The Write-A-Story Calendar Day 4: A Stunning Setting

You've probably thought a bit about setting already, but let's take it to another level, shall we?

World-building is a lot of fun and very important for your story; if you're writing speculative fiction, doubly so. Too often speculative writers resort to those old, worn settings, like the ubiquitous medieval fantasy setting, when the setting could be virtually anything, the only limit is your imagination.

Writing a mainstream story and think you can get off scot free, world-builng wise? Sorry, you need to build your version of the real world setting, too, and it can be even tougher because the place actually exists. If you get something wrong, the reader can call you on it. So do your research. It might also simplify things to use a made-up neighbourhood in a real city, for example, to avoid these kinds of issues.

For a short story you don't need a story bible, but pick an interesting environment and make up what you need as you go. As with all description, the key is to pick interesting and unexpected details and to present them in an intriguing way that tells us something about the character experiencing them. Use mood and internal monologue to your advantage, here.

So now you've got an interesting setting. Is that enough? Maybe, but here are a few more things to consider:

• Is the setting the best pick for your story? Can it enhance the story's message, or help you use dramatic irony to your advantage? 
• Can the setting act as a metaphor for something in the story, or make a scene more poignant, or maybe add conflict? 
• Do you want the setting to enhance the mood of the scene or to add contrast? A boneyard of broken ships can evoke images of lost dreams, or a mother feeding her child in front of a wrecked spaceship might be code for life continuing after a crisis. Another fun trick is to use the same setting with a contrasting mood in a different part of the story, maybe the opening or closing.
• Does your world have an inner logic to it? You can't bend the rules just to make the writing easier. Actually, the creative solution within the rules is usually more intriguing anyway.

Play with your setting, make it a character in its own right.

Previous posts:

Day 1: The Big Idea
Day 2: Cool Characters

Day 3: Plot Play

The Write-A-Story Calendar Day 3: Plot Play

Okay, so you've got your idea and a bunch of interesting characters. What now?

Time to get plotting. (Cue mad scientist laugh.)

Without rehashing to the old pantser/plotter argument, I do feel it's good to have some loose idea of the plot before you start writing your story. Bare minimum? The ending. It might change as you write, it probably will, but at least you know what you're aiming for.

There is something to be said for a short outline, though: it's much easier to spot and fix plot holes at this stage. If you jot down the major twists and turns of the plot and then think about what the reader expects you to do, you can come up with something very unique and original instead. If the reader expects you to zig, maybe you should zag? It's a fine line, though. Do too much of this and you'll risk alienating the reader. Sometimes it's fine to do what's expected, especially if it's something that defines the genre. People reading a love story expect the characters to end up together. If they end up getting horribly killed by mutant zombie dinosaurs instead, your readers might get a bit miffed.

For a short story, side plots can add extra weight, but they can add depth as well. Does the side plot explore the story's theme from another point of view, or maybe mirror the main character's journey in a way? How will the side plot merge with the main plot at the end? For a cohesive story, the side plot should have a point to it in the context of this particular tale, not be separate from the main storyline. Figure out what's best for your story.

We'll talk about story structure and character arcs later, but for now, think about how your protagonist will change during the story. Is the change positive or negative? What will she learn? Or is it a flat arc story, as in the protagonist changes the world in some way instead of changing herself?

If you want an example of great plotting in the speculative fiction genre, check out any book from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. I guarantee you won't see the plot twists coming. Harry gets into all kinds of scrapes, but he never takes the most obvious way out, or often it's not an option, so he has to be more inventive, which makes for a very entertaining story.

Previous posts:

Day 1: The Big Idea
Day 2: Cool Characters

The Write-A-Story Calendar Day 2: Cool Characters

Okay, now that you've got your story idea, you need characters. I realise that for some writers it's the other way around, which is probably even better in terms of having the characters create the story. However you go about it, you want your characters to have agency, have them shape the story instead of being swept along, or worse, being just mindless automatons you're moving around on a whim.

For a short story, it's better to have a limited cast, only a few fully realised characters. Of course you get to have some extras and secondary characters with more limited roles, but you don't want to squander your word count on nonessential personnel. Short stories are all about economising, so think about which characters you need for the story. Can some of them be combined so one character will do instead two? Can they perform multiple functions on another level, too, like acting as an archetype (a mentor, for example) and also be a mirror character (more on these in a later post, but they provide a reflection of the protagonist, distorted or clear).

Have the main characters figured out? Okay. Which one's your protagonist? Are you sure? She should be the one with the most to lose and she should be interesting enough that people will want to stick with her for the duration of the story. Fine, sometimes you want the bland everyman protagonist or the story isn't told from the protagonist's point of view, like Dr Watson narrating Sherlock Holmes' adventures to maintain a distance and mystery, but this should be a conscious narrative choice, not stumbled into.

All your main characters should feel individual and not like stock characters or stereotypes. A lot of the time it helps to add backstory (not necessarily into the story, but you should know it) and some quirks and habits to the character. Think about what the audience would expect this kind of character to be and then subvert that expectation.

So, what makes a character interesting? Think about the people you know, anyone interesting there? Does someone stand out? Why? Is there a trait you could borrow for your main character? Google eccentric individuals and think about what makes them tick, or pick a favourite character from a movie or book to base your main character on. Don't copy a character outright, but make him or her your own. What if you too the basic essence of that character, separate from the story he inhabits? Changed his gender, added twenty years and different life experiences?

To have agency you need to have the character want something, and there needs to be something at stake. Don't think too small with the stakes, go for broke. Odds are your story will be more interesting.

You'll probably need an antagonist too, although the environment can also act as the antagonist, for example. Take the same care with building the antagonist as you did with the protagonist and the secondary characters. Also this about the story from the antagonist's point of view. She is the protagonist of her own story. And don't make the antagonist pure evil. Shades of grey are much more interesting. She doesn't have to be a good person, but we should understand why she does what she does.

I'll talk about dialogue in a later post, but do take a moment to think about how your character talks. Does she have an accent? Does she use big words? How does her gender and background affect how she speaks? And most important, what about her personality, how does that affect word choice, what she says, and how she says it?

Also think about what the characters look like, how they move, things like that. Is there something you can use to "tag" the character in the reader's mind, something that they subconsciously associate with the character?

You can also start to think a bit about how the character will change during the story, but we'll get to the specifics later.
 
Okay, that's it for today. Happy character building!


Previous posts:

Day 1: The Big Idea

The Write-A-Story Calendar Day 1: The Big Idea

December's here, and so are advent calendars. I thought about doing a book one this year, but then decided to try something a bit different: a calendar that will help people write a short story by Christmas.

I know a lot of you have just finished Nanowrimo and just want to kick back with a pint of Cherry Garcia and a Stranger Things marathon, but what about everyone who didn't finish? I've tried Nanowrimo a couple of times, and it just isn't for me. I can't write that fast and come up with anything half-decent. So, think of this as Nanowrimo light.

The sweet spot for a short story is around 3 -5k words, so that's what we'll be aiming for. The idea is to do prep work first and start the actual writing on day 11, which would mean about 350 words per day until Christmas Eve, with a few days off factored in. I'll be breaking up the prep into nice, bite-size pieces, so it'll be 90 % pressure-free.

You in?

Great!

Okay, so first you'll have to come up with a dazzlingly original story idea with a thought-inspiring message and characters that jump off the page.

Okay, you've probably got one, let's go.

Just kidding!

Don't worry if you're drawing a blank. Despite what some writers say, not everyone can pluck a story idea out of thin air at a moment's notice. It's called brainstorming for a reason. Sure, lightning can strike from a clear sky with no warning, but sometimes you need to chase the storm.

For a good short story you need multiple ideas, and you need to be original. Yeah, yeah, everything's already been written, there are only like five different stories, etc., etc. I'm not saying anything's off limits, just that mixing a few story ideas or twisting a trope can give you something that feels fresh. So writing a zombie story or a Harry Potter clone is probably a bit boring. But what if you mix them up and add a different setting? Harry Potter in space with zombies? I'd read that.

The process of sparking ideas can vary a lot from writer to writer. Chuck Wendig's flash fiction challenges are a good place to look for inspiration, especially the X meets Y type ones and the ones where you pick an image from Flickr for inspiration. Or you could do a Google image search for something like "weird weapons" or "bizarre Victorian ghosts" and go from there. There are also random story title generators and websites full of story prompts, and anthology calls are practically writing prompts in disguise, a good choice if you're aiming to submit the story (just give yourself enough time for editing).

For originality, don't go with the very first idea that comes to mind. If it's a trope, twist it a bit or add another element. What would make it original and unexpected?

Okay, see you tomorrow for the next step.

If you have any tips and tricks for coming up with story ideas, do post them in the comments.



   

Christmas Surprises

So, I've been working on a bit of a surprise for you guys. Check back on December 1st to find out what it is :) I'll give you a hint: it has to do with writing. I hope you'll like it!

An Ice-cold Story

The latest issue of Portti magazine is out, and my story "Kylmempi kuin jää" (Colder than ice) with it

Check out the illustrations, pretty cool, right? (Pun intended :))

A Letter From Santa

I just have to share this. The Finnish postal service is offering something special this year: a letter from Santa Claus. Best of all, you can order it from anywhere in the world. Here's the info from the Posti online store:

 

A letter from Santa Claus - What a great gift! 

Receiving a personal letter is a special occasion for any child. If the letter should come from Santa Claus himself, it will obviously be extra special. 

Santa Claus writes his letters at Santa Claus’ Post office. Each letter is sealed with a Christmas stamp and with the Arctic Circle postmark. 

With each letter, Santa Claus will enclose a certificate of niceness and a postcard to colour in. 

The letters are available in 13 different languages, so you can surprise children or friends all over the world. The letter is personalised, addressing the recipient by his/her first name. 

Place your orders to European countries by December 7th and other countries as early as December 1st. Orders to Finland can be placed by December 14th. 

The language options for the letter are Finnish, Swedish, English, German, Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Dutch and recently also in Portuguese and Polish!

How cool is that? This will make quite a few little ones very happy.