Writing Tips: 8 Things I Avoid Putting in my Books
In the Venn diagram of Historical Fiction and Fantasy, my medieval mercenary Valguard stories sit in the uncomfortable area where the two genres overlap with a foot in both worlds. Half fantasy, half HistFic I like to think of it as ‘Swordpunk’, its medieval with slight fantastical touches. As a proud Indie Self-publisher, I am writing for the pleasure of creating these stories of which I am very proud, I take my time, edit and improve the prose multiple times. I write based on my gut feelings and instinct and hope that the stories I like might appeal to other people. and I have certain rules when I am writing. Here are eight things I don’t do:
1. NO MAPS -- Controversial one straight away. They are expected in every fantasy novel only because Tolkien used them and the Misty Mountains were the first thing you saw when you read The Hobbit at school. I can understand having a plan of a castle or town that was besieged in a Historical Fiction -- that proves you've done your research -- but they rarely have maps in crime or sci-fi stories so why have them in yours. They look good but I don't think they are necessary. The plain fact is, if you write the book well, you shouldn’t need one.
2. NO EXTENDED FAMILY TREES -- I'm not writing a soap opera here. No one cares what your great, great step-uncle did. If you insist on drawing elaborate dynasties just remember you'll never do it as well as George R R Martin. Darth may be Luke's father (spoiler) but that wasn't Lucas's plan when he wrote A New Hope. In Spectre, James Bond is now Blofeld's step-brother which is ridiculous and trite, all that world domination to get back at a sibling? Really. It's all a bit unlikely and often a misplaced device to try and increase the stakes, well, it doesn't. It's lazy writing. A character's actions should up the tension.
3. NO DUNGEONS, NO DRAGONS -- OK, full disclosure, I played TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as a teenager in the 1980s. It was a fun, creative and relatively cheap hobby for me and my friends who didn't do football (soccer) or sport or any kind. The average dungeon is much like all the others and rarely did it make sense to exist in the first place, I guess that's why you had dwarves. One overused plot device was the magical Inn or Tavern that would be the start of most adventures; a chance to overhear gossip of quests, right a wrong or recruit new characters was a must but all medieval taverns are pretty much the same. Try and differentiate between any you write. There have been great Dragons in fiction and movies but I try to keep my stories mostly human based.
4. NO ELVES, ORCS OR HOBBITS -- Another hangover from D&D. I've never understood E. Gary Gygax's obsession with Elves. Fair enough they couldn't have 18/100 strength but they did get better dexterity, constitution, charisma, lived forever and could see in the dark. I think both man and elf should have been more balanced as elves didn't seem to have a weakness. A bit like Jack Reacher (both a genius AND built like a shithouse). Perhaps I'm Elvist, but to this day my heart sinks when I see the world Elf mentioned in a fantasy book as they just always come across as smug and aloof, although Michael J. Sullivan's excellent Ryria books tiptoe around it and I won't have a word said against his character Royce Melburn. Hobbits are merely comic relief copyright of the Tolkien estate and Orcs are ubiquitous, photocopied sword fodder. Dwarfs are fine, but in my world, they are just short people and not automatically great tunnellers or weaponsmiths.
5. NO LARGE SCALE ARMY BATTLES -- Epic fantasy tales of thousands of soldiers marching to war may be exciting on screen but it's hard to write well and the numbers alone make it impersonal. Sure wars are mentioned in my books and may even be happening in the next town but I go the opposite way and make my stories more intimate and keep it tight on a handful of characters. The entire world does not have to be in jeopardy to make you care about the protagonist's plight. Yes, you can show background characters suffering if a siege bites or a plague takes hold in your setting, but your hero's own world will end if he is killed and that should be enough. His jeopardy is to make it alive to the last page. If you want to connect with your hero don't upscale the peril to everyone, focus on him, make it believable and put him in real danger.
6. NO RIDICULOUS, UNPRONOUNCEABLE NAMES -- Stop showboating and keep those consonant-heavy, unpronounceable anagrams to yourself please. Don't go overboard with the x's, q's and z's and think of your reader. Possibly, more importantly, spare a thought too to the narrator of your forthcoming audiobook. I also try not to have more than one character share the same initial on their surname, it helps to differentiate in a busy scene. I'm sure I won't be able to keep this up forever but I'm trying my hardest. Dickens tried to make the character name onomatopoeically fit the person and that's a noble idea that I bear in mind when choosing surnames. Finding names can be hard; my top tips are looking for ones buried way down in TV or movie credits or why not have a wander through a graveyard for inspiration, you often get duplicates of local families but there are some brilliant names -- I found a Shillinclaw and that became a type of rum. Personally, I find naming rivers the hardest for some reason, I have no idea why.
7. NO 'OLDE WORLDE' DIALOGUE -- I write my stories in modern English. These are action thrillers that just happen to be set in a medieval world. Think of it as if Tarantino did medieval. Friends bicker and take the water out of each other over trivial stuff just like real people. And the language used is colloquial, in a land where poverty and illiteracy is often the norm, not everyone's words are polished Shakespeare. No forsooth's or hey-nonny-nonnies and such. Obviously, I avoid modern slang terms like 'OK' and anachronisms like 'the clock was ticking' as it makes no sense in the medieval era. Sadly, it also means I am unable to write an exciting car chase, which is a shame.
8. NOT OF THIS EARTH -- And this is my big cheat really. The Valguard stories are set on a skewed version of a world, not unlike 15th century Britain. Countries like France, Germany, Persia etc are not named as such but different races are alluded to and exist in the various compass points from the land similar to Northern Britain. Black people to the south, Asian to the east etc. I keep it vague but familiar. Not mentioning the French is tricky as so many parts of armour and castles have French-derived names, that it is hard to avoid. I don't directly acknowledge organised religions like Christianity either, there is an organised Church but here there was never a Jesus, so no son of God. Crucifixion doesn't have the same poignancy and therefore crosses are not used as religious symbols. I avoid using terms like 'heaven' and 'hell' which can make sudden exclamations tricky, but the predominant belief system in the rural countryside is still a kind of Pagan but generic monks, druids and proto-fascist paladins feature in later books.
Some of these rules may go against conventional wisdom but I'm writing the stories I'd want to read so if it makes mine different, for better or for worse. Feel free to agree or disagree and add any comments below, and next time, I'll be listing some of the things I insist on including in my stories which if nothing else will be a lot less negative.
Until then, Dave
1. NO MAPS -- Controversial one straight away. They are expected in every fantasy novel only because Tolkien used them and the Misty Mountains were the first thing you saw when you read The Hobbit at school. I can understand having a plan of a castle or town that was besieged in a Historical Fiction -- that proves you've done your research -- but they rarely have maps in crime or sci-fi stories so why have them in yours. They look good but I don't think they are necessary. The plain fact is, if you write the book well, you shouldn’t need one.
2. NO EXTENDED FAMILY TREES -- I'm not writing a soap opera here. No one cares what your great, great step-uncle did. If you insist on drawing elaborate dynasties just remember you'll never do it as well as George R R Martin. Darth may be Luke's father (spoiler) but that wasn't Lucas's plan when he wrote A New Hope. In Spectre, James Bond is now Blofeld's step-brother which is ridiculous and trite, all that world domination to get back at a sibling? Really. It's all a bit unlikely and often a misplaced device to try and increase the stakes, well, it doesn't. It's lazy writing. A character's actions should up the tension.
3. NO DUNGEONS, NO DRAGONS -- OK, full disclosure, I played TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as a teenager in the 1980s. It was a fun, creative and relatively cheap hobby for me and my friends who didn't do football (soccer) or sport or any kind. The average dungeon is much like all the others and rarely did it make sense to exist in the first place, I guess that's why you had dwarves. One overused plot device was the magical Inn or Tavern that would be the start of most adventures; a chance to overhear gossip of quests, right a wrong or recruit new characters was a must but all medieval taverns are pretty much the same. Try and differentiate between any you write. There have been great Dragons in fiction and movies but I try to keep my stories mostly human based.
4. NO ELVES, ORCS OR HOBBITS -- Another hangover from D&D. I've never understood E. Gary Gygax's obsession with Elves. Fair enough they couldn't have 18/100 strength but they did get better dexterity, constitution, charisma, lived forever and could see in the dark. I think both man and elf should have been more balanced as elves didn't seem to have a weakness. A bit like Jack Reacher (both a genius AND built like a shithouse). Perhaps I'm Elvist, but to this day my heart sinks when I see the world Elf mentioned in a fantasy book as they just always come across as smug and aloof, although Michael J. Sullivan's excellent Ryria books tiptoe around it and I won't have a word said against his character Royce Melburn. Hobbits are merely comic relief copyright of the Tolkien estate and Orcs are ubiquitous, photocopied sword fodder. Dwarfs are fine, but in my world, they are just short people and not automatically great tunnellers or weaponsmiths.
5. NO LARGE SCALE ARMY BATTLES -- Epic fantasy tales of thousands of soldiers marching to war may be exciting on screen but it's hard to write well and the numbers alone make it impersonal. Sure wars are mentioned in my books and may even be happening in the next town but I go the opposite way and make my stories more intimate and keep it tight on a handful of characters. The entire world does not have to be in jeopardy to make you care about the protagonist's plight. Yes, you can show background characters suffering if a siege bites or a plague takes hold in your setting, but your hero's own world will end if he is killed and that should be enough. His jeopardy is to make it alive to the last page. If you want to connect with your hero don't upscale the peril to everyone, focus on him, make it believable and put him in real danger.
6. NO RIDICULOUS, UNPRONOUNCEABLE NAMES -- Stop showboating and keep those consonant-heavy, unpronounceable anagrams to yourself please. Don't go overboard with the x's, q's and z's and think of your reader. Possibly, more importantly, spare a thought too to the narrator of your forthcoming audiobook. I also try not to have more than one character share the same initial on their surname, it helps to differentiate in a busy scene. I'm sure I won't be able to keep this up forever but I'm trying my hardest. Dickens tried to make the character name onomatopoeically fit the person and that's a noble idea that I bear in mind when choosing surnames. Finding names can be hard; my top tips are looking for ones buried way down in TV or movie credits or why not have a wander through a graveyard for inspiration, you often get duplicates of local families but there are some brilliant names -- I found a Shillinclaw and that became a type of rum. Personally, I find naming rivers the hardest for some reason, I have no idea why.
7. NO 'OLDE WORLDE' DIALOGUE -- I write my stories in modern English. These are action thrillers that just happen to be set in a medieval world. Think of it as if Tarantino did medieval. Friends bicker and take the water out of each other over trivial stuff just like real people. And the language used is colloquial, in a land where poverty and illiteracy is often the norm, not everyone's words are polished Shakespeare. No forsooth's or hey-nonny-nonnies and such. Obviously, I avoid modern slang terms like 'OK' and anachronisms like 'the clock was ticking' as it makes no sense in the medieval era. Sadly, it also means I am unable to write an exciting car chase, which is a shame.
8. NOT OF THIS EARTH -- And this is my big cheat really. The Valguard stories are set on a skewed version of a world, not unlike 15th century Britain. Countries like France, Germany, Persia etc are not named as such but different races are alluded to and exist in the various compass points from the land similar to Northern Britain. Black people to the south, Asian to the east etc. I keep it vague but familiar. Not mentioning the French is tricky as so many parts of armour and castles have French-derived names, that it is hard to avoid. I don't directly acknowledge organised religions like Christianity either, there is an organised Church but here there was never a Jesus, so no son of God. Crucifixion doesn't have the same poignancy and therefore crosses are not used as religious symbols. I avoid using terms like 'heaven' and 'hell' which can make sudden exclamations tricky, but the predominant belief system in the rural countryside is still a kind of Pagan but generic monks, druids and proto-fascist paladins feature in later books.
Some of these rules may go against conventional wisdom but I'm writing the stories I'd want to read so if it makes mine different, for better or for worse. Feel free to agree or disagree and add any comments below, and next time, I'll be listing some of the things I insist on including in my stories which if nothing else will be a lot less negative.
Until then, Dave
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Julia
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Jul 18, 2018 04:44AM
Great advice to consider when writing, David! Thank you for sharing your insight :)
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