I recently had the pleasure of watching Marc Forster’s film, Stranger Than Fiction, which I found to be a delightfully charming, intelligent comedy written by first-time screenwriter Zach Helm. I give it two guitars up. Way up. (Platonically speaking of course).

It’s about an uptight IRS agent, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), who realizes that his mundane life is being narrated by the voice of a chain-smoking novelist played by Emma Thompson. The novelist is suffering from a bad case of writer’s block and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown because she can’t decide the ending to her story.

Going mad with the constant narration in his head that accurately predicts his every move, Crick solicits the help of a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman) to help find his voice. To his utter shock and dismay, Crick learns that the voice of his narrator belongs to this eccentric author that writes tragedies in which her heroes are killed off.

But Crick does not want to die! For the first time in his life he is discovering who he really is and what his true passions are. He sets out to meet the author with the determination to alter his fate. And upon meeting, the two worlds collide. The author is petrified to see that her main character has come to life and that he is very real indeed.

I can certainly relate to this movie as a writer working on my first inspirational novel. The movie raises some intriguing questions: What does it mean to be real? To find one’s voice? To express one’s voice? Who is narrating our story? Can fate be altered? Where do the boundaries of fiction and non-fiction collide?

I certainly don’t pretend to know the answers. I can only share my perspective as a writer. One of the challenges writers face is to know their characters inside and out and to have a complete understanding of the world they have created so that everything magically comes to life. As the story-writing guru, Robert McKee, likes to say, “Not a sparrow should fall in the world of a writer that he wouldn’t know.”

I believe in a sense that we are all writers. We are writers of our own play. In The Hero Soul (http://www.HeroSoul.com), I close the last chapter of my book with a quote from Shakespeare:

”All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”

The world is a stage upon which we perform. Each age consisting of the acts and scenes of the play. But it’s our play. We choose how we act in each scene moment by moment. What type of play do you want to write? What type of a life do you want to live?

Realizing that he is going to be killed off, Harold Crick asks the literary professor for advice. The professor gives him a deceptively simple answer, “Go live your life! Do what you love to do!”

At first, Crick is offended by the professor’s triteness; but he realizes later that he has no control over his mortality and decides to do just that: live his life. He’s always wanted to play the guitar but never really had the time. For the first time in his life he walks into a guitar shop and sees this wicked turquoise guitar starring back at him. He picks up the guitar and begins strumming. In that moment his life is transformed from a tragedy into a divine comedy.

What have we been denying ourselves? What type of play do we want to have a starring role in? Sometimes we act in an “If Only” play with a bit part in shoulding all over ourselves until we are mired deep in our own pile of dung. I should write a novel. I should exercise. I should be a painter. I should start my own business. I should go on a dream vacation. If only I was younger. If only I was older. If only I had the money. If only I had the time.

In the professional world of writing there is a clause known as the “kill fee.” The kill fee is a fee paid by the editor to the writer for an assigned piece of writing that is killed off and never published. It’s usually a percentage of the total amount that was originally agreed upon between the editor and writer. Although there can be many reasons for rejecting a piece, the kill fee is often executed because the writing simply isn’t up to par.

When we’re not being our best selves, when we’re not expressing our unique voice, when we’re not being true to ourselves and not doing what we love to do, something inside of us dies. Life then pays us a kill fee: something less than what we truly deserve.

Are we living a life that’s worthy of being published, or will we live a life of mediocrity and accept the kill fee that’s assigned to us?

Image taken on 2009-09-07 13:06:04. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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In fiction, the writer’s job is to entertain, to draw an emotional response from the reader. The reader is often looking for suspense, action, and to go on a journey they have not been on before, one they will not easily forget. Readers want to get drawn into and experience the story for themselves. They want characters they can relate to and form a personal connection with. But most importantly, they want a good book. One that leaves them anxiously awaiting each turn of the page.

Here are five crucial elements of a good fiction book:

Well-developed characters: The characters in the book must be well developed and believable. The characters should remind you of your teacher, your lawyer, your doctor, or maybe even your best friend. Even though they are fictional, they come alive for us in the story.

Action: A good fiction book needs to be filled with action. The good guys are after the bad guys, the doctor needs to find a cure. From the beginning to the end, the reader can’t bear to stop reading because the action just keeps coming.

Great Plot: The writer keeps the reader guessing right to the end by using surprising, realistic plot twists. Just when we think we know “who done it” – bam – a new twist creeps up and a story involves more. As we near the end we wonder if there is time to solve it? Will it have a happy ending? Most readers long for a good ending to their story as they grow fond of the characters in the book and want to see the best happen to them.

Enjoyable to Read: Readers want to have fun. They want to escape into this book and for the moment forget the day’s events and challenging issues that face them. They want a personal connection with the characters and also they want a story that inspires them to make a difference.

Keep Your Audience in Mind: When writing fiction it’s important to remember to keep the audience in mind. These are the people who will be picking up your book and buying it and also hopefully recommending it to a friend or family member. For your particular book, what do they want to read? What will keep them on a Friday night turning each page to see what happens next. It’s different with each book, but once you capture your audience you have the makings for a success.

Writers write about what they know. They can bring the sounds, colors, and images of their world to life in their story. Fiction is where writers get the opportunity to bring you into that world and keep you there until, “the end.”

Image taken on 2007-01-25 17:57:13. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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Back in the days, the games came with only very basic writing to get the user by until the game play had started but today’s gamer requires so much more from their games that they choose. This is where the interactive fiction genre has come into play. For many, this has been the best there is in excitement and thrills for their time in the games.

The ride that this kind of writing is able to produce makes certain that the player has a much better time in respect to the other games that are operating on the same premise. The players enjoy a large amount of control over the outcome of the game and also how the story will play out. This means that so much is in the hands of the player that will give them the power over the whole game and maybe make the whole experience a bit more exciting.

Interactive fiction is just like the name sounds. It is fiction that has more than one ending and can change throughout the course of the story. This is a highly popular genre these days and is a small throwback to the early days when the paperback companies were making books that had several endings to please the reader dependent upon which way the reader chose to go. This was a popular model for writing back then but the genre faded for a while until the fantasy role playing games came into existence. With the introduction of these games the genre was resurrected so to speak.

The need for fiction that could bend and move with the player became high and the demand started to far outweigh the supply. Writers the world over scrambled to make it to the market before the bottom fell out, but the end has yet to come. Publishers of books and games alike are actively seeking writers who can create stories and full books in the interactive format. The topics are vast and the writer is more than free to create as long as it will fit into the format that is set.

Interactive fiction has grown into a huge market and is making a splash with a lot of the game companies. Many of the video games are now being bulked with this form of writing to give the player more control. This has become highly popular with the younger generation of players who like to know that the game will change each time they sit down to play. The real trick is to keep the player interested and if you can manage that then you have an instant hit on your hands.

These days, the games almost have to have the interactive fiction installed to go anywhere in the market. This is even true of the many sports games that are now being released. The games work follows the life of the player and the character with the story making it more interesting to keep playing even though the player has won the game overall.

Image taken on 2007-09-16 09:17:29. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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Harry Potter has “disapparated,” A Series of Unfortunate Events has come to its tragic ending. So what’s the next great children’s book series? And more importantly, could you be the one to write it?

It seems every other writer wants to pen “the next Harry Potter.” But before plunging headlong into the world of juvenile series fiction, there are a few things to consider.

Why write a series?

The benefits of writing series fiction for kids boil down to three essentials:

1. Hone your craft. I learned the craft of mystery writing by selling the Chet Gecko Mysteries series and having to write the books on deadline. Series teach you about plotting, character, motivation, maintaining consistency, and how to sit down and write when your Muse is on vacation and you’d rather be off surfing.

2. Hook readers. Series are “training wheel books.” The familiarity of the characters and world make it easier for the reader to enter with each succeeding tale. This builds literacy skills and creates new readers who will want to read whatever you come up with.

3. Get a steadier paycheck. Let’s face it: those of us who are serious about making our living as fiction writers lack the steady paycheck of the nine-to-fiver. Selling and writing a series gives you predictable advances on royalties — as long as you keep up with your deadlines.

Convinced? Consider one more thing before taking the plunge.

Avoid this big mistake many writers make

I know, I know. You’ve got a whole world mapped out, including spin-off books, histories for all the characters, toy designs, and casting suggestions for the movie. But reign in that enthusiasm for a minute.

The biggest mistake most writers make is trying to plan the whole series before taking care of the basics: writing the best possible first book.

Before even thinking about selling your series (to say nothing of the merchandising rights), start by writing an amazingly good first book of the series. Make sure your tale has these essentials:

- A strong voice,

- A sympathetic lead character,

- Colorful, lively writing, and

- A well-constructed plot.

Most editors don’t want to see all 12 manuscripts and your 20-page marketing plan. They want to see one wonderful story and hear why you think your series is unique.

And if you can manage that, you’re one step closer to creating the next Harry Potter. Good luck with that.

Image taken on 2010-02-19 00:19:08. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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You can learn a lot about what it takes to place a story in an ezine by starting up one of your own.

Last month we started work on a new ezine for writers, which we intended to use to publish high-quality, contemporary fiction, from writers all over the world. We placed a few adverts asking for submissions of just that. What we got was a revelation.

As a writer myself, I know how competitive the market is. Even non-paying markets are deluged by wannabe writers desperate for a by-line and some publicity. Competition, I had thought, would surely lead to a high quality of submissions, with every writer determined to submit only their very best work. Not so.

Of the handful of submissions we received the day after the adverts went out, only around four were fiction. One was a “how to write” style article. One was an essay on “the day my gran died”. Two were stories about vampires. One guy just sent us his CV – in Arabic.

Lesson one, then: read the guidelines carefully. If the market you’re aiming at publishes fiction, then no matter how brilliant your essay or article is, it’s not going to be accepted. Neither is your CV….

Lesson two, I hardly even need mention: If the publication is in English, don’t send your submission in Arabic, on the off-chance that the poor, beleaguered publisher will understand it. Simple.

Having deleted the non-fiction submissions, I moved onto the “good stuff”. Or so I thought. Of the four remaining pieces of writing, none had been proofread too carefully. One story made reference to a businessman “clenching the deal.” One made frequent use of the word “the” and had apparently random. Punctuation. A bit like. This. The other two were … stories about vampires.

Lesson three: Proofread. Or, ideally, get someone else to do it for you. Any writer knows that once you’ve worked on a piece of writing, you become blind to its mistakes. You can “proof” it as many times as you like, but you’ll still just see what you think is there, rather than what actually is there. In any artistic Endeavour, a fresh pair of eyes is essential in providing a little bit of clarity and perspective. For this reason, I present:

Lesson four: constructive criticism is your friend. There are a lot of aspiring writers out there. Get together with one, even if it’s only by email, and swap stories with them. Chances are they’ll be able to point out something about your story that you’ve missed. They may have some knowledge about your subject matter that you lack – for example, the fact that it’s called a “bass” guitar, not a “base guitar”, as one enlightening submission had it.

Finally, a quick note about bio’s. When you send your work to an ezine, of course you want a little something in return – other than cold hard cash. You’re looking for publicity, and your author bio is the ideal way to do it. Keep it simple, though. Of all of the submissions we’ve received so far, the one that sticks out the most is the one from the author with the most impressive credentials of the lot. So impressive, in fact, that her bio ran on for four A4 pages.

The problem was, her work stood out for the wrong reasons. She had certainly been published in a lot of magazines (I know, because she’d listed every single one of them) and won a huge amount of competitions (yep, she’d listed all of those too. Every one of them.) , but by the time I’d waded through all of the story titles, publication dates and other non-essential info, I was heartily tired of her. Her bio was four pages long: her story only two. When that happens, you know you’ve gone into overkill.

Essentially, too, after such a tremendous build-up, I was expecting something utterly spectacular which her writing failed to deliver. It seemed almost as if she was trying to use her bio to persuade me to publish her – the story was just an afterthought.

Lesson five: let your writing do the talking. When it comes to biographical info, less is more. I want to read your story, not a breath-by-breath account of the last twenty years of your life. Keep it simple, keep it short.

Image taken on 2008-05-19 23:27:15. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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Writing a novel is an act of discovering yourself and discovering your potentials – Writing a novel is not as difficult as you might think, and completing a novel is one of the most exciting feelings in the world. many writers say the hardest part of writing a novel is starting it. The problem is that writing a novel is hard but there is help at hand! Why struggle on your own ?

<b>The Role Of Characters In Writing A Novel</b>
.The most important part of writing a novel is for you to know your characters well and setting up your story in a way that keeps the reader intrested the whole way through and you make the novel irrestible for your reader. They say that writing a novel is 10% telling the story and 90% editing. The most important thing in writing a novel is that the material can sustain your attention for the years it will take to finish the book.
Fiction can originate from “direct personal impression” to “the writer’s resources of experience”. Fiction appears to grow out of a convincing character but the author can guide against this by having good characters and character development . Good fiction doesn’t just happen, it is designed. Editors love character-based fiction and let’s face it, great fiction is character-driven.
The time you invest in designing characters up front will pay off ten-fold when you start writing. Characters will assume different significance, some will fade into the background, some will leap into the spotlight. Characters play a significant role throughout the entire novel and have to advance or regress throughout the course of the novel. You start hearing the voices of different characters. For each of your major characters, take an hour and write a one-page summary sheet that tells:the character’s name,a one-sentence summary of the character’s storyline,the character’s motivation.
When you read the opening of a gripping novel, you are immediately drawn into the story either by the main character’s drama, problem or some conflict. So much so, that you just have to read on. You will find so much more guide and advise in the link below that you will find writing novel so easy and interesting and you will soon be writing a novel.

Image taken on 2008-11-13 23:24:33. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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Ask anyone that you meet if they’ve ever had an idea to write a book and I bet that 99% of the time their eyes light up and they say ‘Yes.’

Everyone has numerous wonderful book ideas. My experience and conversations with thousands of people tell me that this is true. The difference between those that actually write a book and those that don’t is simple. Those that don’t write a book don’t believe that they can.

That’s simply not true. Anyone can write a book.

If you can talk, you can write.

Take a look at 5 of your favorite books, fiction or Non-fiction it doesn’t matter. In fact, grab a few of each. Now, open each book and read a few paragraphs. What do you see? What you’ll likely notice is that there is a common theme running in all of them.

They’re written conversationally. They’re written like you talk. Conversational style is the best style because it is easy to read, easy to understand and easy to write.

Take a look at some of the most prolific authors, both fiction and Non-fiction. Stephen King comes to mind as a very prolific fiction writer. Non-fiction writers might include the Chicken Soup series and co writers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. All of those books are written conversationally. They’re accessible to readers of all ages, income levels, and IQ’s.

Conversational style eliminates jargon. It eliminates large words that people have to rely on a dictionary to understand. Conversational style also uses the word ‘you’ often. It’s written as if you were writing a letter or telling a story to a friend.

Basically, if you can write a letter to a friend, then you can write a book—I promise. Of course you need to be able to plan a book too but all that requires is a plan or an outline. Once your outline is established, writing the book can take as little as a month to complete.

Image taken on 2008-04-28 22:03:15. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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If your readers don’t care about your characters, you’re sunk. Readers don’t necessarily have to like all of your characters, but they have to care about what happens to your main character, or there’s no reason for them to keep reading.

Which means you have to care about your characters, and you have to know them, maybe even better than you know yourself. To create characters that live and breathe on the page, you must first create characters that live in breathe in your psyche. This is why you need to know much more about them than you’ll ever have to include in your completed story.

One way to achieve this authentic character history is to put your main character(s) in as many real-life situations as possible. And because thinking is only the first stage and can only get you so far, write these situations out, considering all sorts of details.

When you can imagine your character in different places and with different people, beyond people and places your story requires, you make your fictional people exponentially more realistic within the confines of your own story.

Start by deciding on the basics: your main character’s date of birth and favorite things (such as food, color, activity, place, song, movie, book, friend, family member, possession, game, animal/pet, amusement park ride, season). Remember: these are details you’ll want to work out, even though they may never need to be discussed in your story.

The basics is great place to start, but to create the most vivid, memorable characters, you’ll need to stretch your imagination and go beyond the basics.

The following exercises will get you started in developing rich, believable, interesting characters. Choose the exercises you’re most drawn to, and really let yourself go—don’t worry about polished sentences or grammar or mechanics. (You can’t plumb the depths of your imagination when you’re worried about comma placement.)

STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: List emotional, intellectual, and physical strengths and weaknesses for your character. Include any special talents or aptitudes. Get your hands on an IQ test and take it from your character’s perspective, not yours. (Tricky, but fun and worthwhile.)

DINNER AT OUR HOUSE: Imagine a family meal at your main character’s dinner table. Write a short descriptive scene revealing the average evening meal at your main character’s house.

Now revisit that meal scene and add tension. (After all, tension makes fiction go ’round.) Perhaps the school principal called Mom that afternoon and therefore Mom has some serious lecturing to do (or some serious disappointment to relate). Or maybe Dad lost his job that day and — over meatloaf and green beans — tells the family that they’ll have to be uprooted (again). Perhaps the teen daughter brings home a dinner date who only Mom (an undercover detective) recognizes as a convicted felon.

The point is: think of an emotionally-charged piece of information that will make this meal very different from the one above. Write this scene, paying attention to specifics.

WHAT WOULD S/HE DO? Imagine an ethical dilemma that your character finds himself/herself in. Maybe your character was offered a job promotion or a large bonus based on a task s/he didn’t carry out alone. Does s/he tell the truth and share the credit with the colleague or keep quiet about it and bask in the glory solo? Choose a moral quandary, plunk your character it in, and write a short, thorough, descriptive scene. Be sure to tap into your character’s thoughts, fears, conflicts, and ultimately how s/he arrived at the final decision.

DEAR DIARY: Write three diary/journal entries from your main character’s point of view, fully in his/her voice and in his/her head. Make the entries occur on different days and have them deal with different events and emotions. Try to include a whole range of feelings — joy, sorrow, rage, uncertainty, anxiety, to name a few.

DOCTOR, DOCTOR: Write up your character’s last physical exam report, as it would be written by the family physician. Include all relevant details, along with any physical complaints the character might mention.

Then write up some clinical notes from a psychologist who has been seeing your character in therapy. Perhaps your character has discussed his/her worst fear with the doctor. Reveal as much background to that fear as you can: when and why it began, how it’s manifested, how your character struggles to cope with it.

DEAR AUTHOR: Your character writes you (the author) a letter, instructing you quite specifically in how s/he wants to be portrayed in the book. Make your character’s personality come through loud and clear in this letter. Try to set yourself aside as you write it.

JOB APPLICATION: Get your hands on a job application (or create one of your own), and fill it out from your character’s point of view. Include work history, schooling, references, as well as the character’s statement explaining why s/he would be perfect for the job.

Always remember to have fun with these. The minute you’re not having fun, stop. The looser and more relaxed you are when you try these exercises, the more you’ll get from them. You’ll discover things about your character you never thought you knew, which translates to a more fully realized, believable person alive in your story.

To discover additional ways to make your writing habit more enjoyable, satisfying and productive, visit http://ManuscriptRx.com and sign up for “Write Through It,” the FREE monthly e-newsletter that offers practical writing advice and anecdotal wisdom.

Image taken on 2007-04-08 10:21:56. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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Writing a book is a lot like getting married. It is intensely personal, it calls for a big commitment, and it requires a sustained effort. And like marriage, it carries no guarantee of success. Books and marriages often fail for the same reasons. The most common reason is that the writer doesn’t know enough about the four essential components of a successful book. It may surprise you to know that the first and most important of these components is the self.

1) self — Many writers get an idea and jump into writing about it, never giving any thought to the motive behind writing it. Yet why you want to write helps determine what you write. The second component is:

2) the subject –Do you know enough about your topic to convey how your (or your character’s) experiences felt? Do you know enough to teach your readers what they want to know about the subject? The third essential component is

3) the readers — Are you clear about who you are writing this book for? Do you know the profile of the ideal reader of this book? The fourth component is, of course, the actual writing of the book. This includes the format, mechanics, style, tone, etc. 4) the writing– Do you know the writing techniques that will create and sustain reader interest in your book? If you have sufficient knowledge about your motives, your subject and your readers, you’ve already solved many of the most aggravating problems of writing. Successful writing requires a harmonious blend of writer, subject and reader. When this is achieved, an alchemy takes place. This alchemy informs the writing process, cutting through the common problems writers face. Once the alchemy is there, a writer can usually work swiftly and efficiently, avoiding many writing pitfalls and completing the book in less time than (s)he expected it to take. Achieving this alchemy depends on knowing a number of things about yourself, the writer, and your motives; about the subject to be written about, and knowing some essentials about the people you hope will read your book. Let’s take a look at each of them:

WHY YOU WANT TO WRITE: Maybe you’ve always dreamed of achieving fame and fortune as an author. You’ve pictured yourself chatting with David Letterman or Jay Leno, or being interviewed on Good Morning, America. You see yourself autographing books for a long line of admiring readers or standing before large audiences, telling them about your book. Perhaps you see your book being made into a movie. Do you know what kind of book to write to turn this dream into a reality? Maybe you want to write as a means of self-actualization. You know you have things to say that others will find interesting but you’ve never taken the time to organize them into a meaningful text. Writing a book can create just the opportunity you need to organize your vast body of knowledge on a subject, or to explore your own psychological depths. Do you know who would be interested in reading this book? Or maybe you hope to gain immortality, to perpetuate yourself through your autobiography. Other reasons for writing an autobiography include creating a legacy for your family, to give children and grandchildren a sense of belonging and continuity. Your motive for writing a book might be to help others. You may have pioneered an experience (anything from a self-cure for cancer to roller blading across the U.S.) or discovered a new or better way to do something. What you’ve done or learned could help others, and you want to write a book to share. Do you know who would welcome this information? Recording knowledge, experience or history is a valuable contribution. It can bring fame and fortune, help you self-actualize, advance your career or be a way to spend your spare time constructively. Your book could provide an important teaching tool. It is important for you to know which of the above motives are your reasons for wanting to write, because your reasons are tightly connected to whether or not the kind of book you write will be a success.

WHAT YOU WANT TO WRITE

First, what types of books are there? Books can be broken down into fiction or non-fiction. Fiction includes general, romance, Gothic and historical novels; westerns; mysteries; suspense and adventure stories; children’s books. Nonfiction includes all factual books: how-to’s; cookbooks; books on history; art; travel, plus academic books on any area of knowledge. There are also hundreds of professional and trade journals which print articles in specific areas of interest. These can be written in any of the following nonfiction forms: news, feature, analysis, how-to, opinion, speculation, interview, inspirational, evaluative, study, narrative, history, journal, observations, creative nonfiction, summary, list or satire. Now, how can your motive influence the success of the kind of book you want to write? Well, consider these facts. According to the Writer’s Market, only 5% of writers earn over $80,000 a year. Your chances of attaining fame and fortune will be better, therefore, if you write the type of book that the greatest number of people want to read. It helps if it’s the kind of book that will translate well into film or video format. The most popular kinds of fiction books are love stories and legal thrillers. The most popular non-fiction books are how-to’s, followed by books on health care; men/women relationships; business and management advice; spiritual and psychological works, and dieting If your motive is self actualization or to help others, the popularity of your book will be a minimal factor for you. You may already know that your book will appeal to only a limited market. Who over 40, for instance, will be interested in roller blading across the United States? How many people will be interested in reading the history of your home town, or your opinions, evaluations, or your life story? Perhaps your main motive is career advancement. Will this purpose be best served by targeting beginners in your field as your audience? Your peers? Those who have been in the field longer than you? Do you know what differences in approach are needed to write successfully for these three different markets? The same questions apply to those who want to write a book to help others. Who are these people? How much do you know about them? Is your reason for helping them to impress them, to encourage them or to inform them? These are all factors in determining the contents and style of your book. Now you need to know if you have what it takes to write that book.

IF YOU CAN WRITE

Do you have the time to write? Do you like to write? Are you an idea person? Do you have patience? Do you have the training to be a polished writer? Can you make the emotional commitment to the type of solitude and perseverance required to write your book? Don’t get discouraged if you’ve answered no to some of these questions. By following the step-by-step approach outlined in my book, you’ll find that a time commitment of as little as one hour a day can get the job done. The essential part is your emotional commitment. You’ve got to believe in your project and believe in yourself. You have to be convinced of the importance of writing this book. You have to commit to it, and the best way to do that is to make a contract with yourself. Your contract is your vow. Decide on a time of day when you can consistently devote time to writing. Then assess how much time you can spend at it daily. Don’t overestimate. It’s important for you to write consistently each day, at the same time and if possible in the same location. If all you can realistically expect to devote to writing on a daily basis is fifteen minutes, then contract with yourself for fifteen minutes. Then, if it turns out that you can spend two hours at it on some days, consider that bonus time. Once you’re clear with yourself about when, where, and what time you can give to your writing, write a simple contract with yourself: Here’s an example:

I am a writer, now engaged in the writing of a book about __________________. I pledge to devote __________(minutes/hours) to this project every day, from __________ (hour) to__________ (hour). Signed: Date:

Don’t over look this step. It seals your commitment to yourself to follow through on this project and solemnizes the importance of this task. It also formalizes exactly what part of your life you will carve out to make way for this accomplishment, and it commits you to getting into the habit of writing. Now inform your family, friends and associates that you will be unavailable at those times. It’s important that your writing time be uninterrupted. Other people will have to take it as seriously as you do, allowing you quality time for your work.

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Most fiction authors write in the past tense. They tell readers what happened. This is as if the author says, “I see the events in my mind, and I’m writing about what I saw.” Very few fictional books are written in the present tense.

One reason for this is that writing in the present tense provides serious challenges to the author: maintaining perspective, introducing prior events, and filtering the stream of consciousness.

Below, we discuss these challenges and provide an example of present-tense writing done well.

1. Maintaining Perspective:
Well-written scenes have only one perspective. As readers, our focus is on one character, and the scene is described through that character’s experiences. Usually, the focus will be on the protagonist. We perceive the scene through that character. However, that scene can be described again from another character’s experience. This is possible because the scene is written in the past tense. We already know that it has happened.

When writing in the present tense, the events have an immediacy that makes this difficult. We read about what is happening at the moment, not about what already happened. This limits the author’s ability to show events from multiple perspectives because when the perspective shifts, the events already occurred. As such, when the perspective changes, the author continues to show what is now happening but through a different perspective. The author keeps the readers in the “now.” This can be a powerful tool for keeping the reader engaged in the story, but it is difficult to accomplish.

2. Introducing Prior Events:
Events do happen prior to the current experience, and describing them in a present-tense story requires a shift to the past tense. However, the author may need to include those events to help the reader understand the present experience or to provide the motivation for a character’s actions and thoughts. This is difficult to accomplish. The author must make these time shifts smoothly, without losing the present-tense perspective and without making the reader wonder when the event is taking place. The author has to separate present and past tense without damaging the readers’ engagement in the present tense events.

3. Filtering the Stream of Consciousness:
The human brain is always thinking, which means that the character on whom we are focused is having many thoughts. Some may be repetitions, some may be revisions of prior thoughts, and some may be off topic completely. Some will be new and relevant to the experience the character is having.

The challenge to the author is identifying the thoughts that are relevant and necessary to the story without creating gaps in the character’s consciousness. Shifting between a description of thoughts to description of physical activities and environment will help, but as with introducing prior events, this can be difficult. While we are reading the character’s thoughts and feelings in the present tense, other actions and events are occurring. Thus, when the author “leaves the character’s mind” and returns to the “real world,” he cannot go back to describe what has happened in the meantime. So the second part of this challenge is to ensure that the reader doesn’t miss critical events.

An Example of Present Tense Fiction:
Robert Silverberg, winner of multiple Nebula and Hugo awards, uses the present tense very effectively in Starborne. This is the story of 50 people traveling across the universe through “nospace” to find a new planetary home. Obviously, it is science fiction.

Here’s a quip from the book that addresses the second and third challenges:

“The year-captain wonders whether everyone aboard, one by one, is about to undergo some maddening transformation for the worse. Already Noelle is losing the ability to communicate with her sister on Earth; the blunt and straightforward Sieglinde has unsettlingly chosen to challenge the reliability of the theorems that she herself helped to write; and now the easygoing and irreverent Heinz is tiresomely eager to explain the year-captain’s own responsibilities to him. What next? What next, he wonders.”

Science fiction may not be your preferred genre, but this novel is worth reading if you intend to write in the present tense and are unsure about how to do it well. Find it in a bookstore, sit in a chair, and read the first couple chapters, at least. Study how Silverberg resolves the three challenges noted above.

We have a variety of editorial services for authors that will help you prepare your manuscript, but reading and studying Starborne will give you a good start.

Image taken on 2009-08-11 12:05:28. Image Source. (Used with permission)

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