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Exposition is one of those horrible parts of writing that you have to get exactly right. Too much or too little and the reader will notice straightaway, rolling their eyes at your inability to explain things directly. It’s an unfair reaction, especially when there are so many things to explain. ‘Exposition’ is the part of the story which explains or establishes things for the reader: who your …
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A MacGuffin (or McGuffin, or Maguffin) is a plot device common to some of the most successful stories ever written. Your characters will obsess over how to find it, search jungles and alien worlds to get their hands on it, and kill to keep it, and yet many people will tell you it has no place in a great story. Yes, the MacGuffin is a tricky device, but it can benefit your story when used …
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A Christmas Carol, The Catcher in the Rye, Heart of Darkness. Other than stellar writing and compelling characters, what makes a story stand the test of time? How do certain novels achieve the lofty ‘classic’ status while others fade into relative obscurity? The answer is all in the subtext. Authors like Charles Dickens, J.D Salinger and Joseph Conrad use literary tools – theme, allegory and …
[Read more...] about Your Quick And Easy Guide To Theme, Allegory And Symbolism
Good writers are always looking for ways to improve their craft, but great writers are prepared to beg, borrow and steal so long as it gets them the best advice and the most effective devices for telling their story. That’s why in this article I’m going to mug poetry, rifle through its pockets, and bring you back the volta, a tried-and-tested narrative device that can help your …
[Read more...] about Your Book Is Crying Out For A Volta – Here’s How To Deliver
We’ve talked before about the benefits multiple antagonists can bring to a story – and how to give each a unique purpose in the narrative – but what are authors supposed to do when those antagonists are on different sides and, like any interesting characters, have specific, often contradictory, goals? Antagonistic forces have natural potential to not only get in your protagonist’s way, but each …
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Sometimes, the most effective villain is the one you didn’t see coming. It’s the helpful friend who turns out to be the villain’s stooge, the kindly inn-keeper hiding cannibalistic intent, or the sage master whose long-game is to tempt you to the dark side. Of course, for these villains to work, you have to trust them first. As an author, this can be incredibly difficult. It’s not enough to just …
[Read more...] about How To Make The Reader Trust Your Villain
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