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Author: Rachel Grosvenor

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Craft

4 Tips for Writing in Multiple Points of View

Writing in multiple points of view

Are you telling a story from the point of view of more than one character? It isn’t always easy, I know. Sometimes it can be hard to get that message across or know who to focus on. So, here are four tips that will make it easier for you to write from multiple points of view in your novel.

1) Assign scenes to a specific character. 

Avoid head-hopping at all costs. Your reader needs to understand that they are reading from a specific character’s point of view. Head-hopping happens when you move from one character’s POV to another within one scene, meaning that the reader is left wondering who they are focusing on and through whose eyes they are seeing the story. Therefore, assign scenes to a specific person, and if you want to move to a new character, use a narrative break or new chapter so that the reader understands what you are doing.

2) Use unique dialogue.

Make sure your reader knows who is speaking through unique dialogue and action tags. This is important for any novel, but especially for writing multiple points of view. It means that your reader will immediately understand whose scene they are in and the character they are focusing on. Even if your characters are from the same place, they should still speak slightly differently. No one speaks the same as somebody else, and if they do, they might use different slang words or have physical movements that differentiate them.

3) Consider a primary point of view. 

Do you have a main character or someone more important to the story than anyone else? A primary point of view makes writing a multiple character story much easier, so it’s worth thinking about if you haven’t yet considered this. It’s not something you have to do – just a recommendation.

4) Consider why you are using multiple points of view. 

Why are you using multiple POVs in your novel? What is the drive, and what is the story getting out of it? What are your characters giving to the tale? These questions are worth working through because if you have a character that adds nothing to your story, you should ask yourself why they are there. The varying points of view that your characters are offering should drive and move the story forward. For example, let’s take a book I recently read – The Mitford Trial by Jessica Fellowes. The story is told from the point of view of two characters, and the reason for this is that, in this classic whodunit, these two have differing opinions, see different things, and therefore provide different clues. So, it wouldn’t work so well as a single narrative point of view.

If you are writing a story with multiple points of view, and have any questions, get in touch to ask! 

Want to read something similar? Click here!

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Craft

3 Ways to Ensure Your Novel is Well Paced

Novel is well paced

Pacing is such an essential part of a novel. But what is it? Well, it’s essentially how fast or slow you tell the story. A well-paced novel doesn’t include irrelevant details that could bog the story down with information, such as non-eventful travelling, information dumps, or non-essential back story. The idea of a well-paced novel is to keep the reader engaged, interested, and well – turning that page!

So, how can you ensure your novel is well-paced? Here are three ways.

1) Shift the focus.

Have you been in a hurry to tell the story, and it’s moving too fast? It could be time to shift the focus from the main plot to your subplot. There are many different types of subplots, from romance, to giving backstory through flashbacks to supporting the novel’s central theme (think Bob Cratchit’s tale in A Christmas Carol).

Focus on a subplot means that it will take you longer to reach the final destination of your main plot, so use this idea sparingly. Too many subplots and diversions can be frustrating for a reader who really wants to know whodunit.

Want to speed up your story? Consider taking out a subplot.

2) Vary your sentence length. 

Just as including large narrative sections in dense paragraphs can slow down your pacing, the opposite is also true. Short, sharp sentences and the use of single paragraph sentences can pack a punch and speed up the pace of your novel. An exciting read has varying sentence length, and a novel with roughly the same length sentences can be repetitive, even if the content varies. Keep your reader on their toes by changing up those sentences!

3) Create urgency.

As I shared in my blog post – How to Create Tension in Your Writing – urgency can come from different places. For example, adding a literal time limit will keep your reader on the edge of their seat, checking their watch to see how much time the character has left to complete their mission. Creating urgency in writing can also mean adding an element of danger – is your character being chased? Is there a fight brewing?

Alright, those are three ways to ensure your novel is well-paced! Do you have any questions about pacing? I would love to help answer them. Get in touch here.

Fancy reading something similar? Click here!

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Craft

How to Find and Fix Plot Holes

Plot holes

A big part of self-editing is finding plot holes and fixing them. I know that when you have written the work, it isn’t always easy to spot them, so let’s begin this blog post with what a plot hole might look like in your novel before moving on to how to fix them. 

I also teach a class on this in my Novel Writing Masterclass: It’s Time to Write Your Novel. This 40 class course will take you from idea to publication – self-editing included!

Let’s look at those plot holes issues right now. 

Plot Holes:

1: Continuity errors. For example, a character suddenly knows something that they shouldn’t until later in the plot, or there’s a scene that’s missing that explains how two characters met. Anything that makes you go ‘huh? Hang on a minute….’

2. Those sneaky narrative threads. When you’re reading the work, you should now see if all of your threads are tied up nicely. If you find one that isn’t – that’s a plot hole that needs fixing!

3: Unusual actions or dialogue: If your Scottish character suddenly spends a few lines talking like a cowboy without reason, that’s a plot hole. If someone does something that is entirely out of character without any explanation or backstory – guess what? Plot hole! Yes, your character will develop throughout the novel, but keep it realistic. If someone’s personality changes overnight without reason, that’s significant and can be considered a plot hole.

4: Error and impossible action: If you’re writing a renaissance and your main character flicks on the radio – this is an obvious plot hole. But remember, they can be more subtle. If you have a character who lives in the 15th Century in a mud hut and you say something in the text like ‘His interest turned up like a dial’ – this too is a plot hole. Your reader will be thrown out of the story as they wonder about the consistency of the writing. Impossible actions include things that would kill someone usually, but your character happens to survive – unless they have a valid reason for doing so (secret superheroes and that sort of thing). Remember – your character can’t just survive because they’re the main character – that’s not realistic.

Fixing the Plot Holes!

Now we know what the plot holes are, how do we fix them?

1: Continuity errors: If you find a continuity error that’s bigger than a dialogue issue, often writing in a scene to explain how you have reached a certain point can help. Don’t rush it – take your time. A shoe-horned chapter can throw the reader off, so really consider: how did this character get here? What could make this section of the journey more believable? What can you add to make this part of the story make sense?

2: Narrative threads: If you have found a thread that’s flapping in the wind, you can tie it up or remove it. Consider – is it essential? Is there a reason you didn’t tie it up or forgot about it (Perhaps it didn’t play into the plot or relate to it)?

3: Unusual actions or dialogue: This is a character action or personality issue – so ask yourself: Is there any explanation that could make this work? Why is my character behaving in this way, and does it make sense? What can I change to make it make sense? If you like the unusual action or dialogue, ask yourself, ‘Is there anything that can be added earlier on in the story to help this make sense?’

4: Error and impossible action: This is usually to do with a lack of research, and the answer is the same as the problem – it calls for research! The only fix to this is to re-write these parts.

If you need a professional editor to help you clean up your plot holes, get in touch. That’s precisely what a Developmental Edit is for. I would love to help you make that manuscript shine! 

Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask.

Want to read something similar? Check out the following…
How to Deal with Constructive Criticism of Your Writing
4 Ways to Edit Your Own Writing

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Coaching Publishing

How to Write a Synopsis

Write a synopsis

The synopsis. I can hear you groaning already…what is it about a synopsis that writers find so tricky to write? I believe I know. You are so close to your novel, and you’ve written thousands of words. You’ve edited it and finally reached the end. And then, you have to pull yourself way back from the story and summarise what you’ve written? That isn’t easy.

It’s actually way easier for someone else to do for you – and I know this because I have written clients’ synopsis and pitches for them and found it much easier than writing my own. It’s because I can view the story objectively, pull out what needs to be known, and re-write it clearly. When it comes to my story, I just want to tell you ALL of it!

Writing a synopsis is a class that I teach in my Novel Writing Masterclass – It’s Time to Write Your Novel, but I wanted to give you a little freebie here because I know that other people struggle with this area too.

So – let’s break it down together. Here are the steps I recommend to write a synopsis:

1) Write down plot points in the order of events.
2) Write the first paragraph – set up the premise and write a clear description of the world and scenario you have created.
3) Connect your plot points by describing your character’s growth.
4) Tell us the ending.
5) Re-read for editing.

Ideally, this should be no more than 1000 words.

Follow these steps, and you should find it much easier to write your synopsis!

Let me know how you get on and don’t forget to get in touch if you need a hand.

Are you looking for a similar read? Check out the following:
3 Things Needed for a Fantastic Book Proposal
5 Things to Avoid When Writing Dialogue 

Categories
Craft

How to Write an Amazing First Sentence

First sentence

Your first sentence is the thing that pulls your reader into your story and makes them want to read on. Often it can be the sentence that makes a reader buy a book, as who out of us hasn’t stood in a book shop and perused the first page, just to see if it’s something that we connect with?

So, knowing how vital this first sentence is, how do we create an amazing one? Let’s break it down together.

Make the reader curious. 

Good first sentences compel the reader to keep reading, inspiring their curiosity and making them desperate to know what happens next. Here’s an example of some first sentences just like that:

‘He was wounded and unhorsed, but he was alive.’ – The Caspian Gates – Harry Sidebottom

Who was alive? What has happened? This sentence is excellent because it makes us want to read on and helps set a theme. We know that we are heading into a battle scene, that the world is potentially set in a different era or fantastical. It urges you to find out more.

‘The house was set back from the noisy main road in what seemed to be a rubbish tip.’ – The Good Terrorist – Doris Lessing

One of my favourite authors, doing a great job of pulling me into the story. The house is set in a rubbish tip? Tell me more, instantly! This sounds fascinating, and like the set-up for a dramatic tale.

Be clear. 

You’ll notice from both of the above sentences that they are short, clear, and easy to read. Your first sentence is not the time to wax lyrical about the colour of the autumn trees for fifty words; that can come later. You want to engage your reader and get them to understand you immediately. Even Tolkien, who used flowery language and long sentences, settled for a clear first line of Lord of the Rings, a complex novel:

‘When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.’ – Lord of the Rings – Tolkien 

This sentence, despite using the phrase ‘eleventy-first’, is easy to understand. This one also sets a theme. We know instantly that this is not the world that we are all too familiar with and that we are about to step into something brand new. How exciting!

You will notice that all of these sentences set the scene for the reader, which is convenient because that is the next tip!

Set the scene.

‘It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.’ – The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

We know exactly where we are in this, the era, the weather, and it even engages our senses to pull us in further. Plath makes us want to read on to find out more about the main character, too – what are they doing in New York?

Need a hand with your first sentence? Get in touch today. I would love to help you grab your reader by the shoulders and pull them straight into your novel!

Are you looking for more help with craft? Click here!

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Coaching

10 Coaching Questions to Help You with Your Writing Life

Coaching questions

Are you ready to move forward in your writing life? Coaching can get you where you want to go! One of my favourite things to do every week is pull a card from my’ coaching cards for every day’ pack. These open questions allow me to consider all sorts of things, from how to continue with a successful part of my writing life to how to achieve my goals.

Here are ten questions that can help you do the same. My recommendation would be to take some time with these questions and really consider them, journalling on the answers.

What habits support your writing?

What gives you pleasure in your writing life?

What drains your energy and enthusiasm for writing?

What steps can you take to overcome those drains?

Practice describing your book to someone else. What would you say?

What advice would you give to yourself as a writer?

What does ‘happy’ mean to you in your writing life?

What are your top 5 writing experiences in life so far?

What could you change to make your writing situation more positive?

What has inspired you this year, this month, and this week?

If you want to chat about anything you have found out through answering these questions, get in touch. I would love to help you create a writing life and novel that you are proud of. 

Want to read something similar? Check out the coaching page of my blog right here!

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Coaching Productivity

3 Ways to Turn On Your Creativity Tap

Creativity tap

Your creative tap might be rusting out of use, so let’s look at ways to get it turned back on and that innovative water flowing.

Here is one of my favourite writing quotes:

“The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” —Louis L’Amour.

What does this mean exactly? It means that we should not wait around for inspiration to strike if we want to get some writing done. Go after it with your pen poised. Let’s look into three ways to turn on that creativity tap:

1) Workbooks and Classes.

I cannot express to you the amount of joy that I found through Creative Writing classes over the year, both as a teacher and a student. They have helped me hone my skill set, understand what the craft of writing is about, and most importantly of all, have taught me to prioritise my writing life. Workbooks have a similar effect too, and taking that opportunity to write, create, and learn about something you care about, doesn’t just make you a better writer. It makes you a happier one, and it makes you more comfortable with the title of writer. You are a writer, friend, so it’s time to invest in yourself and your art.

I offer options for this – click here to see The Time to Write Workbook.

This has been developed to help you find time in your working week to write. For the price of a cup of coffee, you can invest in yourself.

I also offer the amazing It’s Time to Write Your Novel masterclass. This 40 class programme is designed to take you from procrastination to print – through the stages of writing your novel. The classes are developed to fit into a busy day so that finding time for yourself is not so difficult.

Once you begin to prioritise your writing life through workbooks, classes, and investing in yourself – you will find that the creative faucet is so much easier to turn on. After all, practice makes progress, and by setting this time aside to work on something you care about, you are making progress.

2) Writing exercises.

Writing exercises are the oil for the rusty faucet! I absolutely love them, and they spark exciting ideas. Here are two of my favourites:

Freewriting. Freewriting is precisely as it sounds – it is the act of putting pen to paper and writing a steady stream of consciousness.

Changing the point of view. Writing from another character’s point of view in your story is a fantastic way to get to know it better. Through this exercise, you can learn more about your characters, your world, and your plotline.

3) Investigation into your process. 

If we do not spend some time considering how we write, why we write, and what makes our writing life better, it will never change. If you are not happy with the writing world you have created and find it hard to get inspired; it’s time to investigate your process. This act alone will help you develop a routine and writing process that actually works for you, meaning that when you sit down to write, you are ready to create with passion.

1:1 coaching is ideal for this step, and through working with a writing coach such as myself, you can understand your process and how you can create a novel you are proud of.

Try the above things if you want to turn that creative faucet on, and let me know how you get on! Looking for more productivity hacks? Click here.

Categories
Craft

How to Use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for Your Character Development

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Are you ready to develop your characters in a new way? Why not try using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This pyramid (as seen below) is something that I use all the time. I use it in my coaching, in my personal life, and in my writing. Why? Because it helps me prioritise my workload and personal life, teach how to prioritise, and understand my character’s needs as well.

So, how can Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs teach us about and help us develop our characters? It’s all about their motivation. Motivation is the thing that drives your character and story forward.

As you can see from the pyramid, we begin at the bottom with physiological needs. So, what physiological needs could be driving your character forward?

In my novel The Birth of Ida, my main character finds herself in an inhospitable land that she has never before dealt with. That means that a lot of her development takes place at the bottom rung on this pyramid. She is cold, hungry, and a little desperate. Therefore, she learns to hunt, build fires on snow, and become an all-round badass outdoorswoman. This is a part of her character development.

The next level is safety needs. Let’s look at Ida again. If I consider her motivation in this section, she is driven to protect herself and reclaim her property. That is another level of her motivation. Remember that characters, like people, are complex. They won’t just have one level of motivation because all of us have these levels. Usually, we need to satiate hunger before we can move up a level, for example.

The next level is love and belonging. Ida is a bit of a lone wolf in this category, but she does have her horse, who fulfils her need for belonging. It might be that you are writing a romance, and so your character’s motivation in this section is more substantial than Ida’s. That’s down to each character and person.

Now we’re onto esteem. This level is about respect and freedom. Ida’s motivation at this level is strong – she is striving to be respected as a woman in a patriarchal world, and after being locked up for many years, she values freedom above all else. That goes some way to explaining why her belongingness category is not so important to her – her values are different.

The highest level is self-actualisation. This level is all about achieving your highest potential – it’s the highest goal. Of course, this is most likely your main characters most easily spotted motivation – because the big goal is what we usually consider. But, remember that a character or person cannot reach this level unless the other levels have been considered. After all, one needs a full belly, some support, and at least a little respect to slay a dragon.

A well-rounded character will include all of these things, so try this with your main character today and see how they develop according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Any questions about this? Get in touch and ask; I would be happy to answer!

If you need a hand with your writing craft, I can help. As a lecturer in Creative Writing for over six years, and with a PhD, MA and BA in the subject, I am well poised to answer any issues you have been facing.

Categories
Craft

How to Find the Genre of Your Book

How to find genre

Some writers know exactly what the genre of their book is, and that is wonderful. However, sometimes it can be tricky to work out the genre. It might be that you started writing something that changed in development, or perhaps that you never had a handle on what the genre was in the first place.

What is genre? 

Genre is a category. You can have genres of music, art, and literature. It might be that you prefer reading fantasy and listening to folk music. Those are both genres.

Why does it matter?

It matters because it helps you find your ideal reader. It can also help you find the agent or publisher that works best for you. Genre is essentially a way of setting expectations.

How do I discover my genre?

If you are unsure what genre your novel is, it’s time to do some research. Here are ways to find out:

1) Consider which books your book is similar to.
What have you written, and what have you read that is just like it? Then, it’s time to think about the readers of those books. What other books do they enjoy? You can spend some time online searching for books similar to what you have decided is like your novel. Once you have chosen around seven that are comparable, you should find that they are all a similar genre.

2) Identify genre components in your novel. 
What does your story include? Is it magical with dragons? Or is it set in the modern world? Is there a heist or a crime? Is the main focus a love story?

Once you know what your components are, you can think about your specific reader again. Who would LOVE what you have written? Consider your ideal reader and what else they read. The person you have created in your mind is partial to a genre, and elements that you have included in your novel fit them perfectly.

It’s not always easy to pin down your genre, and that might be because your book fits into a few genres. Crossovers exist, and it’s fine to do this. After all – I’m writing a Wild West Fantasy myself.

So how do you decide which one to go for? 

Pick the overriding element in your story. For example, you might be writing a crime story with a romance subplot. Which plot takes prescient? Is it crime or romance? Whichever the alpha tale is, that’s the genre to go for.

Any more questions about genre or struggling to find yours? Get in touch today, and let’s see if we can break it down for you! Need more help with craft? Click here.

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Craft

How to Create a Realistic Character

Realistic character

A realistic character can make all the difference to a reader. It can keep them engaged, draw them into a story, and even make them fall in love. Think of it, even when Mr Darcy (Pride & Prejudice) was being just plain rude, we all cared what would happen next. That’s because he was realistic, as was Lizzy, and we wanted them to have a satisfactory outcome despite the fact that they didn’t exist.

Realistic characters are the bread and butter of your novel. So how do you make them realistic enough to step off the page? Let’s take a look.

Hotseat Them

Ah, one of my all-time favourite things to do with a character. Hot seating a character means asking them a series of questions that reveal them as a person. Sometimes it can create an entirely new and surprising direction that you hadn’t even thought of! For questions to ask your character, take a look at the two free books you get when you subscribe to my newsletter. You can also look up Proust’s questionnaire, which is full of fabulous and profound questions.

Pull from real life 

While it’s not recommended to write about your ex precisely as they are, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t pull from real life and real people you have known, in your creative work. Using characters from our own world can add a natural flair to a novel, and no one needs to know where you came up with the idea…

Give them flaws, quirks, and strengths 

People are complicated, and no one is wholly good. Your characters should have strengths, yes, but they should also be flawed, with individual quirks. Think about Batman for a moment – why is that character so interesting? It’s because of his flaws. He wasn’t born with the strength of a superhero; he created that reality for himself. He is also selfish, complicated and challenging to know. This kind of character pulls your reader in – they want to read more because they are intrigued by the person.

Create their motivation

What motivates your character? Everyone is motivated by something, and that motivation should be legitimate. Even a baddy should be a baddy for a reason. Take Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), for example, and his story. We know that he behaves the way he does because of his childhood. The things that happened in his life when he was young taught him to put too high a value on money, and because of that, he loses what is really important in his adult life.

Give them their own dialogue and mannerisms 

Even two people from the same place and era speak differently, and even identical twins have individual mannerisms. Show the reader how your character is different through action tags, dialogue, and movement.

Develop them as the novel continues 

No one remains the same throughout a time period, and even those determined to may become more entrenched in their points of view. Develop your character throughout the plot, and show that the actions around them impact who they are as a person. You can learn more about this in my novel writing masterclass, where I teach plotting, character arcs, and characterisation.

What else do you think a realistic character includes? Let me know! 

Looking for more information on the craft of writing? Check out this page here!