Quirky Perceptions

To get the progress report out of the way.

As I am finishing this post, the word count is just shy of 53.000, which I am quite happy with. My initial goal for the book was at least 50.000 words, but that was by no means the end point. Especially not now that the scope has expanded, which is what I wanted to write about today.

First off, I would encourage any would-be writer to path out your narrative ahead of time. I spent a few hours plotting out my characters and created an Excel sheet to see just how good (or bad) my outline is. As it turns out, it was too simple. Or rather, there was a story and an arc for the main character, but there was little mystery, background and worldbuilding, only ideas here and there.

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Like many others have said: the best way to become a better writer is to write. What helps immensely though is reading extensively as well. I love the writing and the performance of Rivers of London, so I wrote down, and tried to codify what is was that made the story come alive to me. None of the following realizations are revolutionary, but they pushed me forward and expanded the scope of my own project, so maybe it can help you.

The Need to Paint the scene… in a physical sense and, more importantly, what it feels like to be there. If you read the book, Peter (the main character) comments on everything around him through dialog with others and his own internal narration. He comments on the little things, what does or doesn’t remind him of home, how the lives of others changes how he views a scene? Whether something is a tired old hat, or new, or dangerous, or just background noise adds layers that texture the scene.

You get a closer, more intimate narrative that adds subtle texture to a story. It’s the difference between knowing there is a Circle line on the London Tube and telling the reader or explaining what it feels like to be sat boiling in the July heat en route from Paddington to Edgware Road Station. One is factual, the other experiential.

There is a part in Rivers of London where magic, something wildly exotic, is observed by the main character with near boredom. Taking you, the reader, into the mind of Peter and showing how he sees the world and his progression as a character, without over-explaining it through the events.

Reflecting on What Happened – The reader of a book has the privilege of consuming a series of curated events and experiences that tie together and create the plot. The characters in the book don’t know that, so you need to show how the character reflects on what is happening. In the moment, ten pages later, a hundred pages later, the way characters visit and revisits events showcases how they perceive the evolution of their own story and understand their place in it. Or in many cases, don’t understand it. Not the chain of events, but the causal links in a chain and how they interconnect.

If the character doesn’t understand where they come from and how they got to a certain place, the reader won’t be invested either. Exploring their hopefully growing understanding of what is happening in the story or lack thereof, the reader gets to understand them better.

Personally, I have a problem with rooting for two-dimensional characters that have no understanding, lack motivation or a goal. We need to see them engage with the plot, not adrift in it.

Having Opinionated Characters – Opinions are like assholes, everyone has them. So have characters that share their opinions to showcase how those opinions change over time. The experience of an event, banal or fantastic, good or bad, seen by someone in situ again adds more texture, more micro narrative to your story.

These can be small details like the taste of a cocktail, a preference for jazz music, or someone’s perceived reputation (truthful or not) or larger events, like the death of a character, the swing of public opinion or breaking a taboo; the latter is especially interesting when you have characters that are strongly invested in upholding that taboo.

Cross-cultural understanding is interesting, but cross cultural conflict between characters, factions, neighbors, parents, dogs, cats, whatever you have is so much more engaging.

I find that Aaronovitch is fantastic at weaving in the feel of a culture, how the characters understand their place in it and how they represent it through their built-in biases, ideas, hopes and dreams, by getting the cast to externalize what they see things, what they do and don’t know.

These initial takeaways helped to expand the scope of my book, hopefully in good way.

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However, I have a problem managing scope. This is a common issue for me and as this is project will eventually need to end. It’s an issue if I keep adding ideas that pop into my head. I refer to it as Concept Creep and it has become the one thing I am desperately trying to curb before it overwhelms me.

Back when I wrote my theses, my first meeting with a lecturer on what the scope of the piece would be, the lecturer bemusedly informed me that what I thought was a decent, well defined, idea would take at least a Phd level project to explore fully. Two would be better. So this is nothing new.

For that reason, if you have similar issues with your writing, get your basics done first. Figure out the plot, subplots, the main themes, events and characters. If you have a lot of lore, keep a lore bible. It can be a notebook, some digital log or worldbuilding app. Once you have the basics figured out, you can focus on texturing the piece. Smaller backstories that get peppered in to flesh out characters, a comment here, a plot device there that pays off in the finale. And don’t be afraid to cut out segments that aren’t working.

My first 17.000 word draft included a very complex backstory and specific events for a character that wasn’t needed. For now, that piece is relegated to the lore bible, but once the book is finished it might get pulled back in, or even reused in another work. We will see.

TL:DR – If you are stuck in your own writing, go read something, take notes, compare it to your own writing and see if you can take inspiration from it.

Have a great summer!