Many new authors feel torn between two loves. They might ask, “Should I write science fiction, or should I focus more on young adult novels? Which way should I go?” There are three answers to this question.
Sometimes as writers, when we give writing advice, we often give advice by telling “How I write” instead of “How to write.”
As a writer, I have my job to do. I create works of art, and then let the editors judge whether I have done it well enough for publication. That’s your job, too.
When you as an author are looking for a publisher, you need to know the hierarchy of a company. When you meet an editor, you need to know, “Am I talking to a real decision-maker here, or am I wasting my time?”
The best dystopian settings arouse realistic fears in the reader. In other words, the author studies the world as it is today, and very often will look at social conditions and consider, “If this goes on, how will the world change when Writing Dystopias?”
A lot of people are wondering why dystopias are so popular. They haven’t realized that they’ve always been popular.
It’s always good before you begin to write to really understand who your audience is and that they’re needs are, so that you can better meet those needs. But it’s also important to understand who you are as an author, and what it is that you want to achieve.
So people die in my stories, but I think that to have them die without causing an uproar among fans, perhaps it is best to look at them by “category.” There are lots of different kinds of characters in your story—heroes, sidekicks, lovers, villains, jesters, and so on.
Have you ever watched a butterfly in flight and tried to figure out where it will go next? The butterfly will soar three feet in the air, veer left, drop, veer right. It will look as if it’s heading for a flower, then land on a rock.
Of course, it is biologically programmed to do that. It makes it hard for a predator to catch the butterfly when the predator can’t figure out where it is going.
So often as new authors, we’re trained to approach such problems indirectly. We try to sneak around and find some way to describe our character obliquely. But the truth is that sometimes the best alternative is to simply be blunt.
Each of us is always struggling to reach new plateaus. I am, you are. So when you get that nagging comment, here are some areas that you might look at:
Every story is different and may require the author to grow or stretch in new ways, even old pros can find themselves blocked when writing.
“When you get writer’s block, if you will go back in your story to what you wrote the day before and check your work very carefully, you’ll find that you wrote something that your subconscious mind recognizes as being utter baloney, a lie. So you have to find out where you went astray, and start writing from that point forward.”
I really think that this needs to be expanded upon, for those who feel stuck.
When you’re brainstorming a new story, how do you know that it will be good?
have you ever noticed how most of these tremendously popular books answer a protagonist’s need for companionship?
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