Category: Authoring Mechanics

Things that we learn and grow us along the way.

Sci-Fi Book Series Should Share More Than a Font

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“Tether” your novels.

A series should be connected by more than characters and title. A series book bears responsibility beyond what’s necessary for its standalone plot, it owes allegiance to a greater whole. The first job of the first book is the obvious one. Launch the reader to a new universe.

"Yay! We lived through the first movie. We get to come back!"
“Yay! We lived through the first movie. We get to come back!”

Consider the Star Wars that started it all, A New Hope in 1977. It executed a wonderful standalone story while at the same time introducing us all to Empire versus Rebels, Luke Skywalker, and a gizmo called a light saber. It laid the foundation upon which even the prequels were built.

A truly connected series does another import thing, it plants seeds for future entries. This doesn’t take away from the single book plot carried and concluded between the covers, but rather speaks to a greater mission. Content whose full consequence will not bloom until a future book. It makes for an even greater payoff, although there’s also immediate benefit in letting the reader know more is yet to unfold.

Harry Potter: "Oh Hedwig, at least you will be by my side for the entire series."
Harry Potter: “Oh Hedwig, at least you’ll be by my side the entire series.”

The first Harry Potter book, much like the first Tethered Worlds novel, does a fine job introducing the reader into a whole culture. These books teach you their unique terms. From wands and gristers, to quidditch and threshes. But they do more. They plant seeds for the future, teasing at content that serves double duty for current and future book.

It was once pointed out to me that some content I wrote was not strictly necessary to the current story, but I knew it was there for a fun, future payoff. A reviewer who really understands this concept is DED over at The New Podler Reviews. Check out his take on Tethered Worlds Book Two: Blue Star Setting and then jump into a great adventure.

Keir Dullea as Dave Bowman in Arthur C. Clarke's 200:1 A Space Odyssey. "I'm not worried, it's not like they'll ever make a sequel to this...right?"
Keir Dullea as Dave Bowman in Arthur C. Clarke’s 200:1 A Space Odyssey. “I’m not worried, it’s not like they’ll ever make a sequel to this…right?”

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Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star launches you into a multi-book adventure. See for yourself who your favorite characters are and hold out hope for them. A journey, begun in Unwelcome Star, continues (hopefully for your favorite) in Blue Star Setting.

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Test-Reader Feedback: Find the “11th Thing”

~or~

Not Only Sifting, But Some Baking Required

If you can spell, put two sentences together, and have enough patience, you too could write a book! But the real question is, “Is it anything anybody would want to read?” The road to that crucial answer may lead to the brave, the trusted, the select few you will choose to be test readers. Pick well, and with care, for the fate of your work may depend not on the feedback they give you, but on your interpretation of it.

This guy loves space. Now find two more test readers who don't.
This guy loves space. Now find two more test readers who don’t.

First, branch out and pick a reasonably diverse group. Diversity of opinion may not be found with three hard-core fans of the genre. Know their personalities, so that you can better expect and receive their feedback. Is one of them a nitpicker? Then don’t be surprised that they wanted a little more description of the space taxi on page 247. Is one of them very analytical? Be grateful that they brought to your attention that your space six-shooter shot seven times. Is one of them not even a fan of the genre? (Try to find one of those. They are a great asset.) Their feedback, properly enacted, may bust your book from niche to mainstream.

Say what? Yes, this paragraph is about pronunciations. Do your characters or places have any unique names? Perhaps you crafted unique spellings for conventional names. I have a whole section dedicated to this topic in my test reader feedback notes files. (You did write down and organize their feedback didn’t you?) You might be amazed how many different ways people who speak the same language pronounce a spelling you thought clear. I suggest engaging your test readers one at a time so that you can incorporate a new spelling if necessary and run it past them in succession. Some names I used took multiple passes to get just right.

The 11th thing. If you had 10 test readers, they would all give you different feedback. But your job is to figure out what they’re all trying to tell you in their own way. One may want to know the background of a certain character, another may want more information about that same character’s associations. Sure, address those details, but what are they both really trying to say? Is more clarity needed on that character’s whole side plot? What about that passage you were never able to get just right? Is the answer to fixing it eluding you? Surreptitiously solicit advice about it. Don’t let the cat out of the bag that you think it needs help. You want fresh, unbiased insights. Put together the puzzle pieces offered to you. Your test readers may have the missing key, with no idea of its value to your work.

Ideal_toy_space-helmet_fortiflex_600
“Houston, I’ve found a key.”

Finally, remember, putting your work out there for others to to critique can be hard. Take heart, there is the positive side. Chances are there was a scene you were a little unsure about. “Will my readers get it?” Perhaps there was a scene you never thought exceptional. Your test readers may surprise you with their praise. They may even put the pieces together in ways you never expected. That scene you labored upon, that you rewrote multiple times in a vacuum, may get unexpected, but thoroughly delightful validation. I know that was the case for me, and I hope it is for you too.

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Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star is a fun adventure, and one upon which you do not have to provide me with any feedback (but if you want to it would be nice). Go on your own test journey with these characters and experience with them challenges, victories, and an occasional dose of wisecracking humor. Read it for yourself and see which characters resonate with you.

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The Catastrophe of Overly Curtailed Commas

~or~

Flowery Words: Too Much of a Good Thing?

2145261-william-shakespeare-in-period-clothing-talking-on-cell-phone

William Shakespeare is firmly ensconced in literary history, but his style of writing, while eloquent, is no longer common parlance. This is nothing against the master. But I think if Shakespeare returned to write tomorrow, he would have to adopt modern styles to be mass-market popular. In the same way we need to scrutinize our own writing.

It is very easy to get caught up in grandiloquent, overly ornamental descriptions. Ones which rely on the thesaurus (see previous sentence). Just because someone is bleeding, does not give us license to portray “the crimson flow…” While description is necessary, overly florid prose can call attention to itself and pluck a reader right out of the narrative. Just because you can write something classically pretty, does not mean you should. It can be hard at times to delete grand turns of phrase, but think of your novel’s greater good (and write poetry in your spare time).

Star_trek_opening_dialogue_kirk

What about use of punctuation? No, I’m not talking about how to use it (there are some online who feel quite strongly about that). Rather I am talking about the amount of punctuation. My research showed that punctuation is often overused by less polished writers. I edited on the fly Tethered Worlds to minimize extraneous ellipses, exclamation points, commas, hyphens, and dashes. The result was delicious soup– that needed a trifle more spice. I had over-done it. I spent another editing pass putting justified commas back in. It was amazing how the structure of many sentences became more clear just by knowing where to pause.

Ellipses, dashes, all the rest. There is a place for them. Though unseasoned authors can err with too much, freedom acted upon to use too little punctuation is also a mistake. It is said that popular authors can write any way they want. Certainly they have more leeway, but they also set the reading-culture tone with their lack of, or common use… of… ellipses. I put some of those back in as well, just because nothing else worked the same way.

The bottom line is that you must police yourself as an author. Take a good look at your prose, and if sonnets come to mind, consider taking it back a casual notch. Try to be objective when reading your paragraphs. If sentences mush together so that your mind cannot even take a breath, consider some punctuation. After all, as strong as bricks are, they find their strength and shared shape through the little bits of connecting concrete. Follow enough convention for clarity, and do not be afraid to find your own style with prose and punctuation.

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Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star depicts a universe where real people, contending with their own flaws, do not speak in sonnets. I assure you that you have much more in common with them than that. Read it for yourself and see which characters resonate with you.

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