There's a complaint I hear a lot when it comes to literature - especially in the young adult sphere. "Well, books now just lack symbolism! They lack depth! Young adult novels are all about the love triangles now, there's nothing to them!" Whoa there, slick, let me slow you down right now.
It's easy to say this is true, and there certainly are books in various genres like that. There's nothing wrong with a light read and a simple plot. But the pervasive thought that all books in a certain genre or for an age range is just toxic.
I mean, just look at Harry Potter. A simple children's fantasy, right, that just got really popular? There's actually research indicating that it changed an entire generation - my generation. We're kinder, more tolerant, more liberal, more politically active. There's symbolism, character development, it's a beautiful read. And if the lovely J.K. Rowling can do it in a small children's book, then it's clear it's possible in longer texts.
So how do you do this thing? It's actually pretty simple. Like most writing concepts, the actual doing of it is quite easy. Plot structure, character development, setting, they're all relatively simple to throw together. What's hard is the art of doing so. You know exactly what I mean, when you read the book and you don't notice the structure of the plot because it seems completely natural, and you can smell the dirt in the setting because it's described at a nice balance between description and imagination.
I generally start with my protagonist, because I'm going to have to know him or her better than anyone else so that my readers can know him or her. I write their name in the top of the page I'm working on - whether it's a Word page or a notebook page - and think of who they are. Are they a rebel? What's their purpose in this story, what's their fight? What do I want to portray about them to the reader? I'll use my current The Artist protagonist, Collins. She works a blue collar job and tends to be a bit rough around the edges, but warm and a bit maternal.
Under the name, write some objects or ideas to associate with that person. For example, my list would look like this:
Feel free to justify each thing you add to yourself; I did. But this is only the easy part! Now that you have a list (it's cool if it's longer, that's just my quick little list for example purposes), it's time to integrate it into your piece.
When you describe the character, use words that remind you of things on your list. If you can, slip some of them directly in. When you introduce them, talk about the smells around them that you associate with that character. Like we do in real life, readers will associate the things in the setting and physical description with the character when they meet them. The trick now is to be able to continue these throughout the manuscript. Slip them in every so often as to continue the thread, but don't smother the reader with imagery and motif. It makes the characters more real, and makes the writing more deep. It'll be our fist raised high against the waves of naysayers who believe we're all writing love triangles and ridiculously-muscled male love interests, no matter what we tell them. The rest of the week, I'm talking how to bring your English concepts back into writing without making your manuscript sound like an English workbook.
I'm going to *actually* attempt this click-to-tweet doohickey. Click the links below to send a tweet and brag about reading this post! It's super easy and requires literally two clicks. Or thumb taps, if that's what you're into.
@themoorewriter talks about why #YA is the underdog of lit and how you can help the fight. [Click here]
@themoorewriter talks the Harry Potter generation and why it's upped our expectations on book depth. #muchness [Click here]
Bringing English back,
Brie
It's easy to say this is true, and there certainly are books in various genres like that. There's nothing wrong with a light read and a simple plot. But the pervasive thought that all books in a certain genre or for an age range is just toxic.
So how do you do this thing? It's actually pretty simple. Like most writing concepts, the actual doing of it is quite easy. Plot structure, character development, setting, they're all relatively simple to throw together. What's hard is the art of doing so. You know exactly what I mean, when you read the book and you don't notice the structure of the plot because it seems completely natural, and you can smell the dirt in the setting because it's described at a nice balance between description and imagination.
I generally start with my protagonist, because I'm going to have to know him or her better than anyone else so that my readers can know him or her. I write their name in the top of the page I'm working on - whether it's a Word page or a notebook page - and think of who they are. Are they a rebel? What's their purpose in this story, what's their fight? What do I want to portray about them to the reader? I'll use my current The Artist protagonist, Collins. She works a blue collar job and tends to be a bit rough around the edges, but warm and a bit maternal.
Under the name, write some objects or ideas to associate with that person. For example, my list would look like this:
Collins
Metal
The smell of hot metal, hot sidewalk
Dawn
Yellow, pink, amber
Feel free to justify each thing you add to yourself; I did. But this is only the easy part! Now that you have a list (it's cool if it's longer, that's just my quick little list for example purposes), it's time to integrate it into your piece.
When you describe the character, use words that remind you of things on your list. If you can, slip some of them directly in. When you introduce them, talk about the smells around them that you associate with that character. Like we do in real life, readers will associate the things in the setting and physical description with the character when they meet them. The trick now is to be able to continue these throughout the manuscript. Slip them in every so often as to continue the thread, but don't smother the reader with imagery and motif. It makes the characters more real, and makes the writing more deep. It'll be our fist raised high against the waves of naysayers who believe we're all writing love triangles and ridiculously-muscled male love interests, no matter what we tell them. The rest of the week, I'm talking how to bring your English concepts back into writing without making your manuscript sound like an English workbook.
I'm going to *actually* attempt this click-to-tweet doohickey. Click the links below to send a tweet and brag about reading this post! It's super easy and requires literally two clicks. Or thumb taps, if that's what you're into.
@themoorewriter talks about why #YA is the underdog of lit and how you can help the fight. [Click here]
@themoorewriter talks the Harry Potter generation and why it's upped our expectations on book depth. #muchness [Click here]
Bringing English back,
Brie
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