Category: Craft

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Craft

But Do You Love It More Than Showers?

Listen, just you and me now, some real talk about this industry of writing and publishing fiction. This is not about why you should write; it’s about WHY YOU ARE WRITING.

I had an author friend of mine, many years ago say “You have to love it more than showers.” And people teased her for saying that. She didn’t mean it literally, obviously it’s a metaphor.

But it underscores a very, very important truth that I want all of you to grasp and understand and inhabit:

You have to love this if you want to do it on a professional level.

(This is my lived reality, yours may be very different.)

The reality is you do have to love this. You have to make this your life ambition. If you can see yourself doing something else for 40 hours a week or more, then you should probably go do that thing.

Golf or macrame or surfing or sewing or walking dogs or doing comic books or playing fucking role playing games or video games or talking about science or…

The thing that you get up in the morning and say, oh, I get to go do this. That is the thing you should pursue. If that thing isn’t writing, if that thing isn’t publishing, if that thing isn’t going indie or going trad or trying to do a hybrid, then…

Don’t.

I’ve said this in multiple ways on multiple platforms and I’m going to keep banging this drum because fundamentally my goal at FictionMentor isn’t necessarily for you to write the best book you can. (We will talk about that. I will make videos and I will post blogs and I will do all that shit to help you write the best book you can. Absolutely. I want you to do that.)

But I only want you to do it in the context of, is there something else you want to be doing? Because if there is, go fucking do that. I give you permission to go pursue the thing you want.

Because my brothers and sisters, this is the only shot you get. This is your only life. And what I do not want to see is you spending a year or two years or 10 years or 50 years on this fucking 10-book fucking series or whatever. And it never goes anywhere and it just sits on your hard drive. You never try to do anything with it. Or if you do, it just fails completely because your metric for success wasn’t met (which is a completely different topic).

And now what? Like, if that was time you could have spent playing tennis and that’s what really revs your engine, then go play tennis. Go do that.

The thing about “you have to love it more than showers,” again, metaphorically here, is that is the level of commitment that it takes to make this work…based on your metric of success.

That’s the other thing that we need to talk about. What is your metric of success? I’m only just now figuring mine. After decades of doing the work, I’m just now starting to piece it together. What do you actually want from this? Is using finance the best way to gauge whether a project is successful or not? Because maybe it’s not.

Maybe my only metric for this particular project is did I like it? Did I have fun doing it?

Let’s pretend I get an unseemly amount of money for a licensing deal. Cool. You know what I’m gonna do tomorrow?

Write a book.

Because I love it more than showers.

Published author asks, if you can do something else, should you?

Because that is fundamentally who I am. It is my identity. It’s who I’ve always been. That’s who I’m always gonna be. I’m gonna be a storyteller. I don’t have to worry about whether it sells or not.

I’m not necessarily saying that you have to have that level of commitment or that you’re that in love with the craft, but, man, if you don’t, why are you doing it?

If you don’t love it, if it’s not motivating you, if the love of the craft, if the love of the story isn’t motivating you, then I would have a serious sit-down with yourself and make sure you’re not hiding from some other thing that will be more fulfilling for you.

I never want to dissuade people from writing. What I want to encourage, rather, is that you are serious and honest with yourself about writing and storytelling, and that you’re doing it in a way that brings you joy and fulfillment, because that may be the only thing you get out of it.

I have all kinds of, what they call trunk novels. They’re books that I’ve written that are locked away forever. They will never see the light of day. But I enjoyed doing them, and they brought me joy. And that was not wasted time.

The point of this conversation is that I do not want you to waste time.

I don’t get to decide, though, what wasting time looks like. That is up to you to determine.

I very rarely wasted time writing. There are exceptions, but for the most part, every word I’ve ever written, I’ve enjoyed doing it, and I’ve gotten joy from it. I just want you to set your goals, your expectations, and your metrics for success and then decide if you’re meeting them or not. And if you’re not, is it time to look for something else? Is it time to do something that’s more fulfilling?

I don’t know. I’m not being prescriptive. That is up for you to decide. Take care. And, of course, keep writing.

If you want to.

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Categories
Craft Fiction notes

Date Night

“Date Night” Scenes: Why Calm Moments Matter (And Why They’re Not the Plot)

I had an instructor once tell me: “Make sure your protagonist has a date night.”

That’s a metaphor, obviously. What this instructor meant was: it’s okay—even good—to give your protagonist some downtime on the page. Let us see them loving and being loved. Let us see them in their natural habitat, so to speak. Let us see them happy for a little bit. Let us see what “normal” looks like.

One of the great reasons to include at least one scene like that is that it raises the stakes of the story problem.

That’s what we want.

If your protagonist goes on a metaphorical date night, where things are calm and good and we can see them relaxing, what does that do for the reader?

Hopefully it immediately sends up a flare: uh-oh, something bad is about to happen.

And also: uh-oh, if the plot isn’t resolved in the protagonist’s favor, this is what they stand to lose.

The stakes go up.

This is true no matter what genre you’re working in—spy thriller, cozy mystery, Regency romance, you name it. Fill in the blank. Giving your character a few pages to relax and get their wits about them lets us see, on the page, not just as narration, what they stand to lose if things don’t go well.

But that “date night” scene isn’t the plot. It’s not the engine. It’s the contrast that makes the engine hit harder.

And if the rest of the book is also a date night? If the whole story is just vibes and pleasant conversation and everyone getting along?

Then you don’t have “character-driven.” You have “nothing-driven.”

*

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Categories
Craft

One Quick Tip to Improve Your Dialogue

A QUICK TIP ON IMPROVING YOUR DIALOGUE

 

Whenever there is an entrance or an exit (from a scene in your story, no matter the format)…

 

Relationships change.

 

In theater, we call this a French scene. It’s not necessarily marked off in a script, but directors or actors might recognize it because every time there’s an entrance or exit, relationships change.

 

When relationships change, so does the dialogue.

 

Imagine two teenage girls in one of their bedrooms, talking about Chunk Squarejaw, the hot new high school quarterback. Without giving you any more details, can you hear them? Can you hear how they sound? Can you hear the words they might use? Can you envision how they’re relating to each other in that scenario?

 

Now, Dad walks in and says, “Did you finish your homework yet?”

 

The exact tone doesn’t matter for now; just that Dad walks in. Can you hear the slight difference in how the two girls relate now? Notice the change in word choices and the way they talk to Dad and the way Dad talks to them because a new person has entered the scene.

 

If this were a script or a novel, we might label the two girls’ interaction as “French Scene Number One.” When Dad enters, it becomes “Scene Two.” You wouldn’t delineate this in your manuscript; it’s just a way to think about your dialogue.

 

Scene Two involves a discussion with Dad. When Dad exits and closes the door, “Scene Three” begins, and the language changes again.

 

Every time someone enters or exits a scene, the language and relationships shift. This understanding can help you craft more dynamic and realistic dialogue.

If this was helpful, you’ll love my book HOW TO WRITE AWESOME DIALOGUE! FOR FICTION, FILM & THEATRE

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WZWMW5W

 

 

Categories
Craft

When Anthony Hopkins Asked For Advice

Imagine Sir Anthony Hopkins, most known for his role as Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.

Now, Sir Anthony Hopkins was  once just Tony Hopkins, starting like all of us. He was 17 or 18, doing shows wherever he could. In one play, he worked with Sir Laurence Olivier, considered the greatest classical actor of his generation. Hopkins, playing a minor role, mustered the courage to ask Olivier for advice on his performance.

Imagine Sir Laurence at his makeup table. Hopkins asks for advice, and Sir Laurence turns and says:

“When you speak, you are the star.”

Then continues with his makeup. This is a real anecdote told by Anthony Hopkins. And the advice is crucial.

When you speak, you are the star. On stage with 30 people, if you deliver a line, the audience focuses on you. In that moment, you are the star. This applies to your prose dialogue.

In a story or script, when a character speaks, they become the star. For example, if you’re reading a novel and a cab driver says, “Follow that car? You bet!” you don’t skip reading that line. The cabbie is the star in that moment.

If you’re going to have a character speak, then what they say needs to reveal character or move the story forward.

Consider a scene in an IHOP. Two characters are conversing, and the server comes over and says, “Can I get you some more coffee?” Does that move the story forward or reveal character? Probably not. However, if the server says, “You look like you could use some more coffee,” it reveals a bit more.

Even better, if she says, “You look like you could use something stronger than coffee,” it reveals something about the characters in the scene.

The key word to remember is “deliberate.” Make deliberate choices when your characters speak. Ensure their dialogue either moves the story forward or reveals character. This approach will enrich your writing and engage your readers.

I hope you found this helpful! If you’d like to take a deeper dive into writing awesome dialogue, take a look at my book on the topic!