Ten Tips to Help Aspiring Writers Stretch their Fiction

By Pamela

I was on GoodReads.com not long ago and came upon a list of writing tips by best-selling author Chris Bohjalian, that previously appeared on his blog in January 2006. I found them to be timeless and he graciously gave me permission to share them here. Chris is the author of Midwives, The Sandcastle Girls, The Light in the Ruins, and Skeletons at the Feast, among others. His most recent novel, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, was published this summer. 

Ten Tips to Help Aspiring Writers Stretch their Fiction by Chris Bohjalian

Chris Bohjalian, photo by Aaron Spagnolo

I'm asked on occasion what advice I might offer aspiring writers. Here are ten random suggestions--the last a reference to the fact that I was told by a creative writing professor when I was in college that I should become a banker. 

1. Don't merely write what you know. Write what you don't know. It might be more difficult at first, but--unless you've just scaled Mount Everest or found a cure for all cancers--it will also be more interesting.
2. Do some research. Read the letters John Winthrop wrote to his wife, or the letters a Civil War private sent home to his family from Antietam, or the stories the metalworkers told of their experiences on the girders high in the air when they were building the Empire State Building.

   

   Photo by Lewis Hine

   Good fiction is rich with minutiae--what people wore, how they cooked, how they filled the mattresses on which they slept--and often the details you discover will help you dramatically with your narrative. 
3. Interview someone who knows something about your topic. Fiction may be a solitary business when you're actually writing, but prior to sitting down with your computer (or pencil or pen), it often demands getting out into the real world and learning how (for instance) an ob-gyn spends her day, or what a lawyer does when he isn't in the courtroom, or exactly what it feels like to a farmer to milk a cow when he's been doing it for 35 years. Ask questions ... and listen.
4. Interview someone else. Anyone else. Ask questions what are absolutely none of your business. Ask about their childhood, their marriage, their sex life. They don't have to be interesting (though it helps). They don't even have to be honest.
5. Read some fiction you wouldn't normally read: A translation of a Czech novel, a mystery, a book you heard someone in authority dismiss as "genre fiction."
6. Write for a day without quote marks. It will encourage you to see the conversation differently, and help you to hear in your head more precisely what people are saying and thereby create dialogue that sounds more realistic. You may even decide you don't need quote marks in the finished story.
7. Skim the thesaurus, flip through the dictionary. Find new words and words you use rarely--lurch, churn, disconsolate, effulgent, intimations, sepulchral, percolate, pallid, reproach--and use them in sentences. 
8. Lie. Put down on paper the most interesting lies you can imagine ... and then make them plausible.
9. Write one terrific sentence. Don't worry about anything else--not where the story is going, not where it should end. Don't pressure yourself to write 500 or 1,000 words this morning. Just write 10 or 15 that are very, very sound.
10. Pretend you're a banker, but you write in the night to prove to some writing professor that she was wrong, wrong, wrong. Allow yourself a small dram of righteous anger. 

Jojo Moyes in the Big D

Me being all awkward fangirl next to Jojo Moyes.

By Julie

It was a nice little oasis in the middle of this otherwise averagely hot summer in DFW to drive over to see British novelist Jojo Moyes speak at the gorgeous University Park Library last Thursday evening in support of her latest release, One Plus One.

I've been a huge fan of Moyes since ... I don't even know when. I was ordering online wherever I could and devouring her books even before they were available stateside, and I'm not even sure how I heard about her. Maybe I lucked into a copy of one at Half Price Books or something, but once I got started, I was hooked. In her novels and in person, she's charming, funny, and lovely in general. I was thrilled to get a chance to meet her, and I suspect I might have gone a little fangirl in my level of awkwardness as I approached the signing table.

Moyes has published twelve books since her debut in 2000, and I've long admired her courage to write the story her heart desires instead of trying to brand herself as an author with one very particular type of novel. This matters to me because I suspect I'm headed that direction. Nope, I'm not plotting a sci-fi, fantasy, or cozy mystery. Not hot and heavy romance. But I don't see myself writing "fiction that blends historical with contemporary," like Calling Me Home, every time I write a novel. It can be a little intimidating to step out onto that little ledge in this brand-heavy world.

I asked Moyes about this during the Q&A -- how her pubishler reacted, how her readers reacted -- and whether or not she saw a particular theme emerging even if she was writing fiction that didn't quite fit a mold. I knew the first part wasn't a new question. She's mentioned it in other interviews. Her response was that it was not so great when her sales weren't hopping, but since Me Before You broke out and proceeded to sell something like three million copies, it's been considered a plus. She smiled, and I suspect her answer was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I think I understood. What that said to me is, "Write your heart out, and when you break out, nobody will care anymore." Good to remember.

As far as the second, she said it was a new question. She thought for a moment, then said each novel seems to reflect the big question she's processing at that moment in life, even if it doesn't manifest the same way. That made sense to me as well. She mentioned it was less expensive than therapy. I quite agree.

I admire several authors who seem to have similar paths and responses to these questions, in particular Chris Cleave and Chris Bohjalian. Not surprisingly, these two plus Moyes are three of my favorite authors in general. (Or, I really like the name Chris.) This path doesn't seem to have damaged their careers much at this point in life, so I think I'll follow their lead, and in the process, follow my heart. Never a bad place to begin.

In the meantime, I can't wait to get started on Moyes' newly minted One Plus One, not least because it explores a topic dear to my own heart -- single parenting. I also picked up a copy of The Last Letter from Your Lover, one of the three in her list I haven't read yet. If you're new to Moyes, I suggest you start with Me Before You so you can see what all the fuss is about. If you're not so new but have missed some of her previous novels, give The Ship of Brides a try! I don't think you'll be disappointed, wherever you start.

Many thanks to Jojo Moyes for coming all the way to Texas, where she claims the backyards are as big as her English farm, and the hospitality and barbecue are overflowing, too!

Oh, and on the book front, while I'm talking about a UK author, is it okay and appropriate for me to brag that the UK version of Calling Me Home zoomed all the way up to #1 on the Amazon UK Kindle chart last weekend while on sale? I first ate seared duck breast in London last summer during a publicity day, so to celebrate, I had a not-nearly-as-good Texas version with my husband. Here I am looking equally as awkward, but not so excited about the duck. :)

More fish in the sea

By Julie

My family reads with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The youngest reads under duress when forced to accrue Accelerated Reader points to pass language arts. In the process, she's found a few books she might publicly admit she enjoyed.

My middle child reads voraciously in spurts as time allows between her other social activities, enjoying many of the books I also enjoy, often reading books behind me, though usually in line after my mom.

My free-spirited eldest won an award for reading 100 books in kindergarten, but never read much as an adolescent. After flying the coop in recent years, he discovered that books about philosophy and sustainable agriculture and making things from scratch (buckskin pants, anyone?) tickle his fancy. He's been tracking down old FOXFIRE books lately.

Some think readers are born. Others believe it takes finding what speaks to a person to make them a reader. I suspect the answer lies between. I can't remember not loving to read, but also identified my reading niche at a very young age, first devouring books about pioneer girls and orphans and huge, all-of-a-kind families, then growing into adult fiction about relationships and family crises and dealing with the world in general. Not much of a stretch from one to the other.

I've tried the last few years, however, to widen my reading experience. I borrow library books I've heard recommended time and again even though they don't fit my usual M.O. Sometimes I grab remaindered hardbacks for a few dollars by authors I've never considered reading. I've discovered there are a lot more fish in the sea of reading and I'm a better person for it, if I do say so myself.

What's been fun lately is seeing others around me branch out, too.

My father-in-law, a retired nuclear physicist who writes poetry and other short forms under the radar, is an obvious intellectual. Yet, in one of our many conversations about books, he freely admitted he rarely read novels by women. I understand. Until the last few years, I rarely read books by men. But shortly before Christmas last year, he emailed me his Christmas wish: Name one book by a female author I'd read in 2009 I'd like him to read. His request flattered and challenged me. I went a step further and recommended two. (And, of course, we purchased those books as gifts.)

This recent feedback from made me smile.

"I did it, I finished HOME (Marilynne Robinson). And I was astounded and moved by much of the writing: some really remarkable descriptions, dialogs, and turns of phrase. I found it a bit difficult getting into at the beginning; sometimes I lost track of who was speaking in extended scenes of conversation; and sometimes I wanted to inflict great bodily harm on one or all of the characters. But altogether wonderfully writ. I thought of COLD MOUNTAIN as I read HOME. Both novels were challenging to read in spots and required some will power to keep after them; but both were eminently satisfying and of both I said "Wow!" when I finished. Fine literature indeed."

And:

"I finally finished reading THE HELP, and I really enjoyed it. It is quite an achievement for a first novel, or any novel for that matter. I notice it is #1 or 2 or so on many best seller lists at present. She (Kathryn Stockett) certainly did a fine job of drawing upon her own experiences of life and place. The characters really rang true and resonated with me from some of my 60's memories even though I lived in 'the north' until '69. An altogether gripping and entertaining read. Thanks for selecting it for us."

My husband seemed an enthusiastic part-time reader for years, going through two or three books during holidays or on vacations. This year, though, he's burned through so many, my own little reading log is cringing in shame. (And a man who reads is an attractive man, indeed. Just saying.) After consuming a forest of books, he's run out of his favorites – thrillers and mysteries by Steve Berry, Harlan Coben, Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown, and Tom Clancy, to name a few.

He decided to postpone another trip to the bookstore last week, but was antsy without something new to read. I got sneaky. I casually handed him a few novels I'd purchased and said, "You might like these. I don't know what they're like because I haven't read them yet." And guess what? He doesn't have to give up his man card because they're by men, but I'm almost certain A RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick and SECRETS OF EDEN by Chris Bohjalian are unlike anything he's ever read.

The jury's still out on the Bohjalian, though he's about a third in and says he likes it so far. HOORAY! I love Bohjalian's books. He wasn't crazy about the Goolrick novel, going so far as to compare it to "one of those bodice ripper things," (not that he's ever read one ... or so he says). Still, he plowed through and said it had some interesting twists and turns. He claims I better hurry up so we can compare notes because I'm falling behind. :) I'm sure he'll mostly stick with his favorite genres and authors in the future, but I think he's enjoying branching out a bit, and I'm enjoying watching.

I received a text message from my daughter yesterday. Yes, from school.

Her: I finished LOVE IN THE PRESENT TENSE.

Me: Did you like it?

Her: YES!

Me: Cool. I love that book!

I'd mentioned this Catherine Ryan Hyde novel to her a few weeks ago as something I thought she'd enjoy and we found it at the library. (BT-dubs, who has my signed copy?! Gail?! This blog is beginning to serve as a GPS for locating loaned books. Ha.)

Anyway, I think there's a point to this post. It goes something like this:

People like what they like. But sometimes they're just waiting for you to help them get out of their reading comfort zones. Sometimes they're brave enough to ask for your assistance, and sometimes they're just waiting for you to knock them over the head with new books when they least expect it.

Regardless, the connection we gain by sharing out-of-the-box reading experiences with friends and family can be priceless.

Your turn.

Photo credit: he(art)geek's flickr photostream by Creative Commons license