First chapters are POWERFUL. They can stop a shopper from casually flicking through the pages to see how the story ends and a publisher from tossing it in the slush pile bin. Readers are searching for a story beginning that grabs their attention, surprises them and makes them curious to the point of desperation to know what will happen next.
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But how can you possibly do this in such a short space? In short, provide entertainment! And if you’ve maintained their interest to the end of the first chapter, then hopefully they’ll decide if it’s is worth investing their time and money to continue.

Every chapter has basic storytelling requirements to fulfil, like an opening and closing hook, character development, having a goal and conflict. The same goes for first chapters but they also carry the weight of additional responsibilities.
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They have to:

• Provide the foundation for the story by introducing the underlying premise and context.
• Set the tone, perspective and time period.
• Pique the reader’s curiosity so they want to know more about the characters and their situation.
• Meet genre expectations.

​No story starts at the beginning of a character’s life and tells every single thing that happens until they die; there just isn’t space. You are telling one part of someone’s life, which is specific to a particular goal they are trying to achieve. (Or one era of a civilisation, which is important to its survival or identity.)

Therefore, you need to provide the reader with the context of the story early on, so they understand what’s going on, e.g.:

• Setting the scene to let them know what era and location the story resides in, which might be a planet, region, country or town.
• Introducing the premise, i.e. the point of telling this particular story using these particular characters. It’s the basic idea that underlies everything that happens in the story. What is the reason for your main character making this journey? It might be anything from: trying to find their way home after being swept into a tornado and into a magical land (The Wizard of Oz); to surviving a fight to the death so they can get home to their family (The Hunger Games).
• Establishing any key facts they need to know in order to understand the story, e.g. critical world building, assumptions or conflict sources. Key facts are those which the reader absolutely must know to prevent them getting confused or heading down the wrong thought path.
• Letting them feel the tone of the story by creating an atmosphere that suits the genre and style. For example, you might start with a night scene or storm if the tone of the whole story is dark, or sunshine and cupcakes if the tone is light and fun.
• Allowing your storytelling voice to shine, through your word, character and plot choices. The arrangement of all of these choices is your personal style.
• Showing the perspective of the key character in the scene. Their attitude is an important tool to let readers experience their personality and world views, as are relevant to the plot.

The ability to convince readers to stick around for the length of an entire novel relies on being able to engage them during the first chapter. To do this you need to make them care about (or at least be interested in) the characters and their immediate situation. You do this by piquing their curiosity.

One part of this is to raise questions the reader wants answered and this means dropping hints that things are not right in the world of your characters. There is nothing readers love more than puzzling out what drives characters. In truth, it’s a way of making sense of the world around us and the people who inhabit it. So, hint at what is missing from your character’s life, what struggles they are facing initially or what they are dreading in the future.

Here are some examples from the very first page of my book Inheriting Fear.

• Learning how to kick-box had given her courage. No longer a victim, but in control. Instantly, the reader wants to know how this woman suffered as a victim and how she has taken control of her life now.
• Fear was just an emotion and she could overcome those with steely resolve. This insight into the character’s personality is meant to intrigue the reader. What kind of woman would need to develop a steely resolve against  her fears?
• Mya turned around slowly. The hood guy had turned around too, and his left hand held a beer stubby, but not at the base like he was about to take a swig. His long fingers were wrapped around the neck of the bottle, making it look more like a weapon. Now, the reader is worried about the safety of this woman and the outcome of her immediate situation.

All of these are hints of information that intrigue the reader and raise questions that will keep them reading. This leads us to the second part of piquing a reader’s curiosity, which is evoking an emotional reaction from them.
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You can accomplish this by creating a vivid, textured world they feel a part of, making them care, sympathise or at least be interested in the character, and giving that character something significant to lose. The anticipation of curiosity and the anxiety of uncertainty is a powerful potion to hook readers in so they can’t put the story down.

Readers have certain expectations of their favourite genres and you ignore them at your own peril. For example:

• In a romance story they expect the hero and heroine to meet in the first chapter (or two at the most), and have some idea of the inner turmoil that is keeping them apart.
• In crime they expect a dead body right away.
• In a mystery they expect to discover something intriguing enough to want to puzzle it out.
• In sci-fi and fantasy they expect world-building that ties into the plot and sets logical rules for aspects that are different to Earth.
• In chick lit they expect a light-hearted look at issue modern women face.

One of the worst mistakes authors make in first chapters is to dump information in a passive way. Keep in mind that you don’t have to spell everything out right away — in fact it’s usually better if you only hint at many elements early on and then gradually build on the information throughout the story. Plus, keeping characters in action and with other characters provides plenty of opportunities for interesting showing of information.

What Next?

We’ve explored what a first chapter needs to achieve in order to grab a reader’s attention, and looked at how to do that by laying a solid foundation of critical information, evoking emotions and raising the reader’s curiosity.

If you’d like to delve deeper into your first chapter to make sure it will reel readers and publishers in and survive scrutiny, then join Sandy Vaile for the next Fantastic First Pages workshop.

[Originally published on the Romance Writers of Australia blog 08/06/20.]
​By Sandy Vaile

In fiction we focus on the emotional strain caused by unpleasant things that might happen to characters, especially to the protagonist (hero/heroine). To create tension we develop characters our readers care about (or are at least interested in), give them something important to lose and then put all sorts of obstacles in their way to make the outcome of their journey uncertain.

All of this makes the reader worry.

Think of tension as the thread that connects all of your plot parts together. It is stiched through the internal and external conflicts, key plot points, character transformation, uncertainty of each situation and the unresolved questions you’ve raised, holding everything together and coaxing the reader along for the ride.

So, how can you recognise and then treat the different degrees of tension?

Increase tension during times of turmoil, like mortal danger, a life upheaval or imminent threat to something the character cares about. When you reach key moments (plot points) in your story, tension should be high, with the reader desperate to know what happens next and truly worried for the stability/happiness/safety of the protagonist. 

In order to do this, we can use techniques like dropping shocking revelations, increasing what’s at stake for the characters, creating a sense of urgency for an outcome like giving them a deadline or forcing the protagonist to face something she dreads.

Examples of blatant tension:

• A woman is in remote countryside alone when her horse bucks her off and her leg breaks.
• A policeman enters a dark warehouse that an armed robber just ran into.
• A howling cyclone bears down on a woman and her child as they huddle behind the only solid structure for miles, a metal power box.
• A couple enjoying an ice-cream by the beach when a woman marches up to them and screams that she’s his wife.

​Think of the pace of tension like the surge and retreat of waves at the beach.

It builds to a crest, crashes dramatically and then quietly fades back to the ocean, over and over again. Match each wave with key moments in your story plot so you can control the increase and decrease of anxiety your reader experiences, but never let it completely disappear.

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By Sandy Vaile

​Most of us know what backstory is and that our stories need it, are aware of the various delivery methods and even spend countless hours developing intricate histories for beloved characters, but knowing these things isn’t the same as successfully revealing the appropriate information at the right time.

This article will help you determine the best place to insert backstory by:

How Much in One Place?You may have heard my saying that backstory is like a potent spice: it’s like a flavour your can’t quite pick lurking in the layers of a curry. You know it’s there and it enhances the flavour, but it’s intangible and fleeting. Use it sparingly!

My preference is almost always to reveal backstory in small amounts. By doing this, you will reduce the likelihood of telling that distances readers, pulling them out of the main story and unnecessarily slowing the pace.

Of course, there are exceptions to every guideline and flashbacks are one instance where you can get away with a longer passage of backstory because you’re not just telling about the past, you’re transporting readers back to that time and place so they can feel, see, taste and hear it for themselves.

Reveal backstory without interrupting the flow of the main story by determining what information is important at that particular moment in the story and releasing snippets instead of large amounts.

For further guidance about developing backstory, the various delivery methods and how to use them for best effect, put your name on the waiting list for Sandy Vaile's most popular course, Write Backstory With Confidence: How to weave the past in without information dump telling.

By Sandy Vaile

There’s a time and place for creative-comparison and I’m going to show you how to recognise when to stop comparing and when to start taking action. After all, who wants to waste precious time and energy focusing on what we don’t have and can’t do, when we could get busy working on the things we really care about?

It’s human nature to compare ourselves to others, but when those comparisons go from positive motivation that enables self-improvement, to self-disapproval that prevents us from reaching our goals, it is not serving our emotional health.

This article will explain why we compare ourselves to others, highlight when it becomes toxic, and explore how to harness only the useful elements in a constructive way.

Why We Compare

​Humans have an innate desire to evaluate themselves as a way of determining their place in the world. We do this by comparing our level of success to people we know or aspire to. We do it from the moment we’re self-aware, so we can learn how to flourish in the community we live in.

We’ve all done it.

• Maybe you scroll through Facebook and feel disappointed that everyone else could afford holidays and new cars when you can’t.
• Maybe you went to a literary conference and wondered how other authors managed to produce a book every two months when you struggle for two years.
• Or wonder how they did the same marketing course as you, but they seem to be making money and you’re spinning your wheels.
• Or why you keep getting feedback saying you tell too much in your stories, when you see it all the time in published books.

The Benefits of Creative-Comparison

​Comparing ourselves, our business or our creative works to other people’s can be a useful tool to motivate us. By analysing what someone else is doing to achieve what we want, we can better understand the skills we need to develop or actions we need to take in order to achieve it ourselves.

Successful people often share the struggles they faced along their journey to elicit sympathy. It gives us hope that, despite set-backs, we can persist and reach our goals too.

When we take practical steps to improve our skills, work towards goals or better our lives, we are using those comparisons constructively.

You Are Unique

​It’s your own unique past and hopes for the future that make you special and therefore incomparable. No-one else has lived your past, they haven’t had the same experiences or made the same choices, they aren’t living your current life, and they don’t have the same hopes for their future. It’s not fair to demean the journey you’ve taken in life or which for a different past.

There is no-one quite like you.

It doesn’t matter if you write 10,000 words a day or one, if you’re a plotter or a pantser, if writing as a hobby makes you happy or you crave a career. There is never just one way to do something, only the right way for you.

Evolve Using Constructive Comparison

The most valuable creative-comparison is of where we were a year ago, where we are now and where we want to be next year. That way, you can appreciate how far you’ve come and make a feasible plan to reach the next stage.

In order to know where you’re going, you need to figure out three things.

1.     What You Want

Imagine what writing success looks like to you: the end result.

There is no right or wrong answer, only what’s right for you. Is it producing a book every quarter and being on a best-sellers list, or doing whatever it takes to turn fiction writing into a business, or producing one book a year and loving the process?

Considering the sacrifices and education it will take to get what someone else has, do you still want it?

2. Why You Want It

​Now, be brutally honest with yourself here. What is driving you deep down inside to achieve this difficult goal? If you don’t want it bad enough, maybe because you think you should want it, then you’re just going to give up when the going gets tough.

All of these things will determine what you’re prepared to do to get what you want, and therefore the journey that best suits you.

3.     How You Will Get It

Plan for success.

Now, you probably want to mull this over for a while, so take your time. What skills will you need to achieve your goal? Which of those do you already have and which will you need to learn? What personal strengths can you draw on to help you achieve your goal?

Positive goal setting is a blog for another time, but you do need to break your goal into as many small pieces as you can and tackle one at a time. That way it won’t seem so distant or unattainable. Baby steps!  

Be Kind To Yourself

Finally, remember there will always be circumstances outside of your control. Unexpected events and nasty surprises that are lurking in the shadows, waiting to derail you. Focus on the things you can control, like your reactions, actions and behaviour. I find that connecting with like-minded people, e.g. in online communities or face-to-face groups, is a great way to stay motivated and weather those unexpected storms, but make sure you don’t fall into the trap of negative comparisons.

Conclusion

I hope this article has reminded you to actively avoid toxic comparisons and given you constructive tips to harness creative comparison and reach for your dreams. Constructive creative comparisons should always lead to self-evaluation and action plans that empower us to move towards our goals. You are your own creative genius, so keep going!

What's Next? 

​The publishing industry can be tough and changeable and writing a book is more than just a personal challenge, it’s a journey of self-discovery. Believe me, I understand the challenges you’re facing, because I’ve faced them too. I’d like to share what I’ve learnt so you can stop feeling overwhelmed and enjoy the creative process.

Don't miss out on future blogs and writing resources ... 

Other blogs in the Survive the Publishing Industry series:

1. Practise Resilience (first published at WriterWriter on 04/02/19)
2. Avoid Author Burn-out
3. [This blog] Reject Creative Comparison
4. [Coming soon] Boost Your Assertiveness
5. [Coming soon] Face Fear Head-on

About Sandy Vaile

Sandy Vaile is a motorbike-riding daredevil with a dream to empower fiction writers across the globe to  enjoy producing commercial-quality fiction and achieve creative fulfilment.

By Sandy Vaile

You want to be a published author, right?
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Well, beware what you wish for because many career authors suffer burn-out at some stage. To enable longevity, authors need to find a healthy work/life balance. Here’s how you can avoid author burn-out and enjoy a long and fruitful career.

There is nothing like the little flip of anticipation in the pit of my stomach as I sit down to write or the thrill when I see plot points come together. Creative writing is a challenging and rewarding task but, like anything worthwhile, there comes a time when it becomes a chore. Being able to push through these difficult times is part of having a resilience mindset (see Part 1 in this blog series, called Practice Resilience and Surviving the Publishing Industry)

Signs that you are heading for burn-out

It’s better to take action early to prevent stress spiralling out of control. Look out for these signs:

• New ideas stop flowing.
• Being unable to make decisions because there are too many choices.
• Feeling like you have more to do than you can ever achieve.
• Inability to prioritise tasks or see a clear direction.
• Wanting to hide in a quiet place where no-one can find you.
• Feeling weary of all your responsibilities.
• Hyperventilating at the thought of everything you have to get done.

Causes of burn-out

Burn-out may be caused by being over committed, isolated, having unrealistic expectations or unexpected situations arise.

A useful exercise is to list which activities and thoughts restore or deplete you. I personally find that it’s the activities I have to do (work, clean the house, visit an unpleasant relative) that deplete my equilibrium, and the things I want to do (writing, dining out with friends, spending quality time with my family) restore my equilibrium.
Of course, we can’t stop doing the thing we have to, but we can manage them so our life doesn’t feel like one long to do list. ​

Continual maintenance
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All the best intentions and planning in the world can’t prevent unexpected situations, but if you continually monitor your stress levels and take actions to prevent burn-out, then when overwhelm takes you by surprise you’ll be robust enough to work through it.

The degree of action you take should be in direct correlation with how overwhelmed you feel. There are various ways to balance depleting and restorative activities, like:

1. Finding the root cause of the stress whether it’s unrealistic expectations, an external force or undermining your own confidence with negative self-talk.
2. Understanding the consequences of not dealing with the issue. When you actually sit down and look at it, the situation might not be as bad as you think.
3. Finding a possible solution. This might mean changing the way you do something, stopping a low value activity, breaking down your expectations into more manageable pieces, taking a finite break from writing, or controlling the expectations of others.
4. Making a plan of action, and actually do it.
5. Appreciating the small wins.
6. Being kind to yourself, because you aren’t a super hero and you can’t do everything alone. Sometimes you will need to take a break readjust your plans or ask for help.
7. Remembering to look after your physical health, because it sustains your emotional health. Be aware things like getting enough sleep, being physically active and eating healthily.
8. Spending time doing things you enjoy with people who inspire you. 

We are the sum of all the parts of our lives and finding a balance between what we need and what we want to get done, will help prevent author burn-out. Nurture your creativity like the precious gift it is, and it will produce wealth for countless years.

You are your own creative genius, so keep going!

About Sandy Vaile
​
​Sandy Vaile is a motorbike-riding daredevil with a dream to empower fiction writers across the globe to reach their full potential, by providing the tools and communities to produce commercial quality fiction.

More information about resilience

The publishing industry can be tough and changeable, and writing a book is more than just a personal challenge, it’s a journey of self-discovery. Believe me, I understand the challenges you’re facing, because I’ve faced them too. I’d like to share what I’ve learnt so you can stop feeling overwhelmed and map the most efficient route to your publication dreams.

‘A Shortcut To Your Author Career’ online workshop.

Other blogs in the Survive the Publishing Industry series

1. Practise Resilience (first published at WriterWriter on 04/02/19)
2. [This blog] Avoid Author Burn-out
3. [Coming soon] Reject Creative Comparison
4. [Coming soon] Boost Your Assertiveness
5. [Coming soon] Face Fear Head-on

 
Don't miss out on future blogs and writing resources, subscribe here.

Connect with Sandy Vaile on social media.

By Sandy Vaile

​We naturally shy away from anything that will hurt us (emotionally and physically). It’s a part of self-preservation that kicks in automatically when we feel threatened, afraid or stressed. But the truth is, challenging situations happen to all of us all the time and are often outside of our control and resilience will help us endure them.

Resilience is a valuable skill to practise in all parts of life, but it occurred to me recently that we often bandy the term about without actually understanding why it’s so important, especially to authors. You see, resilience isn’t only valuable during times of stress, it’s something that will benefit us on a daily basis.

Why authors need resilience
Authors have to deal with situations outside of their control from the moment they start dreaming of publishing a story. It starts with trying to tame the plethora of ideas and characters in your head and translate them into an entertaining tale. As you talk to other writers and investigate what makes a story enjoyable, you find an overwhelming amount of information telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. Then you get mixed feedback from critique partners, friends or competitions and start to doubt your ability to succeed.

When you finally submit your work to agents or publishers the rejections start rolling in. Even achieving your dream of publication isn’t the end of situations outside of your control. Being a part of the publishing industry is a continual cycle of determination, rejection, disappointment, celebration and self-doubt.

With it, you can manage situations outside of your control to minimise their lasting impact, and cultivate a positive outlook that will enable your long-term success.

So much is outside of your control in the publishing industry, and the parameters are constantly changing, so you need to be able to adapt.

Applying the principles of resilience to life’s little challenges, builds our emotional elasticity and ability to cope with intense situations. It can take practise to get to a point where you automatically apply resilience to all situations, but the benefits are worth it, because they’re far reaching.

• Imagine if you received conflicting feedback and were able to make a plan to figure out the best course of action to move forwards.
• Imagine if you received a rejection from a publisher and had faith that you were one step closer to your dream.
• Imagine if a horrible book review didn’t totally derail your career.

Wow, this resilience stuff doesn’t sound half bad.

How can it help authors deal with writing set-backs?
No matter how much we love writing, it can be challenging for so many reasons, like:

• It’s a long game, not a get rich quick scheme.
• It can be isolating.
• The technical and business aspects can be confusing.
• What works for one person doesn’t suit another and so much is outside of our control.
• The appreciation of art is subjective.
• Feedback can hurt our fragile egos.
• There is always someone doing it better, faster, more successfully.

Without resilience, feelings of anger, depression, guilt, fear, anxiety or embarrassment can seem insurmountable, but if we continually practise it then, even though we can’t avoid these emotions, we can reduce their severity and our perception of the situation.

There are plenty of opportunities to practise resilience with our writing, because we are faced with decisions and challenges frequently.

How to practise resilience
Here are some examples of how to practise resilience as part of your writing life, by taking action and maintaining a positive outlook.

1.  ​You have a brilliant story idea and amazing characters, but no idea how to turn them into a book other people will want to read.

Remember that writing is a learned skill and you have the most important part, the desire to do it. So, all you have to do is brainstorm ways to acquire the knowledge you need. You could do a plotting course, read blogs and articles about it or join a writing group.

2.  You have a brilliant story idea, amazing characters and have written 40,000 words, but are stuck with where the plot should go next.

Be proud, because 40,000 words is a huge effort and proves that you can get words down. All you need now is to figure out how to keep going to the end.

Think critically about what is causing the problem. Do you need help with generating ideas, developing the plot or figuring out realistic actions for your characters? Search for an appropriate course so you can study this topic more closely and receive personalised support, or a book about the subject.

3.  You boldly joined a writing group and shared a chapter of your story, but three people liked the main character and three didn’t.

Don’t take it personally that not everyone likes your character, because it is their personal opinion and not a slight against you. Remember that feedback is limited by each person’s own writing skills, life experiences and personal tastes.

Analyse the comments to determine what each person liked or disliked, then try to dig down to the root cause of why that is the case. Perhaps you chose the wrong descriptive words or didn’t provide enough insight into the motivation for the character’s actions.

Now figure out what the real issue is and find a way to overcome it, e.g. gain knowledge and rewrite, and then see if it worked, e.g. test the rewrite on the people who disliked the character or a new group.

4.  You have managed to write and self-publish a book, but you can’t manage to produce a book every three months and keep up with social media like everyone says you’re supposed to, because you have a full-time job and children too.

Remind yourself that you are not those other people. Your circumstances and desires are different, so there’s no way you’ll get the same outcome. They might not work full-time, or have children, or a partner, or a sick mother, or do volunteer work, or write slowly, or still be figuring out their process, or be a new writer.

Assess what it is you want to achieve and what you can realistically do while maintaining your lifestyle. Then make a plan to do those things: one step at a time. Moving forwards is the key.

5.  Someone posts a negative book review that will affect your overall Amazon rating and hurts your feelings. Allow yourself a moment to feel disappointed, even angry, but remember that this is only one person’s opinion, which you have no control over.

Make a mental list of why this person wrote the review, e.g. they were having a bad day, they aren’t familiar with the genre, they enjoy eliciting a reaction, the subject matter triggered a personal pain for them, or the writing style just didn’t suit them. None of these are because they don’t like you personally, and you are the only one being hurt by worrying about something you can’t control.

So, what can you do? Do not respond to the review in any way. If there isn’t any valuable learning to be gained from the content of the review, then never read it again. Read other positive reviews/feedback about this story. Talk to other writers who have experienced a bad review (without identifying the reviewer).

6.  A rejection email comes from the publisher you desperately wanted to get a contract with. Celebrate, because you would never have received a rejection if you hadn’t been brave enough to send a submission. You’re one step closer to being published.

If the publisher provided feedback, then assess it to see if you can improve your next submission or if it was due to circumstances outside of your control. Make a plan to move forwards, e.g. continue submitting.

These examples illustrate how important it is for authors to practise resilience in order to manage set-backs and move forwards, even when it might be scary to do so. We can’t control many parts of our author careers, so we need to focus on the things we can to recover from challenges and keep a positive outlook.
​
You are your own creative genius, so keep going!

More information about resilience
The publishing industry can be tough and changeable, and writing a book is more than just a personal challenge, it’s a journey of self-discovery. Believe me, I understand the challenges you’re facing, because I’ve faced them too. I’d like to share what I’ve learnt so you can stop feeling overwhelmed and map the most efficient route to your publication dreams.

‘A Shortcut To Your Author Career’ online workshop.

Other blogs in the Survive the Publishing Industry series:

1. [This blog] Practise Resilience (first published at WriterWriter on 04/02/19)
2. Avoid Author Burn-out
3. [Coming soon] Reject Creative Comparison
4. [Coming soon] Boost Your Assertiveness
5. [Coming soon] Face Fear Head-on

Don't miss out on future blogs and writing resources, subscribe here.

Take a peek at some of the books I've read.
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I'd love to hear what you've been reading. Drop me a line.

Stay in touch with Sandy Vaile here ... 

​Join me on social media.

By Sandy Vaile​

Hi everyone, I’m here to demystify the old “show don’t tell” adage. 

We’ve all heard it, but it’s often confusing and therefore difficult to apply to our own work. Telling has long been associated with bad writing, and showing with good writing. In my opinion, all of the techniques in your writing craft toolbox are dependent on one another, and it’s not possible to just learn them all and instantly be a good writer. Most of us learn one new skill at a time, and once mastered, it comes naturally to us. Showing and telling are just extra skills for your toolbox, and when broken down into bite-sized pieces, will become integral to your writing style.

When to show and tell
Remember, you don’t have to choose between showing or telling; they exist in harmony.
Make the most of showing:

• During dramatic scenes, like when your character is undergoing emotional drama, conflict or decision-making.
• When you want to make a scene more vivid or dramatic.
• During action scenes.
• When your character interacts with their environment.
• Through the subtext of character interactions and dialogue.

Utilise telling:

• When you transition between times or places.
• To state or condense information the reader must know, but which doesn’t have a dramatic effect.
• To give the reader a quick reminder about critical information they already have.
• When releasing small snippets of backstory.
• To describe things/places succinctly and eloquently.

Effective showing and telling techniques
One of the easiest ways to make sure you are writing actively, is to just show what’s happening. Pre-empting the action is a clue that you aren’t doing this, e.g. she started to ...
Labelling emotions can be a sign that you’re missing an opportunity to engage the reader with how the character is feeling, e.g. instead of saying “she was mad”, show her punching the wall or glaring at the offender.

Avoid information dumps, which occur when the story material is poorly integrated with the action. It’s one of the main reasons telling gets a bad rap, because it slows the forward movement of the story. Instead, make sure the information is necessary, and not just to the story as a whole, but right at that moment. Then integrate it in small amounts, at appropriate times.

Description isn’t about simply listing adjectives, but about adding meaningful and specific details that layer your scene/character development. Also, make sure you use words that support the tone of the story.

Employ all of the senses to create atmosphere in a scene—not necessarily all at once though.
Create fresh metaphors and similes to compare what’s going on in the story with concepts readers are familiar with. This is a great way to build on the tone of a scene.

Dialogue is an active way for your characters to interact with one another, and keeps things interesting. The best part about it, is that it reveals so much more about the characters than what they are saying, e.g. their attitudes and beliefs, upbringing, culture and personality.

Once you master the art of showing and telling effectively, you’ll be amazed at how it lifts your storytelling, and becomes part of your writing style. You’ll see opportunities to infuse it everywhere!

I hope you feel more relaxed about showing and telling now. Learn how to realise a balance between description and brevity that will captivate readers and won’t let them go in my Show Don’t Tell Is Like A Layer Cake course.

By Sandy Vaile

​I may write romantic-suspense, but firmly believe that suspense is for every story, no matter the genre. It’s the ideal tool to compel readers to keep turning pages all the way to the end, by creating real emotional tension.

What is suspense?
Remember back to a book you just couldn’t put down. More than likely, the author made you worry about the character, and be apprehensive about the outcome of conflicts. You might have had clammy palms, a racing heart, fidgeted, or literally sat at on the edge of your seat, desperate to know what happened next. All of things are signs that the author applied suspense techniques, not just to engage you, but to throw you in the pot and seal the lid so you can feel every last ounce of emotional turmoil. The real trick is to maintain a level of uncertainty throughout the story, so the reader worries about the outcome and is left pleasantly spent by the end.

How does it apply to all genres?
The level of suspense you find in different genres does vary, as does the way information is revealed, but the suspense techniques still apply.

For example, in a Cosy Mystery the suspense will be more temperate than in a thriller. You are likely to use the relationship angst to create uncertainty, instead of the threat of imminent harm from a crazed predator or solving an enigma rather than expecting something scary to jump out of the nearest shadow. A Young Adult story may be less graphic than an adult Paranormal, both in the way intimacy and violence is portrayed, but suspense will help to make both impossible to put down.

The scenarios at the heart of each story, the locations and types of characters that populate them, will depend on the norms of each genre.

How much do I need?
It’s important to ensure you identify opportunities to increase suspense, and fully explore them, to make the most of existing tension, and squeeze every bit of emotional value from your characters. Signs that you may need to increase the suspense in your story, are if you get feedback saying your story lacked a hook, is slow in places, or just didn’t grab/engage the reader.
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Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi say:

In other words, make sure the character is behaving in a believable way, with realistic motivations.

How can you create suspense?
​Authors use a range of techniques to create uncertainty for their characters, and apprehension for their readers, but it’s important to remember that creating suspense isn’t necessarily about putting your characters in physical danger. It’s about engaging the reader, making them care about your character’s journey, and then giving them good reason why their goals might not be fulfilled. Leave them wanting more, right up until the Happily Ever After.

Create an engaging character
You can do this by giving your character something they care deeply about, and then threatening to take it away, but in a romantic story none of that will matter if the reader isn’t fully engaged with the character first. You need to create a character the reader cares about. I’m not going to focus too much on emotional engagement here, but it involves creating a character the reader can identify/sympathise with, that has believable motivations, and actively pursues their goals.

Raise the stakes
The character’s goal must be important enough to have dire consequences, e.g. they don’t just want a lot of money to buy a shiny new car, but they need it to pay for their dying sister’s medical treatment.

Make it clear early on what the consequences of failure are for your character (or at least what they believe them to be at the beginning of the story). Then throw increasingly difficult situations at them, which in turn diminishes the likelihood of them succeeding. Leave your character no other option than to face her greatest emotional fear by the climax.

Giving your character a deadline to get something done is also a great way to heighten anxiety levels. You want to put them under enough pressure to expose what they’re really made of.

Raise questions
Hook the reader in by raising questions that make them curious, about what’s going to happen next, what might have happened in the past, and what course of action the protagonist or antagonist will take next. One way to do this, is to show the reader things that the characters don’t know. Another is to leave them hanging mid action or mid decision at the end of a chapter.

Raise doubts
By raising doubts about how the character is going to get out of this sticky situation, or win the love of her life, you make the reader apprehensive. Do this over and over throughout the course of the story, and they’ll reach nail-biting anxiety. That’s what suspense is all about!

Use techniques like putting the character:

• In immediate physical danger;
• Up close to a personal fear;
• In the midst of an emotional upheaval or moral dilemma.

Alexandra Sokoloff is brilliant at having her protagonist and antagonist come so close to crossing paths as the detective follows the serial-killer’s trail of destruction, that the reader is in a constant state of panic, because disaster seems imminent over and over again.

Leave a trail of breadcrumbs
Clues aren’t just for crime stories. There are all sorts of clues and hints you can scatter along the way to build the reader’s expectations. They might be obvious, or subtle, in which case the reader realises their significance once the climax is reached.

I liken clues to a trail of breadcrumbs, because they are sprinkled in here and there in small pieces. Some of those breadcrumbs might foreshadow what’s going to happen, and others might selectively withhold information. Done properly, the reader will have just enough foresight to build their expectations of trouble/failure/ danger.

Language choice
Be aware of your word choices when building suspense. Choose a word that supports the tone of the scene, and stick to straightforward words in the midst of action. Sentence length is a great way to show urgency, but even though you may use more short sentences during action scenes and longer ones during retrospection, still vary them enough to avoid monotony.

Prolong the outcome
As Nicholas Sparks said:

If your character figured out the best course of action and achieved their goal easily, it would be a short and hassle-free story, and totally kill any tension. In order to build the suspense, you should hint at what could go wrong and draw-out the angst for as long as reasonably possible. The suspense lies in between promising something awful and it actually happening, so make the most of it.

A romantic example of this, is creating sexual tension. Reading about a couple tearing one another’s clothes off and getting hot and steamy might be a lot of fun, but it’s the way the author draws out those longing looks and tantalizing touches that lead up to the sex, which creates eager anticipation.

You can still build lulls of retrospection and small wins into the story. This provides the reader a chance to catch her breath, and is a great opportunity to anchor them in your character’s motivations and expectations, ready for the next onslaught of drama.

Remember, it’s not the outcome that creates suspense, but the uncertainty of the journey. I hope I have inspired you to tease out every last morsel of suspense in your story. If you’d like to chat in-depth about this topic or get some personalised feedback about adding suspense to your story, then grab a place in my next The Pressure Cooker of Suspense course. 

By Sandy Vaile

​I used to think Deep Third-person Point of View (DPOV) was one of those tricky sixth-sense kind of concepts that only the Dalai Lama understood.

Have you ever had feedback that says ‘author intrusion’ or ‘lacks emotional punch’? Have you heard DPOV mentioned in literary circles, but figured it was only for writers of erotic stories? Did you see DPOV fly past at a workshop, but weren’t able to catch hold of it? Then breathe easy, because I’m here to reassure you that DPOV is something already lurking on your pages, you just have to learn to identify and make the most of it.

Deep POV is a relatively recent concept (the last couple of decades), but it is all the rage, particularly in romance literature.

Clearing up any confusion
First up I want to promise that you don’t have to learn a new POV. Unfortunately, I don’t have the space to discuss the pros and cons of the different POVs, so I’m going to assume you understand how to write in third person POV, as most romance stories are told.

When you’re writing in the third-person subjective (showing the story through one character at a time), DPOV is simply a way of bringing the reader even closer to your character, which will result in a strong emotional response. And that’s a good thing!

So what is it?
Rather than telling the reader the story, DPOV is a way of moving them closer to the POV character, and using her senses so the reader can experience it through her. Pretend for a moment that you’re watching your POV character ¾ let’s call her Alice ¾ through the lens of a movie camera. Alice is strolling through a lush, tropical garden, reaching out to touch a bright orange Bird of Paradise flower.

Now zoom the camera in so that you are sitting on Alice’s shoulder, where you can better see the textures of the plants and the vivid blue centre of the flower. But you still haven’t reached DPOV.
It’s time to put the camera down and use your magic powers ¾ otherwise known as an imagination ¾ to transport yourself into Alice’s mind. Now you can feel the prickle of the grass under her bare feet, see the waxy texture of the stiff, orange flower, hear the musical lilt of the nearby creek flowing through the gorge, smell the damp moss on the stones, and when she licks her lips, taste the remnants of the chocolate she has been sucking.

Do you see what DPOV has achieved? Rather than watching Alice’s life unfold, you are experiencing it as she does.

Why bother?
Ideally you don’t want readers to notice how cleverly you’ve used the language, because you want them to be so engaged with your character, that they are completely immersed in her thoughts and sensations. The danger of not fully engaging the reader, is that they won’t feel emotionally invested in the story, and are more likely to walk away from it.

​Getting into your character’s head
It’s important to know your character intimately, so you will know how she thinks, feels and acts. You can do this by understanding what she thinks and feels, and why, where she came from and where she’s going, and events and persons who have influenced her. The deeper your character development, the more likely you are to be able to experience the world the way your character would.

If each of us entered the same lounge room, we would experience it differently because of the influences of our life experiences, hopes and fears. A seamstress might notice the crooked seam on the curtains, a horse-rider might notice the jodhpurs hung over a chair, a gardener would marvel at the delicate blooms on the window sill, etc.

Remember that your characters are likely to have their own speech patterns, phobias, ideas about social etiquette, etc. All of these things will add layers to your character, but their flaws especially will help readers relate to and sympathise with them.

When to use DPOV
It can feel a bit scary when you first start to explore DPOV, because it almost feels like you’re slipping into first person, but you’re not. You’re still using ‘he’ and ‘she’, but you’re getting rid of the narrator as much as possible, and just leaving the fabulous story and charming characters.

It’s not appropriate to use DPOV all the time, just as you can’t always show instead of tell. There are times when you just need to drive the story forwards, like explaining the relationship between characters, or showing a big-picture scene. But only take that route if you can’t deliver the information another way, like through dialogue or interactions. Once you get used to using DPOV, you’ll be surprised at how it will affect everything you write. One of the huge benefits is making your writing more direct, because you will get rid of superfluous filter words.

As you can imagine, it would be exhausting to feel every emotion your character feels about everything from a cup of tea to the neighbour’s new car, but you can still use DPOV by incorporating your character’s senses. Let your reader see, hear, smell, touch and taste the environment as your character interacts with it.

Let’s talk tactics
DPOV makes your words work harder. Not only are they telling a story, but everyone is chosen carefully to layer in character development, emotions, tone, themes and attitude.
For example, instead of: Bob decided that this dawn signalled a new start for him.
Dig deeper: Bob threw open the door and sucked in a lungful of crisp mountain air. It was the     best air he’d ever breathed. No city fumes or skyscrapers blocking the sun, and best of all, no          Jenny strangling him with impossible rules and requirements.
So, do you have to use italics when you’re in a character’s head? If the character wants to break from third-person POV and think ‘I did this’, then yes, but the beauty of DPOV is that this is hardly ever necessary, and that helps the story to flow.

Don’t pre-empt actions and feelings, just show them happening.
Instead of: Sally’s skin began to prickle, and she wondered when the snarling dog would attack.
Try: Sally’s skin prickled. The snarling dog stalked closer, muscles bunch, haunches lowered, ready to launch at her.

Steer clear of passive voice, which is telling the reader that something is being done to someone, rather than by your character.
Instead of: Her face was stroked.
Try: He stroked her face.

Drawing on your own experiences and emotions can be helpful to really immerse yourself in the world of your character. The situation your character is in may be different, but you’ll be able to draw on the details you remember of a time, place or event, and the emotions they evoked for you.
[Top Secret: I find “The Emotional Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression” by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, a very helpful tool when I run out of different ways to show similar emotional responses.]

Many romance writers alternate between the hero and heroine’s POVs. If you do this, keep in mind that you want to experiencing the story through the character who has the most to lose, or will be most affected at that time. While you are in a character’s head, remember that you can only view the world as he/she genuinely would.

Using a lot of dialogue tags is another reminder that the reader is being told a story. Sure, they are necessary sometimes, but don’t overdo them. Quite often you can use language and movements that the reader associates with that character.

One of the most helpful things I learnt was to banish any distancing words, because they immediately let the reader know they are being told a story, rather than just letting them experience it. They also make your writing less direct, which provides yet another opportunity for your reader to wonder if there is still a piece of cake in the fridge, and put your book down.

Here are some examples of distancing words: saw, watched, thought, wondered, felt, seemed, looked, almost, noticed, realised, decided, heard.
Instead of: Alice felt sad at leaving her sister, Liz, behind.
Try experiencing it through her: Alice blinked furiously to stymie her tears, and waved as Liz raced along the train platform. It was only for a year, and Liz was old enough to fend for herself now. She hoped.

The second example uses DPOV to let the reader experience what Alice’s emotions feel like, with the added bonus of providing more insight into her hopes and fears.
Instead of: Alice heard footsteps behind her and turned to survey the dark alley.
Try: There it was again; a muffled footstep. Alice whirled around and glared into the dark mouth of the alley, heart thumping a staccato beat.

DPOV is all about weaving a character’s senses and emotions through the narrative. By inviting your reader right into the minds and hearts of your characters, you will allow them to experience the characters’ hopes and fears, exhilarating first kisses and heart-wrenching losses. For a little while the reader will be completely immersed in the story, and remember it long after he/she puts the book down.
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I hope I have demystified DPOV and made you feel comfortable using it.