along.

Developing the Stakes

Once you know what will keep upping the stakes, you have to develop those stakes in the story. If they were all out in the open to begin with, there would be no progression of events, and you really wouldn’t be upping the stakes at all. Instead, take the most obvious motivators or the ones that still allow the character to walk away from the fight and start out with those. Let’s take a look at an example.

Trader Prince of Aleshtain

In my current WIP, Eras wants to become an air captain. It’s been his lifelong dream. Unfortunately, he’s the crown prince of a country, and he can’t just ditch his duties to go flying a ship through the skies. That’s the first stake. He wants to be an air captain more than anything, but if he did so, he’d have to leave his home and his people behind. But what can make his childhood dream matter even more? The introduction of a slave girl he’s trying to keep out of his father’s clutches.

As his father thwarts his attempts to keep her safe, he goes to increasingly high risk methods to keep her from harm. Eventually, he bets his father that in two years as a trader and captain of his own ship, he can make enough money to pay off any investment his father has in the venture. If he succeeds, he wins his freedom, which is what being an air captain really means to him. He also wins the ability to do as he pleases and to protect his woman from his father.

And if that isn’t reason enough to care? His father’s treachery and backstabbing in an attempt to ensure Eras loses that bet force him to send his woman away, perhaps permanently. And doing that puts his own life at risk in an increasingly unstable political environment. So now if he doesn’t win the bet, he could lose his life, not just his chance at freedom. So by the time that the book is beginning to come to the climax and conclusion, the matter of becoming an air captain—and thereby winning his freedom—has become a matter of literal life or death for him and for those he’s trying to protect.

Your Process

This is the same process you want to follow. Your character’s stakes won’t be the same, but the point is that it has to come to matter so much that they have no choice but to fight for one thing or the other that they want or need. It must seem like life or death for them even if, in the end, their failure won’t actually result in their deaths.

Sub Plots and Upping the Stakes

In the process of developing the stakes, you may discover that you end up with sub plots without really trying. For example, a sub plot that developed from the example above is Eras’s time traveling around Alcardia to trade. It’s connected to the main plot, but it is not the true plot. Similarly, Rhubhian’s time in her country after Eras sends her away is a key sub plot and leads to development for her. Despite that, it isn’t the main plot even though it leads into happenings within the main plot. If you find this happening in your work as well, don’t stress about it. Let it happen. Usually this results in a better, stronger story even if you didn’t plan for the piece to go that direction.

Conclusion

I hope that this has helped you to better understand how to up the stakes in your novel. How you choose to go about doing so is up to you, of course. Everyone has a different way of figuring out how and where to up the stakes. The method I presented in this exercise is simply my preferred method out of the ones I’ve tried.

Whether you choose to use it or another method, however, upping the stakes is a must. No matter what type of story you are telling, the book will fall flat without the work you will do. Upping the stakes will broaden the story in ways other techniques can’t. It will certainly make the characters’ main desire matter ever more in the course of the story. This will result in better reader engagement in the end. The work will be worth it!

If you’re looking for more detail on upping the stakes, check out Donald Maas’s Writing the Breakout Novel set.

Thursday Technicalities: Sub-Plots

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Introduction

Today, we’re talking about sub plots. Last week, we talked about plot complexity, so this is the perfect point to discuss sub plots as the two often work together. To start, I’ll define sub plot. Sub plots are the plots taking place while the main plot is still moving forward. They’re extra layers, if you will.

Differentiating Between a Plot and Sub Plot

First, we need to know the difference between plots and sub plots. Sub plots are smaller plots within the larger, overarching story goal. They often resolve through the course of the novel or may even happen mostly in the background. Plots, on the other hand, are the main stories of a novel. The book must have the plot at least or it won’t be a story.

Examples

This concept can be a bit abstract, so let’s look at a few examples.

Way of Kings

In Way of Kings, the main plot lines are focused on Dalinar’s struggle to understand the strange visions he receives, Shallan’s quest to steal a fabrial (magical device) to replace one her family broke and now owes to a nasty group of thugs, and Kaladin’s struggle to survive battle after battle as a bridge carrier while unprotected from enemy fire. Those are the main plots in the story, at least to start.

But Sanderson also introduces many sub plots. For example, there is a plot to kill Jasnah, the woman Shallan is both learning from and attempting to steal a fabrial from. Dalinar and his sons are attempting to navigate both infighting between various nobles involved in their fight against the invading Parshendi and to figure out how to win the war for territory they are engaged in. Kaladin discovers he has abilities he didn’t know were still possible to possess and in his struggle to survive, he turns his focus on turning his bridge crew into a force to be reckoned with. Then there are the interludes about characters seemingly unconnected to the main story, which introduces still more sub plots. None of these are the main plots of the story, but they’re all strong features and play into the main plots.

Stephen Leeds Novellas

A simpler example would be Sanderson’s Stephen Leeds Novellas. Each book has a new case for the impressive Stephen Leeds and his many “aspects”. But Sanderson adds layers by giving the books the same underlying sub plot. He’s looking for someone in his past, and time is running out as his aspects go rogue one at a time, dying off as his mind is unable to cope with them all. The girl from his past might have answers, and so he searches. It takes a back seat to his cases, but as the last book approaches, that sub plot morphs into a plot and becomes the focus of the final book.

Using Sub Plots

Hopefully the examples have helped you to understand the difference between plot and sub plot. Now let’s discuss how and where to use them.

First, the size of the story determines whether you can have a lot of sub plots. A short story, for example, probably doesn’t have the room for much addition in the area of sub plot. You add dimension in other ways when you have a 10K word limit, but you don’t spend time discussing events unrelated to the main story in a strong way. For novellas, you can comfortably fit one or two to add complexity. In a novel with a thousand pages like Way of Kings, you can fit quite a few if you do it well.

Second, all sub plots should connect to the main plot whether the sub plot belongs to a main or secondary character. The connection may not be obvious at first when the sub plot is part of a longer book or if it spans several books. Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives are one great example of ways to use sub plots to leave readers guessing at the larger plot’s conclusion or to introduce surprising twists in the story.

There are many ways to incorporate sub plots, and the best method for you depends on your book. To know where to introduce them and how to develop them, you need to know where the story is headed and what the best points for the sub plots to intersect the main plot are. This is why I’m such a big advocate for doing at least basic plotting. You need a foundation to work from if you want your novels and series to have the type of complex plot that can surprise, hold attention, and convert casual readers to avid fans.

Conclusion

At this point, you should have enough information to start working out your story’s sub plots. Does it have them? Are they underdeveloped or not brought into play in the right moments? If your story is already complete in a rough draft form, go back and look for sub plots and any issues with them. If your story isn’t done or is still in the ideas stage, make sure you think about this while planning and writing. It will add life to the story in the most unexpected ways.

Thursday Technicalities: Plot Complexity

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Introduction

Today we move away from our discussions on character to discussing plot. A good plot is one that is both character driven and intricate, but many new authors (and even some who have been at it for a while) struggle in this area. Often, writers are unsure how to deepen plot, make it interesting, and keep it from becoming predictable. Today, our discussion will focus on the idea of intricacy and complexity in plot, but in future weeks, we will also discuss how writers can make plot less predictable, up the stakes, increase tension, and make things matter more in relation to the characters. We will also discuss sub plots and how you can properly use them to add dimension to the book and to keep life in every page. Let’s get started on today’s discussion, shall we?

The Importance of Complexity and Intricacy in Plot

While characters are the lifeblood of a good story, plot is the foundation. If you don’t have an interesting plot, the story will still end up collapsing or falling short. You need both elements to make the story go well. It is true that you can have a somewhat generic plot (as is often the case in many romance novels) and manage to make the book somewhat memorable if only because the characters are memorable. However, if you want a truly exceptional novel, the plot needs to be just as exceptional as the characters.

This makes complexity and intricacy in a plot integral parts of any story that an author wants to polish until it shines. I don’t mean that it has to be the level of complex or intricate you see in many murder mysteries or thrillers, though it could certainly become that complex depending on your genre. What I mean is that there should be many layers to the plot. It should not be simplistic, nor should the layers clash in such a way that there is no subtlety to them at all. Crafting fiction is an art, and it must be done with balance and artistry to be done beautifully.

There is a great deal of variety in how this goal might be accomplished when it comes to writing. You’ve probably heard that there’s no one way to do things as a writer. This is very true in most areas, with the exception, in some instances, of grammar-related issues. But there are just as many wrong ways (or ways that do not work) to do things. Therefore, our goal is to know some of the key tools that will help us to do the right things so that we can succeed.

Giving Plot Complexity and Intricacy

One of the first, and simplest, ways to add complexity to plot is to ensure that nothing is too easy for your hero. Make sure that your protagonist can’t get what they want easily. This could mean they have an internal conflict that’s preventing them from having one thing if they go after the second thing they want equally, or it could mean that some external force gets in the way. But what other options are there for adding much-needed complexity besides this first, obvious one?

Obstacle Difficulty Mounts

The obstacles that show up in their way should be increasingly difficult to surmount. What do I mean by this? Well, take Trader Prince of Aleshtain for example. In my current work-in-progress, the goal of both main characters is ultimately freedom. But one thing after another stands in the way. For Rhubhian, the female lead, she has the entire Aleshtainian system, which has enslaved her in the way. Then she has Eras, the male protagonist, and her own feelings in the way of what she perceives as freedom. Even once she has a chance to live free, she isn’t able to live with the brand of freedom she’s won back for herself because she has lost the other thing–love–that she now realizes she wanted more than her “freedom”.

For Eras, he finds that duty, his father, the priesthood in his kingdom, and financial straits keep him from gaining his freedom. Then, in a desperate bid for freedom, he signs a contract with his father–the king–that takes an incredibly risky gamble with his future while allowing him at least the chance to win it. But even here he meets obstacles as the pieces he was relying on to allow him his victory prove to be against him instead. The two of them face problem after problem, some due to intentional intervention from outside forces and enemies and some due to simple misfortune and life getting in the way.

But that’s what keeps the story moving. The goal is always just out of reach or, at their worst moments, seems impossible to achieve. In a very real way, failure is always on the table for these two, and while it may or may not be how things end for these characters, it should always be something you consider an option.

Multiple Plot Lines

Another way you can add complexity is with the introduction of several plot lines. Each main character has their own thread to follow in the tapestry that is your story. Sometimes those threads will tangle with other threads along the way, and at times, a character may even have multiple threads at once as they pursue multiple goals. But either way, however many threads you have, if you are able to successfully bring them all together, you can create a plot that is complex and seemingly genius or effortless to any who don’t see the hard work that went into it.

Subplots

Finally, you can introduce subplots. We’ll discuss these in more detail later on, but essentially these are the other threads in the story that run beneath the overarching story goal or plot. So, in the case of my earlier example, freedom for the two main characters is the overarching story goal, but the attempt to keep Rhubhian safe from others in the castle would be a sub plot for Eras. It adds complexity, but it is only an underlying thread in the larger tapestry and the goals both are ultimately striving to achieve. The goal is not to keep Rhubhian safe and a slave for the rest of her life. The goal is her freedom. Keeping her safe is just a necessary journey or sub-goal along the way.

Weaving It All Together

In the end, the best method to add complexity and intricacy to a plot is to have several threads all running throughout the story. Some may be immediately obvious in their connections while others may be less so, but in the end, you have to bring them all together.

One example of this is Pathway of the Moon, a piece I wrote about a year ago and am in the process of editing. In this story, the book has two distinct storylines for much of the book: that of the assassin-vigilante, Leo Ryalin, and that of High Imperial Knight, Alrian Haridan. These two interact under various aliases throughout the course of the book without ever realizing who the other is until, finally, circumstances, an investigation into the assassin on Haridan’s part, and the connecting link–a maid Ryalin rescued–end up bringing Haridan to an Aha kind of moment.

Examples

But the two have entirely separate story lines for much of it and only hear about the other’s story line when they happen to hear rumors or are directly investigating, in the case of Haridan. The clues pile up, and while the reader knows that Ryalin is the assassin, they begin to realize there’s far more to him than just that as Haridan’s investigation uncovers threads of his ties to other happenings in the kingdom, which were seemingly unrelated.

Another example, which is far more masterful at tying things together than my own work is, would be Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives. If ever you want to see a master of plot and character in action, you should read Sanderson. As an author and editor, I can imagine (and in some cases know all too well) how much work goes into making the kind of sweeping plot lines, intricate connections, and unexpected twists Sanderson utilizes work properly. If this is an area you’re trying to improve, read this series. I say that as someone who learned most of what she knows about plot intricacy and characterization from simply reading and observing this master in action via his own work.

The Concept in Action

Practically speaking, this is an exercise in imagination, logic, and creativity. You can find some initial connections quite easily by considering your characters, your major plot lines, and your locations. Donald Maas, in his Writing the Breakout Novel, suggests that you write them down and start pairing a character with one item each off the other lists. Some connections aren’t going to make any sense, but often you’ll find ones that do that you never anticipated would work. Write those ones down to keep. Make notes on them. Use them. It will make the novel better and far more complex if you can find a way to weave all of the key connections you’ve made together.

Conclusion

Good plot, like good character, is something you must develop. It takes time and planning. Some books may require much more formal planning than others, but all will require some degree of planning or else a great deal of revision if you want your plot to shine like it can. While the effort may to some seem an unworthy use of time, I can promise you that this is an area you don’t want to skip. It’s an area that Donald Maas focuses on heavily in his book because, as a literary agent, he rejected thousands of manuscripts due to issues with plot. It pays to pay attention to and to develop soundly the plot for any book you’re endeavoring to write. Don’t ignore this crucial piece of crafting a novel.

Author Interview: Kandi J. Wyatt

July 19, 2020July 19, 2020 Ariel Paiement

Today, I have Kandi J. Wyatt with me. Another of the authors in the anthology, Glimpses of Time and Magic, Kandi is the author of “Apprentice of Amadan Dubh”. Thanks for being here, Kandi! Let’s jump right in.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’ve been married to my knight in shining armor for almost twenty-eight years. We have five children between the ages of eighteen and thirty-one. I wear many hats. When I’m not wife and mom, I’m teacher, author, photographer’s assistant, and artist. To say the least, my days are very busy.

What kind of fantasy do you write, and what got you into it?

I write mostly middle grade to transitional young adult fantasy with dragons. In 2009, on a family vacation we drove past a sign for Three Mile Canyon and envisioned a dragon breathing fire down a boxed canyon. I put that together with a conversation with my daughter and the world of Dragon Courage was born.
I really don’t know why dragons are in my stories, but they seem to pop up whether I want them to or not! My husband introduced me to dragon stories. My kids, though, handed me books and said, “Mom, you have to read this!” Those became some of my favorite books, and they have dragons. So maybe it’s a way of recreating that feeling I had when I read Dragon Rider or Cora and the Nurse Dragon.

What genres do you read, and do you write the same ones?

I read more genres than I write. Some of the genres I read are science fiction, fantasy (all kinds), westerns, action/adventure, historical fiction, and pretty much anything that has good characters and decent plot. As far as writing, I mainly write fantasy, but I do have a historical fiction, The One Who Sees Me, and wrote one short science fiction piece.

What are some of the things you like to do to relax?

Relax, what is that? Some people claim I don’t have time for it, but in reality, writing and my art is relaxing. Most evenings are dedicated to family time. We’ll watch anime that’s been vetted by our twenty-three year old or play games. Drawing is also relaxing.

Can you tell us about your current work-in-progress?

Well, like most authors, I have a couple of projects in the works. I just sent the one manuscript off to the editor. It’s in the Dragon Courage world and will be released on November 3. At first it was supposed to be a novella, but it’s turned into a full-fledged book. Those who know the Dragon Courage world will be excited to see Mere and Jareem back and in action. Those new to the series should have no problem jumping in. I’ve had three beta readers take a look, and they were able to understand the action and characters.

Then I have one I’m working on a first draft. The Tilted Planet series will be multiple books based on a planet that has had a catastrophe knock it off its normal axis. Tilted Planet: Monarchs follows the lives of several of the rulers of Muintir, a realm in the habitable daylight areas of the planet. Hest is a stable hand at a local inn in the northern dusk lands. A stranger comes along and purchases Hest’s apprenticeship. Thinking he’s been sold, Hest follows along with the warrior. Along the way, he uncovers the misunderstanding and agrees to stay as the apprentice. He uncovers plots on the king’s life, rescues the princess, and finds his life completely changed when he befriends a silver dragon. The first three books focus on Hest. Books 4-5 focus on the princess he rescued, who becomes queen, and Book 6 is the story of their daughter. Book 7 will be the first king of Muintir. I’m currently working on book 6.

If you’ve published (self-published or traditionally published), can you tell us a little about the experience?

In 2015, I attended a writer’s conference. One of the presenters stated that her publisher was accepting submissions. I went home, took a leap of faith, and submitted Dragon’s Future. Eight weeks later, it was accepted! You can see the video of the whole process on my youtube channel. Then on April 30, 2016, I received notice that the publishing company was going out of business at the end of May. I was given the opportunity to self-publish if I wished.

That month of May was one of my busiest months ever! I had three Dragon Courage books that were already published and a fourth that was scheduled for publication that summer, as well as The One Who Sees Me. I was struggling to get those four books up for self-published and working on editing and proofing book 4 of the Dragon Courage series. Since then, I’ve published a total of twelve books, and have three stories in different anthologies.

What were your inspirations for writing?

I write for my kids. When I first wrote the Dragon Courage series, they were little—early elementary and junior high. Now, I write for my students. My husband has been the inspiration of many stories. He’ll ask the ‘what if…’ questions that get me going.

Who got you into writing when you first started?

I loved writing as a kid. In high school I attended my first writers conference. It was designed for high school students, and my English teacher nominated me to go two years in a row! Then I became a mom and life was too hectic to write, until 2006 when I was down sick and read Timothy Zahn’s Dragon and Soldier. At the back of the book was a questionnaire for kids to help them write. I took a couple of the questions and wrote Journey from Skioria.

Was there anyone who came alongside you at any point when you were struggling in your writing journey and made a real difference? If so, who and why?

A couple of stories come to mind on this. In April, 2016, the week before I received the news of the publishing company going out of business, I had two students come up to me at separate times. The first said, “You should write a story about a girl, some horses…and the ocean.” The pause was because she’d lost her dad to a boating accident that year. What she didn’t know is I had a book planned about girls and horses and a unicorn. The second was a boy who said I should write a story about Sasquatch. These were the perfect encouragement I needed to make it through the next month to move into self-publishing.

Two years later, I was struggling to write An Unexpected Escapade, the story of the girls, unicorn, horses, and the ocean. I couldn’t get the words out. Part of it was my own struggling through that student’s grief. Not only had she lost her dad, she also lost her mom to a heart attack—all in under a year! At the time when I was trying to write, I discovered Realm Makers, a group for Christians who write speculative fiction. They have a group message for sprints. Heather Halverstadt was the key to helping me get words on paper and finish out An Unexpected Escapade.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors and writers just starting on the writing journey?

Write! Yep, keep writing. Perfect your craft, but finish a draft. Then finish another. Each draft finished is one step closer to publication.

What is one thing you wish someone had told you before you started writing?

It’s possible! I never dreamed of being published—let alone having fifteen books published with a sixteenth in process and another eight waiting for their turn.

What’s your favorite book, and who’s your favorite literary character? Why?

Favorite book? I’d say that’s a really tough question. I have so many! Take a look at my blog and check out the Books List. You’ll find my favorites there. Suffice it to say H. L. Burke, Cornelia Funke, Timothy Zahn, Davis Bunn, Marc Secchia, and Kara Jaynes are authors I’ll read anything they write.

Literary character: That’d be Sorrel from Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. I love her irascible temperament. The best way to enjoy Sorrel is through the audio book narrated by Brendan Fraser. Sorrel became the inspiration for one of my characters in An Unexpected Exploit.

Conclusion

That’s it for today’s interview! Thanks again for being with us, Kandi. If anyone wants to know more about Kandi, you can find her at the following locations on the web:

Facebook

Amazon

Website

Want your own copy of Glimpses of Time and Magic? Get the paperback now! The ebook will be out on the 28th, but it is available for pre-order as well if you are interested in that.

Thursday Technicalities: Motivation

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Introduction

The last few weeks, we’ve been discussing characterization. So far, we’ve discussed internal conflict, acting out of character, and secondary characters. Today’s focus will be motivation.

We all have reasons we do the things we do. Those reasons may or may not relate to whatever internal or external conflict going on, but they will drive our responses to every aspect of life. Our characters should be no different. Even if our readers don’t get to see every motive our characters have, the motives should be there. You, at least, need to know them, particularly if the character is a main character.

What is Motivation?

Motivation differs from internal conflict in that internal conflict is wanting two opposing things while motives are the answers to why you want what you do. No one is ever without a why behind their desires, thoughts, and actions, even if they themselves have no idea what that motive is at the time.

Why Motivation Needs to Be In Your Work

Why does motivation need to be in your story even if your readers don’t ever notice it? Simply put, because your readers notice when it isn’t there. They might not always recognize it when it’s just an undercurrent to the character’s actions, but if it isn’t there, they’re going to notice. They’ll spend energy, in many cases, wondering what those motives are. If you’re going to reveal them during the character arc, this may be fine so long as you’ve written the character in a way that makes it clear to the reader they have a hidden agenda. If not, you’re going to have a problem. Readers who don’t drop the book due to feeling that the characters are flat may leave at the end of the book feeling dissatisfied without even knowing why. As such, motivations need to exist in your characters even when they’re only undercurrents.

Developing Motivations

I’ve told you how important motivations are, but now some of you may be wondering, “How do I develop them in my characters?” Some of us may be lucky because our characters show up in our heads with their own personalities and motivations already at least partially there, and our jobs become straightforward: find a way to put that on the page. But for many, that’s not the case.

My suggestion, regardless of which you are, is to start with their internal conflicts. Figure out why they want those two opposing things. From there, expand out to what drives them as a person. What are the goals they have that may motivate them to act? What strongly held beliefs do they have that drive them to draw lines on what they will and will not do? What matters most to them and why does it matter?

Strengthening Motivations

Once you’ve developed motivation, the next step is to strengthen those motivations. Make sure it really matters to the character. The danger here is that the things they want and the reasons they want them might not matter enough. If they don’t, then these motivations won’t work well as motivations because as soon as it’s easier to cave or to head another direction, the character will. So take a good look at the reasons behind the actions they’re going to take and ask how you can make those reasons matter so much that changing motivations would require a major turning point (at least for the core motivations that will drive core actions).

For example… In my current WIP, Trader Prince of Aleshtain, the male lead wants his freedom more than anything else. But the reasons why he wants his freedom are more powerful than the desire itself. He wants his freedom because he’s trying to flee his father’s oppressive thumb, escape assassination because those behind the throne don’t want him to take his rightful place on it, and find a way to be able to marry the woman he loves. The actions he takes striving for his freedom are motivated by a desire for freedom, but the desire itself is motivated by even deeper convictions and needs. Those convictions and needs matter so much, and come to matter even more in the course of the book, that staying and doing his duty becomes practically impossible. In my character’s case, his internal conflict is tied up in this motivation of wanting freedom and the further motivations behind that because, as the Crown Prince, he also feels strongly bound by duty to stay and try to lead the country even though it doesn’t want him or the kind of king he would be. But in your character’s case, you don’t have to necessarily tie their motives entirely to the internal conflict. There should be motivations behind the two opposing forces in their internal conflict, certainly, but the motivations that mostly drive their actions do not have to be solely tied to said internal conflict.

Conclusion

I hope you’ve seen how key motivations are to your work. Even if readers don’t notice them consciously, the motivations need to be there for your story to work. Take some time to look at your characters. Are their motivations clear to you? Are they clear in the text (with the exception of any motives you’re intentionally hiding for a later reveal)? Have you made them matter enough? If the answer to those questions is no or maybe not, then you’ve got work you can do to improve the story. So do it! It will only make the story stronger.