Writing Tip January 2022
I have had several ideas about where I want this blog to go, and one of them is giving out a little bit of writing advice every so often. I do encourage anyone reading this to do so with caution; I am a pretty new author and what works for me does not work for everyone. One thing I was taught in school was that writing has certain rules that we all need to follow, and that we should never break the rules… unless you do so in the right way. That means that there are rules (not just grammar but things like having a protagonist and antagonist, or use adverbs sparingly), and they are good to follow, but we can break them in the right way that makes our stories creative and original. We just need to be careful.
One rule is to avoid tropes, clichés, or common occurrences in the types of stories you write. For example, I have found that a lot of science fiction and fantasy use a deus ex machina to finish their stories. That is when a story reaches a point that the main characters cannot win, so an overpowering force comes in at the last moment to clean it all up. This trope was made popular in ancient Greek theater where one of the gods would come in at the end and punish the bad guys while rewarding the good. It made sense for them because a lot of the plays at the time were written to create devotion to their gods, in today’s literary climate that doesn’t make much sense. Unless we are trying to create that devotion (to God, or some other entity) the solution of some all-powerful source coming in at the last minute usually feels like lazy writing to me. I have seen authors use a deus ex machina successfully by planting seeds early on so the end is not a random occurrence and the audience can see it build. So it can be done. Along those same lines is where the hero finds a secret power at the last moment that makes them incredibly powerful and they can beat up the bad guy (I am looking at you, every anime ever made). I read a story recently where this happened and I felt cheated at the end. It felt like the journey was meaningless. Again, it is possible to do this the right way, just tread lightly.
The second thing I want to go over is a sort of counterbalance to the first. It is ok if your story follows a bit of a formula, it is how that makes all the difference. Think about action movies. Most of the time, about half way in. the hero ends up fighting the villain.. What happens? Don’t even read on, just think to yourself and I am sure you can come up with the scene. The hero usually loses in some form and that puts them in a crisis that allows them to come back stronger. Nearly every Marvel movie does exactly this, especially if it is any sort of team up (they lose because they don’t fight as a team, decide to fight as a team and they win). On the surface this sounds repetitive and boring, but we keep going back to see more. Why? Well, if a story is well written we worry much less about what is happening compared to how it is happening. On the screen it usually means we are distracted with some awesome visual effects. In the written word seeing the internal struggle or awesome prose can distract us. We can follow a formula and make it emotional, meaningful, and original. If you make a list of your favorite action stories compared to your least favorite I am willing to bet most of both lists follow this pattern. If you want to use a trope from your genre go ahead, also be aware that you will need originality else where. There is a fine balance where we don’t want to repeat what has been done before, but doing something too original (or breaking too many rules) will pull the story away from readers.
I am not sure how helpful these tips are. I feel like I contradicted myself, but really finding that balance is key to writing. I also think that balance changes depending on what you are writing. My children’s books tend to follow more of a pattern and formula to be more accessible to a younger audience. My horror and sci-fi/fantasy will vary because I enjoy breaking the mold. I know authors that are purposefully breaking every rule, formula, standard practice, or common theme because they want to do that and it is important to the story they are trying to tell. Part of being able to be a rebel successfully is understanding the rules you are trying to break, and doing so in a way that sends the message you want.
Long story short; do what you want but do it well.
As always find me on twitter, instagram, and facebook at L0stTurkey (one day I will explain that name). Please reach out through social media, or the contact page on this website with any questions or ideas. I do my best to respond to everyone.
Next time I will be partnering with my wife to review what we read this month.