Keeping It Real: How to Make Your Reader Forget It's Just a Story

You know the feeling. You sat down to read just one chapter of that book, and when you looked up hours later...

That's what we want from all our books. We want them to overwhelm our minds, to become more real than reality, at least for a little while. And as writers, that's the kind of story we want to give people, but where to begin? How do you make sure that your story will cast its spell over the reader and not let go? 

1) Check Your Grammar and Spelling

"What?" you say. "I thought you were going to teach me magic. You want me to proofread?" Darn right, I want you to proofread. Nothing bursts that magic story bubble like bad grammar. Most people read in their first language, a language they learned from infancy. The rules of that language are ingrained in their subconscious, and as long as the words on the page obey those rules, they don't have to devote much attention to the actual reading. That leaves their brain free to visualize your story, to experience it rather than just reading it. But if the words are wrong, if they don't slide smoothly into the subconscious, then POP! The reader finds himself staring at a piece of paper covered with little black symbols while he tries to figure out what you actually meant to say. If this happens too often, he'll probably give up on your story and go read something better. If grammar isn't your strong point, you can always get someone to edit for you, but DON'T rely on a computer. Computers are wonderful tools, but even the smart ones are stupid. They don't know what you meant to say. They don't know which of the spelling variations carries the right connotation for this context. Their first language is binary. 

Obviously, if your story is being translated into a language you don't speak, grammar is no longer your responsibility. Just make sure to hire a good translator. 

2) Watch Out For the Melodrama!!!!

Okay, now that the boring part is out of the way, let's take a look at the emotions. I'll assume your characters have them. Emotions are what drive a story. They motivate the characters to take action. If someone betrays the hero's confidence, he will feel angry. This may cause him to cut the betrayer out of his life, or he might spill one of the betrayer's own secrets to get revenge. Either option might make a good story, but make sure that the reaction fits both the character's personality and the bigger picture. A normally easygoing guy isn't going to throw his friend off a bridge because she dented his car. If he does, the reader will find it difficult to maintain their suspension of disbelief. Be patient. Let the plot move at its natural pace. If that pace is too slow, then rethink the plot, but make sure that the motivations behind each character's actions are plausible. One weak link in the chain of causes and effects can destroy the whole story. 

  

3) Don't Touch the Fourth Wall

 

I'm not talking about a first person narrator who acts as if the reader is just another unlucky soul caught up in the zombie apocalypse or the alien invasion or whatever. I'm talking about an invisible narrator (in other words, the voice of the author) who interjects reminders that this is just a story they are making up for your entertainment. This was very common in children's books in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I think of it as a nod and a wink to the grownup in the room. It's annoying and condescending. Let your reader remain cocooned in the warm embrace of your story and forget about reality for a while. 

Did I miss anything? What helps you get lost in a story? 

14 Quotes That Only Writers Will Understand

Being a writer is kind of like being a soldier, or being married. (Speaking as someone who's done all three.) It's very hard, very rewarding, and no one who hasn't done it is ever going to understand. 

So when you've been asked for the thousandth time what your novel is about and when it's going to be published, and when you've resisted for the thousandth time the impulse to shake the questioner and scream, "What's with the third degree?!", it's good to know that you're not alone in the universe. Here are 14 quotes from great writers through the ages that perfectly sum up the joys and pains of our profession.     

1) William Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream": “And as imagination bodies forth/ The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen/ Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing/ A local habitation and a name.”

2) Samuel Johnson, "A Dictionary of the English Language": “It is the fate of those who toil at the lower employments of life to be rather driven by the fear of evil than attracted by the prospect of good…Among these unhappy mortals is the writer of dictionaries whom mankind have considered not as the pupil, but the slave of science…doomed only to remove rubbish and clear obstruction from the path of Learning and Genius who press forward to conquest and glory without bestowing a smile on the humble drudge that facilitates their progress. Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach, and even this negative recompense has been yet granted to very few.”

3) William Blake: “Poetry fettered, fetters the human race.”

4) Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass": “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.”  

 5) Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted. Persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished. Persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. By order of the author.”

6) J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Hobbit": “Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.”

7) Orson Welles: “If you want a happy ending, it depends on where you stop the story.”

8) Paul Theroux: “Fiction gives us the second chance that life denies us.”

9) Ron Carlson: “I always write from my own experiences whether I’ve had them or not.”

10) Peter S. Beagle, "Oakland Dragon Blues": “…That wasn’t a real story. It’s not in any book – you were just…making it up as you went along. I’ll bet you couldn’t repeat it right now if you tried. Like a little kid telling a lie.” The author laughed outright… “You’re quite right. We’re all little kids telling lies, writers are, hoping we can keep the lies straight and get away with them…Absolutely right…But you make the same mistake most people do. The magic’s not in books, not in the publishing – it’s in the telling, always.”

11) Terry Pratchett, "Wyrd Sisters": “Particles of raw inspiration sleet through the universe all the time. Every once in a while one of them hits a receptive mind which then invents DNA, or the flute sonata form, or a way of making light bulbs wear out in half the time. But most of them miss. Most people go through their whole lives without being hit by even one. Some people are even more unfortunate. They get them all.”

12) Stephen King, "On Writing": “It starts with this. Put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the center of the room. Art is a support system for life, not the other way around.”

13) J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows": “Tell me one thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has it been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry. But why on earth should that mean it isn’t real?”

14) Erin Morgenstern, "The Night Circus": “It is important . . . Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast . . . someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you can shape it, boy. Do not forget that . . . There are many kinds of magic, after all.”

Did I miss any of your favorite writing quotes? Let me know down in the comments.  

   

The Dos and Don'ts of Writing Characters With Special Powers

This is a guest post from the incredible Hannah Heath. She is an amazing writer and an all around cool person, but don't take my word for it. If you like this article, and I know you will, check out her blog here, and buy her e-book, "Skies of Dripping Gold", on Amazon.  

Hi everyone! I’m very excited to be able to contribute to Tamara’s blog today. Many thanks to Tamara for inviting me to do this, and many thanks to you for tuning in!

Raise your hand if you’ve ever wished you could use the Force…maybe to grab that book from your shelf without getting out of bed. Don’t lie. I know you have.

We’ve all been there. When we were little, we pretended to shoot fire from our hands or fly around the world, mimicking our favorite characters. 

Now we’re older and it’s less socially acceptable to pretend that empty paper towel rolls are magical swords. Lame, right? 

Thankfully for us writers, it’s totally normal to sit around and imagine up entirely new powers and magic systems. Suddenly things aren’t so drab.

But hold on a second. It’s easy to let superpowers and wizardry get out of control. I think a lot of authors get carried away by the sheer awesomeness of it, which is why books are overrun with characters wielding half-baked powers and living in magic systems that don’t make any sense. Authors get halfway into a story and end up so muddled with their power-building that they can’t dig themselves out.

You don’t want that to happen to you. Here are some do’s and don’ts to crafting characters who have special powers:

1) Don’t change rules just to make your character cooler. Do keep the rules consistent. 

Before you get in too deep, consider sitting down and outlining the rules and regulations of the special powers in your story. What are the powers? Where do they come from? How are they controlled? Are there other characters besides the main character that have powers? What are the limits to these powers? Think out all of the details, write them down somewhere, and stick with them. These rules should not be thrown out the window when it comes to your main character. If your character is somehow excluded from certain rules, you’ll want to add some other “special” rules to keep him in check. You’ll also need a good reason for your character’s specialness. Unless it’s a central part of the story, throwing a 1,000 year prophesy at her isn’t going to cut it. And no, the “I just want him to be awesomer than everyone else” reason is not a good reason. Sorry.

2) Don’t overlook complications. Do think the powers through first. 

Like the rules, your powers need to be considered extensively. Your character can draw energy from her surroundings? Great, but “energy” tends to be in the form of heat, so wouldn’t that mean she would cause everything around her to become extremely cold? She could kill herself and those around her. Your guy can fly? Epic. But can he breathe at high altitudes? What if he goes too high and passes out? Being able to read thoughts or see into the future is neat, but it also has the potential to unhinge a person’s mind. THINK about powers and all of their complications before you put them to work. There should be no silly wand-waving or foolish incantations in your story.

3) Don’t make your character all-powerful. Do give him restrictions. 

Meet Bob. Bob has unlimited resources, is the coolest person ever, and never comes up against anything he cannot conquer. Bob can do everything. Nobody likes Bob. Don’t write a Bob. No one wants to read about a character who is invincible, because then there’s never any suspense. We know he’s going to come out okay, so why even bother finishing the story? Give your character limits. You can either give them a character flaw (such as arrogance) or a “power check” (a rule that blocks the character from full use of their power). Or you really can have the character be all-powerful, but still unable to reach his/her goal. Anakin was the most powerful Force user in the galaxy. Padme was not, and the fact that he might not always be able to protect her literally drove him mad. Neo had unlimited power in the Matrix, but he was held back by the fact that he couldn’t save Trinity. While these are not restrictions of power, they are emotional restrictions that kept the characters in check.

4) Don’t be generic. Do dive into some research. 

There are a ton of special powers you can choose from. Mimicry, alchemy, quantum tunneling, psychometry, negation. There are a lot of cool ones. Just go ask Google for a list of supernatural powers and magical abilities. You as the writer can pick between many phenomenal cosmic powers! Why limit your characters to an itty bitty selection of abilities?

5) Don’t substitute powers for personality. Do make your character’s ability purposeful. 

Your character is a person first, then a power-user. Avoid getting so caught up in a character’s power that you forget to give the character any meaning outside of his power. Find a way to make your character’s ability entwined with the character’s personality and journey. When you give a character a power, ask yourself why. Why this power? Does it symbolize something? Does it move something along in a story? Or is it just random fluff that looks cool but serves no real purpose? I mean, we can’t all make our super cute vampire guys sparkle in the sunlight for no reason. Resist the urge. It’s hard, but I know you can do it.

6) Don’t just show the power. Do explain how the power feels. 

One of the most interesting parts of a character with special abilities is getting to understand what it feels like to wield those abilities. Does it feel like the unleashing of a dam? Or maybe the weaving together of threads? Is the feeling always there, or does it only show itself when the power is tapped into? Does using the ability make her feel tired, high, or frightened? Tell us what the character experiences when engaging her powers. It makes it more real.

Creating a character who has superpowers or magical abilities is insanely fun, so run wild. But not too wild. You are the creator of this character, so learn how to enjoy the creation process while also putting together a character with abilities that make sense and fit the story.

Now go forth and create awesome characters with awesome powers! Don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger.

Have you ever written a character with special powers? Do you have any tips to add or questions to ask? Leave a comment below!

4 Reasons Why Disney's "Read It and Weep" Is an Insult to Young Writers

When I was in my early teens, a well meaning friend told me there was a new Disney movie that I absolutely had to see. It was called "Read It and Weep". "It's about a teenage girl who becomes a published author," my friend said. 

"Cool," I thought. "A Disney character I can actually relate to." So I watched it. It was...oddly disappointing. I was even a bit insulted, but at the time I wasn't sure why. Oh, there were the obvious Disney problems. The supposedly geeky heroes were unreasonably attractive. The romance plot arc was so cliched that even at fourteen I could see the ending coming from a mile away. But I had the feeling that there was something bigger bothering me. I just couldn't put it into words. 

Then, a few days ago, I took my daughter to the pediatrician, and guess what was playing on the waiting room TV? I'll assume you guessed it. "Read it and Weep". This time it only took me a few minutes to figure out what had bothered me all those years ago.  So here it is. All the reasons why "Read It and Weep" is an insult to young writers. 

(Disclaimer: I have never read the book that the movie was based on, so I am not going to criticize it. It could be much better than the movie. If anyone has read it, please let me know what you thought.)

1)  It tells you that every writer secretly loves the spotlight. 

The heroine, Jamie Bartlett, writes a story about a superhero named Isabella who can zap bullies into perpetual detention. When her journal is accidentally submitted to her school's essay contest and wins first prize, shy, awkward Jamie becomes the most popular girl in school. The kids love her. Her English teacher thinks she's the greatest thing since Dickens and reads the entire story aloud to the class. The only one who isn't happy is Jamie. She hates all the attention, but the wild ride isn't over yet. A publishing company offers to turn the story into a book. Jamie reluctantly agrees, and before you can say "introvert's worst nightmare", Jamie is whisked off on a round of interviews, book signings, and celebrity parties. 
Here's where they lost me. In the space of about two minutes, Jamie goes from cringing introvert to glamour girl. Not only does she suddenly know all the right things to say, but she's having the time of her life. Her shyness is cured by the magic of Disney. Message: Even the most introverted people secretly crave the spotlight. They just don't know it until they get a taste of it.  

LIES! Sorry, Disney, but there is such a thing as a person who does not and never will enjoy being the center of attention, and in my experience most writers are that kind of person. As the psychologist Donald Winnicott once put it, we are "driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide." We like having fans. We like to know that our stories are touching people's lives and maybe changing the way they see the world, but we don't enjoy having to deal with those people up close, all at once! 

2) It tells you that every writer secretly longs to be normal.

Jamie has been labelled a weirdo her whole life. She's the quiet kid who sits in the back of the classroom and scribbles in her notebook. But once she becomes a bestselling author, everyone wants to be her best friend, especially the cheerleaders and jocks who previously either ignored or bullied her. 

And Jamie jumps at the chance to be one of the "normal kids". She goes on a shopping trip with her archenemy, Sawyer, whom she described at the beginning of the movie as "so vile that milk curdled at the sound of her name". Apparently, the magic of Disney erased her memory as well as rewriting her personality. 

Again I can only speak from my own experience, but I've found that most writers have more self respect than that. We know we're smarter than the bullies. We endure the teasing by reminding ourselves that one day we're going to be rich and famous, and all they'll ever be is mean. (Yes, that was a Taylor Swift quote.)

  

3) It tells you that you don't need to read in order to be a writer.

The only books that appear in this movie are school textbooks and Jamie's novel, "Is Saves the World". Even Jamie doesn't do any other reading. No classics, no fantasy novels, not even a comic book. Apparently, she was born knowing how to write a captivating story. 
And when she becomes famous and gets interviewed on TV, no one asks her who her favorite author is. I've watched a lot of interviews with famous authors. They always get asked about the writers who inspired them. J.K. Rowling likes Jane Austen and E. Nesbit, or so she told Oprah. 
But apparently, in Disney movies girls don't read. Wait a second...

4) It tells you that writers shouldn't base their villains on real people, even if they change the names, because that is mean. 

Jamie seems to be living a fairy tale life until she accidentally lets slip in an interview that the villain of her book, Myrna the Evil Cheerleader, is actually based on Sawyer. Her real friends are already mad at her for ditching them to hang out with the popular crowd, and now her new "friends" won't speak to her because she trash talked them in a national bestseller. After a few days of misery, she resolves the situation by publicly apologizing to the whole school. She explains that the book was really her private journal, and it was never supposed to be published, and she goes on to say...

"But that still doesn't give me the right to say those things. No one is black and white like they appear in my book. We're all a lot of things. All unique and special in our own way. And those are the things I should have been writing about."

Awww. What a beautiful Disney moment. But hang on. Those are tears of frustration, not joy. Is no one going to condemn Sawyer and her clique for the way they treated Jamie before she was famous? Apparently not. The only one at fault here is Jamie, for fighting back against the constant degradation in the only way she could - writing. Instead she should have written about how special and unique everyone is, even the bullies. 
At this point, I kind of wanted to strangle every writer who contributed to this awful script. Basing characters on people you don't like and then writing about their crushing defeat is a time honored tradition. If those people don't like it, they should have been nicer to you. 

So there it is. It only took me a decade to figure it out. I hope I can save you the trouble. If you haven't watched it, don't. And if you have, don't believe what it tells you. Writers, even famous ones, don't always like the attention. Writers are weird and proud of it. Writers read. And writers have every right (pun intended) to base their characters on real people. It's less work than plotting to murder the person in real life, and you can't go to prison for it.  

What Guns and Jet Planes Can Teach About Storytelling

Anton Chekhov once wrote in a letter to a friend, "One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep." This idea became a literary device known as "Chekhov's Gun". Chekhov's Gun has many applications, but for now we're going to focus on the most basic one. Setting the scene. 

I think writing description is a bit like building a jet plane. That may have something to do with the fact that my husband is currently studying for a degree in aeronautical engineering, and I'm writing this while surrounded by books on airplane design, but the comparison is still valid. In both cases you want your final product to be as streamlined as possible. Otherwise the wind will resist the plane's forward movement, and the description will impede the progress of the plot.

But how much description is too much? How do you know when to stop? Chekhov's gun and my husband's airplanes can both give us the key. Include only that which serves a purpose. If the gun is there, you have to fire it. Otherwise don't waste words on it. It will only confuse the reader.

The Hughes H-1 Racer, (above), the fastest plane of its time. Notice how its shape compares to the more common design of the same period (below). All the non-essential pieces have been removed, such as the double wing. 

Your description doesn't have to justify itself right away. You can mention objects that won't become important until further into the story, but the more significant the object is, the more consistent its presence in the story should be. 

In the first chapter of A Little Princess, Sara Crewe's father buys her a doll. This doll, which Sara names Emily, is initially given just as much description as most of the human characters, and thereafter she is mentioned at least once in every chapter. Emily becomes a symbolic constant, a core element of Sara's life. When Sara's father dies, leaving her homeless and penniless, the doll's extravagant wardrobe is sold along with Sara's own clothes, but Sara is allowed to keep Emily herself. Emily becomes Sara's anchor, her last ray of hope in a hopeless situation and a symbol of Sara's own resilience, her refusal to let her loving, generous nature be crushed by her circumstances. 

That only works because the reader has been paying attention to Emily from the very beginning. She is consistently present in the story, and each turn of the plot invests her with another layer of meaning. If she'd only gotten two sentences in the first chapter and then had disappeared until the middle of the story, the symbolism wouldn't be as powerful.

There are many other examples. From the the Sword in the Stone, to Cinderella's slipper, to the One Ring, literature has a long tradition of investing inanimate objects with deep emotional and even philosophical significance. Just remember that simply by drawing attention to the object, you are making the reader a promise. If that object never becomes important, you're breaking your promise. In fiction a cigar is never allowed to be just a cigar.

Stories and Children

In my last post I discussed healthy romantic relationships in writing and in real life. As I write this post, I am holding one of the many wonderful results of such a relationship - a newborn baby. 

Naomi Reuveni made her grand entrance at 3 a.m. on January 24. She is 3 and a half kilograms (about 7 pounds) of absolute perfection, although I might be a little biased.  

The hormones seem to have put me in a very philosophical mood and I wanted to share with you a thought that's been rattling around in my brain. It has to do with the power of words. 

Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" has always been one of my favorite musicals. I first saw it in a community theater when I was a teenager, and it's exploration of the power of stories had a profound effect on my worldview. Last week, as I held my daughter for the first time, the lyrics of the finale popped into my head.   

    

Suddenly, the words took on a new and terrifying meaning. This baby in my arms, this vulnerable little life, was my responsibility. I was entrusted not only with her physical safety, but also with her moral education. It was my job to make sure she grew up to be a good person who respected life and didn't, you know, rob banks and murder people. 

Fortunately my husband was there to rescue me from my moment of existential dread. He reminded me that we had our parents for role models, as evidenced by the fact that neither of us is a bank robber or a serial killer. We weren't expected to figure this parenting thing out all by ourselves. 

But of course, my brain being the strange place it is, the line of thought didn't stop there. I started thinking about the similarities between raising children and writing stories. I know that's a cliche, but it's a true one. Not just because of the emotional investment we put into our writing, but also because of the responsibility we have to our audience. 

I touched on this briefly in my last post, and this definitely won't be the last time you hear me say it. Writers have tremendous power. The power to shape people's opinions and philosophies in much the same way that parents shape their children. Fiction is as much a tool of social change as it is a form of entertainment. Rhetoric can change people's conscious beliefs, but stories get into their subconscious, slowly rewriting their basic code until what was once strange becomes normal.  

I can point to many terrifying examples of people abusing this power. In the 1930s, a German author named Julius Streicher published a children's book which depicted Jews as poisonous mushrooms infecting the world. This book and others like it fueled the campaign of hatred that nearly exterminated an entire race. But this power can also be used for great good. "A Little Princess" by Francis Hodgson Burnett has taught billions of children all over the world that it's not living in a palace that makes you royalty. It's how you treat other people. 

The point is that words are neither good nor evil. They're just a tool. It's up to us to use them responsibly, to tell stories that will make the world a better place for our children.  

So Naomi and I want to know, what stories do you think have changed the world for the better?