Beth Greenslade's Blog, page 129

How To Write A Book – It’s Easier Than You Think!

There is no wrong or right way to write a book. However, one thing that is true is that anyone can do it. If you think you have a story in there somewhere and have always dreamt of writing then just go for it – it may not be as hard as you think!

By setting yourself goals and sticking to them, you can write a book pretty quickly! So if you think you have got what it takes, why not give these a try?

Start small, aim high

Don’t overwhelm yourself at first. The idea of writing a whole novel can feel pretty daunting so try to break it down into manageable bite-sized sections. Think of yourself as an incredibly unfit person who has just signed up for a marathon. You don’t go for a six-mile run straight away, do you? Take baby steps. Aim to write 300 words a day and see how you get on. John Grisham used this technique – and if it’s good enough for Grisham…

Plan ahead

Write your chapter outlines before you start writing, that way you won’t get halfway through your book and run out of ideas. Make sure it can work before you begin. Your chapter outlines don’t have to be detailed but it will give you the bare bones of the story and will make it much easier to see how you will navigate your way to the end.

Find a writing space

Find a space to do your writing and make that your writing ‘den.’ Don’t use that space for any other activity. That way when you sit down here, you will know that all you need to concentrate on is your writing and are less likely to get distracted by other things.

Have a word count in mind

OK, so many writers would disagree with this as would argue that every book is as long as it ‘should be.’ But for first-time writers who need motivation, having an end goal of say 100,000 words makes it easier to see how you are progressing and helps you understand roughly how long each chapter needs to be to hit that target.

Get feedback

Don’t wait too long to get feedback. If you have the first few chapters written out, that’s enough to get some feedback on what others think. You can ask family and friends to have a read through but if you’d find that too cringe, or you wouldn’t trust their opinion (either too nice or too critical!) then there are plenty of online websites where you can share your work. It might feel nerve-racking, but it can be so useful, especially in the early stages.

Stay motivated

Get it done. If you keep giving yourself small, manageable targets you are so much more likely to achieve what you want from your book. Don’t give up, and once it is done don’t just chuck it in a drawer. Get it out there for the world to see, you never know what might happen if you do!

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post How To Write A Book – It’s Easier Than You Think! appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Have you got what it takes to be a writer?

Lots of people say that they have always dreamt of becoming a writer, that they have great ideas for stories, or that writing has naturally always interested them, yet they have never been able to find the time, energy or commitment to actually sit down and write. There are lots of different writers out there, some simply do it as a private hobby and have no interest in sharing their work or trying to get it published, for others, it is a burning passion, a persistent dream. If you are serious about becoming a writer you need to know if you have got what it takes. Often writing is a romantic notion and when the reality hits it’s not quite what you had in mind!

So let’s look at how you can test the waters, and decide whether becoming a writer is the right choice for you.

Share your ideas and views

If you have an idea for a book, share it with others, get some feedback, some constructive criticism. Your idea might be great, but when you delve a little deeper, it doesn’t have legs. You might need to go back to the drawing board, or you might want to forget about it altogether. If you are passionate about something or have a hobby you have expert knowledge in you could also use this to write. Start a blog or write an article and pitch it to a magazine and see how you get on.

Write something on a deadline

Writing, both fiction and non-fiction, is all about setting yourself targets and deadlines. If you want to write articles for publications or be a freelance writer, you will constantly have to meet deadlines, manage expectations and allow room for things to go wrong. Being a good writer isn’t enough, you have to be super organised too! For writers of fiction, publishers will set you deadlines, and even if you don’t have a publisher, setting your own deadlines is a good idea otherwise it is easy to let that book drag on for years!

Block out time for it every day

Can you make time to write every day? If you write every day the benefits are enormous. Writers who are serious about improving and advancing their careers will be able to re-order even the busiest of schedules to find some time to sit down and concentrate on their writing every day. If you write every day, you won’t let those creative cogs get rusty so being able to block out, and stick to a time set aside to do this can make all the difference.

Try writing short stories

If you want to be a writer but you are not sure if you have got what it takes to write an entire novel, why not try writing short stories first of all? This will help you get into the swing of things, and you can get a better idea of how much you enjoy it, whether you are any good at it, and if you have enough creative ideas to keep coming up with new stories.

Stop making excuses and just get on with it!

There is nothing worse than a writer who is all talk and no words. If you have that constant niggling feeling that you have got something to say, and writing it down is the way to do it then just go for it – it’s unlikely that feeling will go away until you do!

Becoming a writer isn’t easy, but if you follow the above tips, you’ll soon figure out if it is something that’s going to stick, and there is no time like the present to find out!

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post Have you got what it takes to be a writer? appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Define Your Books Genre

Having a clear understanding of your books genre is so important. As the author you will be expected to be able to clearly and confidently say where you book fits – this is a question that will be asked of you each and every time you submit to an agent or publishing house.

Genres are important because they help to categorise different works of fiction (and fact for that matter!) and they, therefore, help a reader to gain a better understanding of what they can expect from your book. A reader of a romance novel, for example, wouldn’t expect to come across scenes of gruesome and horrifying murder, just as a reader of historical fiction wouldn’t expect the book to be set in the future (unless there was a time travelling aspect, naturally!)

If you are writing your first novel, however, you may not be thinking about where exactly your novel ‘fits’ in the market. The sooner you do this, however, the better. Deciding on the genre for your book allows you to research it, and with research comes understanding. Not only are there rules of the genre that you must decide whether to meekly follow or bravely (and riskily) break there are also readers, hordes of fans at your fingertips which, if you play your cards right, could turn into your biggest supporters.

Unfortunately, for many authors, defining your books genre isn’t as easy as it sounds, and you have to choose carefully so you don’t:

a) compromise your story

b) irk your readers

It seems that the number of genres to choose from is multiplying faster than we can keep up, and don’t get us started on sub-genres! However, if you are struggling to define your books genre, there are some things you can do.

Go to a bookstore. Have a look at how they have categorised their books, and see what kind of books are in each section. Do any of them have similar themes and plot lines to yours? Understanding how a bookstore classifies its fiction can give you a useful insight into where your book might sit.

Did you have a particular genre in mind when you began your book? It might be that you love thriller novels and thought you would write one of your own, or that you are a huge fan of fantasy and had a bright idea for an epic fantastical adventure too. Learn about the different qualities that are associated with each genre – are they qualities of your book?

Of course, you might have several themes going on in your book each of which point to a different genre. Your story may be about a girl going missing and the detective who sets out to find her. But the detective also falls in love with the girl’s mother, and there are surreal, ghostly circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Is your book detective fiction, a romance novel, a ghost story? Think about how readers of each particular genre would feel if they read your book. Is the romance between the detective and the girls mother the primary focus of the novel, or is it about finding the missing girl? Are the surreal, paranormal elements actually what drives the story forwards?

When approaching agents and publishers, you need to demonstrate that you know which genre your novel fits into, that you understand what readers of that genre want, and exactly why your book can deliver it to them.

It’s also a good idea to think strategically, particularly when it comes to choosing a genre for a self-published novel. Pick a category that your book fits into, but also one that is least populated. If you just put your novel in ‘fantasy’ for example you will have a lot more competition then say ‘paranormal’ – so it is worth investigating. Remember you can usually choose several genres for your novel to sit in, so it’s worth covering all your bases by selecting the closest popular, well-known genre, and then being more specific with your subgenre to catch the attention of fans looking for something exact.

When it comes to picking a genre, there are no absolute right and wrong answers, but it is certainly a part of the writing and publishing process you should give some time and consideration to as picking unwisely could have a significant impact on the success and popularity of your book.

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post How To Define Your Books Genre appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Create A Theme In Your Novel

We often hear advice about ensuring that our book has a theme. But how exactly do you create one, and how important is it to the success of your novel?

A theme is defined as the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, or exhibition. It is a topic.

In literature, the theme is what ties the story together. It is a recurring idea that comes through in one’s writing throughout the book.

The theme is revealed by the story; it is its meaning. A theme tends to explore a universal idea – the way it can be explored, however, is of course, up to the author.

Themes are certainly interlinked with the genre of your novel, so this is often a good place to start. Romance novels usually have themes of love, Thriller or Detective Fiction usually deception and death. It is important to note, however, that there is no reason why your book can’t have more than one theme.

So let’s get to the heart of the matter. How do you decide upon and create a theme in your novel?

Ask yourself the following:

What do I love about my story?

What do I want my readers to learn from my story?

Which parts of my story are the most emotive?

What kind of conflicts are there in my story?

What do my characters believe in?

You may be able to answer these questions right away, or you may wish to read through your work to find them. Delve deep. Think about what scares you, what makes you feel passionate and joyful, what makes you feel nervous or anxious, and what you believe in.

Write all your ideas down – they can be useful when coming up with a theme for your novel – writing about something you feel strongly about and resonate with will always be easier than something you do not.

It is always good to start with a strong theme for your book in mind. If you try to inject one at a later date, it may come across as a little forced. Saying that, many writers write their books in such a way that their themes are naturally there already and they can make little tweaks here and there to ensure those themes run throughout the story.

You want your readers to pick up on your theme, without shoving it down their throat. Remember themes can, in some ways, be somewhat personal. If we believe in love at first sight or long distance relationships or the sanctity of marriage, by all means, we can lace our writing with these ideas, but no one wants to feel as though they are being preached to, so subtly and softly is the way forwards.

Use dialogue to highlight your theme. Speech can be useful when it comes to laying your theme down in your novel. Get your characters to ask questions that make the reader think about your theme. If your character speaks passionately and emotionally about your theme (love, romance, death, etc.), this will come across quite naturally. Showing the reader what your character cares about and what their motivation is will also push the theme to the forefront of the story

Symbolism is another fantastic way to embed a theme into your novel. Characters can be symbols themselves such as Ralph in ‘Lord of The Flies’ – as a symbol of democracy, and Jack a symbol of anarchy. Or they can be motifs or objects such as a plant slowly withering representing a relationship dying or a view across the ocean representing a longing for freedom and to escape.

Themes make your story richer, more emotive and more meaningful. So whether you are in the middle of your novel or haven’t started it yet, it is a good idea to think about what your books themes are, what you want them to be and how you can weave them into your story.

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post How To Create A Theme In Your Novel appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Share Your Personal Experiences Through Your Writing

People write for many different reasons, and some choose to share deeply personal and affecting experiences that they have had in their own lives. This may be to highlight particular issues and problems to others, it may be that they feel the world would benefit from knowing about their story, it may be as a form of personal therapy – to let it all out by writing it down, or simply because what has happened would make an interesting book!

Whatever the motivation for sharing personal experiences through your writing, doing so can be something of a minefield. There are many different factors to consider.

If the experience is painful or traumatising how will revisiting it affect you? Many writers share painful personal experiences through their work. For some the experience is a release, or an opportunity to let go of the past, for others, it can be tough to revisit these troubling times. Before you write, it is always important to try to acknowledge your true feelings about the matter, and ensure you have the right support network in place around you before you begin.

Other personal writing can simply be funny or embarrassing stories that you want to share with the world. However, this kind of writing, once shared can leave authors feeling terribly exposed. It might simply be that they cringe that now the whole world (including friends and relatives) know intimate details of their lives, or perhaps they have spilt family secrets, written about their job and now their boss has found out – and so on. Before you start, you should also think about how doing so could affect your life. Consider writing anonymously to protect yourself if what you are sharing could lead to all sorts of trouble!

What about those around you? When sharing personal experiences through your writing, you may wish to consider how this could affect your nearest and dearest. Will your relationships suffer? Does this matter to you? Consider asking friends and relatives how they feel about you exploring these feelings and past experiences before you start.

Make sure you have something to say. Writing about your personal experience can feel cathartic for a variety of reasons, but if you are hoping to elicit a positive response from your discerning readers you need to ensure that you really have something to say. What you write has to have value, be it entertainment, knowledge, self-validation, or anything else. At the end of the day, readers need to be able to relate to what you are saying.

In the heat of the moment we can easily say things we regret, so make sure that if you are writing about an emotional experience, that you are doing so for the right reasons. Waiting a while can also help you to reflect, to gain a better understanding of your experiences and therefore to write about them with more insight and depth. Writing about your personal mistakes, for example, can be useful/ amusing/ entertaining to the reader, but also writing about how to avoid them is even better!

Do you use personal experiences to fuel your writing? Personal experiences are very powerful, and can make for vivid and compelling stories! However, just because you have been through something doesn’t mean you should immediately rush to put pen to paper. Gaining perspective and letting the dust settle can make writing and sharing your personal experiences all the more meaningful.

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post How To Share Your Personal Experiences Through Your Writing appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Could You Turn Your Book Into A Movie?

Getting published is one thing, but getting your booked transformed into a movie is where you hit the big bucks!

There are those that we all know about the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga – these films are all multi-million-pound box office hits, and have made their authors world-famous and incredibly successful too.

Of course, you may not want to write your book with the hope that is gets made into a movie. For many authors being published is a pipe dream let alone seeing their name in lights! However, why not aim big?

Books that are turned into movies tend to have some similarities – the easier it is for filmmakers to see how your book could work on the big screen, the more likely they will want to take on the project. It’s advantageous to publishers to, so is also something that they often look out for when considering a submission.

So if you are writing your novel in the hope that it will be made into a movie, pay particular attention to:

Writing dialogue

Every movie needs a good script. If you have already written great conversations between your characters in your novel, scriptwriters will be able to directly lift those conversations and use them in the script as they are. When you are writing dialogue, therefore, imagine your characters coming to life and saying the words on screen. Witty, smart, exciting dialogue will make scriptwriters jobs so much easier and therefore they’ll be more likely to consider your book.

Setting the scene

Books that do well as movies tend to have wonderfully cinematic scenes in them. Filmmakers have to think of every single detail when setting up a shot, the lighting, the camera angle, the composition – all of this is carefully considered to create a powerful ambience and engage the viewer. If you can write scenes from a filmmaker’s perspective, they will be detailed, and carefully thought out. Everything will have its purpose, and the reader will be able to conjure a very clear picture in their head of what you are describing to them. Readers respond and resonate in the same way audiences at a cinema showing will do, so write like this and your ideas will easily translate from book to screen. Remember, richly descriptive scenes can be just as emotionally provoking as the actions or words of a character.

Significant action moments

A great movie has a great storyline, and even if it is not an ‘action’ movie, there will be big action moments. If you want your novel to become a movie you need the plot to be gripping, enthralling, utterly absorbing. A book without a solid plot will fall at the first hurdle regardless, but particularly when it comes to making movies, filmmakers will look for books whose storyline has plenty of action in it to keep viewers gripped throughout.

It is important to remember, however, that while your book being turned into a movie would be hugely exciting, you should never write a book with solely that purpose in mind. Screenplays are there for a reason after all, and if you get too bogged down in trying to make your story read like a movie it will be easy for it to become complicated, convoluted and confused! Thinking about how your book could translate to the movies can be helpful for your writing regardless, but it is far better to concentrate on telling your story in the way that feels most authentic and natural and to always keep in mind what we want the reader to think and feel. If you do this, the story will speak for itself.

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post Could You Turn Your Book Into A Movie? appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Get More Reviews For Your Book

Getting reviews for your book on well established and trusted websites such as Amazon and Goodreads can work wonders. Similarly, a lack of reviews or a few negative ones can badly affect your novels success.

I remember first putting my own novel on Amazon. I was fully (naively) confident that I would be able to get loads of reviews. I had over 300 whole friends on Facebook; surely they would want to buy and review my book for me, right?

Unfortunately, I was wrong on many levels.

Firstly it turns out even your best of friends have lives of their own and when it comes to asking for reviews you would be surprised at the many things that will get in the way. By the time you have asked a fifth time the fact that she was a bridesmaid at your wedding and godmother to your child seems to have no bearing on it at all…

Also, many sites (Amazon particularly) have filters to ensure that reviews are genuine. On Amazon, two people who live at the same address, for example, can’t both review your book. If they suspect that you have a relationship with the reviewer in any way, they tend to block them from reviewing, or worse still, delete the review.

This is both good and bad. In fairness the same rules apply to everyone, and it is important that customers can trust the reviews. Saying that selling books is very hard, and your friends and relatives may have genuinely loved the book, and if a book is passed around a household and they all want to leave a review, why shouldn’t they be able?

However, this post isn’t about the shortcomings of the Amazon review and rating system! It’s about how you can get more, genuine, positive, reviews for your book.

So how do you do it? Well, you ask them. There are plenty of reviewers out there who will be willing to read and review your book; it’s just a case of finding them. You can contact bloggers, reach out to fans via your social media accounts, or do a Goodreads giveaway or other book competition offering a free copy of your book in exchange for a review. Also having a good marketing plan before you publish your book will mean your book will be exposed to a wider audience – the more people that buy it, the more people that are likely to review it.

Of course, getting someone to review your book isn’t as simple as just asking and getting, and it is even harder to make sure that reviews will be positive. Truth be told you can’t guarantee that reviews of your book will always be great, but you can do certain things to increase your chances!

Write a brilliant query email

Reviewers tend to get bombarded with requests, so make your query stand out. Make sure you pay attention to any guidelines, find out the name of the person and address them directly. Make sure you include a link to your book and a word and page count.

Sell it to them

Give the reviewer a summary of what your book is about, its genre, who it would appeal to and why you think they would like it too. Doing this shows you have bothered to do your research and put some time and effort into contacting them – which makes them want to do the same for you.

Call in the professionals

So many books get bad reviews because they haven’t enlisted the help of a professional proofreader or book cover designer to help them. Misplaced comma’s, spelling mistakes and inconsistencies in your novel will be picked up and commented on and will put other readers off buying your novel.

Getting reviews for your book can be tricky, but keep persevering, and you will get there!

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post Get More Reviews For Your Book appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Lessons To Learn From A Terrible First Draft

Writing the first draft of a novel is a huge learning curve, and no matter how experienced you are as an author, there are still lessons to be learned.

Getting to the end of your first draft is an achievement in itself – many aspiring novelists don’t get there, so you should be proud. However, it is only when you have finally written that last sentence that the work truly begins!

Editing and re-drafting your novel is often the part that authors dread the most. The feeling of elation for finishing only lasts a mere moment, for, when you begin to read back over what you have written you wonder what on earth you were thinking! At the time waking up in the middle of the night and writing half your chapters while barely awake seemed like a good idea, as did accidentally finishing off that bottle of sauvignon blanc while you were just ‘in the zone.’ But now half of your book reads like a drunk zombie wrote it and you’re not sure how to fix it!

But you know what? If your first draft is terrible, that’s OK. You know why? Because everyone’s is, and there is plenty to learn from it too.

Concentrate on what is important

Writing the first draft shouldn’t take up so much time. All you need to achieve is getting the story out of you, forming the characters and working out how your narrative fits together. Remember this and don’t sweat the small stuff. So what if that sentence sounds clunky? So what if that character description doesn’t entirely capture the image in your head? Use your first draft to quickly get the story down. All the finer details come after.

Don’t fret too much about your ‘voice.’

Finding your unique author voice takes practice, but once you have got it, you’ll find wiring so much easier. Use your first draft to find your voice. This is when the words just come naturally and seem to flow out of you. If you are writing in this way – your reader will read this way too. If your writing feels forced and you struggle with it, this will translate to your reader too. The point is, in a first draft your ‘voice’ might come and go. Don’t worry about this – you can go back and edit those difficult to read bits later.

Accept the inevitable

As previously stated, everyone’s first draft is terrible. The sooner you accept that, the better. If you stop trying to make your first draft the best piece of fiction ever written, you will feel so much freer to write it. Even if you cringe at some of your sentences or the simplicity of your language, that’s OK. No one else has to read your first draft so don’t put unnecessary obstacles in your way by trying too hard for perfection.

Go with the flow

Your first draft will take you to places you hadn’t expected to go. You thought you knew what was going to happen, however, as you write a character goes off in another direction, or suddenly the plot changes or something unexpected happens which changed the course of the action and throws you off. The key is not to panic. Your first draft should be a little uncertain, a little scary, but if you refuse to see where it goes you could end up regretting it – sure it might lead to a dead end, but at least you found out, and you can just go back the way you came!

You don’t always have to start at the beginning

If you can’t quite seem to start your novel, then, well, don’t. Your first draft doesn’t have to be written in sequence. If you know you want something to happen in your book, even if it’s the ending, just write that bit, then tackle the next chapter or scene when you have finished. Slowly pieces will start to slot together. If you write this way, it is easier to see when something doesn’t work, and when it comes to editing you can remove scenes, or rearrange them to make it better.

Remember your first draft is just about getting your story down. This is the only lesson you need to learn. Once you have your story down you can then figure out how to make it amazing. So next time you are starting something new try to keep that in mind, and your terrible first draft could be the start of something to be very proud of.

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post Lessons To Learn From A Terrible First Draft appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Could You Crowdfund Your Next Novel?

When most people think about publishing their novel, they assume that either they will find an agent or publisher to help them promote and sell their work, or they will do it themselves through self-publishing.

While finding a publisher is extremely exciting, it is also tough, and only a small percentage of authors can secure a publishing deal. Self-publishing, on the other hand, is open to pretty much everyone, but to make a success (and any money) out of it you need to have an incredibly solid marketing plan, and a little bit of luck too.

Many authors find it extremely challenging to find the time to write. Unless you can make money from selling books alone, you have to take on other work (writing-related or otherwise) which takes up a considerable amount of time and makes it very difficult to continue to produce creative work regularly.

Crowdfunding your next novel, however, offers a different alternative. This way you could raise funds needed to be able to put all your resources, time and effort into creating your book and be safe in the knowledge that you can afford to stop taking on other work to support you while you do this.

But is it really possible to create a successful Kickstarter campaign for a book?

The good news is it certainly is. The bad news is, like with everything to do with getting a book published and marketed, it takes time and considerable effort to do so.

So what can you do to give yourself the best chance of success when it comes to trying to raise money for your book through crowdfunding?

Build a fanbase before you start

Having a solid fan base is naturally extremely advantageous for any author. If you want to get people to back your book, you need to get them excited about you. Building a fanbase is a slow and gradual process. However there are many ways you can do this. Be active and thoughtful on social media, do book giveaways, go to networking events, do a book tour, write a newsletter, create a blog – all these things will help you get noticed by the right people. Having a good fanbase works on multiple levels. Not only will some of your fans turn into those who are willing to offer you financial support for your next work, but it will also show others that you are likely to make a success of your book – and therefore they’ll be willing to back you too.

Offer your backers something exciting to entice them in

While there are those that are happy to give people something for nothing, it is always nice to offer your backers an incentive to help them part with their money. Signed first editions of your book is a usual reward. You need to be able to sell your project to them; many people just like to feel part of something creative so use emotive language in your crowdfunding pitch to make them feel that way.

Devise a good marketing plan, so you can demonstrate how you will make your book succeed

If you want to crowdfund your novel you need to ensure that you can show potential backers why it will do well. Think of it in the same way as trying to persuade a publisher or agent to take a chance on your book. If you can demonstrate you have a solid marketing plan, and that you clearly care and are willing to put everything you have into making a success out of your book, you will persuade more people to believe in you.

Hire professionals to help you

When it comes to the finished product, don’t cut corners. Put your crowdfunded money to good use, hire a professional editor and book designer for those final touches to ensure your book goes to print in the best possible shape it can be in.

Write your book first

While for many authors this may defeat the object, if you can write you book first, or even get part of the way through it, you’ll feel a lot less pressure once people start giving you money for it. Your backers will expect to see the finished product and will want a timeframe as to when this will be. If you have only got the initial idea at the moment and nothing more, you may suddenly feel lots of pressure to get writing – so make it easier for yourself and write at least some of your book before or during the crowdfunding process.

Crowdfunding your book can be done, and we imagine it will become an ever more popular route for authors to explore as time goes by. Many authors have already made a success out of crowdfunding their work – so, is it something you would consider?

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post Could You Crowdfund Your Next Novel? appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Showing Vs Telling When Writing Your Book

One of the most common pieces of advice that we hear given to authors when writing their novels is to make sure that we ‘show’ the reader as opposed to telling them.

But what exactly does this mean?

Showing is where you let the reader see for themselves what is going on, or get them to understand how a character is feeling because of the way they speak, act, or move. Telling is when you just push the reader to one side and explain it yourself.

‘She felt good’

‘The land was poor and famine had spread.’

Telling is generally criticised as it demonstrates the writer’s inability to find clever ways of describing things or being able to trust that their reader will get a sense of what they mean without explicitly saying so.

However, despite telling having an awful reputation in the writing world, it is rather impossible to completely avoid it when writing a novel, and, do you know what? That’s OK.

The problem with labouring the showing vs. telling advice is that some writers get so bogged down in the idea that if they ‘tell’ their readers anything they have failed as a writer that they end up making their writing worse. The truth is all authors tell it like it is at some points in their novel, and for the most part, this is entirely accepted by the reader, in fact, they barely notice it at all.

So when is it acceptable to use telling as a writing tool?

To keep your novel flowing well

Telling is obviously a much quicker way of moving the story forward then showing would be. Writing ‘she was devastated’ takes a lot less room then ‘she bent her head, squeezed her eyes tightly shut, clasped the book to her chest and wept.’ If you need to move the scene forward, or don’t want the reader to pay too much attention then it is OK to use the telling device.

To relay action

You used up all your showing language two chapters ago when the action happened, now character A has to tell character B about it. You don’t need to repeat the whole sequence again. The reader already knows what happened and to go into massive detail again would bore them. Sometimes you need to summarise by telling to keep the reader interested in what you, or rather what your characters, have to say.

To create drama

Sometimes telling is more effective than showing when it comes to dramatic impact. Creating distance between your characters can be useful. For example, if one character is watching another leave or you simply want it to be clear what they are thinking telling can be a better device to use.

‘She prayed he would never return’

‘She wondered if he would survive the night.’

To give information

If you simply want to give the reader valuable information telling is going to work better than showing. Trying to show the reader absolutely everything will make your writing seem too indulgent and laborious. If a piece of information is crucial to your story doing so succinctly is often best, and so telling the reader can work well.

We all tell story’s – in fact, it’s even called storytelling, not storyshowing! So don’t be afraid to tell your readers something when you need to. You just need to do it in a way that fits seamlessly into your story so the reader barely notices it and it doesn’t feel like the author is suddenly appearing on the page and getting in the way!

Accepting that you have to tell sometimes will free you as a writer, stop you getting bogged down in your story and probably make your writing better too!

Bethany Cadman -author of ‘Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers’

The post Showing Vs Telling When Writing Your Book appeared first on Writer's Life.org.