Archive for October 31, 2007

Getting the facts in fiction

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What an irony. You thought that you don’t need to use facts in fiction. If you think fiction is just that – pure fiction – think again. Even though you write a short story or novel, research is an important part in creating believable characters and settings.

Making a plausible character is important for your reader to identify with and relate to. If say your protagonist’s occupation is a lawyer, you do need to get an accurate description about the life and ways of a lawyer. The more accurate your protagonist portrays it, the more credible he/she is in your reader’s eyes. So, if someone tells you writing fiction is easy because you can create everything in your mind without doing any research firsthand, you have received wrong advice.

Setting is another element in your fiction that requires accurate facts – unless you are writing science fiction that needs you to create an entirely different world. But even science fiction needs extensive research about some areas in science. Your characters need to be in a believable setting to interest the reader since they read your fiction to get an experience and to be entertained as well.
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The writer’s mantra: show it, don’t tell.

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When you think you have had enough information to help you begin writing your first fictional piece or memoir, you will scratch your head when I tell you there is yet another technique you need to master. And I experienced it first hand when beginning to write. Writing is not as easy as I thought it would be. This is because the same question keeps repeating itself through my head: how to make and keep the reader glued to their seat from start to finish?

If you plan to be an apprentice writer and writing your fictional piece just for yourself or as an exercise – that is fine. But when you write with the intent to send your manuscript to the editor, you better get ready for the arrival of the rejection slip. No, seriously. The editor is your first and the most critical reader you will confront. You need to impress him/her with your best writing.
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How to maintain reader interest to the end for your fiction

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Authors write fiction with goals in mind: they want the reader to read and learn something from their character’s experience. Additionally, the reader expects the story to be entertaining as well. It all sounds fairly easy and straightforward as it makes writing fiction interesting, but it is not. Any writer who’s published or attempted to write a short story or novel understands – writing fiction is easy; writing fiction that maintains the reader’s interest throughout is not.

So how do you present your story to hook the reader from beginning to end? Your ability as a writer is now challenged and you need to equip yourself with several plot devices. These devices help you to captivate your reader’s interest in your story. One type of plot device is suspense. Suspense is when the reader has to wait and worry about what will happen next to the main character(s).
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How to create 3D protagonist for your fiction

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In my previous blog, How to create believable characters for your fiction, I stated how important it is for you to give your characters a personality. This is true especially for your main characters since their role in your fiction is primary and they should be developed to be round and dynamic.

In order for your plot to move forward, your characters that drive the plot must be rounded. A round character is necessary for your protagonist. You need to create him or her with a detailed background, their behavior, temperament, strengths, and weaknesses and how he makes the action to purse his or her goals. By giving detailed information and background for your protagonist, your readers feel they know him or her and are able to understand why he or she makes decisions in the way they do. Another round character is your antagonist. Since most of the time your protagonist will be interacting with the antagonist, it is important that the villain needs to be tagged as round character as well.
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The plot thickens: types of conflicts to make your fiction a page turner

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Conflict in fiction propels your plot forward. Without conflict – faced by the characters – your fiction is nothing but a summary about life amongst your characters. With conflict you make them come alive striving for what they yearn for and will do anything to achieve their goals. In order to make it interesting to the reader, your characters must face conflicts and the ending is either they get what they are looking for or they fail.

In my previous blog How to build conflict for your main characters, I gave an example about Anita, the main character in my short story, Antara Dua Kota (Between Two Cities) facing a conflict over whether to stay for the Summer in Paris or return to her home country. What type of conflict do you think she is facing?
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How to create believable characters for your fiction

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Other than a great plot, the characters are the ones who are responsible to move the plot forward. In my previous entry Where do you get ideas for your characters, I suggested to looks at your friends and list them down to find out if they can become potential characters. They’re one of the best sources as characters. Now, that you have your characters ready to get into action, you need to create them in such away that they are credible or believable.

The question is how do you make your characters believable? When I started writing fiction, I asked myself the same question. Since one of my primary interests when majoring in psychology is personality, I had learned how personality develops from birth to adulthood. Armed with this knowledge, I used Personality Psychology to guide me to create credible and believable characters.
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How to build conflict for your main characters

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I have previously discussed how coincidence can be used to make or break your plot. Now, I will continue to write about developing your plot by having your characters face conflict. Conflict is the center of the plot that moves the main characters forward in the story.

I define conflict in fiction as problem(s) faced by the main characters (or other significant characters) that forces them to seek solutions. As a writer, how do you build conflict for your main characters? One way is through adversarial dialogue. Sol Stein in his best seller, How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them states:

The conflict is often verbal, not high drama, sometimes even mundane.

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Using coincidence to develop a plot for your fiction

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If you are just starting to write your first fictional piece, you know your story requires a plot in order for your characters to move forward. The plot is a story with all the challenges and difficulties faced by your main characters and how they overcome them.

I remember my journalist friend, who is also a poet, had criticized the plot in one of my young adult novels titled “Jejaka Idaman” (Idol Man). He said there were too many coincidences in it and he didn’t like it for this reason. The plot begins with the main character, Angie, who is challenged by her three closest friends to find the man of her dreams – the type of man she used to read in novels to be tall, dark and handsome. Angie tried to be realistic about it and told her friends she will never find such a man as described as tall, dark and handsome in their country since those descriptions only fit the Western man. Her friends still challenged her to find him.
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Blogging and its challenges: How to get through it and still blog happily

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Do you enjoy blogging? Or has it become like a burden since you are so busy with your other priorities that your focus on creating high quality content gets difficult? If you are in this predicament, you are not alone. Blogging comes with responsibility and you should be aware of it from the very start.

I am a newbie when it comes to blogging, yet I already feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of owning a blog. I write everyday and I strive for high quality content.

So what do you do? How are you going to make sure that you are able to produce the best content possible and at the same time tended to your other priorities?
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When you have a so called “Friend in Business”…

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If you have been in business for years, I am sure you have a lot of experience dealing with all types of people around you. One of them is what I call a “friend in business”.

When I first started my handmade bags business, people who barely knew me got very friendly and were attracted to me like moths attracted to a light. Being a first time entrepreneur, I found this exciting and I thought these people shared and cared about what I am passionate about. They encouraged and motivated me in every step of the way. But as every expert business owner advises, ‘you don’t have to go too far to find your own enemy’. Your so called ‘friend in business’ can easily turn into the worst enemy there can be. And it has happened to me.
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