Tag Archives: writing advice

March 15, 2024 · 11:17 AM

I Don’t Want Your Protagonist to Be Me

Have you ever put a book down without finishing it because you find the main character(s) insufferable? I found myself doing that with an enemies-to-lovers romance I picked up the other day, and I had to ponder for a while why I had found it so intolerable. The book switched between the two love interests for narration, starting with the female lead. (I’m not going to name the book or author in this post because there’s no need to trash an indie author, y’know? She self-published. Good for her.)

The female lead spent the first two chapters complaining about literally everything in her life. Her car. Her job. Her own inability to arrive anywhere on time. Her coworkers. Her customers. The new owner of the restaurant she works at (who happens to be her love interest). She’s just this fountain of negativity from page one.

But the thing is… she’s just like me. Cynical. Sarcastic. Negative. Grumpy. Prone to complaints.

Mini Bex looking angry and saying "I'm not being cynical! I'm being right!"
I’m at the airport so I have to illustrate my blog however I can.

So why don’t I like this character? She’s just like me, so I should be able to see myself in her and relate to her, right? I’ve even had some pretty terrible experiences as a server, so this should be right up my alley.

This truly baffled me even as I put the book down, knowing I’d never pick it up again. But after a long discussion with my loving husband, I managed to weed out the truth.

I don’t want your book’s protagonist to be me. I don’t want the book to be a mirror. I don’t want to feel interchangeable with the protagonist.

I want to be friends with your protagonist.

That’s the difference. It seems like not much would change. After all, many of my friends are cynical and sarcastic, too. But if I meet someone for the first time and they spend the entire time they’re around me complaining until their lips turn blue? Yeah, I probably won’t end up inviting them to grab coffee later. I don’t even complain until my lips turn blue on first meeting someone, and I’m a champion complainer. I have the awards to prove it.

A drawing of a blue ribbon, a trophy, and a medal, all dedicated to being good at complaining.

Although, the trophy could be shinier. And the blue ribbon is made out of really cheap material. Come to think of it, the awards ceremonies always go on too long. I wish they’d cut out one of the speeches. Just one. Is that too much to ask??

The fact of the matter is, it seems (emphasis on seems; I’ll never know for sure if this is true) the author of this book had some personal feelings to vent RE: working in a service industry. Those problems and complaints might be universal, but it all has to do with presentation. Many forms of media are sought out for their ability to provide some kind of catharsis. But when you’re writing fiction based in any way on your own negative experiences, you have to ask yourself: Who is this cathartic for? Me or my thousands of potential readers?

If the answer is just you, maybe some ideas need more workshopping. You have likely had negative experiences that are relatable to the masses–air travel gone wrong, serving a demanding customer at a store, Thanksgiving dinner–but just having your character lament being in one of those situations over the course of many pages does not automatically make them relatable. (And yes, at this point I have become aware of the irony going on here. I am spending this entire blog post complaining.)

I will reiterate: Your protagonist should not be a reader-surrogate. Rather, they should be someone the reader wants to be friends with. After all, what is the reader doing if not hanging out with your character(s) for dozens of pages?

The exception that proves the rule is, of course, Catcher in the Rye. (American Psycho was too obvious to use in this case. Plus, who am I to judge if you like Patrick Bateman’s style?)

I want to talk about the concept of “saving the cat,” and how all this relates to some edits I need to make to one of my own books, but I’ve already gone on too long.

Next time!

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January 31, 2024 · 9:03 AM

Not Special Enough

I wrote this book recently. It’s called Falling for the Protagonist. I had a great time writing it. The premise is that a woman gets transported into a romance novel and sends the male protagonist spiraling into an existential crisis when he realizes he’s a book character. It’s funny but emotional (Big ups to me for making myself cry at one point during a reread!), satirical of the romance genre but also an homage to it. I’m quite proud of it. I’ll copy and paste the first few paragraphs at the bottom of this post for those who are interested.

I’ve been querying this book. Got a couple rejections. No big. Except for this one that stuck out to me. Short but sweet, it said:

Hello Bex,

Thank you so much for sending your materials for our review. We really enjoyed this and can see the potential in your writing.

Unfortunately, however, despite all that we liked, we didn’t quite fall in love with this as we had hoped, so we will not be offering representation at this time.

Now, don’t get me wrong. A response–any response–from an agency is a good thing. There are many who say that you just have to wait six to eight weeks and if you don’t hear from them, that’s a rejection. The ambiguity and the… I suppose anticlimax of it… can be frustrating. Not that I blame them one bit. Can you imagine taking the time to send out what must be hundreds of rejection emails every week? No thank you. I’m just saying, when I get a negative response, I appreciate it.

But being me, I started to close-read this thing a little. What it boils down to is: Your writing is great. We don’t like it anyway. (Yes, I’m putting words in their mouth. My writing might have come across to them as merely good or adequate, but allow me the paraphrase here for the sake of my ego.)

I’ve contended with this frustration for many years. I’m not saying I think they should have accepted my book. Quite the opposite, actually. There are some people who write back or get angry or try to argue with these agents (I know; I used to intern for one). And all I want to ask them is: Do you really want someone representing your work who feels anything less than enthusiastic about it? How are they going to sell it to others if they can’t even sell it to themselves?

This also ties into the age-old question that agents and editors get asked time and time again: What do you look for in a book? I understand why people ask this question as they’re hoping to get an edge on how to find representation, but it’s unfortunately just not possible to answer as this industry is entirely subjective. The usual answer is something along the lines of, “I need a really strong voice.” This translates to what I see as a universal truth:

Sometimes I pick up a book and I like it. Sometimes I pick up a book and I don’t like it.

Happens to me all the time. I’ll start reading something and the writing will be perfectly sound, but it doesn’t “grab me” as they say. And I can’t always put my finger on why. The truth is, an agent (or editor) has to pick up your book and feel the click. No click, no contract. They can’t say “I didn’t like your book, but I don’t know why” because writers would riot. But that’s the gist.

This all brings me back to the aforementioned frustration I’ve been contending with. I think my writing is good. Some of my books are better than others, and I always have room for growth, but I’ve crafted some solid stories. I believe my writing is special and unique. The problem is, and I’ve just started to wrap my head around this, everyone is special and unique. It’s true! You are unique! But in a world that celebrates only a select few special people, that only works if everyone else fails to be recognized for their specialness. There would be no Many to worship the Few otherwise. There are thousands of good writers out there who will never get a publishing contract, actors worthy of every award in the book who will never see a stage or the front end of a camera, singers with voices like angels who won’t get a recording contract. You get it.

I know there is a very good chance that I will never see my work published (the traditional way). It’s just the way it goes. I’m special. I believe that. But I’m not special enough. LEST YOU THINK I AM GOING TO END THIS POST ON A MAJOR DOWNER…

It’s not my job to be the motivational poster on your wall. I’d suck at it anyway. Although… I did make this one.

But only because I thought it was funny!

The point is, I see no harm in trying again and again. If I lost track of Why (with a capital W) I write (i.e. because I enjoy it), that would be the real downer. As long as I’m writing, and I don’t see myself stopping, why not query? Why not put myself out there? A thousand rejections hurt, but I firmly believe you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. So go for it. If you don’t believe in your own specialness, how can anyone else?

Huh. I guess I became a motivation poster anyway.

Here’s a teaser of Falling for the Protagonist:

Chapter One

The back corner of the bar known as Bonne Nuit echoed with the jovial, slightly manic, titters and squeals that could only belong to a group of women who were two hours into a bachelorette party. Emmy Miura kept smiling as the feminine chaos surrounded her and tried to tamp down on the deep, heartfelt longing she felt for her comfy pants. They were at home all alone, probably missing her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d left them for so long on a Saturday night. Trying not to sulk, she shifted around until the strapless cocktail dress she’d bought for the occasion—at her sister’s subtle insistence—settled a little more comfortably around her.

“Deep breaths,” her best friend of a million years, Sarah, murmured to her.

“I am a bad person for wanting to leave.”

“You are a good sister for staying.”

That was one way to look at it, and Emmy did enjoy seeing May’s happiness, which was flowing more readily than the happy hour specials. Her sister, adorned with a sparkling headband that was coated in curlicues of metallic ribbon, was leaning over to listen to one of her friends. Whatever the friend said lit up May’s face.

“Yes!” she cried. “Yes, absolutely. I have to tell the story. I don’t even care if everyone’s already heard it a million times. Emmy, cover your ears.”

Emmy immediately went on alert. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to tell—shh seriously, guys, this is good—I’m going to tell the story of how me and Luis met. Emmy hates this because she is a cynic and a nonbeliever, but I’m telling it anyway because it is my party!”

“Oh Jesus.”

“How did they meet?” Sarah asked.

“She went to a sex psychic,” Emmy muttered under her breath.

“Sorry. Run that by me one more time?”

Emmy gestured to her sister, indicating Sarah should listen to May, and repeated, “She went to a sex psychic.”

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January 6, 2013 · 2:54 PM

Wrebecca’s Writing Wrules

I found it was hard to come up with a comprehensive list of rules for writers.  Mainly because this whole blog is that, and I don’t just want to sit here repeating myself.  But also because something like writing is hard to sum up.  Everyone has a different process, their own muse, their own favorite time to write, etc.  That being said, I did take a crack at it.  You will see some repetition; that was unavoidable.  That’s why certain things on the list will have links in them – they’ll just lead to the posts where I talked in more detail about that particular item.  Soooo…here goes with the list.

1. You never know nearly as much as you think you do – This is not as depressing as it sounds.  If you have read the beginning of my blog, and I’m talking about the first ten posts or so, you will notice that I was an idiot back then.  Did you see the kinds of advice I gave?  Did you see the apologies I had to issue for that advice?  Writing means, among other things, constantly learning.  You will never be done learning.  It is ongoing.  And that is good.  Constant improvement.  It’s not something you have to strive for; it just happens.  The more you write, the more you learn.

2. Go with your gut – I cannot count how many times I have brought this up in this blog.  But I figure there’s a reason for it.  I really do believe that your gut instinct as a writer is your greatest resource.

Listen to Your Gut

If your are reading a sentence, and that sentence simply doesn’t feel right, then there is a good chance you need to reword it.  If a character does not feel believable to you, then maybe you need to think about why that is.

3. Read – This should be obvious, but I want to restate it here.  You cannot be a good writer if you do not first have a basic grasp of what good writing is.  Now I am not saying that all published books are good.  *cough* Twilight *cough*  But the point is that you should be able to weed out which books are and aren’t good if you read enough.  And it’s not enough to say “I don’t like this book” and then throw it into the trash.  You have to be able to identify why you don’t like it.  It’s the same if you like a book.  Why?  What are the best aspects of your favorite author’s writing?  Being able to identify you reasons for liking or disliking some piece of writing will help you grow as a writer.

4. Nothing is anything until it is something – I started saying this to my friends and family the moment the possibility of me getting an agent arose.  It’s true in the book business, but probably in most of the entertainment industry and just the business world in general.  It’s my own variation on “Don’t count your chickens until they hatch” I guess.  But it applies to more than just signing with an agent and chewing your nails down to stubs while you wait anxiously to see if your book will actually get published or if the Rejection Amoeba will shoot you down.  It’s about writing at its core.  You have to actually write something for it to be something.  An idea is just an idea.  Words on a page are a thing.  You can change, edit, delete, whatever, but none of that is possible without taking the first step.  Embark on the journey.  There’s no risk, except maybe carpal tunnel.

Carpal Tunnel

5. Read it out loud – You should be prepared to read your whole book out loud, though special attention should be given to the dialogue.  You will be able to tell if your writing sounds genuine pretty easily if you feel comfortable saying the words you wrote out loud.  If you don’t, maybe you need to rework it a bit.  This works really well with dialogue because that is the part we are most used to delivering through speech, so if something you wrote as speech doesn’t sound normal to your ears, then you know it’s probably not believable in writing.

Read Aloud

6. Show Don’t Tell – This is a classic.  And I know I’ve talked about it at least twice before, but I only remember one post where I talked about it extensively, so that’s the one I’m going to link to.  Other than that, I have nothing to say besides please please please follow this rule.  I know Telling can be a style choice, but it’s very hard to do that well if you’re not already a skilled writer.

7. Challenge Yourself – One of my favorite posts on this blog is the one titled “They Say.”  I had a lot of fun writing it, and it expressed one of my biggest beliefs about writing – that you don’t have to limit yourself.  If you feel most comfortable writing short stories, maybe the challenge is to write a novel.  If you write mainly Fiction, maybe the challenge is to try some Nonfiction.  It might be terrible.  At least on your first attempt (I know my first attempts at Realistic Fiction were all just…awful.)  But it’s a learning experience, and one that I think is really crucial to the growth of a writer.  If you are constantly pushing your limits, you not only learn new things about yourself, but you learn new things about writing, and what it means to you.  So find a challenge, give yourself an assignment, Google “writing exercises,” ask a friend for a list of words that must be included in a story (see below the Word of the Day), and just get to it.

I think that’s it.  I don’t know if that advice was so much about writing.  It may have been more about being a writer.  But I think that kind of advice is just as valid.  So here’s a comic (click to enlarge) and Word of the Day.  Don’t forget to keep scrolling down for my Writing Challenge!

Writer's Block Strip 9

Word of the Day: Crucial (adj) – involving an extremely important decision or result; decisive; critical.

Bex’s Writing Challenge!

In order to do my part to encourage you to challenge yourself, I have decided to offer a small writing assignment for all interested parties.  As I said above, a great writing challenge is to take a random list of words and incorporate them into a story.  Ever heard of Flash Fiction?  It’s a really, really short piece of fiction that usually ranges from about 200 to 500 words.  My challenge to you is to take the list of words below and use them in a piece of Flash Fiction.  Then, if you so desire, post that story in the comments section.  I will read and offer my comments to all those who choose to take part.  (Don’t worry.  I’ll be nice.  And this is an optional thing, obviously.  I’m not going to find where you live and threaten you until you write short fiction for my amusement).

So here’s your list:

Apple

Expensive

Ordinary

Superfluous

Tangible

Officer

Weirdly

[End List]

I will probably take up the challenge myself and post my story for all to see.  Until then, Happy Writing!

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