The Yen and Yang of the Hero and His Opponent

When you are planning your novel, you need to make sure the protagonist and the antagonist are made for each other like a romantic couple.  A sort of yen and yang of power and abilities.  

For every power, strength, ability, or skill the hero/heroine has, the bad guy or guys should have one that tops him/her enough that he/she can barely survive each attack.  The hero/heroine should win more on guts and a need to protect his/her romantic partner or innocents than those abilities. 

The hero/heroine's fight must also be as much about fighting against an emotional weakness/fear as it is about fighting the bad guy.  

Links of Interest

CREATING YOUR OWN BLOG TOUR:

http://www.magicalwords.net/really-i-mean-it/blog-tour-101-creating-your-own-the-easy-way

TIPS ON WORKING WITH A COVER DESIGNER:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/7-tips-to-make-most-of-working-with.html

CONTRACTS, BEWARE THE ARBITRATION CLAUSE:

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2015/11/signing-away-your-rights-arbitration.html

INSTAGRAM FOR AUTHORS:

https://janefriedman.com/using-instagram-as-an-author/

MORE ON CREATING YOUR BOOK COVER:

http://thewritelife.com/your-self-published-book-needs-a-cover-heres-how-to-create-it

HOW TO SPOT WEAK WORDS:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/11/18/how-writers-can-trap-sneaky-weasels

CREATING A SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MEDIA POST:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/3-elements-of-every-successful-social.html

SCRIVENER FUNDAMENTALS:

http://writerunboxed.com/2015/11/18/scrivener-fundamentals-what-every-user-should-know-but-probably-doesnt

HOW MANY POV CHARACTERS DO YOU NEED?

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/11/how-to-decide-how-many-pov-characters-our-book-needs/

COPYRIGHT, THE ANN FRANK ESTATE EXTENDS COPYRIGHT ON HER DIARY BY ADDING A CO-AUTHOR:

http://publishingperspectives.com/2015/11/anne-frank-copyright-extension

SOME OF THE BEST DUELS/FIGHTS IN FICTION:

http://www.torbooks.co.uk/blog/2015/11/13/playing-with-knives-best-duels-in-fiction

WORKING WITH PUBLIC LIBRARIES, PART 1:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2015/11/20/working-with-public-libraries-a-guide-for-authors-part-one-of-two/

Defeating the Bad Guy

In a novel I read recently, the heroine faces a human villain and a major supernatural villain.  She spends the novel avoiding being killed by the human villain’s minions while the supernatural villain lurks in the background waiting to destroy the world.  

Toward the end of the novel, the surviving minions show up for a final showdown with the heroine and her supporters.  A huge battle ensues, and the heroine is trapped.  The human villain reveals himself, and he’s killed within a few paragraphs by one of the heroine’s friends in an offhand manner.  That’s it.

The heroine had a longer scene with a sales clerk selling her a magical weapon than the final confrontation with the human villain, and she didn’t even take a shot at the bad guy.  He’s killed by a secondary character.

Meanwhile, the supernatural villain, a god no less, who has been the lurking big bad for the whole series, finally decides to show up to kill the heroine then wipe out life on Earth.  

He rates half a chapter, most of it a chase scene, before he’s killed in a mildly clever manner.  

If you have a villain, you have to give him a major confrontation with the main character, and it has to be long enough to give the reader a sense of anticipation, a sense of fear that the bad guy may win, and an awareness the hero is worthy of being the hero by having him fight with everything he has and then some to defeat this monster.  

Think of all the great confrontations in the movies.  Luke Skywalker against Darth Vader.  Jake Sully and the Na’vi against the human forces and the Marine commander in AVATAR.  The sheriff’s confrontation with the outlaws in HIGH NOON.  All involved struggles against the bad guy’s forces then a final confrontation between the main character and the bad guy.  All involved enough screen time to make that final confrontation epic.  

Make your own final confrontation epic.

NOTE:  Even if your novel doesn’t involve violence and the main antagonist is your character’s bitchy, controlling mother, you still need that final confrontation—that moment when the main character stands her own ground and says, “I’m not your little girl anymore.  I’m my own woman,”  and walks away to live her own life.  

Links of Interest

POINT OF VIEW 101:

https://janefriedman.com/point-of-view/

REVEALING A CHARACTER'S PAST WITHOUT BACKSTORY:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/06/revealing-characters-past-without.html

COPYRIGHT AND ANTHOLOGIES:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/11/understanding-copyrights-for-anthologies/

DO YOU NEED A BOOK TRAILER?

http://thewritelife.com/are-book-trailers-a-marketing-must-have

TWITTER MISTAKES FOR WRITERS TO AVOID, PART 2:

http://writerunboxed.com/2015/11/14/ask-annie-5-more-twitter-mistakes-writers-make-and-how-to-avoid-them/

USING AN IDEA TO CREATE A NOVEL, THE PROCESS:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2015/11/where-do-you-get-your-ideas-basic.html

USING CHAPTER BREAKS TO PUSH THE READER FORWARD:

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-cant-look-away-chapter-breaks-what-i-learned-writing-storming/

AVOIDING WEAK DESCRIPTIONS:

https://janefriedman.com/descriptions/

THINGS TO MAKE YOUR WRITING EASIER, (SEE MY NOTE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION):

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/small-things-that-will-make-your.html

TIPS FOR CHOOSING GREAT CHARACTER NAMES:

http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2015/11/8-tips-for-picking-meaningful-character.html

Across a Crowded Room

QUESTION: I have a scene in a restaurant where staff is coming and going. How do I describe that? Do I mention all the movement?

This is really about viewpoint. You are describing the scene from your viewpoint character's perspective. What will she see?

Imagine this. You are in your favorite romantic restaurant. Across from you is your special someone or your favorite sexy actor. You are eating your meal, flirting, and talking. Would you be aware of who is coming in and out of the room?

Your character in a similar situation would do the same thing.

Imagine this. You are in that restaurant with that sexy lover, but someone wants to kill you.

You would be very aware of who is coming and going in the room, and so would your viewpoint character.

If it's a situation that's emotionally neutral like a banquet meal with servants coming and going to bring food, you can say something like "A steady stream of servants, each with a large tray of food or an empty bowl, moved through the room tending the tables."

Then, unless there's a reason to mention the servants again, or a servant again, you don't mention them. The reader will fill in the visual blanks.

Links of Interest

HOW TO WRITE FUNNY DIALOGUE:

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-funny-dialogue-what-i-learned-writing-storming/

BECOMING YOUR POV CHARACTER:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/11/becoming-your-pov-character/

FIGURING OUT YOUR SELF-PUB RELEASE PLAN:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/indie-publishing-paths-whats-your.html

COPYRIGHT, SAFE HARBOR BOUNDARIES:

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=9cc03161-16fc-4e34-96b9-ab76d694537a&utm

JURIES, HOW THEY WORK, ETC.:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/11/09/juries-how-they-work-how-theyre-chosen-and-what-lawyers-handle-them-best

THINGS TO REMEMBER TO DO WHEN YOU SELF-PUB:

http://positivewriter.com/self-publishing/

GETTING YOUR POV RIGHT:

https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2015/11/11/the-secret-ingredient-for-pov-magic-capture-your-reader-never-let-go/

GRAMMAR, THE DREADED COMMA SPLICE:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/writing-basics-unnatural-pairingscomma.html

THE FIVE CARDINAL SINS OF DESCRIPTION:

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/the-five-cardinal-sins-of-description

SECONDARY CHARACTERS, THEIR USES AND ABUSES:

http://fantasy-faction.com/2015/a-look-at-secondary-characters

Formating Internal Dialogue

QUESTION: 

I have query about the correct way to convey internal thoughts and sounds.

According to the Chicago Manual of Style:  "11.47 Unspoken discourse: Thought, imagined dialogue, and other interior discourse may be enclosed in quotation marks or not, according to the context or the writer’s preference."

I gather whether quotation marks are used and which type varies from publishing house to publishing house. Is that correct?

ANSWER: 

The only times I’ve ever seen quotation marks used for interior dialogue in popular fiction is along the lines of -- “Brilliant move,” I said silently to myself.  

The standard method is to italicize the thought--  

The bell slipped out of my fingers and clanged loudly as it hit the floor.  I winced. Brilliant move, Byerly.

Some publishers, particularly of nonfiction, will state the stylebook they prefer, but most fiction publishers don’t.  In the case of no stylebook mentioned, use grammar correctly and be consistent.

QUESTION CONTINUED: 

In deep third POV, it’s quite common to have a fair amount of interior dialogue.

I try to ask myself whether the person is posing themselves a specific question or stating some fact to themselves. If they are, I put them in italics, otherwise I don’t. Is this the best way to do it? 

What if they ask themselves a rhetorical question?

ANSWER: 

You seem to have a firm grip on where you italicize sentences.   For rhetorical sentences, either way would work.  

I tend to avoid italicized internal dialogue because it breaks the reader’s rhythm, particularly if it’s done too much or too little.  Instead, I write so that I remain deep in POV.

For example, to remove the internal dialogue of my earlier example, I’d write: 

The bell slipped out of my fingers and clanged loudly as it hit the floor.  I winced at my clumsiness.  

QUESTION CONTINUED: 

I also have problems with the verb’s tense in internal discourse.  

She loosened her grip, so the rope slid through her hands and let her feet slide over the knot. Shit – rope burn. Her feet reached another knot. She clung to the rope, her body shaking, her palms sweating so hard they felt cold. This wasn’t working.

Should the last bit be This isn’t working.?

ANSWER: 

If  “This isn’t/wasn’t working” is deep POV, the sentence would use “wasn’t.”  If it’s internal dialogue, use “isn’t.”  

If you’re confused about the tense, pretend the internal dialogue is regular dialogue and speak it aloud to see if it sounds right. 

If it’s a thought, the tense remains the same as the rest of the narrative.

QUESTION CONTINUED:  

If you’re trying to signify there is a sound made, does it go inside single or double quotes or can you use italics? 

ANSWER: 

If the sound isn’t dialogue by a human or other living creature, it is italicized.

The cow said, “Moo,” and its bell went clank.  

Links of Interest

SEVEN WAYS AUTHOR SITES IRRITATE READERS:

http://www.authormedia.com/7-ways-author-websites-irritate-readers/

LIST OF VARIOUS GHOSTS AND GHOST TYPES, FICTIONAL AND MYTHIC:

http://www.tor.com/2015/10/29/your-guide-to-ghosts-from-a-to-z/

LINKS TO RESOURCES FOR E-PUBBED AUTHORS:

https://janefriedman.com/how-to-publish-an-ebook/

CUTTING YOUR WORD LENGTH:

http://writerunboxed.com/2015/10/29/losing-the-word-weight-how-to-put-your-manuscript-on-a-diet/

CREATING AN INDIE BOOK LAUNCH PARTY:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/10/anatomy-of-indie-book-launch-party.html

USING PRESSURE POINTS TO REVEAL CHARACTER:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/pressure-points-angela-ackerman/

TIPS ON COPYEDITING YOUR OWN WORK:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2011/05/do-you-copy-tips-on-copy-editing-your.html

THE ART AND CRAFT OF WHAT TO DELETE:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2015/10/omission-art-and-craft-of-what-to-delete.html

THE ADVANTAGE OF WRITING FAST.  I BEG TO DIFFER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION:

https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/how-writing-quickly-can-improve-your-storytelling/

FIXING A CHARACTER WHO IS TOO PERFECT:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/5-ways-to-fix-too-perfect-characters.html

BUILDING A GREAT FIRST CHAPTER:

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/11/building-a-great-first-chapter-with-nyt-bestselling-author-beth-revis/

CAN YOU OVERUSE “SAID?”

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/most-common-writing-mistakes-pt-45/

FINDING SNEAKY POINT OF VIEW ERRORS:

http://marcykennedy.com/2015/11/how-to-hunt-down-sneaky-point-of-view-errors

WAYS TO AVOID "SAID" WITHOUT SILLY DESCRIPTIVE VERBS:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/11/04/actions-speak-louder-than-dialog-tags-using-beats-in-writing/

FAULTY PARALLELISMS IN SENTENCE STRUCTURE:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2015/11/writing-basics-fault-in-our-fiction.html

Sameness and the Second Book

QUESTION:   I have just finished writing the first draft of my novel, now given to beta readers to test it out.

In the meantime, I am starting a new one, but all my inspiration seems similar to my previous work. Perhaps I am too absorbed in that type of story.

The things that are the same are the team composition of the antagonists, though in my new work they have different behavior and abilities.   Also, my new work takes place in a similar fantasy world and has a similar magical system.

First, congratulations on finishing your novel.  Of the many who start a first work, very few finish it.  Well done!

The truth of the sameness will be in the final products so it's hard to say.

Some very successful writers write the same story and characters with variations over and over again, and some readers don't seem to mind it.  Others do.  

Each character should have a specific role in your story, and he/she should be written to fit that role.  If you want to shake things up with the casting of those roles, you could try what Hollywood calls casting against type.  For example, make the bad guy's second in command a charming goofball who has a hidden sadistic streak.  Or switch genders.

You may want to do a few major changes/surprises to your world and magic system, but a massive overhaul isn't necessary if the world and the magic fit your story.  Or you can set your story in the same world during a different time period or a different part of the world and not worry about the sameness.  

One thing it's good to remember is that, these days, a reader will find one of a writer's books, and, if he enjoys it, he will buy the next book by the author immediately and read it.  So you want to offer both consistency and surprises.  

As a career move, writing similar books is a good thing.  Many readers are like kids with a bedtime story.  They like what they like, and they want the same thing, but different, each time from the writer.  

Successful authors who want to write a second series move laterally by writing subgenres that their main readership would enjoy.  For example, Jim Butcher’s extremely popular Harry Dresden series is urban fantasy, but he's written a traditional fantasy series which many of the same readers read, and he's just started a steampunk series.  

Then there's writers like me who write all kinds of genres from science fiction adventure to paranormal romance.  Many of my readers don't follow me so I have to fight for every reader I get when I switch genres.  It’s not a good thing career move, but it keeps me amused.