Fiction’s Ultimate Concern

“The only requirement for good fiction is that it be interesting,” Henry James said.  A fiction writer doesn’t have the restrictions of a non-fiction writer.  As a work of fiction belongs solely to the writer’s imagination, he/she is not bound by any formal rule. The only limitation comes from the imagination.

For any work of fiction to enter the realm of classic: it has to be good, interesting and relevant to all times; before and after its publishing period.

What separates a good fiction from a great one is not just the literary and technical skills of the writer, but also the universality (the universal questions the book deals with).

Paul Tillich calls it the Ultimate Concern. The contemporary fiction which falls under the best category has the quality of the ultimate concern in abundance. Ultimate Concern is something that we take with unconditional and utmost seriousness in our lives without any reservations. It’s something that we are ready to suffer or die for. Ultimate concern is the main concern in a person’s life. The ultimate concern consumes the person. It contains the answer about the meaning of that person’s life.

A person is grasped by this ultimate concern. Take the example of Harry Potter. His ultimate concern was to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes and kill him. Harry was aware that either he would be successful in thwarting Voldemort, or he would die in the process. Though the outcome of this ultimate concern was absolutely clear to Harry, he was caught in the ultimate concern’s deadly grip. It haunted him. He had just one mission in life. Stop Voldemort.

Every work of fiction grapples with an ultimate concern which consumes the protagonist like a fire. The resolution of this ultimate concern forms the crux of the story. For me the ultimate concern transfers into the conflict in the book. Maybe the conflict in my book may not be universal, maybe this conflict is just crucial for my protagonist: but it becomes his or her ultimate concern, something he or she is dead serious about. Something they are willing to die for.

How do you decide the ultimate concern of your protagonists? Are they grasped by it like Harry? Please share. We would love to learn from everyone’s experience.

P.S.  I am reposting an old post. Next week I will have a new topic for you all.

Creating a memorable antagonist

When we talk of the characters in our books we normally talk of the main character and the other characters who play a supporting role. We write posts on how to make him/her more likeable, memorable and rounded.

I think that in our mad rush to create lovable protagonists, we tend to overlook the antagonist. He single handedly drives the conflict. Creates tension. Is  responsible for the obstacles in our character’s life.

The protagonist and antagonist are two sides of the same coin. Without them our manuscript is incomplete. Having a strong antagonist is as important as having a strong protagonist. While working on my current WIP (yes, even though the muse is on a holiday, I am still jotting down points and writing scene descriptions and thinking on world building lines).

I realized that I was paying a lot of attention to my protagonist. My antagonist was coming across as a weak one. No wonder then, the conflict in my manuscript was looking pale.

To toughen the conflict and raise the stakes, I had to concentrate on the antagonist. Make him strong. Powerful. Clever and resourceful. If the balance tilts in one person’s favour, the conflict loses its appeal. But if we have two powerful forces (protagonist and antagonist) that’s when the conflict becomes interesting and the battle between them engrossing and intriguing. Till the last minute the reader must keep guessing who is going to win the war.

We have to constantly ask ourselves what are our antagonist’s strengths? What are the advantages he has that give him an edge over our main character. Is the antagonist able to capitalize on his strengths? Is he able to push the protagonist into corners? What about the antagonist’s weaknesses?  Is the main character aware of the chinks in the antagonist’s armour? What is the antagonist’s safeguard against the protagonist?  

To make the conflict strong, I have to give both the protagonist and the antagonist an equal number of strengths and weaknesses. A battle grips us when there are two powerful forces pitted against each other. Forces that would do anything to win. Who is about to find the chink in the other’s armour first? Who is able to capitalize on the other person’s weakness first, will decide the winner?

I loved Harry as much as I disliked Voldemort. I wanted Harry to kill Voldemort, come what may. They were two formidable forces with an equal number of strengths and weaknesses. Their clashes were page-turners.

Is the antagonist on top of your character development? Do you believe that powerful antagonists drive the conflict better? What are the things you all are doing to create powerful antagonists? We all would love to know.

Have you ever fallen in love with your Main Character?

I can confidently say that I am in love with all the characters I have created: Leo the  brave lion who goes in pursuit of his dream, Bunny the grumpy baby rabbit who hates his name, Nina the notorious prankster and Rahul the wimp who becomes a Soreiquil (a human with a piece of a Zespirit’s soul inside him). As writers its but natural that we fall in love with all the characters we have created.

All the above characters I have created have been for the Middle Grade readers (ages 9 to 14 years). But Devon (the half-blood devil) one of the protagonists of my half-blood angel and devil YA book, is my first brush with an older hero.

Though I am still in the first draft mode (courtesy the virus) which derailed me by a few days and played havoc with my mind, I am currently in the process of getting to know Devon. I am not sure whether I have deliberately or sub-consciously given Devon all the traits (both physical and emotional) that I find appealing in a boy/man.

There are certain qualities that I just flip for: strength of character, loyalty, honesty, sense of humour, the ability to chase one’s dreams until they are fulfilled, the guts to stand for one’s rights and the need for justice and a desire to protect the honour of a lady. Throw in good looks and a body to die for and you will have me swooning like a teenager.

Devon, my protagonist has all these qualities in abundance. Though he is a cynical guy, who does not believe in love, he cherishes friendships and is always quick to return favours. As I am wading deeper and deeper into the story, I feel a certain bias towards Devon more than Annabell, the half-blood angel pitted against him. It will be with a heavy heart that I will put Devon into trouble and pile problems into his life.

Have you ever felt that strong a love or connection with a character you have created? I hope my falling in love with my male protagonist will not jeopardize his journey in my book. I hope I will be able to do justice to him and not make things easy for him because of my affection for him. Any tips for me about distancing myself from my main characters?

13 Elements of a Good Story

Many elements go into making a book  lovable and memorable. The reason we like  some books and  dislike  others  is not just because  of the writing style or the story, but for several other reasons.  I have read many not so great books only because I found the characters worthy of following. Unfortunately these characters were caught in a not so great story. Many other books  I  have read because I liked the way  the plot  twists  kept me on tenterhooks, though I disliked the language and  the writing style was ordinary.

For a book to make the cut, many elements must fall into place. The ones that instantly come to mind, I have listed below.

1.      A  Strong  Protagonist: who beckons the reader into his/her story and  makes them follow him/her page after page. The protagonist has to be likeable and has to have a few redeeming qualities which would make a reader chase him /her through the story. 

2.      A Powerful Antagonist:  who evokes  immense dislike from the readers. An antagonist so vile that to see the antagonist fall readers will stay awake the entire night to turn the pages.    

      

3.      A Unique, Original, and Amazing Setting that makes the readers take an amazing journey into a previously unchartered territory. Settings take time to create, but they are well worth the effort.

4.      An Engrossing Conflict that sucks the readers in its grip.

5.      Unexpected Twists and Turns of the Story: keeps the readers engrossed.

6.      A  Generous Sprinkling of  Romance: brings a smile on the readers’ faces and makes their hearts flutter.

7.      Heart Tugging Emotions: very  crucial for the emotional connection with the readers.

8.      Rounded, Peripheral Characters : they help in  pushing the story forward.

9.      Atleast two Strong  Subplots that Intersect the Main Plot:  this can involve the peripheral characters and  is extremely crucial to break the monotony if the main plot slackens.

10.  A Gripping  Plot: packed with racy scenes that add tension and make it a page    turner.

11.  Awesome Writing Style: full of vivid and unusual descriptions that tease the senses.

12.  Wonderful Dialogues or as I prefer to call them Conversation Pieces that are remembered long after the book has been put down.

13.  A Great Resolution ; preferably a Happily Ever After or a resolution that leaves the readers satisfied with the way the story has ended.

Do you think there are other elements that I have overlooked? Is there any other element that is crucial?  Please share with us. Not only are we keen to hear about it, we can also add it into our next manuscript and perhaps get close to writing an awesome book.

P.S. I suddenly realized that Friday had crept up on me and I had not written a post. So, I cheated by reposting an older post with a few changes. Hope cheating is allowed once in a while. 

The Craft of the Short Story

I am extremely fond of writing short stories. I have written around 60 and practically all of them have been published. I hope to write many  more. Short story was the starting point for my writing career. My editor told me something very sweet about a short story; it’s a novel waiting to grow up. Not always, I said. Many times a short story is just a short story, but, sometimes inside each short story lurks a novel, waiting to emerge.

My Blog Buddy Mark Noce asked me “My big question for you is how to write a short-story without it morphing into a novel. This often happens to me.”

To answer Mark’s question, I would have to say that a short story is just a very thin slice of someone’s life, a beam of moonlight, a brief interlude. Its just one tiny incident that has happened in the main character’s life, while the novel is a series of incidents.

Unlike novels, short stories do not have the advantage of a long drawn courtship with the readers. There is no serenading the readers over several chapters. The attraction is Instant. Or, there is no attraction at all. It’s a Do or Die situation.    

             

One person stories are extremely powerful, and if its in  the first person narrative, then, all the more better. This kind of narrative creates a sense of deep intimacy, the reader gets a close peek into the protagonist’s soul and life.

One of the main features of a short story is that it has just 1 or 2 main characters, too many characters vying for space in a short story spoil the effect; its then like a party where no one has enjoyed the atmosphere. The movement of the characters is severely restricted. The writer is unable to do justice to any of the characters. A crowded characterization is acceptable if it’s a party, or a classroom scene, then, these extras lurk outside the fringes of the story, never interfering with either the protagonist, or, the  movement of the story. Surplus characters slow down the pace of the story.  

The best feature of the short story is its indifference to cramming details about the characters, situations and events. For a short story, it’s like one is packing for a brief holiday: only the basic necessities that we just can’t do without are added to the suitcase.  It’s different from a novel, where one is literally shifting house: bag and baggage.

The reins of the plot of the story are held tight, the writer is aware of each and every breath the story is taking. The breathing is even and measured: no long drawn sighs, or, gasping for breath. The journey of the short story is similar to a ride in which there is no halting, or, loitering around, or, even taking a little rest.  It’s more like a 100 metres dash. Start to finish.

Short stories with ironic and trick endings like ‘The  Necklace’ by Guy Du Maupassant  will seldom be forgotten. The psychological short story popularized by Anton Chekhov has become memorable. The settings in many of his stories is in the minds of his characters, the dialogues are a steady stream of internal monologues. A short  story that has  lingered in many minds  for a long time is ‘The Gift of the Magi’ by O’ Henry. This heart wrenching story is recollected every Christmas.

Short stories that work best have a Twist in the Tales. They certainly grab a reader’s attention. It requires an adept story teller to provide the end that takes the reader completely by surprise. This twist in the tale must stem from either the character, or, the story.

Short stories make the tendency to tie up every loose end redundant. This is its biggest plus point. Few things can be left unsaid, few questions unanswered. A short story is just one scene from the main character’s life; a scene complete with a MC, Conflict and a Resolution. Most short stories start with a conflict, which is then quickly resolved. In a short story you need to start at the climax; think of a person in a setting.

Life Unordinary asked me what is the ideal length of a short story. The ideal length is  400 words for Flash Fiction and 500 words to 800 words for a picture book, 1000 words is appropriate for children’s stories, 2500 to 3500 words is the word count for most competition entries for adult short stories and also for older children. Some writers have gone on to write short stories of 10,000 words.

PS: Just wanted to share with you all the good news that my short story ‘Ganesha’s Blanket of Stars’ won a Special Mention (Prize) in the Unisun Reliance Timeout Competition. Next year I have been asked to judge the competition. I am quite excited about it.

          

5 Brainstorming Tips for Manuscripts

I don’t spend much time brainstorming my stories. I start writing the outline or the working synopsis the moment I feel the need to do so. But, the story has been buzzing around in my mind for several weeks, maybe even months, taking shape and growing bigger. Its not like  I get an idea in the morning and by afternoon I have decided  that it will be my current WIP.

 But, I have never spent time actually sitting down and brainstorming a story. I think it would  be a wonderful idea if  I  do that. I feel that the Brainstorming can be split in 5 ways;

1.       Protagonist. We can work on creating unique characters, perhaps giving them  a distinct personality or traits, or even a quaint way of talking or a different way of  dressing. Not just unusual but even individualistic and strong protagonists go a long way in helping stories. The protagonist can have unheard of hobbies ( like collecting lizard’s tails, wings of a butterfly) habits, interests, their choice of a career can be off the beaten track, they can have weird  friends and fetishes, they can suffer from strange physical or psychological maladies, or they can have social inhibitions that prevent them from forging  strong relationships and friendships.

2.      Setting. An original and unusual  setting will go far in interesting and hooking readers. There are several things we can add to settings: strange people, customs, habits, food, fauna and flora, rituals, way of talking and dressing, way of communicating. What has not been seen before will make for great hooks where settings are concerned.

3.      Antagonist. The amount of attention we pay to the protagonist, atleast half the amount should be paid to the Antagonist, as he/she drives the conflict and provides tension. The antagonist should be given a  literary makeover: he can be different from the antagonist haunting every other book. We should strive to create strong antagonists who are powerful enough to attract the reader’s eyeballs. We can give the antagonist plenty of qualities that will make him/her stand out: a sensory highlight where one of the senses is more powerful than the others, a cruel streak, a revengeful nature, a petty way of thinking or getting even,  or a funny sense of humor. Maybe we can make them a megalomaniac or a kleptomaniac.

4.       Conflict. This is where we have the reader caught and ensnared. A gripping conflict will ensure that a reader’s attention does not constantly waver.  Conflicts requires a lot of effort. We can try and make them unique and add obstacles and problems  like sadists. For a truly engaging conflict we have to get merciless.

5.      Resolution. Happy Endings are extremely important to give readers a sense of redemption. We can twist this by making endings happy but unexpected: the protagonist has reached his or her destination in an extremely unstereotypical fashion. The reader should be literally taken not just by surprise but also  be rendered a pleasant shock at the way the story has been resolved.

This is what I plan to do for my next manuscript. I hope to spend few days brainstorming. How do you all  work on a story? Do you all just plunge into writing the outline or do you all work on individual bits? We would love to learn brainstorming tips from you all?

Tips to Craft the Sub – Plots

Sub- plots are a vital part of any story. As we all know, a  sub- plot is a secondary plot that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. When one or two sub- plots  are added to a story,  the  story  becomes  powerful and the conflict is enhanced.  The story then  gets its required amount of tension and its grip on the readers becomes firm.

Here are few points I have learnt while  working  and researching on sub-plots.

             1. A sub-plot involves  lesser important characters or what we call secondary or supporting characters. The significance of the events in a sub-plot are also of less importance when compared to the main plot.

             2. A sub-plot  should  connect  or be related to the main plot in some way: the characters involved in the sub-plot may have a vested interest  to sabotage either the protagonist or the antagonist’s agendas.

             3. A sub-plot can run parallel to the main plot  without intersecting or affecting it at all. But these sub-plots have to be powerful by themselves and should involve characters who are important enough by themselves. The actions of these characters should affect the story in some way.

             4. A sub-plot can intersect the main plot at regular intervals when the characters involved in the sub plot feel that their interests are being affected by either the protagonist or the antagonist’s actions. These characters can have hidden agendas of their own, which though the protagonist and the antagonist are not aware of, yet it affects them in some way. It requires a lot of planning to create sub-plots  that constantly cut into the main plot.   

            5.  Sub- plots take up less action and the conflict from the subplot is milder when compared to the conflict in the main plot. The conflict in the sub-plot has to be interesting and has to affect the story in some way: directly or indirectly.

            6.  Many experts advise that  good stories should have two subplots intersecting  the main plot at regular intervals. When these subplots cut into the main plot, then the conflict is intensified; this increases  readers' attention and keeps them glued to the pages of the book.

 I feel I am a sub-plot novice.  I am completely clueless where sub-plots are concerned. I have been looking a lot for resources and tips to help me with sub-plots. While outlining I try to plan the details of atleast two sub-plots. What about you all? Do you all pay a lot of attention to sub-plots? How do you plot and plan  the sub-plots which are extremely important. We all would love to  learn and get these details from you.

Fiction’s Ultimate Concern

“ The only requirement for good fiction is that it be interesting,” Henry James said. A fiction writer is free from the shackles that bind the non-fiction writer. For creating a world of make believe a writer of fiction is under no legal obligation to anyone except his muse. As a work of fiction belongs solely to the writer’s imagination, he or she is not bound by any formal rule. This freedom is akin to the wind under the wings. The only limitation comes from the imagination.

For any work of fiction to enter the realm of classic: it has to be good, it has to be interesting and of course relevant to all times; before and after its publishing period.

What separates a good fiction from a great one is not just the literary and technical skills of the writer, but also the universality (the universal questions the book deals with in its own inimitable, unique and interesting way).

Paul Tillich calls it the Ultimate Concern. The contemporary fiction which falls under the best category has the quality of the ultimate concern in abundance. Ultimate Concern is something that we take with unconditional and utmost seriousness in our lives without any reservations. It’s something that we are ready to suffer for, or, even die for. Ultimate concern is something which makes every other concern in that person’s life secondary. The ultimate concern consumes the person. It contains the answer to the question of the meaning of that person’s life.

A person is Grasped by this ultimate concern. Take the example of Harry Potter in the seven books by Rowling. His ultimate concern was to  destroy  Voldemort's Horcruxes and make him susceptible to  death and  also stop him from unleashing his terror on the wizards. Harry was aware that either he would be successful in thwarting Voldemort, or, he would die in the process. The outcome of this ultimate concern was absolutely clear to Harry. But he was grasped by it, caught in the ultimate concern’s death like grip. This thought haunted him day and night, he was a boy possessed with just one mission in life. Stop Voldemort.

I believe that every work of fiction grapples with an ultimate concern which consumes the protagonist like fire. The resolution of this ultimate concern forms the crux of the story. For me the ultimate concern transfers into the conflict in the book. Maybe the conflict in my book may not be universal, maybe this conflict is just crucial for my protagonist: but it becomes his or her ultimate concern, something he or she is dead serious about. Something for which they are willing to stake their lives.

How do you decide the ultimate concern of your protagonists? Are they grasped by it like Harry? Please share. We would love to learn from everyone’s experience.



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Our Internal Conflict Versus Character Conflict

If the protagonist is the head of a story or a novel, then, the conflict is the neck which turns the head left, right, up and down. Conflict is crucial to the plot, it can be internal (some trait, flaw, or shortcoming which the protagonist has to overcome in the course of the story) or, the conflict can be external (a villain, some evil, or, an antagonist who has to be fought).

Conflicts single handedly drive the plot forward. Readers frantically turn the pages eager to check how the conflict has been resolved. The tougher the conflict the more intrigued the readers are!

The reason we as writers love and identify with conflict is because it’s an important and integral part of our daily lives. YES. It is. Conflict like change is a constant. In everyone’s life. Don’t we undergo conflict when there are several things that detract us from writing? Isn’t life a constant battle to find time to write as well do several other things? Don’t we have to wage wars with certain temptations and desires so that we can focus our attention on our WIP? Don’t we cringe as the hands on the clock race by and we haven’t chalked decent writing hours in the day? Balancing several duties as well as trying to find time to do something that fulfills us a.k.a writing is a daily conflict. That we have to resolve amicably, so that everyone around is happy.

The same rule applies to and for readers. Life for them too is a daily conflict. Trying to balance several tasks. Trying not to let certain people/events/situations needlessly provoke them into undesired behaviour. Trying to maintain a calmness in the midst of turmoil. Balancing the several duties thrust upon them by family and society against their personal desires is a huge conflict.

With conflicts being such an crucial and integral part of our lives its but natural that the conflicts in our books mirrors the conflicts in our lives. By resolving our character’s conflict we emerge stronger, bolder, and emotionally wiser. Resolving the conflict our protagonist is undergoing at times proves cathartic. Subconsciously we try to imbibe our protagonist’s strengths and at the same time transfer our own strengths to the main character. The characters that we create emulate us in some ways. Perhaps they are our alter egos, a part of our inner desires, our secret wish. By clearing the character’s paths somewhere along our writing journey we are uncluttering our minds from the extra thoughts that constantly reside there, whittling away the unnecessary elements from our lives by getting focused on our writing, and clearing up our emotional debris by concentrating on someone else’s life (read the main character).

Conflicts make characters stronger: both our inner selves and the characters we create. By fighting our main character’s battles we somehow get the strength to resolve the issues we have been dilly dallying over in our lives. And if we have been successful in resolving them beautifully in our books, not just the protagonist but the writer too has emerged victorious.

Do you think that conflicts make us stronger? Have you learnt from your main character’s conflicts? Please share. We would love to know.