Tutorial Writing Tips - from someone who has worked in the publishing industry

[Crayons]

Hello, thanks for this thread! Id like to read a chapter on the publishing process: how to get an agent or publisher to look at your work and take notice (which you mentioned you would cover in the future), and about the process of working with a publisher. Any insider tips or anecdotes you have from the industry would also be great.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Chapter 7: Attracting Agents and Publishers

The adventure, the journey, the trek of lassoing in an agent or publisher is surely a strenuous one. I know just how hard it is to get your foot through that door and my main advice is… kick that door in, shove your way into a company and declare, “You’ve got to publish this book, stat!” while you throw your book on the desk of the CEO and use their own pen to sign their agreement to publish your book for them.

Sounds a bit crazy, right? Well, this may be a tad of a joke, but I’m not kidding when I say this is basically one of the steps you will need to take to get yourself there. Publishing companies and agents read so many books. They’re constantly wading through them. Somehow your book needs to outshine them all. We are a storytelling people. What will make you one of the best out of the entire world. This advice isn’t even something that should be broken unlike most of the rules I hand out. No, I’m not even going to call these steps, I’m going to call these: You Musts.

∆ I should add though, these You Musts are for those who are planning to publish traditionally. As well, you should always read the submission page in case they have anything different, specific or if they break the norm first.


You Must: finish and edit your book as far as you can
I have witnessed a hefty number of new writers turn in a story after just the first draft. First drafts, I’ll just say it, are garbage. No one ever expects you to create a masterpiece without error on your first try, no matter how seasoned of a writer you are. Even DreamWorks stopped animation for Dragons 3 and put it off for two years to round it out better.

Here’s a quote from a man I tried to give advice to. This is word for word, as I have a picture of his comment saved:
“…my book is just that good. I do not need editors or beta readers. It’s prime and ready to be sent off to the big publishers…”

Don’t be that guy.

Agents and publishers do not want to spend forever editing your book. I’ve learned that there is misinformation about how publishers have these editors that will take care of your book, and, even possibly, change every bit of it without your consent. This couldn’t be furthest from the truth. When I was in the industry, we were told to keep reading until you couldn’t take it anymore. If your story is riddled with punctuation errors, grammar issues, plot holes and overall bad storytelling, we won’t continue and say, “This is a great idea! Just needs some makeup.” We would toss it. It was out. Done.

On occasion we would say, “This has potential. Let’s send feedback to the writer, have them rework it and let them send it again.” This means, even if editing still needed to be done, we didn’t want to do it. Our imagination is not the writer’s imagination. There are many alterations that we can’t handle because it is ours.

This isn’t to say that we didn’t edit books. We did edit every book we chose. It was minimal, quick and/or was debated if it should be changed with the author’s advice.


How much editing do you need? When is it good enough?
These are just about as impossible to answer as you’d imagine them to be. All grammar, punctuation and typos should be sifted out. That is a given. The story itself should be edited too. Sometimes your editors may do this for you, other times you’ll have to hire an alpha reader. Altogether, make sure you have a good amount of advice on your story and whether or not all of it makes sense. Take an alpha reader’s word for it. Don’t ever correct alpha reader. They are meant to represent someone new reading your book, if they don’t understand it, it isn’t good to go.

I will edit my books on my own five to fifteen times before I send it to an editor. When I get it back, I edit it again, send it to a different editor and so on and so forth. I keep doing this till I am comfortable and satisfied. There is no exact number.


You Must: make your query a soundbite
This advice is mainly directed toward an agent, but it also works for turning work into a publishing company. An agent never reads your entire book unless you’ve made it far in their consideration. I’ve met agents that literally have a stack of printed out queries and they’ll go through the first page of each one, put them in a ‘maybe’ or ‘no’ pile and proceed from there. Your interview starts there, so to speak. First and foremost, your query needs to have enough umph to be categorized in the ‘maybe’ pile. Agents do not usually accept reviewing the same book twice, even if you’ve changed it. This could be your only chance.

Let’s say your story has made it into that ‘maybe’ pile. This pile is by no means small, don’t get your hopes up quite yet, because if your story isn’t like a soundbite, you’ve no chance.

You know when you get a song stuck in your head, but it is only a specific part that replays over and over? All you want to do is hear it again and relish that piece of music. You, as a writer, must forge something of the same significance. Even as all these papers in the ‘maybe’ pile stand, the agent shouldn’t be able to get the idea of your book out of their head. Queries that can’t be expelled from the mind are bound to go into the yes pile unless it isn’t their style of book to publish. Hopefully the agent will send it to their agent friend if they like the idea enough.


What should I put in a query letter? What is require in one?
All agents will have different rules and guidelines. Make sure you view them carefully and make what they are searching for. Usually it is a one paged letter, but that could be different per agent. My biggest word of advice is to not say, “I have three other books in the series finished.” They actually don’t want to know that, they’d much rather read, “I have three books that I’ve begun to plan, the second book is halfway written,” (or something along those lines.) Even if you do have those books written, don’t mention it.

My second biggest word of advice, yes there are two of them – don’t get sappy. Don’t explain how this is your dream. Don’t go into great lengths as to why you want to be an author. If they’re interested in your book, they’ll ask themselves. You will get a chance to talk about yourself in your letter, it shouldn’t be at all overbearing with emotions.

Want more information on how to format a query letter, go here: How to Write a Darn Good Query Letter | NY Book Editors


You Must: take advantage of every single publishing company/agent
Rub your hands together, get a humped back and cackle a bit. This is how you will get your book to one of your dream publishing companies (or agents). Hopefully you have more than one in mind. Here are the stages for your diabolical plan:

Stage 1:
Send your edited, ready to go, story out to small publishers. (Not vanity presses.) These publishers are either startups, don’t have much funding – thus they stay small, and/or prefer to keep the business small. Do NOT send it to every single one. Maybe three to five at a time. If you get a yes right out the door, then you’ve already done something right with your story. But, don’t be discouraged if they say no, it’s bound to happen.

Many publishing companies, especially the smaller ones, will give you tidbits of feedback. This is determined on how long they read your book, if they only make it through the first chapter, you won’t receive feedback. Take that feedback, play with your book while keeping the information in mind and send it to another (3-5) small agencies. If they also say no, rinse and repeat. If you aren’t getting any feedback, that is strange. You may need to go back to the drawing board, dissect your book and rewrite and edit. It probably isn’t ready to go.

Once you begin receiving yeses from these small companies, refuse them all.


Stage 2:
So, you’ve received a few yeses now. Great! It’s time to do the exact same thing for medium-sized companies. Only turn a book into one to two medium companies at a time. Don’t use up all your resources right off the bat. Medium companies could also be larger, but you’d prefer not to publish with them. Use their feedback, take into consideration every detail until those yeses come flowing.


Stage 3:
I assume you know that you should say no to those medium companies, because you’re at all your dream companies. Only ever submit to one company at a time. Any feedback you receive, even if you get a no, is basically nectar from the gods and should be consumed to the finest details based on what would match your story. This is pushing you into the company you want to go to. Keep doing this until you get your first yes and accept!


There is a misconception that you need to send your story to all of these amazing publishing companies right away. Sit back. Take your time. Start up on the next book or other books as you wait between each letter. It may take years, but you are, quite frankly, guaranteed a way in if you do it this way. You are taking advantage of the system and you are also learning new things as you do that you can implement in future books.

The reason these are all musts is because they work. This isn’t up for artistic interpretation as writing is. This is how I’ve succeeded; how other authors succeeded and is often taught within the industry.

∆∆∆ My question to you: Are all the colors readable for you?

There may be a part 2 if I receive enough questions.



LazyDaze Idea Melpomene Vergaan AllGoodNamesRGone Baconhands NekoQueen49 Darkmaster006 Redfork2000 Sacrosanctis ashwynne

(If you want to be added to the tag list or if I have missed you, comment on the thread with the word, "Aye!" You do not need to quote anything, just a stand-alone comment will do.)

 

[Kaerri]

I don't need a tag, I just wanted to say it's good to see you back in this! (And the colors look fine to me on my desktop in Dark mode.)

 

[LazyDaze]

Aye, was wondering if you were still doing this actually

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Aye, was wondering if you were still doing this actually

AYE! I am! A lot happened in this last year, I also started up school again for 3D animation, so I was busy. But...now that I don't have a day job and I'm quarantined, I have a chance to actually post before summer hits.

 

[Melpomene]

I am so happy you are back! You're helping many get their dream published including me and I give many thanks for that

 

[Idea]

Welcome back AEONmeteorite !

∆∆∆ My question to you: Are all the colors readable for you?

Yes, very much so.

Question: What exactly is a query?

 

[LazyDaze]

AYE! I am! A lot happened in this last year, I also started up school again for 3D animation, so I was busy. But...now that I don't have a day job and I'm quarantined, I have a chance to actually post before summer hits.

Well I’m happy for you in regards to the 3D animation but sucks that we’re quarantined now lol I’m in the same boat being a teacher. Glad to have u back anyway!

 

[Cross]

You mentioned being an alpha reader. How can I become better at giving my critique partners feedback?

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Welcome back AEONmeteorite !
Question: What exactly is a query?

Sorry for long waited answer. I was seeing if others had questions, by this point, you may have already researched an answer. I posted that link in my post and this comes directly from it:

"A query letter is a one-page letter sent to literary agents in an effort to get them excited about your book. You have one page and 300 words (or less) to woo a literary agent into falling in love with your story and then requesting your manuscript. This letter is short, sweet, and definitely to the point. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to squeeze the essence of your 80,000+ word book into approximately 300 words. Talk about mission impossible! Aside from the near constant rejection we writers face, crafting the perfect query letter is the hardest part of authorship."

I hope this answers your question even though it isn't directly my own words.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

You mentioned being an alpha reader. How can I become better at giving my critique partners feedback?

First off, remember there is a difference between an alpha reader and beta reader. I say this because alpha readers tend to be paid while betas aren't. (This isn't always the case though.) It is fair to say that people switch between the two often depending on their relationship with the writer or what the writer wants in return. An alpha reader is paid because they can literally turn it into a full time job. Betas tend to leisurely read the book. Both these jobs represent what it is like to read your book, but one will give you incredibly detailed notes, while the other talks about the overall story in its entirety.

Becoming an alpha reader comes with hard work. There is a massive amount of self motivating involved and you must constantly be working at it. A good way to start is to a grab a book and start reading. But, oh, you don't just read. After each page you have to write notes. Write about what you liked, what you didn't like, where a character didn't seem to fall in line with how the writer has portrayed them as, etc. You are trying to exploit the fine details in a story. This could even be as far as: "This part makes no sense to me. I do not comprehend how this matters or why it is placed here. After rereading this multiple times, as well as the pages around it, I still haven't figured out what you are trying to say." Sometimes notes for a single page can be long, other times they can be short. The notes should also declare why and how they could fix it. When the writer receives your notes, they can pick and choose what they wish to implement, change, alter and then they'll send it off to editors and beta readers. -- I should mention here that there have been occasions where I've said: "I do not like this part because of (these reasons), I am not sure how to change it or if it should be changed. It is something that I do think you should be aware of all the same."

Alpha readers don't worry about punctuation, typos or misspellings, but they can if they decide to do so. When I was an alpha reader, if I saw minor and easily fixable issues with these things, I'd give a quick note. Nothing too fancy, just something along the lines of: "This word has one too many Os in it."

You should also practice how you can rearrange a sentence, paragraph or even page. As I said, part of your notes is giving advice on what can be done. I've suggested writers switch entire chapters before. Having a proper perception of how things can flip and move around is crucial. Puzzling a story in a different way is a task you will do often.

Do not be concerned when you see that the published piece may not have used all your suggestions. It should be recognized that your suggestions could be exactly what the writer wanted you to question. If you're worried about how a character is acting in a situation, as they've never acted like that before, and the writer wants their readers to notice the strange alteration in character, then you making note of that is what the author is looking for. Receiving these notes not only helps round out rough edges, they're also made to show the writer what went through your head at each chapter and if they're resonating how the writer intended them to be.

Besides reading, watching workshops and learning more about the writing process and the rules in writing is a good place to start too. Brandon Sanderson often has live workshops. There are also conventions that you could attend. Some authors talk about what they did and how they've learned to write as well as they do on Youtube. Use any and all resources given to you.

My only warning, do not let your practice seep into your leisurely reading too frequently. There will always be books you like and dislike, but if you can't stop analyzing, then your joy in books will diminish. It is great to practice with published stories, nonetheless, do not let it fiddle with your mind so much that you can't read for fun anymore.

Well, and, as I've finished writing this, I've realized this could be a good chapter that I may do in the future. All the luck to you!

 

[Idea]

orry for long waited answer. I was seeing if others had questions, by this point, you may have already researched an answer. I posted that link in my post and this comes directly from it:

The wait wasn't that long. Plus I wanted to hear (read) it directly from you. Sometimes people have something pertinent to add regarding context when explaining a word.

 

[Melpomene]

AEONmeteorite Hello! I just have a question, it isn't related to this chapter but it popped into my head so sorry about that

So, I have been told by a few people that first books rarely sell, so if I have a magnum opus series I am working on, I should put it aside for a bit and try to publish something else first. So would you recommend that the first book you really try to get out there shouldn't be the magnum opus but another story you have wanted to tell?

I ask because people have told me about this and when I looked up some of my favorite authors, I've noticed almost all of them have published something before the series/novel they are most well known for and seem the most passionate about.

I just was wondering what opinion someone who has been in the publishing environment might have on the matter ^^

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Melpomene

These people are correct. Hardly ever does the first book you publish become famous. It carries your less seasoned writings, your naivety within the industry and fans, as well as the first time your name has ever gotten out there. I often advise people to first publish a stand alone book or a short series. Don't write any book first because you are less invested in it. Your want and thirst for a story of yours to come out should be all the same, whether it is your first, second or eighth series. There are many authors who may not have become famous from their first book, but now their first book is heavily circulated and considered priceless between fans. I know I mention Brandon Sanderson a lot, but here it goes again. His first book was Elantris, most people know him either from The Way of Kings or Mistborn. I've recently gone to one of his events (Nov. 2019) and had a chance to speak to a lot of his fans. Elantris was a common topic among them all. It is the root to a lot of his writings. Many asked him about it in the Q/A and he answered the best he could without giving stuff away. Let your main series rest (if you have one). Let it fester as you write other things. When you come back to it, the way you write and approach it will stupefy you.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Chapter 8 (Part 1): Character Development

Guys, I’ve written a lot of books in my life. Some on my own, some with partners/teams and some for contests. About four years ago, I wrote a book with eight other authors (which from this point on I’ll call: Group Book). While I haven’t pulled away from the project, I took a step back and let two of the more novice writers work on piecing all the different written bits together. They smoothed out some edges, rounded corners and truly made the story transitions far better than before. When they finished, it was my turn to edit Group Book.

It isn’t great. Not at all. I’d personally dissect the entire book and rework every bit of it. I read Group Book in three days and I dreaded everyday jumping into it. As many of you know, I read a slosh of books while working in the industry. We rejected some books after a single chapter of reading, on rare occasions, even a single page. It’s been a while since I’ve read such an unfinished book. My habit of stopping way before the end nearly kicked in, but I wrote some of this book and I was acting as an editor, not a judge.

Well, because of the sludge I recently pushed myself through, I’ve come to realize some things that need to be taught. These lessons would have been great for my past self. Some of my writing was not up to par four years ago. I’ve grown quite a bit in my writing, which is something we always want to see. Improvement is key. My next few chapters will be based on the experiences I had reading this book though, so, be prepared!

I don’t want to offend anyone, I’m going to say it though, Suicide Squad, the movie, it isn’t great. I dislike almost every single bit of it. There are always two things that stand out to me whenever I watch it, and one of them is the sheer lack of character development. (I’ll bring up the other in a later chapter.) This is also an issue we had in the book we wrote together. There is this awkward roundup of characters in both and then, one way or another, they’re “family” by the end… yet, there is hardly anything that shows growth in relationships.

I found myself often asking in the comments of my Group Book, “How? When? What relationship? They’ve only talked, like, twice. Etc.” These are questions that should never be pondered by the reader (unless it is on purpose and for reason). If you have this close relationship part way into a book and your readers are confused on how it leads to there, you, as a writer, need to rework something.

Some other questions/comments that came to mind while reading Group Book were, “When would she have time to gain these talents with a sword? The first and last time we saw her with a gun, she could hardly put a bullet in it, yet you’re telling me that she can make her own gun. His reasonings for leaving are shallow, whatever was the point to this (specific decision)? Etc.”

Sorry guys, this is a long intro to this chapter, but let's jump into what can be done to avoid lack of character development.


Preplan relationships
While I believe over planning prior to writing a book will often cause a tough journey for a writer, there does come a point where more is needed. This is especially so as more characters enter your story. Besides comics and roleplays, I do not find it a good idea to create a character sheet until you’ve written a character in your book for a little while. Get a feel for your character and once you do, make that sheet. You likely won’t share this sheet with anyone, so put it any secret details you wish. It’s for you, no one else.

Pencil in their relationships with everyone and where you want their relationships head to. Are they first super close and gradually fall away from one another? Do they butt heads and draw closer toward the end? Is there always a strain on their relationship, but it is clear they care about each other? Is there no change in their tie together? Indicating where you want characters to move toward will help encourage your mind to shove moments in your story that present that path they are heading from without coming from left field.

You don’t need to plan perfectly, but at the very least, give yourself a vague idea.


Continuation from above - write what has happened
Anytime a relationship develops in your story, return to your character sheet and write a summary of what happened and why it matters. Having all of these at the ready not only helps a slew of characters stay organized, but it also gives you quick access to see if their relationship is growing naturally like you planned.


Consider if a relationship of any kind should happen
If it has occurred to you that your plan isn’t following through and adding moments where they can gain closer relations feels awkward to write in, considering changing your plan. Nothing is ever concrete when it comes to art. If your story decides that it wants something else, let it happen. Don’t force something to happen between two or more characters if, no matter what you do, your goal won’t get accomplished.

All this advice works for friendships, family, mentors and apprentices, etc, it isn’t solely for romance. That being said, just recently I realized I was forcing two characters together in one of my stories that were not meant to be together. There was nothing special, the moments felt and were strained and it was uncomfortable to read. Rather than pulling out their relationship, I pulled out the male entirely and brought forth a new character. I as well decided to take some more time developing their relationship and turned the romance focus to another pair instead.


Avoid Hallmarking your book
Relationships don’t usually grow from miscommunication and overreaction of a situation that wasn’t properly talked about. It doesn’t usually grow from misreading a text or a conversation that was stumbled upon. While relationships do grow from sitting, talking and understanding, getting to that point is strenuous and doesn’t always happen like what they show in a Hallmark movie. If every moment there is growth in a relationship is because of an issue, the story may have an issue. There should be a healthy mix of times of laughter, anger, adventure, protection, experience, conversation, patience, observation, fear, survival and curiosity, etc. There are so many different kinds of moments that could pull two or more people together that aren't solely based on drama. What’s more, using these situations shows character development beside the growth in relationships. We get to have a chance and look into the mind of different characters in unique situations. Hallmarking your book prevents and traps the characters into a place of stunted growth.


Use symbolisms to display transitions within a character
Probably one of the most overused and obvious forms of symbolism to show a change in character is the act of cutting one’s hair incredibly short. In America, it tends to emulate that they are no longer shy, they are no longer bound by who they are as a person and they want to break free from the shackles they made for themselves. In Japan, it often is shown when a romance didn’t work out for one reason or another. A break up, they like someone else, etc. Far back in history, rulers cut their hair and sent it to another kingdom to instigate war. The longer the hair, the more terrifying it was. If long hair was sent your way, you’ve made a peaceful ruler angry enough to declare war.

There are many other ways to display this change than cutting hair. Wardrobe, scars, bags beneath the eyes, weapons, calluses, muscle or fat build up, the way they hold their stature, even a human can be an accessory to show change.

I asked in the intro how a character in our Group Book had managed to become so talented with a sword (mind you, a sword that would have been way too heavy for her as well). While she has a wardrobe change, it is forced upon by another character, even so far as cutting her hair to appear as a man. That change was invoked by someone else and didn’t speak at all true to where she was at. It’d been interesting to see her new boyish clothes become more ragged, if she decidedly kept her hair short even after time passed, if she cut and tied her new pants to make them shorter and give her more freedom while training with a sword. I want to see scars, I want to watch what was once a prim and proper character stop caring about dirt on her face. It can be subtly written in the book, a single line here and there could do, but it’d speak volumes to the readers as they come to understand that her character is shifting and altering.


Show new and old tendencies
I have a tough time not moving. I always need to be moving one part of my body. That could be swaying my foot back and forth, clicking my nails together, rubbing the tops of my hands, tapping a table, etc. I always want to be doing or thinking something. Everyone close to me has noticed these tendencies of mine. If I was a character in a book, the reader should be just as aware of my ticks as anyone else in the book.

What is especially interesting is when a story begins showing tendencies that weren’t there before. It reflects a character’s mind and how they may be dealing with it. You could even expunge a tick to show that something was finally sated and a character has calmed their storms. Ticks and tendencies could be someone who pulls out their gun too often to clean it or always has their hand on it to be ready for anything. Someone who keeps their arms behind their back, giving them an open and welcoming presence for anyone involved in their life. Someone that always is twisting some of their locks of hair between their fingers or fiddling with something in general, giving off a nervous appearance. Someone who just never sits down, they’re always pacing, walking, running, standing, rocking on their heels. Someone who rolls their shoulders often as their back hurts from being straight all the time due to always making sure they appear strong and unmoving.

Finding these tendencies are better located when you give yourself the chance to act out as that character. When you have a moment to be alone, act and improv. Pretend to be your character in a certain situation and make note of what your body does. Roleplaying also helps put some puzzle pieces together. Since someone else is playing a completely different character and forcing reactions out of your own, you have to start thinking of why your character would do what they do per situation.


If you have a pivotal moment make sure it stays that way
All too frequently I watch a character change, but it doesn’t stick. Something huge happens in their life. Someone dies, house burns down, they win an award, defeat their rival, finally can talk to their brother, just about anything that either destroys something in their life or helps them progress forward. Relationships, outward appearance, tendencies, all of it changes, but then part way in, it is as though they’ve returned to the character they once were. We took two steps forward and twelve steps back and now all that character growth (or their fall) needs to restart.

I guess “spoilers ahead”
This is one of the issues I had with The Crimes of Grindelwald. In the first movie, there were two pairs of possible romantic relationships, a child who was nearly persuaded to pursue help for the issue he had - only to be “killed”, and a friendship formed. In the second movie, everything had to restart. Both romantic relationships had crumbled, the friendship doesn’t feel as close anymore due to the restart from the first movie, and the kid, the one they’d supposedly killed (but we all saw that some of him got away), that had to be redone too. Unfortunately, the main character wasn’t the one who did it this time, no, it was the character that used and abused him in the first movie. Somehow this kid went to him. I felt like I had watched the exact same thing, with far less reason for a man whose speciality in magical beasts to be involved. It all felt like one strange stepping stone for a third movie. They entirely severed a relationship and we hardly watched any real love between the two (Queenie and Jacob), thus making it less impactful, nor did we see what led them to that point. It was half-baked and they made us restart our investment.


There are times where you can take twelve steps back. There could easily be another pivotal moment that disrupts the last one. However, if done too soon, then its impact will mean nothing. You need to marinate your character in a spot for a while before the flavor is good when most of it is cooked out of them. You want your readers to possibly yell, “No!” and perhaps favor in throwing their book before picking it up again. You want a reaction. If it is nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders, then both pivotal moments didn’t dig as deep as they could have.


That’s going to do it for part one. There are so many ways to help your characters become iconic that I couldn’t fit it in a single chapter.



LazyDaze Idea The Vergaan AllGoodNamesRGone Baconhands NekoQueen49 Darkmaster006 Redfork2000 Sacrosanctis ashwynne Melpomene

(If you want to be added to the tag list or if I have missed you, comment on the thread with the word, "Aye!" You do not need to quote anything, just a stand-alone comment will do.)

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Chapter 8 (Part 2): Character Development

This is a continuation of Character Development (Part 1). There isn’t much to introduce or say here as this truly just continues the advice I was giving prior. But for the sake of consistency, I’ll share a story about myself that could be shown as a character development example.

Ahem!!! This is going to be embarrassing.

When I was probably thirteen (maybe a bit younger), my sister and I used to head to nearby Wal-marts (yes, plural) every Saturday morning to search for a specific nail polish. It was the lime green kind, it was ALWAYS sold out. It seemed to be the rage at the time and my sister wanted to get her hands on one. And, though it doesn’t have anything to do with this chapter, that day we DID manage to find it.

After celebrating our successful morning after literal months of searching, we drove out of that parking lot and it was busy. The lot wasn’t well designed, so it often bottlenecked. We were five cars or so away from getting out, and we spotted a man with a cardboard sign at the corner. We are a very giving family, we try to serve where we can, however, I have crippling anxiety. My sister fished out a single gold dollar and handed it to me. She instructed me to roll down my window (lever and all, so all I could think of was how awkward it was to quickly spin this lever in circle after circle to grab his attention. Once again, anxiety inducing). I was adamant. I refused. Heck no. I would not be the one to roll down my window and holler at the guy to come and grab some coin from me. I couldn’t do it.

My sister and I debated back and forth as we tried to think of a solution. My idea was… let’s not do this today, not here. As we got closer, my sister ushered me to just roll down my window and, with a reluctant groan, I did so. She took the coin from my hands and leaned over me as she waved her hand as far as she could outside my window. The man came on up and she said, “I’m sorry it isn’t much. It’s all I have on hand.”

He took up the coin, lifted it up to show off its grand magnitude of being money and said in return, “It’s the thought that counts.” He offered thanks and ran back to his station.

My sister elbowed me, asking me if it was so bad and looked over her shoulder. A soft gasp escaped her lips as she noticed the man had a daughter with him. For a mere moment she thought that maybe she should drop by our house to grab more change, but then flicked her head right to the front and got out of the parking lot as fast as she could.

She had read the sign, neither of us had noticed at first… it said: PUPPIES FOR SALE

What followed after was hysterical amounts of laughter, embarrassment and cheeks so red you’d think we’d run a marathon. It’s been a long time since then. I’ve grown quite a bit, while my anxiety isn’t something that just disappeared overnight (and still isn’t gone), I’ve boggled down what induces it. I’m still terrified of people, but I’ve found traction, I know where to step and not slip. I was able to work a job for three years that included talking to massive amounts of people. I made it. I often look back at this silly moment. Something about it was the turning point in my mind. Shame on the road is written off, people either have a funny story to tell or they’ll forget. So long as I remember that, I can live without suffocating myself. I developed, changed and progressed. I wrote about pivotal moments in the last part, and it should go without saying that they can be as small as this, along with some others, that show progression in a character.


Don’t keep your characters glued
Probably one of my biggest pet peeves is when a character stays where they stand and they never move. I don’t expect every single character to take huge strides from where they began, but they need to at least move an inch, especially when they are loud about dealing with an issue. If there is a character always griping about something, even when they’re in the right, but there is no advancement, then it can become aggravating for the readers.

A good example of this, and, mind you, I love Steven Universe. It is an animation and story treat. However, I struggled to see progression with Amethyst. I knew where she was coming from, that she felt like an error, a black smudge that couldn’t be properly erased and her friends were just dealing with her presence. The first time I watched how she felt, it tore me to pieces. As I do believe many people are in a similar situation between friends and family. Yet, every time a bit of it was mended, it seemed as though it wasn’t. This is similar to the two steps forward, twelve steps back, yet it wasn’t that they were falling back, it seemed more like she'd forgotten previous conversation and understandings, it wasn't that it was reversed, it was like it never happened. She stayed still in the situation, as the issue occurred more than once and it wasn’t until I was sick of it that it was over. Many emotional, physical and mental struggles branch out into different worries, that in of itself is fine. That still shows progression as they’ve moved on to something else that may come from the same tree, but it is an entirely new situation they need to conquer.


Let your characters sway
Well, now it is going to sound like I am taking back everything I’ve said before, and that’s sort of the point. Pivotal moments and glued characters, they are similar, and swaying is the opposite of those. Swaying a character isn’t you purposely taking twelve steps back, no, it is making your character take a step back to get a better look at the picture. Here’s another good example:

Zuko, from Avatar the Last Airbender. What a character. Probably one of the best character arcs ever created. Here’s a villain who is slowly softened from other characters, but especially so from his uncle and when you think all is well, he betrays the person who has been raising and nurturing him. In the end, he ends up with internal turmoil, even losing his bending as he needs to relocate himself. He took a step back, not in the right direction, but it made him get a better look at what he could be and it destroyed him that he wasn’t there and that he could have already burned those bridges. Thank goodness, he didn’t.

If you look at Zuko’s sister, Azula, many would assume that she is a glued character. She has a goal, she’s stuck to it, 'glued', won’t move and nothing will get in her way. But, toward the end, it seemed she also took a step back and she plummeted. She did burn those bridges, pushed everyone out, she consumed herself in what could be and froze after seeing her future. Her sway, her turmoil managed to crack her.


Let’s break these three down to simpler details.

Pivotal moments: They’re needed, don’t erase them, don’t reverse it. Keep them, you created a change and it shouldn’t be altered for the sake of drama.

Glued characters: Don’t endorse change and take it back, don’t act like it didn’t happen. Let changes occur, even if it is small. If there is a root to how they act, go down different branches, don’t stick to one. A rooted character is a boring character, figure out what steps need to be taken to push them out of their safezone. Knock down a tree or two.

Swaying: Take a step back, get a good look at who they are and let whatever happens happen. This could be falling back into old ways, stepping right back where they were or progressing. This is, technically, a pivotal moment, but it could retract what previously happened, it could glue them, it could advance them. Swaying helps break rules (rules are meant to be broken after all), because at the very least, the reader sees the reason they are or aren’t doing something.


Use other characters to spot changes
Don’t do this too often. Continually reading, he saw, she saw, I saw, they saw, will pull readers out of your story. Other people tend to spot changes in others more than the person who changed themself. We are often blind by our growth. Just recently my friend and I redrew three old artworks we had created. Two of the ones I chose were from ten years ago, I know that my skill has significantly gotten better. Putting the old version next to the new though, wow, that threw my for a loop. It was amazing how much I had grown. I also recreated an art piece I’d done in high school and I’ve also done a piece with just a year between the old and new. I didn’t know, nor would I have seen, how much growth I had conquered over just a year if I hadn’t done this. The people who did spot the difference prior to the redraw were family members and close friends. They had watched me develop my art with every new piece I finished, when, in my head, I was just having fun.

Just last night - from whenever this is posted of course, I had a long talk with my mother and my soon to be sister in law. My, what I’ll call sister, brought up a great point. She mentioned that she’d do something and wonder when or how she’d learned to do it, and remembered something back when she was young that helped her figure out where it stemmed from. Oftentimes her learning experiences came from her own mother, but some came with trial and tribulation. All of that growth came unnoticed until she was an adult and realized that she was here now. She is about to be married to my brother. It dawned on her that she’d changed so much and would have never imagined that she’d be where she was at now. In the time that she started dating my brother to this point, I’ve even seen growth from her. It’s breathtaking. We can watch everyone around us grow up, get better, get worse, make good and poor decisions and never notice ourselves.

As a continuation though, what helps too is when a character notices that THEY have changed.
You’re three-quarters into the book, lots of events have occurred, people have been hurt, people are married, battles have been fought, emotions conquered, and a character reflects on all of it and realizes themself. They’ve watched the world move forward and it is here they analyze whether or not they’ve followed suit or have stood still. This could both be a shattering or encouraging moment and shows both their change thus far and how they could change in that time of self study. Right here could be their pivotal moment, right here could be where they fall, right here could simply be where they feel good with themselves and continue the story. It is a fantastic place, use it sparingly.


Don’t forgo the now
You remember that book I talked about in part one, the Group Book, well, well, well, guys, whew, goodness, where do I begin. I read a scene in it that I just hated. Every bit of it picked and pulled at pieces of my mind and led me to closing my laptop and walking away from it for a day. Maybe a bit of over exaggeration. I’m allowed to exaggerate here.

The Group Book started with a prologue, which prologues are already fairly iffy to put into your story. In this prologue we learned that two persons, a man and a woman, were once in love, but now the woman feared him because he killed fourteen men and is on a run from the government. There is a huge conversation between them and by the time he learned that she feared him, she’d already fallen head over heels for another guy. We know that. Come later in the book, when this killer is out to seek revenge, he leaves behind a gift she’d given him to show that it was indeed him that took something from her. And, I never knew it was possible for there to be a ‘fade to flashback’ scene in a book, but that is exactly what happened. She looked off into the distance, grabbed the object and we were shoved into a flashback.

Because we decided to make the readers learn about the object this way, we passed up on the opportunity for two characters to gain character development as she was now married to a man who stood beside her and asked her what was wrong. She didn’t answer, like I’ve said twice, instead it cut to a flashback. It was such a good time for her to tell the story, to see her reaction to her memories of her previous lover, if she was embarrassed, shamed, worried, fearful, repulsed or still in love. We also didn’t get to see her husband’s reaction or if he wondered why she’d never told him the story before. We were shown what happened in the past, we already knew they’d separated and we already know what the agenda had been to gain her attention. Yet, we forwent two people in the present for something that doesn’t matter anymore.

Sometimes it is much better to have a character to talk about their life so we can watch them and the people around - (body language, fluxes in the voice, reactions, etc). Don’t be fooled into thinking flashbacks are the best way to go, do not forgo the present/future.


Merge characters
If you have two characters who are both making itty bitty steps towards developing their development, then consider merging them together. Not only will you likely create a one of a kind character, but you’ll also find that the development will take turns you’d ever expect. If a writer is surprised by how their characters are changing, they’ve done something right.

There is also the issue that you may have too many characters and you are separating people and roles too thin. You’ll risk the matter of grocery list characters and fall into one or two dimensional people. Merging roles adds that extra dimension, lessens your load on keeping track of every single character and could become one of your new favorites. Pushing together two weaknesses makes creative ideas to beat around it, putting together two strengths could become an asset for the story, you never know. Give it a try.


That’ll do it for character development. There is so much to touch on this topic that I could possibly create a third part, but I think I’ll leave it up to any questions that are sent my way instead. If I get enough, I’ll compile my answers into another chapter.



LazyDaze Idea The Vergaan AllGoodNamesRGone Baconhands NekoQueen49 Darkmaster006 Redfork2000 Sacrosanctis ashwynne Melpomene

(If you want to be added to the tag list or if I have missed you, comment on the thread with the word, "Aye!" You do not need to quote anything, just a stand-alone comment will do.)

 

[Onmyoji]

Aye!
I'd like to be added too. Excellent read as always. I'm thoroughly enjoying your tutorials.

 

[proiettile]

Aye!!

honestly, i just got back into attempting to writing an actual story so... this is going to help a lot. thank you for taking time to do this!

 

[Wing-it-Gal]

Aye!

Read all of it in one go. This series has been teaching me a lot and I feel like I am able to analyze and work on my flaws as a writer through it but also appreciate my strengths and not beat myself up over other habits (like wanting to work on multiple projects at once). Thank you!

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Chapter 9: Competition Within Writing

I am a part of a lot of writing groups on Facebook. I’m definitely more of the type who just scanvages it with a caveman expression and I hardly ever put in my two cents like I should. There was a question that stood out to me though, one that I had an itching to answer, especially when I saw the comments. The question was:

“At what point do you view another author as competition?”

I learned real quick that my answer to this question wasn’t what everyone else answered. Much of the answers were filled with both a sense of too humble and pride. There wasn’t a single person who said that they ever viewed someone as competition. People spoke highly of themselves, imagination and/or book. That competition was a waste of time. Some, not many, even said that they often pretend other authors aren’t there - like they don’t exist.

This threw me for a loop as my perspective disagreed with every single one of them. There were bits and pieces where I agreed, but I felt like everyone was missing something valuable. Due to this, I find it important to share this with all of you. I’m going to flip this advice from a writer to an artist’s perspective. I now draw a lot more than I write and the advice is the same, no matter if it is art or running in a race.

I've been taught and mentored by Disney leads, professors and other remarkable artists. I've received quite a bit of advice over these past 7 years that I've been really digging in and honing my skill. And one thing is for certain, every single one of these stunning artists have said the same thing:

View everyone as a competition, but not how you think. You should be constantly aiming to be better than the artists you admire. Not out of vindictive purposes, rather, out of the grandest form of respect. And, while you 'compete' you shouldn't push yourself down either. Don't envy and wish you could draw like they can. Look at their art and use it as the momentum to thrust yourself further within your talents and skills. A proper art community will respect one another, give advice, teach and will be willing to learn. It's a constant competition, however, when we raise our boat, we raise other boats as well.

I believe the same for writing, music, inventors, etc. I view everyone as a competition, especially those who I respect and look up to. I have no plans to smother, beat or ruin their career with my own. In fact, helping them will help me too. I find it naive to view others with little to no competition. To me, from my perspective and opinion, it could stunt your growth. If your only deciding factor on becoming a better artist (of any form) is simply because you want to be, and you do not value any other artists work as better than your own and worth surpassing, you will not advance quickly.

I think back to my childhood. All of my friends drew and I was always twelve steps behind them. Drawing just didn't click for me, but I wanted to do it. I felt the urge and had this drive and need to keep drawing. Even though I was sorely disappointed seeing all the amazing artists around me, I kept going. I wanted to 'beat' them. In my efforts, I continued to get better and progress. The older I became, the more it snowballed as I gained a better understanding on how to learn. (And yes, there is a skill in knowing how to learn.) It wasn't until about a year and a half after graduation that I began to spot that my art was gradually surpassing my friends, who most had since stopped creating art regularly. Now, out of all my friends, I'm the only one who creates art as a full time career. I busted my wrist, killed my eyes and I got there. And, my respect for them hasn't ended. Their art is definitely nothing like mine now as we all branched different directions. But because of my motivation to learn and acquire different pieces of knowledge, I'M the one they come to for advice. I'm teaching them programs, ways to work digitally, new ways to look at a 3D object, etc. It switched, I’m no longer grasping toward them for help. And for all I know, it could switch again. That’s what it means to compete, admire, respect and build one another.

If you want to make leaps and bounds within the talents you want to attain, and in this case, as a writer, then start competing. Find your favorite authors and writers. Figure out why you love them. What makes you wish you could write like them? Why does their style intrigue you? How do their characters feel real? When you’ve practiced, received a better grasp and reached a point you’ve been aiming for, figure out everything you believe would make it better, inevitably, making you better. This is something often seen within the art community as well. We practice each others’ styles, not to copy, but out of respect and when we find the bits we like, we alter and add it to our own style.

You must also remember that life is one giant reference. We’re constantly pulling memories of things we like from our mind and using it within our talents. Never be ashamed to use your ‘competition’ as reference, you’re probably already doing it without realizing it. With all things considered, artists are technically always using nature as competition. We go out into it, find a tree we want to reference, but then we want to make it better. Make it ours. Change the colors, make it more angular, more twisty. We like the tree, we want to compete with nature and draw it different. The same can be said with artists, writers, even a runner.

This has all basically come full circle by this point. Overall though, don’t be afraid to compete. Do so with respect. You’ll be left in awe with how fast you will grow.




LazyDaze Idea The Vergaan AllGoodNamesRGone Baconhands NekoQueen49 Darkmaster006 Redfork2000 Sacrosanctis ashwynne Melpomene Onmyoji proiettile Wing-it-Gal

(If you want to be added to the tag list or if I have missed you, comment on the thread with the word, "Aye!" You do not need to quote anything, just a stand-alone comment will do.)

 

[Araellion]

Aye!
Loved reading through all of this and would love to be added to the tag list ^^

 

[Zer0]

Aeon, you are a gift. Thank you for all these advices.

 

[AEONmeteorite]

Zer0

And you're just too dang sweet!

 

[Zer0]

^ w ^ You're welcome!

 

[Yonsisac]

Impressive! Such detail on the chapters, this is TRULY something i enjoyed reading!
If you wont don't mind, would love being tagged on the next one! This is of utmost help!