III

Chapters and Dialogue

It's reasonable to ask what chapters are for. There are books that have no chapters - Terry Pratchett is a case in point - and they don't suffer because of it. They seem to be more of a convention than anything else but they do have some points in their favour. They allow readers to put a book aside without losing their place while giving them a discreet section - putting limits upon how much they need to read at any one time. For the writer they allow dramatic punctuations in the text - a means of holding the readers attention - and set limits on how much needs to be written at any point. The problem with them lies in deciding what belongs to one chapter and what belongs in another. They are there to punctuate the text but have to follow some sort of internal logic - separating one part of the action from another. This is not as easy as it sounds and I've lost count of the number of times had to revise chapters simply because the breaks in the text seem illogical. They should move the action forward, while, at the same time, putting the breaks on. Essentially they are there to tease the reader - urging him or her to read on.

Dialogue is, to put it bluntly, a bitch. It has to be relevant - conversations between characters must either move the action forward or reveal something about the characters. There is nothing worse than dialogue in a book that appears to serve no real purpose, but it's a device often used by bad authors to pad out the storyline. Where it is necessary the next problem is how to express it. I always imagine such conversations as a scene in a film in which the words must fit the character who's speaking. People rarely act out of character even when attempting to deceive.

Be careful of what I call “native-American-speak.” This occurs when characters are given an overly profound voice and end up sounding like native-Americans in B movie westerns. You know the sort of thing - “White man speak with forked tongue.” Such characters are easily recognisable in bad dialogue because they always sound like they are addressing a public meeting rather than holding a conversation. Interaction between people is usually more subtle than this. Imagine how you would speak to someone and how you'd expect them to respond. Dialogue is often presented as one person speaking and then patiently waiting for his turn to speak again as the other responds. This is done in the interests of clarity. In real life conversations are rarely like this as people interrupt each other or fail to finish sentences. This is difficult to convey in writing and would probably be counterproductive if overdone. However, I always make a point of introducing this into my dialogue to a limited extent. It makes conversations seem more realistic by reminding the reader - without labouring the point - as to how conversations actually sound in the real world.

Finally the word “said.” Writers will often cast around for an alternative. When a character asks a question it's reasonable to use the word “asked.” Likewise it's reasonable to use “replied” or “answered” when the other character responds. But replacing “said” with more descriptive alternatives can often sound forced. It can be useful, on occasion, to modify “said” with an additional descriptive device - “John said mildly,” “he said, nodding his head in agreement,” etc. Use them sparingly, however. It is quite possible to write dialogue without resorting to “saids” or identifying which character is speaking for short periods. But be careful - a whole page without identifying which character is speaking can confuse the reader.

I

What Do I Write About?

We've all heard the old cliché - write about what you know. Hmmm, interesting idea, but what did H.G.Wells know about time machines or invasions from Mars? The answer is, surprisingly, quite a lot. While Wells had never seen a time machine or an invasion from Mars for that matter, he did know quite a lot about science and, ultimately, that's what these books were all about. Science fiction writers don't usually have first hand knowledge about the things they write about but they do often have a firm grasp of science. The question then is not “What do I know,” but “What do I know about?” In my case the answer was quite simple - I have had a lifelong interest in history and have taught it at university level. No contest there, then - I write historical fiction. What do you know about?

Having found a subject area in which to practice the art of creative writing, the next step is to find a particular subject to write about. In my case I have a great many subjects to choose from - about five and a half thousand years of recorded history to be precise. Time for another filter then. If you want to write a best seller its best if you choose a subject that prospective readers might find interesting. Writing about a loser who achieves nothing in his life and never does anything of interest might well reflect the usual human experience, but it's not likely to be very saleable. Imagine writing a novel about Alexander the Great's less talented younger brother Spiros, who stayed at home to collect butterflies while his brother went off to conquer the known world. On balance it's probably best to stick to the dramatic and write about Alexander rather than Spiros.

Having chosen something of interest to write about, a word of warning. Do lots of research. Many of the subjects I've written about have been well known to me, but I have always done extensive additional research nonetheless. The reason? Because no matter how much you think you know about a subject, there's always more. I recently wrote a new novel which was grounded in a period of history I knew well. Despite this I stuck to my own dictum and read as much additional material as I could find. I was both amazed at the number of trivial facts I managed to uncover and the way in which they impacted on the plotline. The final product was far different to my original vision, but was also much better.

You've probably either heard about or even experienced writer's block. This, I've often found, comes about because of a lack of planning. If you don't know where you're going how can you expect to get there? Having a template in your mind helps to avoid writer's block. However, another word of caution. Don't allow planning to become a straightjacket. Creative writing is exactly that - creative. If an idea occurs to you in the middle of your novel, pursue it. It might prove fruitless or take your novel off into a direction that you don't want. Well, OK - if that happens, scrap it and start again. There's nothing worse than getting to the end of a piece and thinking that there was more you could have done.

So far so good. In the next article I'll talk about first lines, the shape of chapters and keeping on course.