Hallowed be thee, crit partner

My next word in the above statement - Not!!! There's nothing holy about what your crit partner tells you, and you should see it for what it is first and foremost. A critique.

Have you ever watched a movie and then read what the critics are saying about it? Have you noticed that the critics' views may range from this-is-crap to this-is-brilliant and everything in between? Now have you stopped to ponder what your idea of the movie is?

You should be doing the same with your story. After all, who better than you will know what you want to say?

So, am I saying crit partners should be ditched? After all, I'm telling you to have your own opinion, aren't I? The answer is No. You actually need your crit partners, but you also need to know how to weed out what you do need from their words and what you don't.

I came into the writing world armed only with literary knowledge. If you recall my post about the fine line between literature and popular fiction, I wanted my characters to be the foil for a reality I wanted to show. The first thing I realised with crit partners' insight is that I'm not cut out for writing literature. I was blowing too much life into the characters for that, which was making me veer towards popular fiction. I didn't want to write Harlequin type, because I knew it would never be accepted and published in my country. But in the end, I couldn't keep on rebelling. I had to accept the truth - I wrote popular fiction.

My crit partners showed me that, but afterwards, it was very much trial and error that had me pulling my hair out almost every single day! That was the extent of their 'help' - to show me I was better off writing romance but man, did everyone have an opinion about how to go about the task! I met the know-it-alls and even those who thought they knew much when they didn't know a thing - why does your story start here? You'd have more impact if you made the mother come to her doorstep in London, or if you gave the heroine a mental breakdown. You write too far-fetched stuff, life is not like this in the twenty-first century. You're too wordy. You need to pitch the boyfriend with the ex at this particular point or you're completely missing the point. A scene is a minimum of 3 pages long. Less than that, scrape it (even if you have something to say!).

Okay, you get the drift, don't you? One day I stopped listening and sat down with my story. So, what were my strengths and what were my weaknesses, I asked myself. How exactly do I write? What am I aiming to portray and show? Like T.J. said, how can you think you'll make your work better if you don't even have any idea what you need to make better?

Started a long journey for me. I wrote the full story, without getting any crits. I needed to know where I was going. Then I looked up writing resources on the net and devoured everything I came across (site like those of Charlotte Dillon, Holly Lisle, eharlequin Learn how to write, and Romantic Times were the best I found, among others).

I started to see something emerge - some of these articles said the same thing. And this is something you need to take into account. If 5-10 people in the industry are saying something, there's a good chance the thing they're saying is true. Mind, you I never said it was set in stone. You just need to bear this truth in mind.

In the meantime, I had found the last chapters easier to write. Why? Because it just flowed. I could get into the characters' heads and relate their POV, and the words fell onto the screen, even if it was wordy. One scene I remember writing where I made the couple break up. I was shaken for a long time after that, shaken by the violence in their words, in their emotions, in how they used me as a medium to pass through to the reader what was at the very bottom of their hearts.

I didn't send this for crits. Armed with the knowldge gained from the articles I had read, I created my list of strengths and weaknesses and tackled it. Rewrote the ms. Re-rewrote the ms on another read. Polished, editted, became best buddies with my thesaurus. Then I sent it off to the editor. Not pausing to think, I started a second project. Started writing, again a wordy first draft. Finished the draft and tentatively put it up for crits. The know-it-alls no longer bashed me now. They had no opportunity to do so, other than tell me I was wordy and my story was littered with echoes.

From there I read all their crits. Took some of their pointers and advice where tightening was concerned. Used a more appropriate word when they sometimes suggested. Gave careful consideration to plot points they didn't agree with.

At this point, I knew what worked for me and what didn't. The aim of a crit was to show me what my eyes had missed, not to provide my crit partner with an English class exercise of 'rewrite this better'. I also paid attention to the fact that if 2 or more people were going, 'I don't know what you mean by this line', there would be a very good chance most readers wouldn't too. This I changed/rewrote.

It all boils down to this - know thy story and know thyself as a writer. This will give you what will work for you and what won't from the sea of 'advice' you'll get from your crit partners. Read about the business and the craft, and always be on the lookout to learn. The only hallowed word is that of your editor, and even there you have room to disagree and argue constructively.

I am lucky today to have trusted crit partners and also a mentor who has steered me in the right track. They all helped me to find my strengths and address my weaknesses, and that too in a constructive, empathetic and supportive way. Nobody plays the know-it-all with me, and I always remember to never sound like one when I do give a crit. Use or lose is my favourite bit of advice at the end, because this is what you should do - use what will strengthen and lose what doesn't work. The best way to know how to make the difference? Invest in your story and in your own writing. Knowledge is the greatest asset!

Btw, that first story I talk about here is actually The Other Side, my first published novel!

I'd love you opinion on this topic! Feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Get to the point

What writer hasn't dreaded 'the pitch'?

What writer hasn't obsessed over the need to have a succint description of their story in a nutshell to present to a potential editor?

Say you meet your dream editor in an elevator and he/she tells you, What's your plot? You start to go, my story is about this girl who gets divorced and then she comes back home and realises life has changed and then she decides she must put up with it and-- Ding!!

The elevator door opens and out glides your editor. Unless you got stuck between floors for at least an hour would you have been able to lay out all your story is about.

That's too true, you think? Actually yes. And unfortunately for the editors, and to a great measure the writers too, we miss a lot of good stories this way, because the writer wasn't able to grab our attention.

I've been there before, even if it wasn't in an elevator. As Lady T.J. already pointed out, I've known the barb of, And your point would be? What's your plot, girl?

What many of us do not realise is that editors know their job, or at least, a good editor should know his/her job. This implies that a brief description in the appropriate language/words will convey more than a drawn-out monologue will ever convey in this circle.

Take the story I just started outlining up above. A divorcee comes back home and realises society views her in a new light. Amidst all this chaos, she meets the man she had loved and given up on in the past, because she hadn't had it in her to pursue this 'impossible' relation in her youth.

That pitch would take at least 2 minutes to convey, and that is way more than the average elevator trip, unless you're on a ride to the top floor of the Empire State Building.

Now, I meet an editor and I go - the plot is about Maturation in the setup of Man V/s Society/Nature/Man with underlying hints of Forbidden Love.

This might not make sense to you. How the heck did that explain your plot or the uniqueness of your story?

Believe me, to an editor, you just exposed the very uniqueness of your plot, because you related it to the basic framework that is predominant in the publishing world. This tickles the editor, because this description tells him/her what you have done and he/she can relate it immediately to what's already been done.

Take a moment to study the basic plots and the master plots. Like Lady T.J. already said, they are going to be your road map, and through this road map, however silly/overstretched/far-fetched your story, laying it down within the framework of the basic and master plots will mean you never lose the way and what you write will ultimately make sense.

I give you another analogy, that of the medical world. You bring someone to ER and the paramedic says to the resident- this man was brought in with shortness of breath, near paralysis on the right side, excessive sweating, erratic heartbeat, difficulty to articualte resulting in slurring speech. By this time, the pateint may already be dead. Why do you think the paramedic goes, man of fifty, possibility of a massive stroke to have occureed within the past hour? The resident knows what a stroke entails, and he knows what to do with this description.

Same goes for your editor. Be brief, succint, and know your jargon - in other words, know your plots. Your words will only speak louder and your writing path for a story will only be clearer.

Any question, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - the Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in early 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

A means to an end

Some of our recent previous posts have focused on heroine archetypes - how they are presented and also how they can become stereotypes if one is not careful. Our examples focused mostly on Desperate Housewives.

We should've told you that there is one big difference between writing and television - the means is not at all the same.

How so? Television is a visual and audio means, while writing, and ultimately reading, engages all the senses and the imagination as well.

Consequently, television is a passive means, while reading, while not active in the real sense of the word, makes use of all your neurons to grasp the 'picture' in your mind.

This creates a different slant when penning characters in a novel. As most readers who would engage with a heroine are women, these women will need to feel a kinship with your heroine, literally become the heroine in their mind.

Just imagine a woman entering a very male-dominated bar. How would this be shown in on TV, and in a book?

TV would literally 'show' you the setting. You'll see the smoke hanging in the air; you'll hear the 'tac-pac' sound of billiard balls being hit; you'll also hear the ribald laughter and see the men throwing their heads back to chortle or to guzzle down a pitcher of beer.

Now you're in a book, and you need to convey this scene. How will you do it? Of course, you can say smoke hung in the air like a stale and oppressing canopy, making it hard to breathe without the toxic fumes scorching your trachea. You'll hear the sudden and disturbing clang of the billiard balls, the sound sending an explosion in your eardrums and the reverberations echoing all the way down to your empty stomach. The laughter of the men as they grope the waitresses and holler sends a shiver down your spine, revulsion making goosebumps rise on your forearms while all the hairs on your body stand on end. What on earth are you doing here? You'll notice the condensation running down the pitchers of beer, reminding you that you walked all the way from the farm to here, the other side of town, and suddenly you realize there's a fire burning your throat and your mouth feels like cotton because you're in desperate need of some thirst-quenching liquid. Even on the threshold, the cloying heat of sweaty bodies in a confined room assaults you like a rush of stifling fire wrapping an uncomfortable bubble on your skin and making the fabric of your cotton sundress stick to your body.

Which scene puts you more in the shoes of the heroine? Both are giving you the same situation, but through different means.

In the TV version, you know the heroine is at the bar because you see her there. But do you know why she is here? How she got here? Unless the previous scene showed her walking there under the bright sun on deserted roads will you know she is tired and thirsty. TV will need to spell it all out for you, while in the book, simply being in the character's head can convey all this and much more.

TV is a passive means, while reading engages all your senses and your imagination. You bring up the picture when reading; it is your own interpretation.

Because of this fact, stereotypes and pushing archetypes to the limits does not really work when you are penning down a heroine.

Bridget Jones in the book and Bridget Jones in the novel are one and the same, but she isn't portrayed the same way in both movies. The over-the-top Bridget who sings 'All By Myself' with a bottle of wine in her hand in the movie is not exactly the same Bridget Jones at the start of the book when she is writing in her diary and says: 'Resolution number one: obviously, will lose twenty pounds. Number two: will find nice sensible boyfriend and not continue to form romantic attachments to alcoholics, workaholics, peeping-toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits or perverts.'

Another good example would be Susan Mayer from Desperate Housewives. Susan accumulates gaffe after gaffe in the show. Which works fine for her character, and which makes us laugh. But do you think that if you had been reading of a heroine who falls into mishaps every other second in incredible and unbelievable-at-first-glance situations, you would've cheered her on so much? Wouldn't you have said, 'Get a life', or, 'Grow up', or, 'Get out of here! She cannot be that much of a klutz!'

In a nutshell, what works on TV doesn't exactly work the same way in writing. The suspension of disbelief brought on by TV implies that you gloss over aspects of logic and understanding that you simply cannot ignore when your brain is consciously and fully engaged in a reading experience.

As always, all comments welcome!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural romantic fiction, with a twist

With stories set amidst the rainbow nation of Mauritius, a multicultural island in the Southern Indian Ocean, author Aasiyah Qamar brings you tales of today's young women battling life on all fronts and finding love where they least expect it. Indo-Mauritian culture wants to stifle them in traditions, customs and antiquated morals while the world is opening its arms of modernity and globalisation. Where do these women belong? And more importantly, with whom? Find out more about her first release, The Other Side, here.

The road long travelled

What are we supposed to adhere to when writing heroines?

Archetypes.

What do most writers actually abide by when penning heroines?

Stereotypes!

What's the difference, you may ask?

An archetype is a generalized description of a certain 'type' of person. Like the Librarian, who is an introvert but who hides herself behind the quiet exterior - she may in fact be a warm and nurturing person behind the facade of the cool professional. She also leads with her brain, is rational and thinks things through, not given to impulse and passion.

A stereotype is a generalized notion that is ascribed to a certain category of persons. Take a real librarian - the stereotype has her as a mouse-like creature with a tight bun and thick glasses and prim and proper clothes who whips her hair loose, rips her blouse off to reveal a Wonderbra when she is overwhelmed by passion and thus she jumps poor unsuspecting men when her inner vixen is unleashed.

Which one of those descriptions sounds more plausible to you?

I would say the first. The Librarian archetype does not apply specifically to a library professional, and it is a description that fits a certain portrayal of the quiet, brainy heroine who hides her real self behind a facade.

A stereotype is most of the time a 'false' notion. Librarians don't usually jump the bones of every guy who comes their way, do they? Other stereotypes that completely miss the point are, for example:

All blondes are brainless bimbos.
All mechanics are beer guzzling and women obsessed testosterone-driven machines.
All writers are creatures who live inside a cave and rarely come out to see the light.

Do these sound true to you? Okay, if they do, are they true?

So why is it that writers still go with stereotypes when creating their characters, and more precisely, their heroines?

Another thing that arises when one goes with stereotypes and other such notions is the concept of polarization.

Polarization is taking a character description to an extreme. For example, look at the women in Desperate Housewives. Brought down to the bare bones, this is what it dwindles to (though the show did help redeem them through other traits. But back to the core issue - how they are stereotyped, expecially at the start when the characters are exposed to the viewing audience)

Bree gives the polar end of the manic housewife - always needing to be perfect.
Susan is the polar extreme of the ditzy, clumsy and goofy woman - can someone really string goof after goof like she does?
Lynette is the polar extreme of the harried mom - she doesn't know what to attend to and where to give her energy.
Eddie is the polar extreme of the seductress who seduces anything in pants.

This was actually how the show was described prior to its release, and shortly after it was aired too, before the audience came to grasp the different facets layering the plot and characterisation.

While the initial descriptions helped work this cast in the story, do they sound realist? Not exactly, right? Real women can have such characteristics, but in real life the extreme is not dramatized as in the TV series.

So next time you want to create a 'novel' character, take a minute to pause and ponder. If you are taking a stereotype to work with, find out to what point the stereotype can be true. Saying that all White folks are racists, while a stereotype, is far-fetched and terribly untrue, so much so that you as a writer will lose all credibility if you use this ploy.

If you're going for a polar extreme, then too, ask yourself if that extreme could exist in real life. While your suburban neighbour can happen to be a Bree Van de Kamp clone, how many other housewives do you think will fit the bill?

When faced with stereotypes and polar extremes, take them and tamper them down to a realistic degree. Then twist and turn this facet into a unique premise that works for your story, your character, and you as a writer.

Your readers and your critics will only thank you for that!

As always, all comments welcome!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural romantic fiction, with a twist

With stories set amidst the rainbow nation of Mauritius, a multicultural island in the Southern Indian Ocean, author Aasiyah Qamar brings you tales of today's young women battling life on all fronts and finding love where they least expect it. Indo-Mauritian culture wants to stifle them in traditions, customs and antiquated morals while the world is opening its arms of modernity and globalisation. Where do these women belong? And more importantly, with whom? Find out more about her first release, The Other Side, here.

A man of substance

A hero...

The word itself is enough to send our hearts aflutter.

He is a worthy man, a handsome man (though he needs not be picture perfect), he is an honorable man. He is someone we can easily fall in love with.

In short, he is a man of substance...

But what does this entail when you're writing your hero? How do you bring substance to this persona?

Throughout this month we have brought you tips and tricks about how to create a hero, how to shape him, how to mold him to your story's specifics.

Today I'll go over them again, and add a few little hints too.

First, know who he is - what is he supposed to do in this story?

What sort of story is it? Dimensions of the hero explained how you need a 'different' man for every genre.

Then you go into how he is - archetypes come in handy here, to keep you in line when shaping him.

Next, you start fleshing him - physical appearance, among others, comes here. You can work off a picture/movie star/celebrity/your own man, whatever, as long as you know he has sandy hair when the story starts and he doesn't end up with hair like a raven's wings by the end.

You also decide whether your hero is a caveman or a metrosexual, or where along those 2 extremes he fits in. Depending on this definition, you'll know how he dresses (from Gap or from the runway shows of Armani, with a little bit of Prada thrown in), how he carries himself (is he blissfully unaware that he's got a hip movement to die for, or is he elaborately conscious that everywhere he walks is akin to a runway ramp?), what sort of lifestyle he has (stale pizza and beer at his place or the latest order from the hippest sushi bar in town?)

While I admit the metrosexual doesn't win my vote of favor, he can have his redeeming traits - up to you to make him lovable if you are using him (think David Beckham in an underwear ad).

Attitudes and values will also play in. What has made him who he is? Get yourself a well-compiled file on his backstory, and be sure to find his impact moment, which will define him for a lifetime.

And, if you are writing a romance, figure out how this man loves. I'm not talking only bedroom theatrics (though you do need to know how he fares and acts in the bedroom - room for lots of writer fantasies here *wink*). What does this man do when he loves a woman? Bring her flowers? What sort of flowers? Roses? Are they all of the same color or does he choose one flower by every color in the bouquets he brings? Does he bring a bouquet or a single flower?

Always, always, ask yourself questions. The hero is a man YOU need to fall in love with first. Treat him as any man you meet in real life - if this bloke captured your attention, what would you do? How do you think of him? Imagine you are sixteen again and start imagining your life with him, what it will be like, what he will be like.

Do this for this imaginary man, and you will end up creating a 'real' man that jumps off the page and grasps your reader's heart.

That's your aim - to make him memorable.

You have the tools. You have the knowledge. Use it.

As always, I welcome your comments! How do you go about creating your hero?

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural romantic fiction, with a twist
With stories set amidst the rainbow nation of Mauritius, a multicultural island in the Southern Indian Ocean, author Aasiyah Qamar brings you tales of today's young women battling life on all fronts and finding love where they least expect it. Indo-Mauritian culture wants to stifle them in traditions, customs and antiquated morals while the world is opening its arms of modernity and globalisation. Where do these women belong? And more importantly, with whom?Find out more about her first release, The Other Side, here.

When cliches take a life of their own

I was supposed to blog about the cultural hero today, but Sandra's post got me thinking in a completely different direction, about how we perceive heroes. The cultural hero will come next week, promise!

So, when cliches take a life of their own...

He was tall, dark, and handsome...

No need to tell you who this refers to - the hero, of course!

But, have you noticed how all romance heroes seem to fall under this description?

Let's try something else.

The best friend whose shoulder you'll always cry on is all the time boyish, maybe with a mop of curly hair, who half the time, is red or blond.

Or, the guy's shoulders are a mile wide.

Or, his hair is luxuriant.


Are you seeing a common thread here? All this is expected. You close your eyes and you picture this kind of description all the time.

Why? Because it's a cliche!

All the men in romance tend to look alike, a carbon copy in a sort.

I ask, aren't you fed up with men who all look, sound, feel alike? Why do we read romance? For escapism, for the HEA, but a major part of it is - to fall in love with the hero!

How then do you fall in love with one same man all the time? Isn't there scope for a variety of men out there? Women in real life aren't all attracted to the same kind of men. There's got to be someone who rocks everyone's boat but who won't rock yours. Case in point, I can't for the life of me drool on Johnny Depp. Throw whatever you want at me, he does absolutely nothing to me. Yet, women the world over would sell their souls to be with a man like him.

This kind of thing doesn't happen just to me. It happens to you too. Think of that geek you found cute. Or that hulking man who peopled all your fantasies once you set your eyes on him. Think of this fellow who caught your eye and you have no idea why coz he's a regular looking guy, nothing striking about him.

Heroes are supposed to be a transposition of real men to the fictional world. Why then would all heroes look like clones if we took them and placed them in the same room in the real world?

Kill the cliche. Emerge with a man who's unique. Why is he unique? Because he's different, and that's why and how your heroine falls for him. At the same time, this novelty is what will make women who read your work fall in love with him too.

Don't think a man has to be tall to woo. Think of Brad Pitt. He isn't a beanpole, is he? Same goes for Andy Garcia.

He doesn't need to be dark to be drool-worthy. One of the men women would die for and men would kill to look like is blond. His name is Daniel Craig.

Don't think he needs a mop of luxuriant hair that would make every woman envy him his locks. He doesn't have to be Patrick Dempsey and he can also be balding like Jason Statham.

Imagine a new hero. The world will thank you for it, because you brought a real guy to life in your story. And, nothing beats the real guy where love is concerned! We don't want a fantasy, or a world like the soaps which is filled with guys one so hunkier than the next we throw the towel in at the level of high-maintenance expected of us to just be able to stand next to them proudly.

No. We want a real man. Someone we could bump in at the corner store.

I'd love your comments. Feel free to tell me what sort of un-cliche man rocks your boat.

P.S. If ever all the guys you bump in at the corner store look like they come out of a soap opera, let me know. I'll relocate ASAP.



Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural romantic fiction, with a twistWith stories set amidst the rainbow nation of Mauritius, a multicultural island in the Southern Indian Ocean, author Aasiyah Qamar brings you tales of today's young women battling life on all fronts and finding love where they least expect it. Indo-Mauritian culture wants to stifle them in traditions, customs and antiquated morals while the world is opening its arms of modernity and globalisation. Where do these women belong? And more importantly, with whom?Find out more about her first release, The Other Side, here.

Who are you?

Who are you?

No, I'm not singing the opening song to CSI: Las Vegas. I am really asking you the question.

You're a writer. Okay, I got that. But who are you really, especially as a writer?

Just as when you go somewhere new and meet new people, you introduce yourself. You usually say you are this person, who comes from here and who hails originally from there.

Step into the writing world, and afterwards one step further, into the publishing world. How would you introduce yourself then?

The world is full of strangers. The people in publishing and writing circles don't know who you are, so you need to tell them more about you.

What do you say in this case? Just like you as a person introduce yourself, with a certain manner and in a certain way (pertinent details, vital info, etc), the same goes for the writing world. Let's break this further down:

Everyday world - you are either male or female.

Publishing world - you are from the writing pool, or from the editorial/publishing pool. Despite the fact that here, you can belong to both, in every situation, you will be one or the other.

Everyday world - you are White, Black, Indian, Asian, etc.

Publishing world - you write contemporary, historical, mainstream, paranormal, fantasy.

You see, for every way you introduce yourself, there is something for you to say.

Now, exactly as in the real world, you can be an Indo-Briton or an African-American, with a persona that carries both sides of the culture and where you fit in right in the middle...

Same goes in the writing world. You can be a historical writer who also combines in aspect of mystery, paranormal, fantasy. You integrate 'cultures/genres' and create something new.

This something new is your answer for me. That's who you are.

Until next time, when we may go more in depth into creating a unique identity for you, I'd love to receive your comments.

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural romantic fiction, with a twist

With stories set amidst the rainbow nation of Mauritius, a multicultural island in the Southern Indian Ocean, author Aasiyah Qamar brings you tales of today's young women battling life on all fronts and finding love where they least expect it. Indo-Mauritian culture wants to stifle them in traditions, customs and antiquated morals while the world is opening its arms of modernity and globalisation. Where do these women belong? And more importantly, with whom?

Find out more about her first release, The Other Side, here.