This article is a series of rules and tips, naturally subjective, that apply specifically to improving the fantasy saga the Shaedra Cycle, but which could potentially be of use, to some extent, for other novels. The rules should not be seen as obligations, but rather as simple guidelines. The idea is that if the author doesn’t want to follow one of the rules at some point, she should try to find a good reason and be aware of it; not following one of the rules may be the right thing to do.
This vision of writing based on recipes has a particular interest when one wants to write without planning in advance the whole main plot. That is, the writer creates a world and a society and writes the story by putting himself in the shoes of the character, without knowing what will happen. As he tells the story, he imagines events using ingredients, that is, taking advantage of the situations that arise, sometimes thanks to forgotten details that at the time could seem unimportant, which makes the narration more natural and lively and also more fun for the writer. The risk with this style of writing is to lose the coherence of the plot and the story, so it is advisable to use recipes, which, in a way, control the chaos generated by writing without a previous plan. Sometimes this may not be enough, and it may be necessary to revise and rewrite a passage: the result will be coherent, thanks to the corrections; and since these depend on what has already been written, the natural and unpredictable aspect will be safeguarded.
The creation of the world must follow certain rules of modulated equilibrium so that it is possible to get an idea of what is possible, always leaving a little room for “luck”, which gives life to things, but limiting to a reasonable level the scope of the actions of the characters and other elements of the story. The aim is twofold, since it intends, on the one hand, that the reader can immerse himself in the story without obstacles and, on the other hand, that the author himself does not find himself with an unbearable situation that hinders his own writing.
Chiefly, one should pay attention to the following points:
The object of the story’s argument should not be the future of the world, but the simple adventures of one or more characters and their limited interactions with the world, which on the whole should remain relatively indifferent to these little stories.
The characters should be fallible, learn at a reasonable pace, have their positive and negative points; it is important that they are varied, and it is better to avoid that they surpass all the others in a particular field. It is only the whole formed by their aptitudes—and especially by their personality—which must characterize them.
Any powerful technical use must be accompanied by a cost and a degree of uncertainty so as to avoid abuse; it must be reasonable not to endanger the balance and not to bring inconsistencies—which can only can cause complications when trying unsuccesfully to justify them.
It is best to avoid using time to accelerate technical skill improvements and try to make an entertaining story with the tools available. Technique and skill in a field do not provide fun or interest on their own. The passage of time and progress do not necessarily go hand in hand.
The personality of the characters is crucial in a story, and the presentation of the characters should not be taken lightly. Above all, “their actions must be consistent with their personality”.
Let’s not forget that, for the sake of balance, characters are both skilled at some things and awkward at others: they are not geniuses at everything. Each character should bring something special to the table. Characters should have several characteristics that give them each a particularity (quirks, physique, dress, behavior…).
It’s better to avoid absolutes. Characters should be neither totally good nor totally bad. Yes, evil and good exist, but anything that is purely good or evil is a priori not fun.
Furthermore, we must be careful about the durability of personality: characters should not change their personality radically, except in exceptional cases. Newly acquired skills should not influence the personality—or at least the change should not be significant.
The protagonist does not have to be mean or serious. He is not a buffoon, but he is not serious or dull, and he is not going to save the world. The protagonist should not be too withdrawn. He must be sympathetic enough. And all this because, if the reader doesn’t like the protagonist, the whole book loses its charm.
The durability of personality is even more important in the case of the protagonist. Be careful not to make the character degenerate so that he is, for example, sympathetic at the beginning and becomes more and more serious as the story progresses.
In order to create the world, it is important to respect the following points:
The world should not be too realistic: we are not on Earth, but in a world apart, whose main purpose is to entertain. However, the world created should not be too different from the Earth, because otherwise it is more difficult to make the reader not feel lost. We remind you that the world must respect the balance.
It is necessary to have a good documentation of the world. The author must have in mind the temporal, spatial and cultural referents. The constraints imposed by the documentation help to create a coherent atmosphere and to avoid contradictory situations and absurdities that block the writing. Nevertheless, too much documentation can be restrictive. The author should limit himself to creating generic concepts and flexible tools that fit his needs and are not likely to become obstacles later on. If the author has an idea to add to the world, it is best to think before implementing it: “Is the idea relevant? Is the time right? Is it compatible with the notion of balance already discussed?” Perhaps he will even change his idea, modify it, or improve it.
And then we can ask ourselves: should the reader know all this?
The world created in the documentation is not exactly the same as the one created in the book: the documentation pages are purely informative, whereas the book pretends to entertain and the world in it is governed by the point of view of the characters (so that the reader enters the story and the world better).
In fact, not all of these elements need to appear in the story, even if the writer has them well in mind. If the writer considers them important, then introduce them in a light manner, scattering the information throughout the story if possible. If, for the reader to understand, it is necessary to write a long paragraph on the subject, it is advisable to think about the possibility of removing it: let everything be done for the sake of lightness in the story.
First of all, it is good to have a lot of parallel actions (they don’t have to overlap). It is good if the protagonist gets into a lot of problems, but without being the center of them all. The other characters should not give much importance to all his problems and, in general, it is a bad idea to give too much importance and seriousness to only one action, because you risk focusing on it too much.
That’s why it’s a good idea to create actions in which there is no clear objective. Also, the stories should not be too pompous or far-fetched, in view of the balance. The actions and problems should be diverse, without repeating similar things. In particular, thematic focus on both the character’s abilities and flaws should be avoided.
The story should be told chronologically. This means that analepses and prolepses should not be overused, and that great care should be taken with ellipses: one should ask oneself before skipping several years whether it is really necessary, because it introduces a break in the narrative and the author is forced to present the new situation.
The telling of details can add a beneficial touch to the story. These details may or may not become important later on.
A very effective narrative technique is to present several versions of a fact without specifying which one is true, if any.
Also, it is not necessary to explain everything, although the reader should be able to logically reconstruct certain branches of the action.
Suspense is essential in a story to keep the reader interested. To do this, the author can play with the climax and the anticlimax, but be careful: the anticlimax must be as entertaining as the climax, because otherwise we end up with the typical case where the reader reads diagonally twenty pages to get to what really interests him. Besides, the author must also be entertaining at all times.
It is not necessary to dwell on the story of everyday actions, because usually the ordinary is boring. Similarly, there is no need to tell scenes that the protagonist himself would find boring: it is better that he quickly narrate the fact and convey his negative feelings about it. On the other hand, be careful not to make the mistake of telling a fact that seems to be interesting or amusing in a too concise and distant way: the reader will detach himself from the character if he considers that the character does not tell him everything that is important.
It is also not advisable to exaggerate with coincidences and serendipities, as this discredits the story. The introduction of topics and typical scenes is not bad in itself, but it is also necessary to use the imagination to create original situations.
As for characters, it is not recommended to send them wandering around the world like tourists. If the author thinks the characters are in a boring situation, he won’t solve anything by sending them away, unless he has a clear plan with enough content to improve the story.
In addition, the character should never get into a situation without an honorable escape, so that the author does not have to come up with justifications that do not entertain the reader and may contradict the balance. It is therefore necessary to ask oneself at every moment: “Am I not writing something that unnecessarily endangers my characters in such a way that no honorable remedy to get them out of trouble is valid?”
And, finally, it is a very wrong decision to end up with the lives of the characters at the end of a book, unless it is really necessary, or unless one is trying to make the book a tragedy, which is not recommended. It is therefore advisable to avoid at all costs the great massacres at the end of a book, for just because the author knows that he is going to abandon his characters soon does not mean that they cannot continue to live quietly.
The style depends entirely on the character’s mentality: everything must be in keeping with the protagonist. This is a good way to introduce the reader to the atmosphere. If there are several protagonists, it will be necessary to insert the point of view of each character; this is called perspectivism.
In all cases, the author’s presence should not be felt: he/she only creates the ingredients, but does not actively intervene in the action or the descriptions.
The text should be characterized by a light, simple and explicit style, which will be achieved with:
Lots of dialogue: jokes, interruptions, theatrical scenes;
Sentences that are not convoluted;
Few too formal words;
Few or no vulgar words;
Exclamations, questions, lots of interaction
None or few metaphors or other figures of speech that complicate the sentence unnecessarily.
Paragraphs that are not too long: it is always nice to see a period and a line from time to time, that’s what paragraphs are meant for after all.
Descriptions written from a character’s point of view; that is, don’t describe what doesn’t grab the character’s attention and, above all, highlight what the character considers important at the time. It is also important to avoid that the reader feels the author’s presence behind the story.
Humor (as long as it is appropriate).
It is essential to maintain the suspense so that the reader feels the curiosity to continue reading. For this, it is a good idea:
To mix the characters’ thoughts into the narrative, if appropriate, by adopting a more or less direct style.
To cut the chapters at funny or climactic moments.
Avoid omniscient narrators: everything becomes colder and less endearing.
But it is not recommended to abuse suspense techniques, for the wait exasperates the reader. One example is the risk of character multiplicity, especially if they are scattered all over the world. If the writer tells in detail the lives of ten characters, one by one, the narratives become so long that the author himself will want to know what happened to the first character, and the reader cannot remain too long without knowing what he wants to know.
The author will have to ask himself sometimes: “what I am writing, is it funny, can it lead quickly to an entertaining situation, is it consistent with the atmosphere created, with the character of my characters?”.
When writing, avoid introducing too many idioms that cannot be understood by a foreigner with a literal translation, to facilitate a translation. On the other hand, it is a good idea to invent expressions, as this will strengthen the foundations of your world.
Word games and phonetic games reduce portability and are best avoided if possible.
We hope that this manual will be useful or at least inspire other creators. It is all about maintaining that “beautiful chaos” of which Schiller spoke, that “beautiful confusion of fantasy” (Friedrich Schlegel).
Written by Kaoseto and Anaseto in 2015. The use of the world “man” is purely humoristic and inspired by the man command of the Unix operating systems. This is a translation of the original French version.