Ask the Author: Rafael
Answered Questions (6)
Rafael
The concept for my current project titled "Seraphim", originated in my last novel, "The Huntsman". In it, the reader meets a character with the power to change human civilization. The prophets of the ancient world fit this description. It occurred to me no rational reason exists why they should be exclusive to this long-ago age.
What if one appeared today?
What if one appeared today?
Rafael
I am inspired by the prospect of creating worlds that don't exist and make them real. And since I create characters only when the plot requires it, I relish the opportunity to meet each one.
Rafael
I am currently working on a project titled "Seraphim". At present, I anticipate a summer 2016 release. Here is its Foreword.
The Jews know the signs that will herald the Messiah's arrival.
The Christians say He is come and His name is Jesus.
Muslims acknowledge Christ a great prophet
but only Mohammad has spoken the final word.
Buddhists proclaim no one can save us but ourselves.
Amid this confusion, the Servant of the One Lord appeared.
The Jews know the signs that will herald the Messiah's arrival.
The Christians say He is come and His name is Jesus.
Muslims acknowledge Christ a great prophet
but only Mohammad has spoken the final word.
Buddhists proclaim no one can save us but ourselves.
Amid this confusion, the Servant of the One Lord appeared.
Rafael
At the risk of being obvious, an aspiring writer must write. You must write until you have achieved an intuitive understanding of what I refer to as 'deep writing'. What is 'deep writing'? I present three examples.
1. Like religion, the faceless officials demanded obedience.
On its face, nothing jumps out from this sentence as 'wrong'. Even if it had a grammatical error, and it doesn't, grammatical perfection can sometimes be sacrificed for stylistic purposes. Almost always, it can be sacrificed in dialogue but never, in either case, if clarity is compromised.
In this sentence, however, the adjective 'faceless' provides the clue. These are vague, nebulous, unknown officials. The definite article 'the' dilutes the adjective, indeed, contradicts it. Ambiguousness cannot be specific.
Like religion, faceless officials demanded obedience.
'Seeing' that this sentence now conveys a shadowy sentiment more powerfully is 'deep writing'. Moreover, on re-write and edit, stop at every occurrence of 'the'. You'll be astonished how often you can remove it and thereby 'deepen' your writing.
2. Ann motioned in the air, as if with an eraser on an old-fashioned chalkboard.
Prepositional phrases, an essential component of the English language, are anathema to sentence rhythm and musicality. Rhythm and musicality permit a reader to forget he or she is reading and enter a state where the story flows directly into the mind's eye. Prepositional phrases interrupt sentence rhythm. On re-write and edit, look for every opportunity to reduce or eliminate them altogether.
Ann motioned eraser-like, as if on an old-fashioned chalkboard.
Sentence rhythm and musicality are highly, highly subjective and include aspects of voice and style. Taken together, these elements are antecedent to 'deep writing'. Nonetheless, the revised sentence has much better 'flow'.
3. The beast leaped in the air.
Verbs are essential to writing. Strong verbs are essential to good writing. Resist diluting them. 'In the air' is unnecessary. Two points on strong verbs. On re-write and edit, be merciless in removing 'was' from your writing. I read one editor who referred to it as 'wasitis'. 'Was' is a lazy substitute for an appropriate or strong verb. Yes, it will require work and effort. The result will be 'deep writing'.
Secondly, the admonition against adverbs is correct. They too, are lazy substitutes for strong verbs. Though sometimes unavoidable (they are a legitimate component of the English language), Watch for them. Lazy writing makes for lazy stories.
1. Like religion, the faceless officials demanded obedience.
On its face, nothing jumps out from this sentence as 'wrong'. Even if it had a grammatical error, and it doesn't, grammatical perfection can sometimes be sacrificed for stylistic purposes. Almost always, it can be sacrificed in dialogue but never, in either case, if clarity is compromised.
In this sentence, however, the adjective 'faceless' provides the clue. These are vague, nebulous, unknown officials. The definite article 'the' dilutes the adjective, indeed, contradicts it. Ambiguousness cannot be specific.
Like religion, faceless officials demanded obedience.
'Seeing' that this sentence now conveys a shadowy sentiment more powerfully is 'deep writing'. Moreover, on re-write and edit, stop at every occurrence of 'the'. You'll be astonished how often you can remove it and thereby 'deepen' your writing.
2. Ann motioned in the air, as if with an eraser on an old-fashioned chalkboard.
Prepositional phrases, an essential component of the English language, are anathema to sentence rhythm and musicality. Rhythm and musicality permit a reader to forget he or she is reading and enter a state where the story flows directly into the mind's eye. Prepositional phrases interrupt sentence rhythm. On re-write and edit, look for every opportunity to reduce or eliminate them altogether.
Ann motioned eraser-like, as if on an old-fashioned chalkboard.
Sentence rhythm and musicality are highly, highly subjective and include aspects of voice and style. Taken together, these elements are antecedent to 'deep writing'. Nonetheless, the revised sentence has much better 'flow'.
3. The beast leaped in the air.
Verbs are essential to writing. Strong verbs are essential to good writing. Resist diluting them. 'In the air' is unnecessary. Two points on strong verbs. On re-write and edit, be merciless in removing 'was' from your writing. I read one editor who referred to it as 'wasitis'. 'Was' is a lazy substitute for an appropriate or strong verb. Yes, it will require work and effort. The result will be 'deep writing'.
Secondly, the admonition against adverbs is correct. They too, are lazy substitutes for strong verbs. Though sometimes unavoidable (they are a legitimate component of the English language), Watch for them. Lazy writing makes for lazy stories.
Rafael
Writing frees you from so many things in life where you are dependent on what someone else might do or not do.
You can't delegate it and if you put it off, it mocks and shames you. No one else will write it for you, no one else will edit and revise it. No one but you can work through that plot twist to make it credible. The characters won't write or define themselves. And if you give them short shrift, they'll be shallow and weak, unoriginal and uninspiring. No one can challenge that mountain for you. Or deny it. But if you place one foot before the other, refuse to break before the obstacles, the climb will reward you with a majestic, breathtaking view.
You can't delegate it and if you put it off, it mocks and shames you. No one else will write it for you, no one else will edit and revise it. No one but you can work through that plot twist to make it credible. The characters won't write or define themselves. And if you give them short shrift, they'll be shallow and weak, unoriginal and uninspiring. No one can challenge that mountain for you. Or deny it. But if you place one foot before the other, refuse to break before the obstacles, the climb will reward you with a majestic, breathtaking view.
Rafael
It depends on how one defines writer's block. It can either mean you don't know what to write next, or you don't know what to write at all. Let me address the second one first.
If you want to write a novel and no idea for a central premise or an overall concept is forthcoming, the short answer is, that's a problem. The shopworn cliché, write what you know, is just that, a cliché. And if what you know is not very interesting or known by a million others, you're in danger of writing a dull novel. Besides, only non-fiction types should write what they know. If you're a fiction writer, why would you shackle your imagination like that??
But if you really, really want to write, my suggestion is live life. It's not essential that you satisfy your urge to write, right now. Explore life. Make new friends. Especially ones who don't live next door or look, talk, and act like you. If they do, you're in a staid, predictable, rut. Not learning, not growing. Travel somewhere and not to the local beach or park. For starters, make it 500 miles away. Better still 1,000. Get out of your routine existence and see how others live. Once you're exposed to how different people view the world and its problems, you'll be amazed what it does to the creative process.
And while you're traveling, LOOK around you. What's new? What's strange? What's unimagined? Then investigate it. What is actually going on is you're reducing curiosity to a practical exercise. A curious mind is constantly inspired with new and novel ideas. And these will find their way into your stories.
And finally, read, read, read. Make novels the exception. Explore the world through newspapers, editorials, essays, blogs, non-fiction, magazines. Every one of the writers in these venues presents a different way of thinking and viewing the world. And you never know when a topic they're expounding on will inspire a concept for your novel.
As for not knowing what to write next, this one is easy. Writing is not simply making words appear on a computer screen. If you're at the end of a sentence, or even a paragraph, and don't know what to write next, STOP !! Get up and fix the bed, sweep the floor, wash the dishes, inflate your tires, change the oil. Do anything that doesn't require a lot of thought or any activity you've reduced to mindless habit. The walk/drive/bus/train to work. The elevator going up. That infernally boring meeting. And all the while, ask yourself, "What happens next?" Not the next paragraph or the next chapter but what happens immediately following the last written sentence. If an answer doesn't come, keep working. Before you finish the task, an answer will come. When it does, don't stop working though. Mentally edit the sentence. Rework it. Revise it. Improve it. Often a better sentence will arise. But if not, keep working. One will.
And if it takes a day, or two, or three, remember this: you are writing!!! As I said, writing is not just you in font of a computer screen. Whatever the life routine you're engaged in, keep the question in the back of your mind. What happens next? All the time you're analyzing, considering, discarding, editing, revising, you are writing. When the answer does come, stop what you're doing, return to the computer, and add it in. Very often you'll find whole paragraphs and pages will flow.
If you ask the question consistently two benefits will result: one later, one now. Ultimately by asking, 'What happens next?', you will arrive at The End, and your novel will be a tightly integrated, sequentially coherent whole.
The immediate benefit, however, your chores will be done!!
If you want to write a novel and no idea for a central premise or an overall concept is forthcoming, the short answer is, that's a problem. The shopworn cliché, write what you know, is just that, a cliché. And if what you know is not very interesting or known by a million others, you're in danger of writing a dull novel. Besides, only non-fiction types should write what they know. If you're a fiction writer, why would you shackle your imagination like that??
But if you really, really want to write, my suggestion is live life. It's not essential that you satisfy your urge to write, right now. Explore life. Make new friends. Especially ones who don't live next door or look, talk, and act like you. If they do, you're in a staid, predictable, rut. Not learning, not growing. Travel somewhere and not to the local beach or park. For starters, make it 500 miles away. Better still 1,000. Get out of your routine existence and see how others live. Once you're exposed to how different people view the world and its problems, you'll be amazed what it does to the creative process.
And while you're traveling, LOOK around you. What's new? What's strange? What's unimagined? Then investigate it. What is actually going on is you're reducing curiosity to a practical exercise. A curious mind is constantly inspired with new and novel ideas. And these will find their way into your stories.
And finally, read, read, read. Make novels the exception. Explore the world through newspapers, editorials, essays, blogs, non-fiction, magazines. Every one of the writers in these venues presents a different way of thinking and viewing the world. And you never know when a topic they're expounding on will inspire a concept for your novel.
As for not knowing what to write next, this one is easy. Writing is not simply making words appear on a computer screen. If you're at the end of a sentence, or even a paragraph, and don't know what to write next, STOP !! Get up and fix the bed, sweep the floor, wash the dishes, inflate your tires, change the oil. Do anything that doesn't require a lot of thought or any activity you've reduced to mindless habit. The walk/drive/bus/train to work. The elevator going up. That infernally boring meeting. And all the while, ask yourself, "What happens next?" Not the next paragraph or the next chapter but what happens immediately following the last written sentence. If an answer doesn't come, keep working. Before you finish the task, an answer will come. When it does, don't stop working though. Mentally edit the sentence. Rework it. Revise it. Improve it. Often a better sentence will arise. But if not, keep working. One will.
And if it takes a day, or two, or three, remember this: you are writing!!! As I said, writing is not just you in font of a computer screen. Whatever the life routine you're engaged in, keep the question in the back of your mind. What happens next? All the time you're analyzing, considering, discarding, editing, revising, you are writing. When the answer does come, stop what you're doing, return to the computer, and add it in. Very often you'll find whole paragraphs and pages will flow.
If you ask the question consistently two benefits will result: one later, one now. Ultimately by asking, 'What happens next?', you will arrive at The End, and your novel will be a tightly integrated, sequentially coherent whole.
The immediate benefit, however, your chores will be done!!
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