The Writing Tutor

One of my students, Tammy S, has asked to see this article again. It appeared first in Learning Curve's 'Becoming a Writer' Guide last year. Hope it is of interest to others too...

You want to know about people. You want to know what makes them tick. You've spent most of your life listening to the way people talk, watching how they behave. They intrigue you, they madden you, they fascinate you.

Somebody Else's Shoes, Paul Magrs.

Characters are a key aspect of any piece of fiction. They are often the reason a reader picks up a story - as well as what a story is about, we want to know who it is about.

perspective on the world

We each have our own, unique perspective on the world and this is as true for your characters as it is for real people. In addition, we each relate to other people in our own, quite unique, way.

Select one of the main characters from a story you are working on at the moment. How do other people see your chosen character? What do they see as his/her strengths and limitations?

To what extent is your character aware of how others see him/her?

Often, just as in real-life, your characters will be oblivious to the way other people see them. This is because there are often parts of ourselves that we are unaware of. We may not realise just what messages we are giving out to people through our body language, facial expression, tone of voice or attitude.

where it all began

The way your characters choose to present themselves to other people gives some important clues about how they see their inner world.

Each one of us consciously has to create an understanding of the life in which we find ourselves. This process has been compared to making a map or a model which we can use as an aid to making decisions about what we should do to survive. This representation determines to a large degree how we perceive the choices available to us as we go through life.

No two people have exactly the same map. Even people born into the same family often have very different perceptions of what happens to them during childhood. Your characters will have their own, unique perception of their life and experiences. The next exercise aims to demonstrate this.

Stand by an open window and look at the view. If you don't have a window handy, imagine that you are looking at a beautiful landscape through an open window. Now close the window and notice the differences. The change might be significant, for instance the window might be dirty, or the glass distorted, or it might be subtle, perhaps with a small mark on the glass or part of the view cut off by the frame.

You might think of each of your characters as having their own, unique 'lens' through which they look at life.

Just as our sight is affected by different filters, our perceptions are affected by mental filters like:

- individual genetic inheritance which, as we have seen predisposes us in certain ways

- the time and place of our birth, the family into which we were born and the way we are brought up

- our unique personality, the collection of likes, dislikes, moral values, habits and so on which go to make up our individual response.

For instance, two brothers growing up in the same family might develop very different perceptions of their world. One might say 'My parents were caring but I knew that they really preferred my brother. They tried to be fair, but they definitely liked him better.' The other might say, 'I was unhappy as a child. My parents didn't love me as much as they loved my brother and they never hid the fact.' The parents' point of view is that they were trying their hardest not to show either child any favoured treatment! Each of the brothers has created her own model of the world they shared.

The influential nature of these models can be seen in the way your characters manage crisis points in their life. Some have little difficulty, experiencing them as times of challenge, while others, faced with the same situations, experience fear, anxiety and pain. One way of explaining such different responses to similar situations is that everyone is making choices out of their own particular model. It is not so much that people are making bad choices; rather their model does not offer enough options.

It follows from all this that the way we each see ourselves is crucial to the way we respond to life experiences and stress. As an author, if you wish to bring a character's perspective to life effectively you need to be able to share his or her 'model' or perception of the world - to have empathy with him or her - even if you do not necessarily agree with them.

One of the questions students ask most often is how they can earn money as an author, or more specifically, whether it is really possible to earn a decent living from their writing. I wrote the following article to get them started.

If you are under pressure to earn money from your writing efforts, it pays to adopt an imaginative, open-minded approach.

After 15 years living hand-to-mouth as a full-time writer Elizabeth McGregor has landed a staggering £1 million contract for her latest novel, 'The Ice Child'.

‘£1 million contract for author Elizabeth’, Julia Gough, The Writer's Forum, Oct/Nov 2001.

To be a successful freelance author, earning your entire living from writing, requires careful planning and an open-mind. As most of us are never going to make it on to the bestseller list, and don’t relish the idea of living ‘hand-to-mouth’ for years, it is worth taking the time to get this right.

Earning a decent living as a writer is not easy - it requires flexibility, persistence and self-belief. As Elizabeth McGregor explains:

I was a full-time writer but living very much hand-to-mouth and I could paper the house with the rejection slips I had.

You need a skin like a rhinoceros and keep on keeping on - eventually miracles happen and it could be just around the corner.

In a January 2002 article, Time for Change (Writing Magazine) Peter Kinsley notes:

...61 percent of members of the Society of Authors earn less than £10,000 pa, 46 percent earn less than £5000, and 75 percent earn less than £20,000 which is under the average wage of £20,919.

One of the greatest problems faced by freelancers is maintaining a steady income - there tends to be periods of both feast and famine: ‘feast’ when the income from a big project finally comes in, ‘famine’ when you are working on something new. Many markets pay miniscule fees - especially local and small circulation publications, typical ‘start-up’ markets for new authors - so when you first start out writing it is a labour of love rather than a route to quick riches.

You can improve cash flow by increasing your speed and your flow of ideas. No waiting for the muse to strike when you are trying to earn a living from your writing; you will achieve best results if you treat writing just like any other job - stick to office hours and don’t be distracted by friends who call round for coffee, that horrible pile of washing up in the sink, or even a tetchy letter from the bank. When you are writing, you are working, and everything else can be dealt with in your lunch break or after office hours, just as it would be if you were going out to work.

You can also help to even out your income by adopting a ‘portfolio’ approach to your writing. Essentially this means planning a range of small, medium and long-term projects that between them help to produce a fairly regular, year-round income:

Small projects can provide a baseline weekly income that covers essentials. These are ‘bread and butter’ projects, and might include things like a regular news or nature column for the local newspaper or a star sign column, depending on your interests. Local radio stations also often use short pieces, such as talks or local stories (although be prepared for the fact that you will probably be asked to record your own piece). Other quickies include ‘letters to editors’ and ‘viewpoint’ pieces, as well as contributions to the ‘tips and hints’ or ‘recipe’ sections of magazines – many of these pay an enticing small fee for relatively little work.

Medium term projects include one-off features, interviews and personal experience stories, radio short stories, magazine fiction and short radio drama. They might also include writing educational material, advertising blurb for local companies, or company reports, in-house newsletters or even manuals. Some authors also work in schools, universities or colleges as ‘resident or visiting writer’.

Long-term projects are those that take 6 months or more to complete. They might include novels, non-fiction books, a major piece of radio or television drama, or larger advertising or educational projects.

Some of the suggestions in this list might have surprised you, but they illustrate the importance of flexibility and an imaginative approach. Don’t dismiss advertising and educational work, which is often comparatively well-paid and surprisingly interesting, unless you are confident that you can earn the money you need from other sources.

a professional approach

Be prepared to adopt a businesslike approach to your writing. Your presentation of work should be spot on - remember that headed paper and business cards are an expression of your professional approach and the writing service you can offer clients. Take time to get these small details just right as they can make all the difference to the client’s lasting impression of your writing service.

Also be prepared to be imaginative in your approach to sales. Many companies have PR or educational departments that make regular use of freelance authors - help to ensure that you are at the top of the list by sending them top quality, well-designed advertising literature that they will want to keep on their desk:

Quality is an expression of service and approach. It doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive brochure or application letter - it is the one that catches the eye and the imagination that will stay on my desk. If a writer has the vision to produce material of this sort, I imagine they also have the vision to bring originality to the projects I give them.

Penny, PR

I hope over the weeks this blog will become a useful resource for both new and experienced authors. My own students often contact me with questions and problems - some of which crop up over and over again. Bringing the answers together in this blog might prove useful to others too.

So, let's get started:

Words editors love to hate .1. - very. This word is often seen as a lazy word, but it also often slips in when it isn't required.

The 'lazy' argument says that authors use 'very' to add emphasis rather than looking for a more descriptive or accurate word (e.g. 'very fat' rather than 'obese' or 'whale-like'; 'very pretty' rather than 'beautiful' or 'stunning'). I don't necessarily agree that 'very' is lazy, but it does crop up with frightening frequency in the work of some authors. I suspect the reason for this is often simply that they use 'very' a lot in their everyday speech too.

Whatever the explanation, however, it is worth looking out for this rogue in your writing. When you see it an alarm bell should ring - is 'very' really the best option or can you think of a more effective word? For instance He was very cross... has more impact when rewritten as He was furious ...

Sometimes 'very' is just unnecessary. An experience may be amazing, but you won't make it more so by adding 'very'. Equally a leaf is green or not - it doesn't make sense to write 'very green' anymore than it would to write 'a little bit green' or 'a lot green'.