The Trendsetter

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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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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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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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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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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