STARTER TIPS FOR GREAT FICTION

Fiction is a fascinating art that employs the power of words to build imaginative escapades. Great fiction is a product of consistent practice and mastering of the craft. I started writing fiction when I was in secondary school (high school). Back then, I wrote to get away from my environment, and only knew I had a flair for writing when my classmates got to read my stories. Today, I ghostwrite and edit for a living, and it’s something I continuously strive to be better at because I enjoy the craft. Whether you are a budding writer or a wordsmith on the quest of refining your writing skills, it is my assurance that this article will help you with the foundational knowledge you need to practice consistently. Here are some tips to guide you on your way to becoming an exceptional fiction writer:

READ FICTION STORIES ANALYTICALLY

Did you get disappointed with the first tip? I hope not. Great fiction writers are readers. When readers read fiction, they read to be entertained, they read to get lost in the story and are oblivious to literary devices used by the author to build a satisfying reader experience. A writer cannot afford to thoroughly enjoy a novel. They read consciously to extract information and knowledge. 

Reading analytically means focusing on the craft, the word choice, and techniques the author uses to engage their audience. As you read, you realize that you are juxtaposing the author’s word play with yours, or you are figuring better ways to express scenes. You mentally ask questions about the way the author chooses to communicate, and you memorize impactful words. In the actual sense, the best writers know how to make better replicas of something they have either watched or read, while including their own originality and twists. Originality is the spice that readers crave; the new dimensions or angles to old storylines. So, a writer reads objectively and analytically. Here’s how:

1. Read a range of styles by great authors. 
2. Also, read wide, and read consciously. (Do not limit yourself to a few categories, genres or topics; read whatever catches your interest consciously.)
3. While reading, ask yourself: What did I like about the book and why? How can I replicate it? What did I not like about the book? What can I do differently and better?

There are several writing techniques used in fiction such as: figures of speech, cliff hangers, flashbacks, dialogue, soliloquy, comic relief, foreshadowing, imagery, etc. It will do you a world of benefits to learn about them and practice them.

WRITE CONSISTENTLY & BEAT WRITER’S BLOCK

In writing fiction, your process is as important as the result. Nothing great is done seasonally. If you devote yourself to writing consistently, you will be taking a crucial step towards becoming a great fiction writer. You may not get it right with your first or even your second book but guess what? It’s all part of the master plan of turning you into a better writer, and that plan is called Process. Writing Growth comes from doing two things consistently: Reading and Writing. Here are pointers to help you write consistently:

1. Develop a writing routine and cling to it with every strand of discipline you have. 
2. Build a writing habitat: I chose to paint my writing space white because it helps me start with a clear mind. On a similar note, take away things that represent noise in your life. You only need few things: a clear desk, your PC, notes, a modicum of art or nature, and a reachable shelf. You don’t need much to get to work, but you do need a space that makes you feel comfortable. To complete your habitat, remember to banish your phone; a buzzing electronic will only keep you distracted, just the presence of it is enough to have your mind elsewhere.
3. Try writing short stories or flash fiction: You can join a writing community that offers weekly prompts (reedsy is a great example). Writing prompts allow you to practice on short stories which are less daunting and require less commitment to finish.
4. Get honest feedback from avid readers or better writers than yourself: Growth requires vulnerability. You will have to share your work with others at some point to get feedback; constructive feedback is instrumental to your growth. You can’t do right if you don’t know you’re doing wrong. Having others read your work allows you to know where there’s room for improvement.
5. Inspiration is everywhere: If you’re always going to need inspiration to write, you’re never going to get your manuscripts done. The problem is not that inspiration is consistently unattainable, but rather that you’re expecting inspiration to come to YOU. Creativity is aided by many factors, such as: Environment, Content, and Experiences. Life keeps happening around us; real life events that affect us and those around us. The best way to write fiction is to draw from life itself:

• Pay more attention to your environments, there’s so much material to create great characters or compelling scenes. 
• Pay attention to the content you consume, whether it’s a Facebook video, a newsletter or a seemingly unrelated social media post, there’s much that can be gleaned about the way people think and interact, especially in different settings. This becomes information that can be used later in one of your books, you just have to be conscious enough to appreciate a little something from each one of them. 

6. Know the best ways to Start: The biggest hurdle is to get started. Different writers have diverse ways of doing this. T.C. Boyle says he starts by knowing “nothing, nothing at all. The first line comes, and I start.” This may not be you. But how will know what works for you if you don’t practice. Know what works for you and stick to it. I have authored a comprehensive article on ways to start your novel here  

CREATE A NEW WORLD FOR YOUR READERS 

In fiction writing, a major pillar is to create a getaway for your readers. To do this, you will have to create a world or town or city or timeline that can rapture them, and here are some ways to achieve that:

• Create a Vivid Setting: Your book could be dead before birth if your setting feels too…abstract. Take your last trip for example, try to remember the sights, the people, the smells, the weather and its elements; your readers should perceive these things as they read your book, and as they journey through the mind’s eye of your characters. Spending time world building or drawing up aspects of the setting enables a wholesome reader experience. 

• Use Vivid Imagery and Description: A common rule in fiction writing is “show, don’t tell”. If your reader has to pause abruptly or do a double take to understand what you’re saying, that’s probably a bad description. Descriptions should meld into the pace of reading, and not stand out on its own. An effective way to catch this is by reading out loud. Also, the essential ingredients of vivid imagery are drawn from life itself: whether it’s a damp basement you’re trying to describe, or the bustling streets of a city, you need to visit places similar to this in order to have impactful writing material to use!

• Building Scenes: Vivid imagery is an essential ingredient of your scenes. Every scene must fit into the larger narrative: this means you must consider that every scene furthers the narrative, considering its duration or length and the essential actions taken by the characters in that scene. Keep in mind that your book is not just about the plot but also about the intricacies in individual scenes that make up the plot! Guarantee that your scenes are properly and thoughtfully incorporated into your book.

• Scene Transitions: The same way I’ve said that descriptions are not meant to stand out in a story, scene transitions are not meant to be jarring in your book, unless you’re aiming for such effect. An abrupt finish to an underdeveloped scene can disturb the overall reading pace. There is a common pace used in storytelling narratives: first the beginning, then the rise, the climax, and falling action to the end. Unless you’ve structured your scene to end with a cliffhanger, or to start in media res, it would be good practice for you to do same. 

DEVELOP RELATABLE CHARACTERS

After creating a timeline, place or world for your story, the next thing is to populate it with your characters. Your characters are your readers’ contact with the world, place, and time you have created. Moreso, your characters are a link between the real world and the fictional world, in that the reader experiences relatable concepts from the real world through these characters: concepts like loss, joy, nostalgia, hope, faith, etc.

Your characters should mirror life’s trajectories your readers can relate to. How? Draw examples from yourself. You have been molded over the years by life’s experiences. You learnt things, forgot things, and made lifestyle changes. In other words, you responded to different events that happened in your life. Your characters should have the same relatable trajectories. The plot’s events should not just happen to them; they should respond in accordance with their different personalities. And, over the course of the storyline, traits or parts of their personalities can change because of the things happening to them. There is always a journey for each character in your story, and the reader should always be able to perceive this. The main character is not the only character that life is happening to; the changes to your supporting characters are just as important. Never forget that.

Here is a guide to making your character’s compelling and relatable:

• Give Them a Striking Introduction: A fact of psychology is that the human mind is most likely to remember the beginning and end of something much better than other parts. It means your character’s entry must be memorable, and for your main characters, the ways to make their entry memorable is by introducing them with small hints concerning either:

1. Their Past
2. Their Present status quo
3. Their Want
4. Their Flaw

This immediately starts building your reader’s interest in them. 

• Give your Characters Attributes that are Peculiar to them: During your plotting (an important preliminary phase of fiction book writing), you should define their personalities at the beginning of your story, and these personalities should only change or be changed by convincing plot events in your story. Also, your character’s personality and values determine how best they SHOULD respond to their life’s events. If you make the mistake of making your character behave contrary to their preceding image, especially when they have not experienced pivotal events that convincingly change them, you will end up losing your reader’s interest. 

• Use Emotions and Empathy to your Advantage: your characters become compelling when they display emotions your readers can relate to. This is in response to ordeals or other people. If the overall development of your character was well thought out, their emotions should also inspire response from your readers. Your character’s expression of emotions can be behavioral or can be perceived through dialogue or internal monologues.

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My name is Racheal Asikpo. I can take the creative weight of completing your stories. I can also give you 70% distance from the writing and research. I offer ghostwriting, developmental editing and copyediting services. How about you allow a fresh pair of eyes give you a fresh breath of air?

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