Now, I’m perfectly aware that books on ancient civilizations, cults, legends and so on are very interesting and fun to read. They seem so strange you get sucked straight in. HOWever, you do realize their authors put a huge amount of effort into them, right? Writing about something so specialized isn’t a walk in the park; it demands careful weeks -if not months- of studying, careful cross-checks and visits to museums. Not everyone can write them, as not everyone has the patience to be so thorough.

IF, by some random series of events, you’re spurred on to write something about them, I beg you, don’t just rush in headlong. Follow the other authors and do your research carefully, because otherwise, the result will be one great, big disaster.

Curious to find out why? Lets go on, then, shall we?

What do you mean by Research, exactly?

Basic question, I admit. By research, I mean a detailed analysis of all aspects of your topic. Let’s assume, for a moment, that you’re writing a book on the Ancient Greeks. When you do your research, you have to cover all topics of their civilization, such as food, religion, dress code, major cities, trade and relations, renown leaders, major wars and battles, literature and so on and so forth. By doing your research, you learn all about these important factors, and so can write your book accordingly.

OK, I get that, but why is this so important? Isn’t fiction fiction?

Sure it is, but if you give your book a theme, you have to STICK to it. If you don’t, your book will seem completely random. If, for example, I had a setting based in Ancient Sparta and suddenly, Godzilla waltzed in, what would you say? XD

Generally, if you don’t do your research, a clued up reader will raise an eyebrow, go WTF and put the book down. If I give an ancient Greek a longbow, developed later by the French, a good reader will think I’m an idiot, and rightly so. Basically, if, instead of writing based on fact and historical knowledge, you make things up to fill in the gaps of your ignorance, you’ll LOOK the ignorant, and an idiotic one at that. Your book will be ridiculed –all that effort you put into it!- and you’ll be a laughing stock.

I’m sure no one wants that.

There’s the other side of the coin, though, as well. If your random book falls into the hands of another ignorant, s/ he’s most likely to take your word for it, then claim stubbornly that the ancient Egyptians wore sneakers. The ‘I-read-it-in-a-book’ excuse is way overused and, unfortunately, believed. Either this fool will be ridiculed, just like you, or he’ll just spread the wave of random nonsense. So you see, not only you lose, but you end up hurting others as well.

So, dearest reader, please don’t make an idiot out of yourself and others. Do your research, it’s so much better for everyone. And, hey, if you can’t be bothered to make the effort to look into your current fad, is it really worth it?

Writing is a confusing game, believe you-me Mac. When I first started to tell people I was a writer they always asked me “What are you writing?” I’d always go off about a story, but they would respond with “What genre?” To this I had no idea; I had never really though of what genre my specific stories were classified under. I mean did they even have a genre? What if they fit under more than one?

I found the more I worried about what genre it was, the harder it was to write. The second I classified a story as a certain genre it usually included the stereotypes that go along with that genre.I decided to classify a story as fantasy I thought to myself “well it has to have elves, and dwarfs, and dragons, and magic, and stuff.” Classifying it a genre actually made my story more cookie cutter to the genre than I had intended.

First story’s premise:

Two staffs exist: one meant for malicious intents, one for good. A young man, and his knight bodyguard travel to destroy the staff. Races helping included elves, orcs, demons, and humans.

As you can see the originality disappeared; it was a carbon copy of any other fantasy novel you see in the bargain books section of your local super market. I mean in some ways sure it does help you go toward the right direction, but for me it made me fit into the Fantasy archetype. In my next try, Ganashi (the story in which my chosen name is based) fit less of the fantasy archetype. However I was very much into anime at the time, hence why people were using weapons such as katanas and were Asian despite the fact the climate and biosphere didn’t work from an evolution stand point. The fantasy aspect came i when I decided to use magic, and other stereotypes (magically unrealistic terrain, evil villain with amazing power, hero going through trial to improve his own, etc.)

In my next try I started to read comics, so naturally I tried to write one. This was right after The Dark Knight came out, and you can imagine how much of a cheap carbon copy it was. This however wasn’t so much a genre thing, other than the fact that I had to have a “super hero” and a “super villain” (who happened to be very Joker like). By this point I was done assigning labels or genres. That is when I decided right there and then I would WWYW: Write What You Want.

Don’t worry about the genre so much as the art of it. Whether your writing be for purpose, the enjoyment of others, or simple self gratification, if you have an idea for a story that doesn’t fit any genre you know of, don’t sweat it. As long as your execution of the idea is on point, the creativity and the overall intention should show through.

Don’t get me wrong, a genre could very well help your case, depending on how you are as a writer. But genre could help more with the structure so more with writers who like establishing the structure of the story before writing. But it also splits off into plot lining and all that good stuff. I personally try to have just a vague idea of the story in my head before writing, but I know many writers who don’t like doing that.

But this is my experience with writing, and these are my own personal thoughts. They are in no way factual or guaranteed, and you can disagree with them in any form of media (video, song, text, flashing LED rave lights, newspaper, etc.) or threat that you see fit. As always the above blog is merely food for thought and not to be blindly followed (that is unless you want to flatter the artist, which in that case: mission accomplished).

The Supernaturalist is Eoin Colfer’s first stand alone novel while writing the Artemis Fowl series. While it does hold certain similarities with Artemis Fowl, it is quite different.Despite the distinctness, it still manages toappeal to the same audience.

Set in the future, it tells the story of four super-humans as they try and destroy a species that only they can see, a species that drains life from humans. The situation itself is quite intriguing: I remember reading it a couple of years ago, and being immediately hooked by its sci-fi pretence. Eoin Colfer has successfully managed to create a realistic future, full of gadgets and tech. In this respect, it is quite similar to Artemis Fowl; both are stuffed full of hi-tech gadget wizardry. The whole setting is based upon a slightly dystopian, industrial and gadget-bloated future. I found it quite similar to the setting in Garth Nix’s Shade’s Children, which also deals with odd creatures and a dystopian future.

The characters -Cosmo Hill particularly- are nothing special. They’re all a pretty solid, decent bunch, but there isn’t something noteworthy mentioning. The antagonist is nothing that we haven’t seen before, but it works with the atmosphere/plot. Although saying that, Stefan was quite interesting, particularly towards the end of the novel, where there are some interesting developments. It would have been nice to see a bit more emotion from Cosmo and Stefan, as there wasn’t much, particularly for Cosmo, and the emotion that Stefan showed throughout the novel, while very realistic, just didn’t quite pull it off for me. It’s also a shame that there wasn’t a bit more in the way of romance, but the Supernaturalist is left wide open for sequels, so with any luck…

The story itself is action packed. I don’t remember ever reading a quiet moment where I got bored, because the pace was actually surprisingly good. And where the pace did slow slightly in-between the chunks of action, the story made up for this. Colfer’s writing style lends itself quite nicely to these sorts of books; easily read, descriptive and concise. No overbearing descriptions if how Cosmo’s suit was made from the finest silk interwoven with teflon with tiny diamond encrusted pins in the lapels, no sir. The descriptions were just fine: enough to give us an idea, but not too much so it slowed the whole story to a snails pace.

In conclusion, The Supernaturalist is a solid novel from Eoin Colfer that will be enjoyed by a great many people. Fans of Artemis Fowl will enjoy the similarities it holds with Artemis Fowl, but also love its many differences. This is a great, easy read for anyone over the age of nine, and it’s quite a loveable book.

The Supernaturalists was written by Rhys for ThirsforFiction. For more book reviews, please visit our affiliate site ThirstforFiction…

“Zachary hurriedly clapped a hand over the man’s mouth and signaled him to be quiet. Radford looked surprised but unbelievably happy that he was finally being rescued. Radford was nothing like what he had been like before the fall of Karh. He was thin and tired looking. Zachary helped him walk to the hidden passage. He shut the door by turning the brick to face horizontally. Radford was too weak to walk without help. Zachary half carried him to the street where he lived in secrecy.

‘Barh…we must go…to Barh. The…army is there.’ Radford blacked out. Zachary sighed. Somehow he would have to get an unconscious man out of the city. Then he had to find his way to a city in the mountains. Zachary had been found out, but how? How could they have known? Life just kept getting better for Zachary.”

Okay, so this is definitely not my best work, and I’ll admit that right up front. Thank you for suffering through it with me. Now, I’d like to point out some of the problems here that strike me and are relevant to my topic. I’ll just automatically fix poor descriptions of their surroundings in a moment.

First, when Zachary notices the men raiding his house, I made the mistake of describing his facial expressions instead of his thoughts, and I didn’t even describe them very well. Rightly, he should be thinking those things and showing a lot less expression, especially because he’s around another man.

Second, the way he wonders how he has been found out is not quite right. It feels too frantic and uncertain for this male character. It comes across as a very feminine reaction. To begin with, I had pictured him as a less masculine figure, but I later realized that that idea in no way fit his station within the book. He is a former king’s advisor, and so he should have definite, solid opinions on matters. And now for the rewrite:

“Zachary clapped a hand over Radford’s mouth and lifted a finger to his lips to signal silence. Radford’s eyes widened, but as he recognized his rescuer, he began to smile. The general was a shell of his former self. His once solid frame and almost round face had become gaunt since the fall of Karh. The man was pale, and he sank back against the wall.

Barh was in the mountains miles to the north. How was he supposed to get the weakened general that far alone? He glanced up as the horsemen passed the alley without even looking in his direction. His choices seemed grim, but he had to try to reunite the general with his army.”

Okay, with the added description, and more decisive thought patterns of Zachary, it reads more naturally. In my opinion, the original was a bit confusing and very lacking since it was a major plot revelation. It certainly didn’t read like a major revelation. It read more like, “Hmm. Another thing just happened. I wonder if it’s important.”

The rewrite had a focus, and it had more of the hushed feeling of an escape. The way Zachary is portrayed now, by taking charge of the situation and getting things done that must be done even if it could be unpleasant, is more appropriate for the fact that he is a man and he is an advisor. His thought patterns also process issues in a linear manner, tackling one action or decision at a time.

This is just a short example, but I realized something while I was working on it. The original piece has a good idea behind it, but it comes off as boring because the characters feel flat. They feel shallow because I only described the expressions on their faces instead of how they were feeling at the time about something.

This is just my take on the matter, and all of the above are my opinions. I hope, however, that I might have offered something of value and answered some questions.

Nicola woke up warm, enfolded in soft… She couldn’t tell exactly what, but it was extremely comfortable. Her surroundings were grey-white, soft light reflecting on the mists that lazily crawled along the ground. “Where am I?” Whether it was said aloud or in thought, she didn’t know. The voice was hers, but different. Older.

woke is the past tense of “wake” – and form this point it seems like she just woke up, so reading it seems a bit awkward for me in the past tense like this. Maybe, “Nicola suddenly awoke” – it also, for me, makes it run together more smoothly with the “warm” – “Nicola suddenly awoke warm,” – because otherwise it sounds like she “woke warm” and that just confuses me. Then again, this is just my personal opinion. Also, you could swap out my suggestion of “suddenly” with “gently” or the like, but I think its better to describe how she “woke” to help set her feelings at the start.

Also – do you spell the colour “gray” with an “e”?

“I could give you a mystical answer, but you’ll have to be satisfied with the truth.” A hooded figure walked into sight, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans. Leather gloves concealed its hands, while midnight black boots covered its feet. “You’re dead.”

Does this voice of the ambiguous and unknown stranger sound like anything exactly? Does the voice should foreboding, open, dead, hallow, something? Also, can she not tell its the voice of a man, woman, beast, or something else?
I agree, give the readers a little bit more detail about the hooded figure here. I kind of get the picture of a cut-and-dry, straight to the point business person with a hint of sarcasm – based on the dialogue, but I could be wrong.

Nicola burst out laughing, her mirth (M/W)“mirth” sounds really weird here. You can replace it with humor or the like, or go with Sk8′s suggestion of adding another word Either/or will help. dying away as the figure sat, solemn, near her. “Seriously.” <- Isn’t that a question? Should it be a “?” instead.It could also be a command. As in: Seriously, tell me the truth.

^ It sort of feels like there’s a missing connective word or something in there, there the M/W is.

“Dead serious.” The figure’s hood fell backwards to revealing brown hair, dark enough to lose its colour in shadow. “You’ll get better.”

^ “revealing” seems a bit much – also, I think you could toss in “to” to connect the sentence, the “backwards revealing” seems to be missing something, and a bit awkward if you ask me. You could also go with “fell backwards to reveal brown hair dark enough…” (notice deleted comma)

“Who are you?” Nicola asked. <-Just asked? Shouldn’t she be a bit more creeped out at this point?Agreed. This is a prime time for her emotions to come out. Creeped out/concerned/scared… show it or tell it.

The figure turned partway towards her, a woman’s profile (Face or body profile?)A woman’s profile doing what? Missing an action verb here, or split it into two sentences – the second being a stand-alone. “Rest,. Water. Ceaseless energy you may have, but any every body needs time to heal.”

^ So she just know discovered it was a woman?

but any body needs time to heal. – this sort of confuses me (which honestly isn’t hard to do) because it sort of implies something we should know, yet we don’t actually know.

Also, I’m a bit curious as to why the speech is in italics – a bit odd since there’s no reason why it is so, but that’s just a side note. Right, usually speech is either in italics or quotation marks, usually not both.

“We’ve got another one, James.” Almost twenty years old, James could be picked out from across the room. The His? Or just completely scrub this word and start off with “Massive” Mmassive, russet wings folded awkwardly against his back would certainly draw your attention,You’re switching point of view here. Do you want to keep it 3rd person or are you going to periodically switch to 2nd and directly speak to the reader? If the latter, then start using point of view right from the get go. Don’t wait till halfway through or it ruins the flow of the story and makes it awkward. Either way, it’s best to stick to one point of view to keep everything uniform and running smoothly. but he was the only person in the room remotely dressed correctly.

^ S’ok, the underlined doesn’t really seem to fit together in the same sentence, also, beginning with “The” seems a bit off to me, It think you could trim the sentence up a bit – “Massive, russet wings folded awkwardly against his back certainly made him stick out, however, he was also the only person in the room dressed appropriately.”

-For one, “you” implies you are talking or writing to a direct person, and secondly, we don’t know who he or anyone else is supposed to be dressed so the, “only person in the room remotely dressed correctly” is lost on us – as well, it as one too many words to describe if you ask me, “only person dressed correctly” would suffice as well, “remotely” just drives it a little too far for me.

-space-A strip of blue-green material, torn from the back of his hospital smock, kept his long hair (what colour?) out of his eyes while he worked. “Over there.” Who is speaking? James or the other person? There’s too much “he” in this paragraph that the reader can get confused. He indicated an open bed near the gym’s door. He finished binding (-> bracing?) his current patient’s broken arm, looking the child in the eyes and warning, “Don’t move that arm, okay?”

^ How’d he warn the child?

Ok, he has massive, russet wings – who did he fit into the appropriate clothing since the wings are a new decoration of his?Who or how.

He moved with the grace of a sportsman, weaving his way through the crowded gym to the next patient. “Hello, how are you?” 1. Establish a rapport with the patient.

^ So I assume its a sport that requires grace, because some portray sports players as “lumbering” and the like.

“Except for the fact I can’t feel my legs, fine, thank you.” She replied. 2. Check for physical injury. The patient looked about seventeen, exhibited no bruising beyond the typical, seemsed to be breathing correctly. She flinched away as he checked her pulse, the movement drawing tears to her eyes.

^ You think, for one that’s recently lost the ability to move her legs and so young, she’d be a bit more hysterical than that. She might just be trying to be brave and hold it in, or be in denial. People can be surprising.

He followed the movement with the calm, detached gaze of a doctor. While most of her body moved, both of her long, lithe legs… Concentrate! Both of her legs remained entirely still. “Tell me if you can feel this.” He pressed her big toe until the nail bed went white. <- Wouldn’t “turned” be better suited?

So, if he breaks down later on about his girlfriend, its a bit odd to get eye frisky with this lovely, crippled catch, eh? Ignore, I’m just commenting in the middle, xD

The patient shook her head, curls (->what colour curls?) fluttering around her head like distracted butterflies. Unusual, James thought, checking that blood was still flowing. “Can you sit up?” -> the “blood still flowing” sort of loses me, I’m not certain what James is checking for. Maybe flowing through her legs? Try to be specific.

“I tried.” The patient shrugged. “My back hurts around there,” she pointed, “is that a bad thing?”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” James stated, forming the evidence into a diagnosis. All evidence points towards a nerve injury, possibly spinal. He sighed. Another one he couldn’t help. That freak wave had probably killed hundreds, if not thousands. He was helping as many survivors as he could, but he was only (a?) second-year. Most of these needed qualified doctors, not some student who couldn’t (even?) afford to go home for the holidays.

“Not at liberty” sounds like a crime scene. Stick with the simple: “I honestly can’t tell you” or “I’m not sure” because you do point out that he’s not a qualified doctor.

Movement at the patient’s back caught his eye. Another one with wings. Ninety percent of the people he had seen today, injured or not, had sprouted wings. It was a biological impossibility, six limbs on a vertebrate structure.

Could you possible describe what sprouted wings look like? Are the small, misshapen and ill shaped things found on a butterfly or bird? Are all the wings the same, similar to the russet wings on Jame’s back?

“’Scuse me? Doc?” The patient had propped herself up on her elbows, tilting her head as she looked at him, confused. It was almost a mirror of Nicola, if you made the hair straight.

And that hit a little too close to home.

“Someone will be along now to give you some food and water,” he muttered, standing and walking to the exit. He pointed one of his assistants towards her before bursting out into the eerily calm summer day. He marched his way to the amphitheater, collapsing like a deckchair when the fatigue hit him.

Not just fatigue, worry. Nicola still hadn’t been found. Three days he had been in and out of that poor excuse for a makeshift clinic, grabbing what little sleep he could between visions of Nicola’s body, broken, battered, shredded by tides and fish floating somewhere out in the ocean.

“Grabbing” seems an interesting description for getting sleep; and by “visions” I suppose that is similar to nightmares as well?

“shredded” seems like an interesting word choice for describing her corpse.

Tears welled up as he choked back a sob. Deep breaths. Calm down. He cradled his head in his hands, trying not to look at the restless blue that now covered Victoria and Alberton. Nobody could say where it had come from, just that the water had advanced four hundred metres->(meters?) while nobody was looking.

“I was wondering when we’d see you out in the sun,” The voice heralded the end to his temporary reprieve.

“Oh fokkof spell out the curse word, do it! It’s annoying seeing curse words misspelled. They lose their meaning this way, Alexis.” He mumbled into his hands. She had been bothering him so much lately, he couldn’t remember what she looked like without that begging expression on her face.

^Just curious, why’d she have a begging expression exactly? Even after reading all of this, I don’t exactly know why or what she’s begging over or for.

He didn’t even have to look. She’d take her red hair, always neatly tied in a ponytail, and put it over her left shoulder. She’d endure about three minutes of silence then say, “You know, we’ve probably found everyone we can.”

^ Since he didn’t have to look, wouldn’t it read more like, “By now, she’d have already..” or something of the like?

He just needed to grunt. She’d always continue whether he said anything or not.

“I mean, the water has gone down a fair bit, and most of what’s washing up is brick, metal shards, or glass. If there’s anyone left out there, they’ve probably found their way to shelter already.”

She’d pause, look at him with that pathetic, pleading look and say, “Seriously, Jay, you’ve done enough.” It didn’t matter that he hated her calling him Jay, and that her voice grated on every single one of the ten billion nerves in his body, and that he had repeatedly told her to go dive back in the ocean; in those exact words, actually, she just wouldn’t leave him alone.

^ I think this paragraph could be reworded to run smoother, its sort of … jaggedly put together. Also, it sounds like James is recounting what she will do – when she’s actually doing it, so its a bit confusing for me – well, its not confusing, but its a bit awkward for me.

“Listen, Alexis. Or a comma with a lowercase “he” and “you” if it’s a continuing sentence.” He interrupted her, “You want someone to lead around here, why don’t you do it? You’re already acting like you own the entire place. Most people are wearing the exact same thing they washed up in, and you’re raiding rez looking for outfits like it’s your own personal shopping mall.”

Is “rez” a shopping/clothing store? If so, should it be capitalized or just left as is?

At least she had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, but the expression was quickly quashed by anger. Her mouth hung open as she searched for something to say. He left her gaping as if she were a perfectly groomed fish. There were people more deserving of his time.

Last I checked, James had his face buried in his hands and didn’t even “have to look” to know what Alexis was doing – when did he look up?

groomed fish – so yes, I didn’t know fish groomed themselves; I found this a bit awkward.

Question: What exactly is the point of view? 3rd person, but limited? Omnicient? How much does the narrator know? Once we know this, we’ll have a better understanding of why certain people know/don’t know certain things, like James knowing exactly how Alexis is acting. I don’t have much to add to Sk8′s comments since she was pretty thorough.

And while I agree that adding detail to all this does help, lack of detail also established a character for James. Without all the extra detail, he seems detached and strung out, which is fitting for someone who’s been thrown into a seemingly endless sea of patients, isn’t really qualified to offer remedies, is lacking sleep, and doesn’t have a lot of/enough time to be alone with his thoughts. So either way works, in my opinion.

Hello everyone! How are you today? I have summoned you all here to discuss what a writer wants to achieve in his/her life. I think quoting “How Not To Write A Novel” is the best course here: The second most coveted achievement for a writer is for other writers to be envious at how well he/she writes. The first, of course, is a “huge boatload of money”. (I’m slightly paraphrasing, but whatev’)
Here’s a little trick you might not have noticed, however: achieving the former and latter of the two are different matters entirely. Writing well is art, and is of course a very complex matter. Selling… is business. And, like all kinds of business, there are ways you can make money by underestimating your clients’ intelligence.

Disclaimer: I don’t know dick about publishing. I am neither a publisher nor a writer. I am an editor, and an amateur one at that. Read at your own risk, and think very carefully about it.

Here, we discuss how this applies to writing.

1) Riding the surf
More of the same, but different.

Once in a while, a book will become popular. Like, really popular; enough to get you interested in its genre. So you, like many other people, will start looking for other books of the same genre to read. Fortunately, there are many on the shelves at the moment. Oddly, though, most of those have only been released recently… and the more recent they are, the less interesting they are… could it be that they only got written to cash in on the first book’s popularity?
As a matter of fact, yes they have. Less talented authors frequently imitate more popular books, hoping that you will buy them solely because they’re look like another. There is little you can do against it; it can only be avoided by asking around or sampling the book beforehand.

2) Everyplots
Sticking with something that works

Did you watch the Power Rangers as a kid? How about Pokemon? I know I used to watch the former, and even bought related toys. Then, when I grew up, it hit me: every single episode had the exact same plot. Daily activity, strange occurrence, monsters attack, fight, more monsters, transform, victory. And yet, it was enough to keep me (us?) watching, day after day. But surely, the only reason we failed to notice that is because we were kids… or is it?

As I grew up, I thought I’d keep an eye out for non-childish works that use everyplots… and the amount I found was staggering. For a good example, take a look at this article on Cracked.com; once you’ve finished, go take a look at this comparison between a few “grown-up” cartoons you might be familiar with. See how it all fits together? Had you noticed beforehand? Neither had I.

Of course, whether each incarnation can give the reader/viewer/listener something new to think about is solely up to its creator. But, if we’re going to read something based on a previously-used formula, we might as well be conscious about it.

3) Manipulating readers’ expectations
“Keep reading, and what you’re waiting for just might happen!

This is the real dick move. This, I think, is the number one most potent way that writing can make money without being anywhere near halfway decent. In short, it’s about when a story offers you an exciting beginning, and then neglects to offer you anything else of interest.

To understand it better, suppose someone mixes nitroglycerin with paint, paints a wall with the mixture, and places a lit candle nearby. Of course, this is interesting to watch; after all, the wall could explode at any minute! So you watch… and watch… and watch… until some hours later, the wall is still intact, and you realise in horror that you just spent the last few hours of your life watching paint dry.
Of course, were a fascinating scene about life, the universe and everything unfolding in front of said wall, that would have been so much more awesome. Some writers, however, cannot be bothered to create interesting stories, instead relying on just one thing to get you through 300+ pages of monotonous text.
Just about the only way you can defend against this is as follows: Every time a new chapter starts, try to recall what has happened so far. Then, ask yourself: “Have I adequately enjoyed this thus far?” If you think that nothing interesting has happened in a while, maybe it’s time to put the book down.

And now… for the ugly stuff.                                                                                                                                                                                                           Since you’re on this blog and reading this article, it is safe to assume you’re a writer of some sort; thus, you likely dream of getting your work published at some point. And what’s the most important person of the publishing house that you’ll speak to? The editor. Now, if you have decided to write marketable, all is well and good. The problems arise when you would want to write good, but the editor wants you to write marketable. A rather classic example is the phrase “X should hook up with Y. This will also draw in the romance readers out there.” Your choices here are…

In conclusion. Quality and marketability are not mutually exclusive; a work can be both good and marketable. Thus, a work is not necessarily bad just because it falls in one of the above categories. What you need to do, is judge its merits and demerits, and see if it is worth your time (if you are reading it) or if you’d like to see it published (if you are writing it).

Farewell. I’ll see you in the next article.

But what’s the reason for this added emphasis? That is a rather easy question to answer. The beginning of your story draws the reader in. If it doesn’t catch their attention in a good way, your book will never be read. No matter how good the content after the beginning is, you’re story will be added to a growing list of stories that will never get anywhere.

Younger writers often start their novels with battle scenes or fights. There isn’t anything especially wrong with this, but keep in mind that action is not interesting per se. Drama is interesting. While it may seem to be a really cool idea to start a story off with a battle of titanic proportions, unless you know how to build tension and drama, this idea is null and void. Also, starting off the story with a climactic event such as a battle, and then having a less action filled scene to follow, is rather anti-climactic. The main thing you need to be aware of is that your first chapter must be interesting, starting from the first word on the page. That’s the reason I’ve edited the first chapter of my novel about five times to date.

I remember reading something interesting on the forums about chapter six of most novels being boring. This isn’t surprising, given that the writer knows that his interesting opening will keep the reader engrossed while he glosses over some of the more boring, though necessary events. This is rather cynical, I know – and I firmly believe writers really should put a huge effort into all aspects of their writing, but, nonetheless, I think it highlights the emphasis on having a good opening.

While the opening of your story must be very interesting, so too must the ending. No matter how much you may have botched up the middle of your story, the ending is your final chance to impress the reader. A lot of cynics like myself will read the final chapter of a novel, just to figure out if it is interesting. As well as that, satisfied readers may recommend your novel to their friends. You want people to read their work, therefore these are all reasons why you should pay special attention to your ending.

I always aim to end my stories with the climax, as it’s the most memorable event of the story. For those of you who write novels and novellas, you can write an epilogue if you feel the need explain the fate of your characters. This is because epilogues are anti-climactic, almost by their very nature – a fact that has generated an acceptance for them throughout literature. This is good for you, because there is nothing more anti-climactic than, ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’

If you are writing a short story, you sadly don’t have the luxury of writing an epilogue. If it is burningly necessary to the plot, you should try to sum it up in a few lines or a paragraph – but nothing more; however, you should keep in mind that these are general guidelines, and don’t apply for all short stories.

I should also say that is acceptable to leave the story open ended, such as with a cliff hanger, although it’s very easy to fall into the mire of cliché here. A lot of cliffhanger styles are overdone (to the point where some people believe that cliffhangers are clichéd,) so make sure you are using them to tell the reader something important.

The main idea that I want you to get out of this is that the beginning of a story is your first (and perhaps only) chance to draw in the reader, and the ending is your chance to put a lasting impression on the reader. I’m not recommending that you neglect the middle at all, but getting these two right is essential. It also should be noted that if you are going to neglect the other aspects of your story ( such as characterisation), your story may be widely read, but not be considered good literature. As always, the opinions stated above are my own and you are free to disagree with them as you will. They should, however, provide you with some food for thought.

As a very brief recap: The female mind works in mysterious ways, like a jumble of wires constantly crisscrossing each other and rarely ending up tangled. Now, for some women this is a reason that multitasking, though sometimes stressful, is quite possible.

With your female character, this makes it possible to have her thinking about, and responding to, several different concerns at once. If the character is an experienced person in command or a position of authority, this gives you the ability to have her take in a great deal of information at once and turn out answers fairly quickly thanks in part to her familiarity with the subject. Perhaps one reason why the “soccer mom” has been so persistent in our culture is that she is capable of handling multiple tasks at once.

And now I feel a warning is in order. Unless your female character is a super genius, if she continues making decisions based on her emotions there will be trouble. Personally, I cannot handle multiple tasks for a long period of time without needing time to rest and recover. This is one reason that I once had a female character take a long vacation after going through a period of emotional trauma. If she had returned to work at once, the stress would have broken what was left of her fragile sanity.

Fragile. It is a good term to use here. This is important when writing from a woman’s point of view. Another character that I created found herself locked in sword combat with a man, and he was much better and stronger than she was. If not for intervention in the fight, she would have perished, and there came a point when she had to admit that to herself. For her it was not an easy admission that she was weaker, and this realization can be used to create internal conflict in a female character. The time when a woman is most likely to come to this train of thought is if she is encountering a stronger, hostile man.

Now, brain patterns are an interesting thing. Sometimes, I do think linearly. I’ll start with a topic, trace it to another idea, and eventually end up with something completely unrelated. For me, linear thinking simply does not work unless I am exhausted to the point that I am about to fall asleep sitting up. Otherwise, my brain more closely resembles a city with super highways bringing in a flow of ideas from all directions.

How about an example? This might be hard to follow, but that’s how it works. Let’s say I’m trying to decide what kind of dog to buy as a pet. The following questions occur to me at almost the same time, so I don’t even normally isolate them for individual consideration. To begin, what kind of dog do I want? I need one that sheds little and has low dander, which are those? Do I want a big dog? No, it needs to be smaller. How about color? Not as important as the others. Price? Availability? How far am I willing to drive to buy a puppy? Who breeds those dogs in my area? Do I know anyone that breeds those dogs? Are they respectable? Do they have puppies available right now?

I think you get the picture, so I’ll stop torturing you now. I haven’t actually had to make that choice before, but when I asked myself the hypothetical question, I had to sit there and sort through the mass response and process that popped into my mind. Now, here is the real question you have to ask yourself:

How much of this crazy process does the reader need to see in order to appreciate the character? That really is always the question, isn’t it? The one that we as writers are constantly asking ourselves about various issues. Well, in this case, I won’t attempt to answer for you. I’ll only offer a little advice of what I would do if I were in your shoes.

Personally, I don’t get into my female characters’ thought processes very deeply because it detracts from the story. There is simply too much going on in those brains to involve it all. Besides, if I attempted to detail every little thing that goes through a woman’s mind, I think I would end up losing more than half of my mind. It may just be me, but even as a woman, I don’t find the process very interesting, even if it does serve me well. It doesn’t really make good writing material if dwelt upon, it’s really just something to keep in the back of your mind as you are writing from a woman’s point of view.

I usually read a book and assume that the woman knows more, or is thinking more, than she lets on. That’s also usually the way I write women in my books. Hopefully, this crash course has been useful and I didn’t drive anybody crazy. This is just my take on things, my opinions, really. You may agree or disagree as you please, I just hope I offered something worth your time. I would also suggest reading a book written by a woman in order to notice what she does and does not place importance on.

I was sitting next to my boyfriend as he was reading one of my works in progress. Naturally, I was trying not to bounce up and down on the edge of my seat because he was the first person to see this book and I was eager to hear his opinion. Remember that sensation? His suggestions were what I had expected: grammar here, spelling there, punctuation everywhere. I nodded knowingly, explained that it was a rough draft and I would polish it, and then he mentioned something I hadn’t expected. I was blindsided.

My main male character wasn’t being man enough. I found that more than a little surprising, and honestly it confused and worried me. I hadn’t looked at the guy (the character) that way before. Of course, then again, I hadn’t really paid much attention to male brain patterns before either. As a teenage girl, it really didn’t seem to matter very much. It was time for me to open my eyes, and to be honest, it was very difficult. I still struggle with writing a believable male character.

Why? Because many men are more logical than I am. On the other hand, a man might have a very hard time writing from a woman’s point of view because women don’t think like men. I’m not an expert on the matter, and I won’t claim to know everything about the way men and women think, but I can offer a few fundamentals if you’re interested. Now to begin.

Okay, so lets say you’re a woman writing from the viewpoint of a guy. For some reason, he just doesn’t seem to be very masculine even though he’s supposed to be the kind of guy that makes girls sigh and melt. First question to ask yourself is this: Is he logical? At first, this elicited a “Big deal,” response from me. Why does it matter? It matters because men seem to think in a linear fashion. In other words, one thought leads to the next thought, to the next thought and so on. Their brains are compartmentalized. The lack of that was leaving me with somewhat flat, unemotional male characters that simply did not jump off the page. Reading back over them, they didn’t even make sense to me, and I created them. I told myself it was time for a rewrite.

On the other hand, let’s say you’re a guy trying write about a woman. Personally, I don’t think linearly. My brain is all over the place in a mad jumble at any given moment. No neat, clean compartments in here, I assure you. I might have five unrelated thoughts going through my mind at once, on average. Now, this is really important to me when it comes to making decisions. My mind is bombarded by all reasons concerning the waiting decision at a rate of five or six at a time. It lets me think on my feet. Sometimes it drives me absolutely crazy, but at times it comes in handy. I automatically apply this attribute to my female characters, and it seems to work. I’ve never had a woman question the realism of one of my female characters.

At first, when I began to realize that it was really more difficult to write from a male point of view, I avoided it. I wrote strictly from a woman’s point of view to avoid the difficulty. Recently, I realized it would be a fantastic challenge, yet another chance to improve my writing and strive toward unattainable perfection. It has proven challenging. Through practice, I have improved. So how did I do it?

Well, to start, I began asking questions. I asked my boyfriend so many questions that I’m surprised he didn’t get frustrated. Then, I started watching. You can learn a lot if you just watch how men interact with each other, and the same holds true concerning women. Finally, I managed to begin grasping the way his mind worked. After a while, I was even able to think purely logically, and I assure you it was most disconcerting. It felt completely unnatural, but it gave me a wonderful insight for my characters. Then, I began putting it into practice. I wouldn’t suggest that you make your creative writing class the testing grounds of a new theory, but I did. At least one of my major projects was written from a man’s point of view. It didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, but I kept working. Numerous short stories, submitted along with numerous questions to my boyfriend, helped me get even closer to reality.

Lately, I’ve felt so confident in the male mindset, that I have begun a book that focuses as much on a male character as on a female character. For me, that was a major accomplishment. It has helped me step beyond seeing the men in my books as just the love interest for the main female character. They are now more real, believable beings that carry a great deal of the plot on their shoulders.

There was one more thing that I only recently understood that further helped me. I had to realize just how emotional my male characters needed to be. In their own way, they are just as emotional as the female characters, only the emotions occur predominantly in their minds instead of outwardly. They don’t tap their feet with irritation, nor convey a wide range of thoughts with the lifting of a single eyebrow. No, their faces aren’t completely without expression; their emotions are displayed outwardly, though much more subtly. My women characters, on the other hand, attempt to convey vast amounts of information through body language. That raised eyebrow suddenly takes on a lot more emotion, displaying displeasure, amusement, irritation, or incredulity.

It was my own, personal mistake that made me believe that women were so much more emotional. I just had to realize that there is a difference between men and women.

“I could give you a mystical answer, but you’ll have to be satisfied with the truth.” A hooded figure walked into sight, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans. Leather gloves concealed its hands, while midnight black boots covered its feet. “You’re dead.”

Nicola burst out laughing, her mirth dying away as the figure sat, solemn, near her. “Seriously.”

“Dead serious.” The figure’s hood fell backwards, revealing brown hair dark enough to lose its colour in shadow. “You’ll get better.”

“Who are you?” Nicola asked.

The figure turned partway towards her, a woman’s profile. “Rest, Water. Ceaseless energy you may have, but any body needs time to heal.”

“We’ve got another one, James.” Almost twenty years old, James could be picked out from across the room. The massive russet wings folded awkwardly against his back would certainly draw your attention, but he was the only person in the room remotely dressed correctly.
A strip of blue-green material, torn from the back of his hospital smock, kept his long hair out of his eyes while he worked. “Over there.” He indicated an open bed near the gym’s door. He finished binding his current patient’s broken arm, looking the child in the eyes and warning, “Don’t move that arm, okay?”

He moved with the grace of a sportsman, weaving his way through the crowded gym to the next patient. “Hello, how are you?” 1. Establish a rapport with the patient.

“Except for the fact I can’t feel my legs, fine, thank you.” She replied. 2. Check for physical injury. The patient looked about seventeen, exhibited no bruising beyond typical, seems to be breathing correctly. She flinched away as he checked her pulse, the movement drawing tears to her eyes.

He followed the movement with the calm, detached gaze of a doctor. While most of her body moved, both of her long, lithe legs… Concentrate! Both of her legs remained entirely still. “Tell me if you can feel this.” He pressed her big toe until the nail bed went white.

The patient shook her head, curls fluttering around her head like distracted butterflies. Unusual, James thought, checking that blood was still flowing. “Can you sit up?”

“I tried.” The patient shrugged. “My back hurts around there,” she pointed, “is that a bad thing?”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” James stated, forming the evidence into a diagnosis. All evidence points towards a nerve injury, possibly spinal. He sighed. Another one he couldn’t help. That freak wave had probably killed hundreds, if not thousands. He was helping as many survivors as he could, but he was only second-year. Most of these needed qualified doctors, not some student who couldn’t afford to go home for the holidays.

Movement at the patient’s back caught his eye. Another one with wings. Ninety percent of the people he had seen today, injured or not, had sprouted wings. It was a biological impossibility, six limbs on a vertebrate structure.

“’Scuse me? Doc?” The patient had propped herself up on her elbows, tilting her head as she looked at him, confused. It was almost a mirror of Nicola, if you made the hair straight.

And that hit a little too close to home.

“Someone will be along now to give you some food and water,” he muttered, standing and walking to the exit. He pointed one of his assistants towards her before bursting out into the eerily calm summer day. He marched his way to the amphitheatre, collapsing like a deckchair when the fatigue hit him.

Not just fatigue, worry. Nicola still hadn’t been found. Three days he had been in and out of that poor excuse for a makeshift clinic, grabbing what little sleep he could between visions of Nicola’s body, broken, battered, shredded by tides and fish floating somewhere out in the ocean.

Tears welled up as he choked back a sob. Deep breaths. Calm down. He cradled his head in his hands, trying not to look at the restless blue that now covered Victoria and Alberton. Nobody could say where it had come from, just that the water had advanced four hundred metres while nobody was looking.

“I was wondering when we’d see you out in the sun,” The voice heralded the end to his temporary reprieve.

“Oh fokkof, Alexis.” He mumbled into his hands. She had been bothering him so much lately, he couldn’t remember what she looked like without that begging expression on her face.

He didn’t even have to look. She’d take her red hair, always neatly tied in a ponytail and put it over her left shoulder. She’d endure about three minutes of silence then say, “You know, we’ve probably found everyone we can.”

He just needed to grunt. She’d always continue whether he said anything or not.

“I mean, the water has gone down a fair bit, and most of what’s washing up is brick, metal shards or glass. If there’s anyone left out there, they’ve probably found their way to shelter already.”

She’d pause, look at him with that pathetic pleading look, and say, “Seriously, Jay, you’ve done enough.” It didn’t matter that he hated her calling him Jay, and that her voice grated on every single one of the ten billion nerves in his body, and that he had repeatedly told her to go dive back in the ocean; in those exact words, actually; she just wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Listen, Alexis,” He interrupted her, “You want someone to lead around here, why don’t you do it? You’re already acting like you own the entire place. Most people are wearing the exact same thing they washed up in, and you’re raiding rez looking for outfits like it’s your own personal shopping mall.”

At least she had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, but the expression was quickly quashed by anger. Her mouth hung open as she searched for something to say. He left her gaping as if she were a perfectly groomed fish. There were people more deserving of his time.