Allison Symes's Blog, page 8

Fictional Humorous Worlds

Every story, of whatever word count length, is its own mini world, of course, but I have a soft spot for humorous worlds, especially when the books concerned are part of a series.

My two overall favourites here are Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series and practically anything by P.G. Wodehouse. The latter has multiple worlds - the worlds of Jeeves and Wooster, the Blandings world, the Psmith world and so on.

I love humorous writing. It is wonderful escapism. There is always a time and need for that but perhaps never more so than now when the news is so grim.

What I love about the book series though is watching how characters develop over them. This is especially true for Pratchett’s Sam Vimes. That character arc is a fascinating one.

Compare who he is in Guards! Guards! with how he is in the final book he is in, Raising Steam. It is a fascinating character study all authors can learn from. Feet of Clay and Men at Arms also work as great detective stories too so do check them out.

You could argue Jeeves and Wooster don’t change that much but that is part of their charm. What does change is the chaos around them they have to sort out, especially Jeeves.

But what is consistent about all of these is the laughs! In a troubled world, I so welcome these.

I do wish humorous writing wasn’t looked down on though. I learned a long time ago what looks like easy writing took an awful long time for the writer to craft. It’s even harder for humorous writers given humour can be subjective.

When A Story Fails

I'm glad to say a story doesn’t fail for me often. When it does, it is always due to me being unconvinced by the characterisation.

Something about the characters doesn’t ring true for me or they manage to aggravate me (Miss Price of Mansfield Park is a prime example of this for me yet I love all of Jane Austen’s other heroines, including the supposedly unlikeable Emma).

There is a positive to this though. Knowing what I dislike in character portrayal means I make sure I don’t write this kind of thing for my own creations.

I like to know my characters well enough to know what drives them and how they would act/react in any circumstance.

If I understand motivation, I am far more likely to read on to find out what the characters go on and do. It doesn’t mean I have to agree or like what they do but I do have to see where they are coming from.

For me, a story works when the character convinces me. The story is nothing without a convincing character as far as I am concerned.

Rooting For Characters

A successful work of fiction has me rooting for its characters throughout the book. I have got to care about what happens to them or be eager to see some deserving character get their long overdue comeuppance. Either works!

So to root for characters then I have to be able to get behind them and to understand at least something of what makes them tick. I don’t have to agree with all they do or say but I must be able to see why they are the way they are.

Be honest now. When someone asks you about your favourite books, you will recall the author (most of the time anyway), the title (most of the time), but, most importantly of it all, it will be the characters which linger longest in the mind.

Just say Pride and Prejudice to me and I immediately think of Elizabeth Bennet. (Okay I may have certain images of a certain actor emerging from the lake thanks to a BBC adaptation but I know I’m not alone in that one!).

The best characters in any books are the ones we understand. Sometimes they’re the characters we would like to be. After all Sam Gamgee is honourable and brave and so, so loyal in The Lord of the Rings, all excellent qualities to aspire to, yes?

I honestly feel characters make or break a story.

Fiction Acrostic

F = Fantastic for the range of genres to choose from.

I = Imagination let loose in history, crime, fantasy, sci-fi, and so many more.

C = Characters whose journeys you follow, willing them on to succeed or fail, as appropriate.

T = Timeless truths are often conveyed in stories and books and are more easily remembered too.

I = Inspiration from so many fields of fiction to current writers and to those yet to come.

O = Opening up so many worlds, there will be at least one fiction genre to suit you.

N = Never ever be stuck for something to read - the world of fiction is an expanding and wonderful one.

Holiday Reading

Am looking forward to a break away in May but I already know what my holiday reading will be. It will be whatever I am currently reading on my Kindle.

The ebook comes into its own for this kind of thing, of course. No packing of heavy books. No limitation on what you can take to read either. All I must remember to do is pack my charger (especially since it does my phone as well!).

I don’t read what is normally known as holiday reading. Not really my genre though I can appreciate why the lighter reads are wanted for the summer season. (They’re even more important to cheer people up if the weather is a wash out as it can be in the UK).

For me, my light reads are the humorous books I love - Wodehouse and Pratchett works especially.

I usually get to listen to some Pratchett audio books on the journey to and from my destination so get some extra stories in that way. All counts as holiday reading in my book, some pun intended!

I’m just listening to the tales rather than reading them but audio books are fantastic inventions. I get to take in even more stories and revisit old favourites -nothing to dislike about that.

The Lure of a Great Book

The lure of a great book, for me, is in its characterisation. I have got to want to find out what happens to them.

For non-fiction, the “character” is the narrative voice and that has to grip me enough to make me keep on reading.

I find it is the characters I remember and from there the plot line rather than the other way around. If someone says Sam Vimes to me, I will picture his character in the Discworld books, then favourite lines by him or concerning him, the overall story etc. It is in that order though.

Once a book has got me gripped, that’s it. I’m away. To ensure I do get a good night’s sleep, I limit myself to a chapter or two. That can be difficult at times but I cheer myself up with the thought I will be having more to look forward to the following night.

The characters/narrative voice do have to get under your skin. They stay with you after the book has finished too. Now that is the sign of a great book if ever there was one.

If I were to ask you to name your five top characters, I am sure you would have no trouble doing that. The problem would be in limiting it to just five.

This is why I think characters are so important. We get behind them, not the plot. We want them to succeed (and fulfil the plot but without the characters the whole thing falls apart anyway).

For non-fiction I tend to recall the authors/narrative voice but when these work really well, I am definitely going to be getting more books by them.

Working Out What To Read Next

Do you ever have problems working out what you’re going to read next?

I must admit to being a bit “naughty” in that I don’t necessarily read in strict chronological order from my always large To Be Read pile, whether is the old school print pile or the electronic one on my Kindle!

I don’t if I’m reading a series. I’ll just follow on.

When not doing that, I will go by my mood. If I’ve just enjoyed a crime story, I may well read another one straight off the back of the first one.

However, I never read more two books in a row in the same genre. After two, I want to ring the changes a bit.

At the moment, I’m on my second non-fiction book in a row so when I come to the end of that, I will go for fiction again. I’ve not decided yet what the genre will be.

In between novels, I will read short story and flash collections before resuming novel reading again. Then it will come full circle and I will be back to the non-fiction.

I am keen to make sure I have a good balance of reading material and like to mix up classic and contemporary here as well. Why limit your reading after all?

What Reading Teaches You

As a writer, I’ve learned so much from what I’ve read over the years. You take in how stories work by reading loads of them.

I picked up on the Rule of Three from reading the classic fairytales, for example. I came to realise something would happen, then happen again, but on the third time there would be a different outcome.

You also get to see how stories are laid out (paragraphs, dialogue, how scene breaks work etc) just by reading how others have done this before you.

I’ve long thought writers effectively have two great joys here - their own writing and reading. The love of reading triggers the desire to write.

It is also why it pays writers to read widely - classic and contemporary, fiction and non-fiction. Ideas for your own stories are often triggered by something else you’ve read so it pays to have an “imagination pool” to fish from which is as wide and deep as possible. Reading widely, and in varied forms, does that for you.

I’ve found the Kindle has encouraged further reading in that I use it to try out books by authors new to me. I will take a “punt” on a £2.99 ebook. If I like the author’s work, I often go on to buy further paperbacks from them later.

But this is all because the Kindle makes it easy to read even more works. I like that. I make a point of reading both ebooks and paperbacks in my main reading session. Love them all.

Books are wonderful things.

Story Twists

I love twists in stories as long as they suit the character and situation.

An early one I came across was in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, whom I understand received complaints about what she did here. Can’t say more without giving things away but it is a great book and I highly recommend it especially if you like twists.

I use twists a lot in my own flash fiction. For a very short tale like this, often my closing line is the twist. I have done this with the “standard” twist but have also written humorous twist endings. All good fun to do.

The tricky bit is ensuring that the twist does come across as “natural”. It must fit in with what has been revealed about the character and their situation, otherwise it will look like a “fix” to get the author out of a tight corner.

My favourite twists are when I look back through the story, having read it through, and then spot the clues to the twist which is about to be revealed. Naturally I learn a good deal for my own writing studying things like that.

This is where I think writers are so lucky. To write well, we need to read well and widely. So if we ever did need an excuse to have a book in our hands, that’s it, right there, regardless of whether there is a twist or not!

Mixing Up Books

I like mixing up books in terms of having a wide variety of genres to read but I don’t especially like combining two types of books which were never meant to be put together (in my view).

I see there is a place for zombie stories (though they’re not my cup of tea). There will always be a place for Jane Austen but putting Pride and Prejudice together with zombies to me just made me shudder when I first heard about it. Nor will I read it. I just don’t want to go there.

I also get annoyed when films rehash old stories. For me there is no improving the original The Italian Job with Michael Caine. I refuse to watch the so-called remake (and, separately, have heard indifferent reviews about it). So you see I am consistent here!

I do wonder if it is a lack of imagination going on here. Why not write your own zombies story? Why bring other characters from a much loved novel into it?

The simple answer to a lack of imagination is to read more. Then read more. Then read more again.

I’ve always found reading well and widely fires up my own imagination. I then happily go and create my own characters and tales. I don’t see the fun in mish-mashes at all.