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Module 2 Q&A – 14th Nov 7pm (UK time)
We’ll be here to answer all your questions!
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77 Replies
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What are your thoughts on italicizing the thoughts of your POV characters? I received some comments on my group post that mentioned it’s no longer necessary.
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I always do.
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Same here. I think it just removes any possibility of confusion for the reader and allows you – once you have established the convention – to modulate into what is effectively first person within the third person.
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Ah this is where we differ – no definitive answer! I never use them…
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Suppose this is for Craig, as the italics user — do you think using italics makes it trickier to use lots of close third person?
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I really don’t. In fact perhaps the opposite – the italics is the culmination of the close third
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This is one where there is no definitive answer as some editors and publishers still use it. But, you can use psychic/narrative distance to move seamlessly in and out of your narrator’s head so that you don’t have to, which is preferred nowadays and does make your writing stronger. There’s a link to this coming up in the course content soon.
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So it’s a definite maybe. I think I’ll stay with the italics for now. But I’ll experiment with the psychic distance method. I don’t have a firm grip on that as yet.
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This question is for Amanda
Can you let me know the date for our next 1-1 mentoring sessions as I haven’t booked a slot yet. Thank you.
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Hello Celine, there are 2 slots still left to choose from as Mary Kathleen had her call early yesterday as she’s away when the call slots are available. So you can have 14.30 on Weds 27th Nov or 11.30 on Fri 29th Nov.
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Please could I have the 11.30 am slot on 29th November.
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I’ve booked you in for that one. Look forward to talking to you then and reading more of your story beforehand. You need to send your 3K word extract by 20th Nov.
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Thank you.
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Hello Celine – apologies there was a typo in my reply above and you need to send your homework by 24th not 20th.
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This question is for both Amanda and Craig
My novel has three main themes: guilt, love and betrayal. Does it sound feasible to have one main theme that runs through the story and impacts on the lives of my protagonist and to a lesser extent, on my other characters? In my novel, guilt is the main theme, but love and betrayal are also themes I have explored. I found the transformational arc, presented in three acts very helpful. I revised my 10-point novel outline with the transformational arc in mind, this was a very useful way to focus on and unite theme, plot and structure.
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Sounds perfectly feasible to have one major theme and a couple of minor themes too. The novel is capacious and can accommodate more than one theme. If you read The Bestseller Code they do a thematic analysis and conclude that bestselling novels usually have a dominant theme and a secondary one or two also. Read it – very helpful. Especially for the actions of the protagonist.
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Hi Craig — out of curiosity, having just read it — have you ever bumped into any textual analytic software of the sort those authors used? Guessing they keep theirs confidential, but would be interesting if there is anything at all flying around…
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No, they built theirs and pimp it out. (You can have a report on your book made by it – very interesting stuff). Great book though – especially the analysis of verbs associated with bestselling protagonists.
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Yes completely feasible to have one main overarching theme, which then has sub themes beneath it. So with guilt as your main theme love and betrayal will also be feeding into that too and vice versa. So think about how they all manifest in each other. With both love and betrayal comes guilt in some form or another; and to feel guilty most of the time people feel like that as they’ve betrayed someone they love. So they are all intrinsic and you’ll no doubt find that they appear naturally in your writing that way.
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I’d like to hear both Amanda’s and Craig’s thoughts about this: How do you decide when to use figurative language? I must have been absent when we discussed figurative language in English class. I know what the devices are, and can recognize them (and make judgments as to whether or not I like their use) when I’m reading, and I can even use them in my own writing – but I am concerned about balance – how do you know if you’re over- or under-using metaphor and other figurative language?
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Good question. Matter of taste. But I tend towards the concrete and away from the florid. Is your figurative language startling? Can you take it out without losing sense? Is it essential? Does it show wit (in the Johnsonian sense of the yoking together of two previously unassociated things)? I think write with it and then edit most of it out is quite normal. When I have caught myself using figurative language I always ask myself if it is anywhere near as good as the following by Ezra Pound: ‘Faces on the Paris Metro, Leaves on a wet, black bough’ If the answer is that it is not as good (as has almost always been the case) I remove it.
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I don’t think it’s a conscious choice when I write. It just happens and then when I get to editing stage I decide then whether it belongs. Most of the time it doesn’t!
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Hi. Looking forward to this. Paul can’t make it but he has asked a question which I am going to share here and give my answer to. Please everyone also chip in with your own thoughts. Paul’s question:
My novel will have quite a few characters in it. I’d like to focus more on a few characters and keep the others active, but more in the background. Is it better to do that or to try and involve all characters more equally?
My response to that was to ensure they are differentiated. Give them a quirk of speech, of dress, of behaviour. Make them different ages, genders, races, etc. Anything to give them a specific differentiated identity in the reader’s mind. Give them an identity shorthand.
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I would say that the reader needs to connect with one or two main characters and the others can be given a lesser part of varying degrees. The impact of the story could end up being diluted if no clear characters are given the lead roles.
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Yes, as Amanda says, you need leads with whom we can engage. My answer was more to do with the opening of your question.
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I’d also love to hear from anyone about your “author platform.” All over the internet are people telling me how vital it is to have an audience and a platform established (website, social media, etc) long before I even approach agents/publishers or decide to self-publish. I can work on social media in fits and starts, but then my accounts will remain dormant for weeks or months. I just can’t seem to build momentum with them – partially because I’m busy and don’t feel like I have the time for it, when I should be writing, and partially because I just can’t find a way to keep churning out content and connect with readers. Which I guess is also connected with the feeling that I’m lacking the time to do the whole platform thing.
Any thoughts on author platform?
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Hello Nicci, this is something we cover in a later module of the course once the writing of the draft is done. We look at ways to connect with readers. An author platform can be many different things and doesn’t have to rely solely on social media and churning out lots of blogs.
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Well, it can help but it is not essential. Agents are sensible people and if you have written a damn fine book then you will not be turned away due to a lack of online presence. That said people have got publishing deals out of poor books because they have a profile. My advice to you would be that if you are not feeling it, don’t do it. If your heart is not in it you will make yourself feel bad and people will sense your heart will sense your heart is not in it and no good will come of it. Follow your instincts – stay offline and write a kick ass book is a perfectly fine way to get across the line.
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Let’s face it, have you ever read a book just because the author has got a good online presence?
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Very true, but I do see the merit of the argument that having an audience waiting to read/buy the book on launch day can’t be a bad thing.
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But as I have learned – people that follow you on social media don’t necessarily buy your books when they come out!
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I have a website and a ‘reader magnet’ (a free short story if you sign up to a mailing list) and I have built it so that I never have to do anything. I can have a profile if people want to find me but the content is static.
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Yeah – I have the same, but I’m not driving any traffic yet. I also have a mailing list, with 40 subscribers 😂 Even that weekly newsletter is hard to maintain, though, because I’m not blogging while I’m focusing on my book so I feel like I have nothing to talk about.
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No problem. It’s there and you have capacity in case it takes off. I only built mine so I could stop thinking about people telling me to build one. Serves a purpose.
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Don’t put that pressure on yourself. A weekly newsletter is way too often! Occasional would be fine then you would have more to report about how the book is progressing. Readers like to hear about other things than your writing too so you can include anything you feel comfortable sharing.
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Hi Amanda and Craig, I’m struggling with my theme; my main theme is that of plastic pollution, or rather the legacy of plastic pollution, from our generation, and how this impacts future generations; is this too vague or abstract for a theme? I could look at bringing in greed; when the plastic is regenerated back into an oil I could have greed at the heart of how this oil is sold and used? Would that be better?
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Look at the human psychology which lies behind the pollution
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Ah, Craig interesting – thanks
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Hello Jacqs, yes this is too specific. But greed sounds good. It’s greed of many different forms that have led us to pollute the world. The characters in your novel that we discussed on our mentoring call are showing it in many ways – greed for power, recognition, gluttony, consumerism, love, attention. So look back at the course content for this module and write lists about greed and how it manifests in behaviours and motivations. What do your characters think about greed as a concept; as it applies to themselves and their situation; to the wider world they are in.
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Thanks Amanda that’s helpful – I’ll do that 🙂
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Perhaps plastic pollution is not your theme, but a symptom of your theme. Themes are usually universal human emotions. Perhaps your theme is negligence, complacency, ignorance? Or as you say, greed. If you have a theme like that then it cane be applied in all spheres of human life. Someone might also be negligent in love for example.
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Back to this:psychic/narrative distance to move seamlessly in and out of your narrator’s head. I will be off the grid for the next three weeks writing and have always used italics to show thoughts. Can you give me an example? And how is that different from head hopping.
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Head-hopping is when you go into another character’s POV in the middle of a scene.
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Here’s a great blog filled with example about narrative distance: https://jerichowriters.com/narrative-distance/
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Only sends a newsletter when he says something to announce. Maybe twice a year. But ids always generous and funny. Sign up and have a look.
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Like many others, my novel is set in the near future and a central issue for me has been how much to reflect the futuristic setting in the dialogue of the characters. We know language will continue to change and evolve, and in all likelihood will become more contracted and ‘short-form’ (driven by our tech–based communication) but when I come across attempts to use future-speak, I generally find it jarring (the Nadstat of Clockwork Orange being a glorious exception). Lacking Burgess’s genius, would it be wise to leave well alone?
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Yes I think you can just use natural speech as it is today, with maybe an occasional line to signify changes if you want to. I wrote a novel set in 2073 and haven’t used different speech patterns or language. But part of the premise is that we end up living in a future more like the past!
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That said, Carol,. You will have to alter speech to some extent as the world will have changed and so speech will too. Maybe look at it that way round. Look at your world. See how it’s change will effect consciousness and how this will be manifest in speech. Are any idioms altered (do people say ‘Oh My God’ still etc).
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I just finished a book called “Woman on the Edge of Time” where they do some of this. (I recommend it!) Most of the evolved language, though, has a specific import to the plot of the book – i.e. distinctions between genders are more blurry, so they don’t use gender-specific pronouns. Other than shortening or changing two or three other common words/expressions, the rest of the language remains intact. It took a little getting used to, but the ultimate effect was to draw that distinction between today’s and the future society without being overly clunky.
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Great point Nicci
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In response to their pretty white smiles, his face became a study in smugness and it made Holly want to smack him.
Pompous ass.
I get on a plane tomorrow and would like a better idea about this narrative distance. I will look more closely at the link. Could you glance at the lines above and give just one idea how they could be different?
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In response to their pretty white smiles, his face became a study in smugness. Holly wanted to smack him. Pompous ass.
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Great question Carol. I think it entirely permissible to have people speak in the future as they do now in the past (minus any jarring cultural references, idioms, etc). I do not think that will be obtrusive or problematic and allows people to dwell on character and plot. Forcing new language into your book that you are not happy with might make it sound ‘cod’. Only do it if – as with Burgess – it brings something exciting to the table.
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I get your point about editors and all. I know one who would change that right back to the way I had it.
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Yep – no definitive answer! 😂
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