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.

Scribblers or God’s of our Universe

I always feel that we writers can be called Gods of our writing universe. Have you ever thought that we writers get to play God with our literary characters. We hold the strings of their destinies in our hands. 

We have the power to breathe life into characters and bring them to life with the stroke of a pen, or, with the tap of a few keys. We are privy to all their secrets. We also have the means of ridding them of their problems quickly, or tormenting  them for several chapters or even killing them.

In our writing universe we can do everything that we cannot do in the real world. Would we create problems in someone’s life like we do with relish in our protagonist’s life? I don’t think so. Do you think any of us can be accused of manipulating people in real life, in the way we manipulate all our characters? God forbid. None of us have a single mean bone in our bodies.

When we write, we become meanies. We shove aside our guilt conscious, and trouble and torture our characters mercilessly. The more we torture them, the higher the stakes rise. To make our characters believable we add heavy doses of problems in their lives. We try to create realistic worlds, create believable protagonists, add loathable antagonists, generously add conflicts of all kinds, and finally resolve it to universal appeal.

Deep down quite a few of our characters reflect our secret desires and passions. Even the not so nice ones. Can you believe it, I am actually jotting down ways I can make my protagonist get into more trouble. I am ensuring that there is trouble brewing in every chapter.    

                

Are we writers closet control freaks? Is that one of the main appeals of writing? To be in complete control of every aspect of our character’s life?  Or, do we love to create new worlds, new situations and new people? What aspect of writing appeals to you all the most? Do you like playing God with your characters? I would love to know.

Why conflict is important?

Conflict is as crucial to the story as the protagonist. If the  protagonist is the head of a story, the conflict is the neck, which turns the head left, right, up and down. Conflict 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! I feel external conflict in the form of an evil villain, work better than inner conflict as they have the power to terrorize the protagonist by throwing obstacles in his/her path.

Though conflict can be tiring, it’s an important and integral part of our daily lives. Conflict like change is a constant. Many times we are trapped in conflicting situations; whose side to take in an argument. Several times we undergo conflict when we fight the temptation to turn away from that second piece of chocolate cake. Don’t the books in our TBR pile give rise to conflicts in our minds; which book to pick up next.

Trying to strike a balance between the various social medias and our manuscript puts us in an conflicting situation every single day. Real life provides a plethora of conflicting situations every day and trains us in writing better conflict in our stories.

Many times 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. 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.

Writing from different Points of Views

So far most of the books and stories I have read and written have always been from the main character’s Point of View. The events unfold as the main character sees it. Everything that happens in the stories happen in connection to the main character. Most of the books and stories I have read have always embraced a single POV.

I have read just a few books with two POV’s. But in almost all these books we can consider both the characters as the main ones. A friend told me about  a book where both the main characters narrate alternate chapters. I read a review of a book online where the two main characters present the stories from their points of view: in each chapter they see  things differently. I thought that was a cool way of seeing things. I am yet to read books with more than two POV’s.

Rick Riordan’s series Kane Chronicles has the two main characters, the siblings Sadie and Carter each telling their version of the story. To avoid confusion underneath the chapter heading the author mentions the name of the character whose point of view is being presented. I enjoyed these books tremendously. I felt it was unusual and quirky as both the characters had their charm and individual way of story telling.

I must mention that I have just read one story where the main character was the antagonist. I found it very different from the usual stories I normally read.

Do you feel stories with points of views of different characters and not the main character can be successful? What do you feel about stories told from the POV of the antagonist? Do the antagonists  then become the protagonists in such stories and the protagonists the antagonists? Can such stories work? Which POV do you all prefer in your stories, both as a writer and reader?

       

Some Writing Prompts to Trigger Creativity

I came across few of these writing prompts in a book. I tweaked and modified most of them to suit our  current needs: keeping our WIP in mind. I am sharing them with you all, in the hope that it will help us out of tight spots and knots in plots.

1. Select an ordinary domestic item  such as a teapot, a mug, a jeweled brush, a broom and write an article on it. For eg: the jeweled brush can belong to a princess, the broom can be a witch’s who has lost her magic powers. This prompt  creates wacky short stories.

2. Write a conversation between your protagonist and antagonist. This prompt can pinpoint  the weaknesses and strengths of  both the protagonist and antagonist and will assist when its time to bring them face to face.

3. Interview your protagonist at different ages: 7,11,15,19, 23, we can even reach their old age. I am sure this prompt will be fun and will help us with our protagonist’s goals. What kind of a person has our MC become in old age, have they achieved everything that they set out to do? How did they achieve everything? Are they happy, or bitter?

4. Try Time Warps. Imagine you or your protagonist coming back from the future and confronting your present self, or, the present day world. We can also send the protagonist into an alternate universe. This writing prompt can also be tried for the antagonist.

5. Take some unusual  pictures and  write about it from the Point of  View of one of the characters in your WIP. This will make us see things from that person’s perspective and give us a peep into that character’s mental makeup.

6. Stare into the fire, clouds, rain, tree, a table, or, even a house and see what pictures start to form. The setting sun or the sunrise are wonderful prompts. Write the scenes that you see  from the point of view of your protagonist. What feelings do these  scenes evoke? What is the protagonist’s emotional state when he/she encounters the above scenes?

I seldom try Writing Prompts (I may have just tried few). But these have motivated me to give them a go. What about you all? Do you do writing prompts, or, are you like me and generally give them a  miss? Any favourite prompts you want to share?

Picture Credit and Copyright Melissa Crytzer Fry

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?

What Kind of Friends does your MC have?

Friends are an important part of all our lives. I am sure we all look forward to long conversations with our close friends. We confide in them and cry over their shoulders. They are the reason we smile even in the midst of  discomfort and trouble. Our friends can be slotted into several categories.

Do we give  considerable thought when we start creating friends for our Protagonists or Main Characters? What kind of friends do we give them? Do their friends help them, or, are their friends a cause for trouble. Here is my take on few types of friends we can give our MC’s:

1.      The Sacrificing Martyr – who will sacrifice his or her comfort to help the protagonist.  Just like Hermione and Ron who almost always put Harry’s interest before their own. This was visible  especially in the last book when they left the comforts of Hogwarts to be with Harry.

2.      The Fair Weather Friends – who will desert the ship when troubled times loom large. The support of this kind of friends can be certain only for  good times. These friends are self serving.

3.      The Voice of Caution – a lot like Hermione in the Potter Series. This type of friend also doubles as a guardian and conscience rolled into one, giving warning about the repercussions of certain actions the protagonist undertakes. This type of friend can put up a fight if she or he feels that the protagonist is acting foolish.

4.      The Idiot – who provides the lighter moments and is the butt of all the jokes like Neville Longbottom  and Luna Lovegood in the Potter series. These friends are harmless and can rise to the occasion if the need arises.

5.      The  Turn Coat – who does not think twice before betraying the protagonist  when it suits him or her to serve other interests that clash with the protagonist’s.

6.       The Fool Hardy One – this type of friend leads the protagonist into all kinds of trouble.  The aim of this friend is  to get the protagonist into as much trouble as possible.

7.      The Wise Ones – who have the answer to most puzzles  bugging the protagonist. These friends can be a great source of help to the protagonist.

8.      The Dependable Ones – these friends can and  will almost always help the protagonist  and will stick with him or her  through troubled times, through thick and thin.

9.      The Jealous Friend – this kind of friend is fiercely competitive and sees the protagonist more as a rival than a friend. These friends are extremely prone to jealousy and may even harm in a moment of  anger.

10.   The Silent One – who seldom offers an opinion, but can be extremely loyal and protective of the MC.

11.  The Defender – who gets into all kind of trouble trying to protect the hero/heroine. This type of friend picks up fights on behalf of the MC.

12.  The Lackeys – who hang around the MC as it’s prestigious to be seen in their company. They are like leeches, they can never be depended upon for help.

What kind of friend/s have you given your protagonist?  Did you ponder over the type of friend you wanted to give the Main Character, or did it just happen as a part of the story? Do you take time to create the perfect friend  for your hero/heroine? Please share. We all can learn lots from your  process.

Why do we Connect with some Characters?

Few Weeks back I had done a post on  Do Characters Make a Story, where  I  had spoken about a book I read sometime back where the Main Character  did not appeal to me. But, I ploughed on through the book because of the story which was interesting and kept me turning the pages  to know what happened next.

The post opened up a list of views where every writer differed; few believed that strong characters made for a good story, while few said that they were partial to a good plot irrespective of the appeal of the protagonist.

I hasten to deny that the reason I did not connect with the protagonist  was not because of the fact that  he was an old man. If that was the case, I would  surely connect with every book housing younger protagonists.

My good friend Jai Joshi asked me a very interesting question, “I'm wondering about your experience reading this book about the elderly man. You say you didn't connect with him, but did you connect with any of the other characters? Sometimes it's possible to not be into the main character at all but be fascinated by the minor characters. Many times for me during reads it's the minor characters who have carried me through the story.”

Jai’s question made me think. To be completely honest, I had not given the ensemble or the supporting characters much thought. But I loved each and every one and their individual stories made for an exceptionally good read: they ranged from  a domestic help to a flower seller, from a butcher who also moonlighted as a school teacher to a sewage cleaner. These were people I had no connection with,  yet I bonded with them, while the main character who had aspirations of doing service to society and was a well read individual was  the one I should have connected with.

This made me realize that  the reason I connected with most of the supporting characters was because I  felt sorry for their  plight. I connected with them emotionally, while the main character  left me cold. When we  feel sorry for  some characters, we kind of forge a connection: albeit a bond of sympathy.

  

Does this happen with you all? Do you end up connecting with characters because your heart bleeds for them? Does sympathy play a huge role in making  you like few characters and dislike few others. Do the underdogs get your attention? Please share your views.  

          

               

          

Bringing up the Protagonist like a Child

Writing a book is a lot like having a baby. The entire process from the conception of a story, nurturing it, feeding it with imagination, watching it grow little by little…..to the stage where it’s finally out is similar to pregnancy. The baby is ready to face the world. It is but natural then, that the protagonist becomes the child. Adopted or otherwise. And concern for its well being is foremost in our mind.

The time it takes for the story to unravel in our minds, an umbilical chord like attachment forms via our thoughts which constantly stray to the story, feeding it with nourishing plot structures, making the character strong and likeable, enhancing the scenes with juicy tidbits that hook readers, adding elements that propel the story forward, not only during our waking moments, but, many times during sleep too.

If my characters could talk they would definitely crib about me stalking them. I have done that for my middle grade fiction about a notorious prankster Nina. For the duration of time that it took me to write the first draft, I was obsessed with Nina. I had definitely become the overconcerned, anxious mother, constantly fretting over Nina, stifling her and seldom giving her the breathing space a ten going on eleven year old needed. I wanted my girl to be perfect, the kind of child every mother craved, the kind of child who would become a role model. But as the story progressed Nina developed a strong personality of her own, she baulked at her strict upbringing and loathed my interference.

The head strong spirited girl that I had created sat down with me to discuss her fate. She explained the injustice I had done to her, her personality had wilted instead of flowering. I had superimposed my likes and dislikes on her. “Yes, I am your creation, but not an extension of your personality,” she said, staring deep into my eyes. Her anguish and pain haunted me for days.

The moment I started the second draft, I shed the over protectiveness, dropped the strict attitude I had adopted, and allowed Nina a free rein. She had a right to decide her fate. The much deserved freedom enhanced the pre teenager’s life and she emerged not a shadow of me, but, an individual in her own right.

The process of creating a character works both ways, we learn as much from the characters as they from us. Before they set an example for the rest of the world, these literary children teach us ( their adopted parents) a lot about parenthood. The child \ protoganist does not have to move through the story carrying the enormous burden of our expectations on their shoulder. They are carrying the burden of the book’s success. Isn’t that enough?! We realize that as literary parents we can show them the different paths, but the one they choose, and the journey they undertake is their own. The mistakes and triumphs are solely their own.

How do you help your literary children  along their journey? By allowing them freedom or controlling them? Do you become the strict parent, or do you indulge your literary creation? I would love to know how the nurturing process affects you in your literary hemisphere and how you bring up your characters.