how to find your own aesthetic and voice - Pay Attention

 

In all the reading I have done about the art, craft, and process of writing I don’t think I have ever come across a process for cultivating your voice. Which does not mean that no one has ever discussed this. I just haven’t come across it. However, I have thought about it and come up with some ways to cultivate your voice.

1.  When you read something or watch a movie notice the parts that you particularly like and ask yourself why you like them. Copy off particular snippets of writing you admire and keep them in a list. Read the list before you write.

2.  Conversely when you read something or watch a movie notice the parts that you particularly dislike and ask yourself why.

3.  In a specific work is there a particular type or aspect of writing that you enjoy or dislike (narration, dialogue, description, etc.)? Is it the way the author uses words? Or sets up plot points? Or reveals the characters feelings? Or something else? Is it that it’s funny? Funny in a particular way? Or philosophic? Etc.

4. What are the “things” across works and authors that you like and dislike?

5. All of the above are about making you specifically conscious of what you like and do not like. Not just a particular work but the exact words/passages/structures in that work that you admire. It doesn’t mean you have to like the whole work.

By being conscious of what you like and dislike in works of fiction you define what your own aesthetic is to yourself. You focus on what you admire in the world of fiction and where you want to be in that world.

6. When you read some paragraph of fiction that you particularly admire the writing of, copy it out. Then write your own paragraph from that paragraph by replacing the words with like words of your choice. This is kind of like the game Mad Libs.  For every noun substitute a different one. The same for verbs, adverbs, etc.  In this way you get into nitty gritty of a style of writing that you like and learn from it in a very essential non-intellectual way. You learn the feel of it from forcing yourself to write in that way. Writers learn from other writers and build on what they do. Just as visual artists study the masters works and copy them to learn. Then they build on what they learn and take it in their own direction.

7.  Notice when you write something what you like or don’t like and ask yourself why? Don’t shy away from liking or disliking your work. Knowing both helps you to make your work more of what you like. Focus on making it more of what you like and not on judging what you do. Separate the work from yourself. Not liking the work is not making you bad, or untalented, or stupid, or anything else. It’s just giving you the opportunity to make it more of what you like.

 

read books on writing

 There are tons of books on writing. Given that writers write it isn't strange that many of them would want to write about writing. Some books are written by writers and some are written by: agents, editors, publishers, critics, teachers, professors, and others. Many famous people have written books about writing. Many not so famous people have written books about writing. Some books are of the memoir type others are of the how to type. Some focus on specific aspects of writing like: plot, character, writer's block, inspiration, dialogue, the marketplace, structure, editing, getting an agent or publisher, and more.

 

You can get a lot out of reading some of these books. The question is which ones. The quantity and variety of them can be overwhelming.  Many  famous writers have written memoirs and books on writing . Many books are considered classics and 'must reads'. However just because the book is famous or well thought of by famous people doesn’t mean it will be helpful to you. What is helpful to one person is useless to another. Read recommendations for books but if the book isn’t working for you don’t force yourself to read it. Look at lots of books, read a chapter or two. Then decide if it interests you or not. If it doesn't work for you, don't continue reading it. find another book that works for you. There are plenty to choose from.

I have found that many of the most famous and classic books on writing don't work for me. I don't particularly care for books on how to create characters. I find them full of useless exercises and character by rote advice. The same goes for books on plot. Though I do like lists of plots. The ancient Greeks and Romans were all interested in creating lists of all possible plots and it seems so are we today. 

I have a page with a short list of books I have found helpful on the Resource page of this blog. If you are writing children's picture books  you must read Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitfield Paul. You are doing yourself a disservice if you do not. It is a step by step course in writing picture books. There is no other book on writing that I know of that compares with it.

For writing in general the best book I've found is Wired for Story by Lisa Cron. This book is all about how our brains are wired for stories. It is supported by neuroscience and psychology. It starts with how our brains work and goes on to talk about creating stories that align with how the human brain works.  I found it fascinating and also full of practical instructions on what to write and what not to write. I know a lot of people love the book Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. But I find it does not compare to Wired for Story.

Here is a quote from Wired for Story:

         The essence of a story lies in revealing the things that in real life we don’t say out loud

I just love that.

So those two books I give my strongest recommendation.

 

You never can tell where you will find some information that opens doors in your mind or where you will find useless words. Don’t approach books as ‘have to reading’, no matter how famous or well respected the book is. It’s only worth your time if it makes sense to you and helps you. The other thing I have to say is don't just read about the craft - if you are serious about getting published you must read about the business of publishing. And there are plenty of books out there about that.

Bringing Up Baby

 

Best comedy ever. 1938 RKO studio. How comedy should be done. There is no fat here. No boring parts, no unnecessary back story, nothing that goes on too long or is lacking changes of pace. No bathroom comedy or disparagement to any group is necessary. It is over 80 years old but is not dated. It definitely takes place in another time but there are no out of place cultural assumptions that make you wince. It is a study in how it should be done. Comedy is technique, timing, and stuff that is unexpected, contradictory or just weird. The performances are spot on. The dialogue is perfect. The action is non-stop but never tires the viewer.

Check it out.

And while you're at it don't miss "Some Like it Hot". a comedy classic by the fabulous  Billy Wilder. 1959 and again not dated. It's from another time (1959) about a still earlier time (the 1920s) but no cringe worthy dated actions or dialogue. It's got men in drag, gangsters, jazz music, sexual hijinks without being trashy or derogatory or at anyone's expense. And in the end you love who you love even if they are poor or the same sex as you are, and you sacrifice for them. It's fun, breezy, paced perfectly, no boring parts.

the mini-synopsis of your query

 

 

 

There are many parts to a query letter: the opening, the hook, the mini-synopsis, biographical information, and closing.

 

I’m going to say a few things about the mini-synopsis here. This is not the hook. The hook is something completely different and not discussed here.  Mini-synopsis is really a misnomer. If you think about it as a synopsis, you will probably get it wrong and also drive yourself crazy. You get around 3 short paragraphs, more or less, to elaborate from your hook on what happens in your fabulous manuscript. The ideal length is loosely from 100 words to 250 words. Anything longer is probably pushing it. Anything smaller is probably not enough.

 

It is really not a synopsis.  It is not an outline – god forbid. And it’s not a summary. If you think you have to include all the important people and events in your manuscript you are off to a bad start. What it is, is an advertisement. Its sole raison d’etre is to get the agent or editor you are querying to read you manuscript. And to get them to want to read your manuscript. And to get them to really, really want to read your manuscript.

 

You have to include some info on your main character. Do you have to include all the main plot points? – nope! Do you have to include all the other main characters? – nope! Do you have to include backstory? – definitely nope! Do you have to include the ending? – nope! You get the idea. Everything else is optional. After writing a whole book and hopefully a synopsis (you will be asked for it) it is kind of hard to change gears to marketing from creating a whole world. And of course, you know everything about your manuscript and the people and the place(s). Why it all happens. And you want to tell some agent or editor all about it. Don’t. Not here. And of course, it would be an impossible task to do that in 150 words, more or less. This is why it drives authors crazy.

 

So how do you approach your “mini-synopsis”? Well, you can look at how is should be done. If you look up books in online bookstores or in library listings, they have what is called a blurb. A few paragraphs which are an advertisement for the book. The blurb is basically the same as mini-synopsis, or what the mini-synopsis of your query should be. And if you look at a lot of them, you can detect a pattern.

 

They are usually 3 or 4 paragraphs, give or take a paragraph or two. The first one introduces the main character or sometimes the setting. It gives a brief but specific description. By specific I mean the description has pertinent information, it’s not random. Whatever way you describe you MC it must go to the heart of what they are as that pertains directly to this story.

 

The next paragraph is the inciting incident paragraph. You put out there what it is that happened to start the whole hullabaloo.

 

The 3^rd and sometimes 4^th paragraphs elaborate on the situation and present the possibilities of what could happen, or what the challenge is. 

 

As to the events of the plot, neat details, other characters  - here is a place where less is more. Remember it's not really a synopsis; it's an advertisement.

 

The language used is also of a certain type. For most writing, the writing police will fine you if you use adjectives and adverbs or a lot of adjectives and adverbs. But in a mini-synopsis they are rampant. Use at least one for every noun or verb and as many as three.

 

There are also types of phrases that are used. Like:

 

Receives an urgent something

While working to solve something

While something

Stunned to discover something

Someone joins forces with Someone

Was involved with someone or something

Someone learns Something

Match wits with someone

Decipher something

Anticipate something

With only something

Sets out to find something

Accompanied by someone

As their Adventure unfolds

unites someones

something reveals something

someone sees something

Now everything's changed

When something

discover that something

And then someone sees

 

One thing to remember, and this is important, is that the mini-synopsis should be written in the same style as your manuscript. Often writers write the mini-synopsis in a stiff style that is like an academic lecture on their manuscript. Not good. You are not writing about your manuscript; you are writing an extension of your manuscript. You are presenting a taste of your manuscript. It is like an amuse bouche. A provocative taste of what's to come.

 

Here are a few professional blurbs that pull all those elements together:

 

The excellent blurb for The Da Vinci Code:

 

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci — clues visible for all to see — yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion — an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret — and an explosive historical truth — will be lost forever.

 

 

Here's one for a book that's a favorite of mine, The Trials of Morrigan Crow:

 

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each with an extraordinary talent that sets them apart--an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests--or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

 

 

And The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane:

With a dad who disappeared years ago and a mother who's a bit too busy to parent, Emmy is shipped off to Wellsworth, a prestigious boarding school in England, where she's sure she won't fit in.

But then she finds a box of mysterious medallions in the attic of her home with a note reading: These belonged to your father.

When she arrives at school, she finds the strange symbols from the medallions etched into walls and books, which leads Emmy and her new friends, Jack and Lola, to Wellsworth's secret society: The Order of Black Hollow Lane.

Emmy can't help but think that the society had something to do with her dad's disappearance, and that there may be more than just dark secrets in the halls of Wellsworth...

 

Look up online the blurbs for books of the same type/genre and style as your manuscript and check out what they are like and how they are put together. Use them as your guide on what to put into your mini-synopsis. Not every blurb follows the template set down here or in the exact order, and styles will vary. But I bet you will see they all cover about the same territory in about the same length.

 

Not every story is the Hero’s Journey

 

Diversity

I am so over the Hero’s journey. Not every story is one of inner transformations. Since the popularization of Joseph Campbell’s work, the writing police have decreed that every story must have its protagonist undergo some defining inner struggle and subsequent transformation. I just ain’t so.  In fact, most stories are not stories of a protagonist’s inner struggles and neither should they be. Truthfully, I like Joseph Campbell’s work and his theories they just don’t define every or even most stories. And in the world of Anthropology many scholars differ with Campbell on his ideas about mythology and mythological patterns. He is probably way to narrow in his analysis of mythical heroes. But it seems that a variety of people who write books about writing have glommed onto Campbell, concocting their own (limited) interpretation of him. Then laid out their interpretation as a gospel dictating that every story needs to have the protagonist go through some psychological struggle and resulting epiphany.

Let’s take a closer look. Think about mysteries. Does Hercule Poirot ever change in any of the books Christie wrote about him? Nope, not one hair of his mustache. Neither does Miss Marple or Child’s Jack Reacher. Moving on to thrillers, does the protagonist ever undergo a soul-searching rebirth? Not really, they are usually too busy escaping from the bad guy out the window on the top floor of a twenty-story building. 

Let’s look at fairy tales. Does Cinderella undergo an epiphany, leave home and enroll in college? No, she does not. Neither do Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jack from beanstalk land, the Frog Prince, or the Twelve Brothers. Fairy tale protagonists for the most part stay the same. They usually have magical help, are finally recognized for their virtue, or just get away with a lot of mischief which enables them to live happily ever after.

Is literary fiction full of tales of soul searching and moral or psychological struggle and re-generation?  Not often. Not unless your reading Dostoevsky and I would classify him as classic fiction not literary. Modern literary fiction is more about character analysis, not character change.

Speaking of classical fiction, does Hamlet change? No, he does not. He starts out indecisive, goes on being indecisive, worries about being indecisive, and basically dies being indecisive. Even his last duel is not initiated by him, but forced upon him by others. Does Othello change? No, he just acknowledges that “I am one who loved not wisely but too well.” In all of Shakespeare I can think of few characters that undergo a change of world view or a change of heart.  Many of them are shown to be miscreants and told to change or punished but not many are changing through a journey of the soul. And what about Henry V? He goes from a drunken bounder, Prince Hal, to war hero – “Cry, God for Harry, England, and Saint George!“. But Shakespeare suggests he planned it all and the drunkard was just an act.

Jane Austin’s heroines can be held up as Campbellian type heroines going on a soul quest. But not all of them. Elizabeth Bennet does undergo a profound self-reassessment, but Jane does not. In Sense and Sensibility Marianne’s personal crisis makes her physically ill and results also in a profound self-assessment but Eleanor does not. She remains as she started. Though her personal integrity is constantly challenged throughout the story, she remains unchanged, true to herself. 

Moving on to Jane Eyre. I’m going to say that Jane never changes. From her childhood she is fiercely individualistic and has a strict code of morals that she never wavers from. She is constantly assaulted by others to get her to change who she is. She is severely abused by her relatives and her educators. But she never changes her behavior to placate them. Her beloved angelic friend Helen Burns dies through neglect of her caretakers. Does that prompt Jane to try and be more like Helen? Nope. She is tempted by men (Rochester and Rivers) to give up her self-image and make herself over to satisfy their desires. But does she? Never. The whole book is a series of assaults and temptations testing whether she will remain true to herself. It is not a quest to discover her true self. 

All I am trying to say here is that not every story has to have the protagonist discover some hidden truth about themselves, have an epiphany of self-revelation, or learn something about themselves and be forever changed (probably for the better). In fact, most stories do not contain this element and neither should they. Some stories are just about adventure, or solving a mystery, defeating a bad guy, overcoming adversity (just as you are), figuring out a puzzle, rise in fortune or fall in fortune, funny chaos and love triumphs. Tons of things where no one learns more about themselves or changes for the better. 

It’s time for the writing police to give it a rest and stop trying to fit every story into one plot template.