The Table Read Magazine

Tag: writing hacks

  • How To Deal With Writer’s Block

    How To Deal With Writer’s Block

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Writer’s block is a common problem that many writers struggle with. It is where you cannot move forward with your story and any menial task, such as laundry or vacuuming, suddenly becomes much more appealing to you than actually putting words on the page because of how hard you’re finding it to write.

    How To Deal With Writer's Block, The Table Read Writing Advice
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     I’ll be talking you through common causes of writer’s block, and things you can do to move through it and find your way back into your story.

    Writer’s Block Because Your Scene Lacks Conflict

    I find that writer’s block is more likely strike me when there’s a reason my story isn’t moving forwards. The way your story will naturally move forward is with active conflict. If the scene or section of your story that you’re working on has an active and busy conflict, you’ll have plenty to write about and it won’t feel stuck.

    If I’ve written myself into a situation where it’s stalled, there’s no conflict, there’s nothing obvious to write about. If the protagonist is not actively in pursuit of their goal, then I get lost and I can’t write anymore.

    You might find that you’re writing events happening, people are talking, there’s things going on, but it’s not actually story essential. Even if it’s momentarily entertaining, you know inside that you’re not contributing to your story in a real way. It feels like trudging through sand when you read it back. It is slow and meaningless.

    As stunted as your story feels, it makes your emotional connection to your story even more stunted, and then you’re blocked from accessing it again.

    What Does Your Character Want?

    How To Deal With Writer's Block, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    To deal with this kind of writer’s block, you need to refocus your energy on what your character wants, how they’re going about getting it, and what’s stopping them from having it. Reconnect with how your character is feeling emotionally about their situation and the people around them.

    Go back into your story to the last point they were actively in pursuit of their goal. Delete everything after that point and start again, with that in mind. It might be a lot of work, but it’s work you’re not connected to it’s worth ditching.

    Understanding why you’re telling this part of your character’s life is key. If you’re telling a meaningless story, just a snapshot out of their life where they’re not in pursuit of anything and there’s no conflict, it’ll quickly feel dull and you’ll feel blocked.

    Ask yourself why now? Why this story, why this person, why this moment in their life? Focus on that, find that, and you’ll find you way back into your story.

    Writer’s Block Because Your Scenes Are Flat

    Another kind of writer’s block you might experience is if everything in the scene is moving forward as it needs to, information is coming out, everyone is focused and the conflict is active, but the scene feels flat.

    When you read over what you’ve written you’re aware it does what it needs to do but it doesn’t excite you. It will drain your connection, leave you feeling like your story is dull. Even if everything else you’ve done up to that point is exciting and works well, that scene can lose you, block you.

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    Add an Additional Layer of Activity

    In this situation, you need to give your scene some flavour. If your characters are talking about something and reacting to it, go into that scene and give one of the characters a secondary task. They’re not just discussing the issue that moves your plot along, they’re busy with something else that almost interrupts the flow.

    How To Deal With Writer's Block, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    By adding a secondary task, you’re adding a layer of conflict. It could be a secondary conversation point about a thing they’re excited to do and want to steer the conversation to, or it could be a literal task such as cooking or a craft that is important to them. When the information the scene needs to deliver comes out with more of a challenge, and extra layers of interest, it makes the scene feel more exciting and dynamic and holds the attention more.

    If you feel entertained by the story you’re writing, you will free yourself from the block. Entertainment is the whole point.                                                                  

    It is important to remember that loathing of your own work is normal. We’re creatives, and creatives are often very emotional, and prone to self-loathing and self-doubt. But your brain is lying to you. Hating your work in the moment does not mean you will always hate your work.

    When your writer’s block is caused by that insecurity and panic about your own ability, you have to try and fight it. Because you are the only person who can tell your story in the way you tell it, and your voice matters.

    This is one of my main causes of writer’s block. I am chronically insecure about my work, and often struggle to move through it. But, if you love the job as I do, you owe it to yourself to try.

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    First Drafts Are Messy

    How To Deal With Writer's Block, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    First drafts are often messy and full of problems, and that’s okay. If your writer’s block is caused by awareness that your work isn’t perfect, you need to remember that editing is how you fix that. It’s not the job of the first draft to be a perfect story, it’s the job of the first draft to just exist.

    Editing is how you shape what you’ve written into something beautiful and pleasing to read. You can add the extra dimensions of entertainment into flat scene, cull scenes that don’t move the story along, and weave in clever and interesting writing techniques such as narrative triplets that make your story feel professional and composed with skill.

    Write through the feeling that your work sucks. Push through it. If your protagonist has fallen off the path of pursuing their goals, steer them back in that direction. If your scenes feel flat, you might need to add some flourishes, but the scene can still work in and of itself. Write through it if you can.

    Writer’s Block Because You’re Feeling Creatively Empty

    If you can’t write through it, you might just need a break. And that’s okay. You might be empty creatively.

          When we start writing and creating, we’ve been filled up with the work of others, inspired by books we’ve read and films we’ve watched, and we have so much to pour out that it feels easy. But we need to keep that supply filled, and if you feel drained then take some time out to go and read, or watch, and allow your creativity to be refilled.

    Rest and allow yourself to be inspired by others. We aren’t machines.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • Why You Should Know And Understand Your Genre

    Why You Should Know And Understand Your Genre

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    It’s important that you understand and know your genre well. Your genre is the concept that your audience is going to buy into when they choose to read your book or watch your film.

    When you market your story, you’re marketing it to the audience that wants that concept. You have to follow through on the promise to deliver it. But to do that, you have to know what your genre is. What are the rules for that genre? How can you still be original within it?

    What’s Expected In Your Genre?

    Firstly, you need to know your genre, understand what is expected of that genre, and then target it correctly. For instance, imagine you’re promising to deliver a story that’s a fantasy story. If you throw in a graphic sex scene, having no reference to the fact it’s an ADULT fantasy, you’re going to boot people out of the story who didn’t sign up for it. Plus you have missed out on an entire audience that do want sexual material in their stories.

    Why You Should Understand Your Genre, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Hollowhood

    We are currently in production on a film called Hollowhood. Very early on realised we had to figure out what genre we were writing, because there was a mixture of different influences.

    Is it a horror? An urban fantasy? A thriller? Within each genre there’s a certain expectation the audience will have. If they go to the film to watch it with that lens and we don’t deliver, then it will impact their experience of it. Even if it is still a good film.

    There’s the other issue that happens your audience is very familiar with the genre you’re writing in. If you’re trying to hit the beats that make it conform to that genre perfectly, you might end up doing something that is cliched and predictable. That will also stop your audience enjoying your work because it’s not fresh and new.

    Pitching the genre correctly, and covering the beats required within that genre whilst still being original, are essential for making your story successful. If you don’t understand your genre properly, you can miss something important.

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    It’s Not Always Easy To Indentify And Understand Your Genre

    Identifying your genre might seem simple, but it isn’t necessarily. As I say, Hollowhood has elements of a variety of different genres, horror, thriller, urban fantasy, plus elements of romance, comedy and drama. Narrowing it down and targeting it accurately is tricky.

    Why You Should Understand Your Genre, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    For instance, we talked about the film Alien to try and narrow down the genre. I said it is primarily a science fiction film, Jonathan said it’s primarily a horror.

    The fundamental principle of a horror film is that it’s scary, and Alien is scary, as is Hollowhood. However, I felt that a horror required a level of gore and Hollowhood is not a gory film. We aren’t mimicking films like Hostel or Saw which I think of as horrors. So I felt it was more urban fantasy thriller, because thrillers are scary but not gory. However, if horror doesn’t require gore, just scares, then Hollowhood absolutely could be a horror.

    This conversation and debate can be had about so many different films and books. Genre isn’t necessarily a clear cut tick box system, and most stories will have at least two primary genres they fit into. One genre will dominate the other just enough to steal the label. For instance, Alien could be seen as a science fiction with horror elements, or a horror movie in a science fiction setting. Technically both could be correct, but which one dominates the film is debatable.

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    Working Out How To Understand Your Genre

    Having the debate about existing work of others will allow you to develop an understanding of different genres. You can start to learn how to target your own work within genres. Understand your genre by properly understanding the genre of other stories.

    There is a massive amount of conversation to be had around genre. It’s both entertaining to talk about and helpful as a writer so you can start learning what’s expected and how to meet those needs, whilst still being true to your own story style. So my advice is to pick a film or book with your friends, something you consider in the same genre as your work in progress, and then talk about it.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Write Narrative Triplets In The Style Of Serenity

    How To Write Narrative Triplets In The Style Of Serenity

    Written by JJ Barnes

    Narrative Triplets In The Style Of Serenity, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Serenity

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    A Narrative Triplet is where a concept or a theme is launched in the first use, established in the second, and then resolved in the third. It can make a good beginning, middle and end to your story. Use of a Narrative Triplet makes the experience of reading it or watching it more satisfying for the audience.

    The first appearance of a Narrative Triplet represents something about the character or the story. It is then repeated in the second act to emphasise the point. In the third act, it’s inverted to demonstrate the end of the arc that has been used through the story.

    Narrative Triplets can be intense, sexy, dramatic, anything you like. The one I’m going to be analysing in this blog post is a funny one, which is Narrative Triplets in the style of Serenity.

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    First Use Of The Narrative Triplets In The Style Of Serenity

    Jayne Cobb, played by Adam Baldwin, is the tough guy on the team of space pirates who fly around in a ship called Serenity. During the introduction to the characters, the ship’s captain, Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is giving them all the plans for their mission and Jayne Cobb is pestering to take grenades with them. Mal says no grenades, because they’re robbing the place not blowing it up.

    This initial reference to Jayne’s grenades works as a demonstration of their characters. Jayne as a trigger happy tough guy who loves to use weapons. Mal as more focussed on the mission. In and of itself, the reference works for character introduction.

    Second Use in Serenity

    Narrative Triplets In The Style Of Serenity, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Serenity

    In the second mention of the grenades, they’re on the planet. During their mission, the monsters they’re scared of, the Reevers, which are undead zombie things, attack them. During their escape, when they’re riding on a little buggy with Jayne being dragged along behind trying to avoid being eaten by the Reevers. He shouts to Mal that it sure would be useful if they had some grenades with them.

    This second reference is satisfying and funny, harking back to the reference at the beginning of the film.

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    Third Use In Serenity

    The third mention of the grenades is at the end of the film. Mal and Jayne are back to back, surrounded by Reevers and to fight for their lives. As they’re about to trap some behind closing doors, Mal asks Jayne if he brought some this time. Jayne nods, throws grenades through the door, and blows up the Reevers as the doors close.

    The third use does the job they need to do, by getting rid of a load of the Reevers, and draws the beginning of the story into the end to make a satisfying connection. It enhances the story and rewards the audience for paying attention, and provides a funny moment in a tense fight scene that is entertaining.

    How To Use Narrative Triplets In The Style Of Serenity

    With Narrative Triplets, any of the moments through the story can work in isolation. Characters can be established, fight scenes can be completed. You don’t need to use these incidents in a Narrative Triplet style for the story to still work and make sense, and the same results to happen.

    However, when you make sure that there’s this running thread through your story, and the moments call back so the final reference is so much more entertaining and satisfying. It elevates the quality of your whole story.

    You can edit a narrative triplet into your story during editing. Insert a moment in the first act and repeating it in the second to emphasise a state. Revert it in the third act to enhance the final sequences of your story.

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    Different Types of Narrative Triplet

    There are different ways of using Narrative Triplets. They can be representative of your character’s arc, such as in Joker. Make a climax fight scene more satisfying, such as in Spider-Man. Or be purely for the sake of entertainment and humour, such as the Narrative Triplets in the style of Serenity.

    In all cases, the use of the Narrative Triplet enhances the story, and it’s easy to replicate in your own if you’re willing to take the time.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Edit Your Book

    How To Edit Your Book

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Editing is a really important part of your writing, and it’s something that all writers have to learn to do well if they want to be successful. However, it also has a bit of a bad rep. Editing hell. Hopefully I’ll be able to both teach you how to edit your book or script well, and also how to enjoy the process.

    How To Edit Your Book, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by Ben Mack on Pexels.com

    Turning Your First Draft into Something Beautiful

    When I talk about editing, I’m not talking about using your spell check. I’m talking about how to take a first draft and turn it into something that reads like it was carefully designed and composed from the beginning, with all the loose ends tied up, and the climax built to like a strategic plan.

    The editing process is how to make your book or script feel completely satisfying and enjoyable for your audience, rather than just a story they’re experiencing and then moving on from without a second thought. It’s how to take a perfectly fine story and make it excellent.

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    Don’t Be Scared of Making Mistakes

    The first thing to remember is you cannot edit a blank page. If you’re so worried about making your story brilliant that you never even start it, you will never accomplish even an adequate story. Instead of being too scared to start, embrace the fact that first drafts can be messy and make no sense, and that getting to the end of it is all you need to do.

    The editing process is where you can take that messy first draft and make it something to be proud of, and nobody has to see that first draft except you. The purpose of the first draft is to just get the story out.

    How To Edit Your Book, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    How To Edit First Drafts

    The first draft is a lot of discovery because unless you plot every moment in advance, which I don’t, you’ll learn a lot about your story as you go. And that can leave loose ends that need tidying up.

    When you first start writing, you might not be certain of where your story is going so it can be meandering. You might know the beginning and end but not be sure of how your characters are getting there. During the writing of your story, you might add or remove characters depending on what it turns out you need. Editing is how you smooth it all out, and make it seem like you always knew what you were doing.

    When you edit, you take that first draft and weave in the clever details that make your story work so well. Editing is where you can add your narrative triplets, set up and pay off, clever foreshadowing. All these details that are nearly impossible to write them from the start, but nobody needs to know they weren’t. That’s the magic.

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    My Editing Process

    How To Edit Your Book, The Table Read Writing Advice
    What Ivy Wants

    I’ll use an example from the book I’m working on. I’m writing a book about a character named Ivy Rhodes. She’s a woman who has gone through a marital breakdown and has to go on a path of self-discovery to learn who she is and what she wants in life independently.

    I felt like the story was fine but when I got to the end I felt like I needed something after the climax to show her settled in her new life. I wanted something symbolic as an end note to finally tie a bow on the story so it didn’t just fade out without any meaning.

    To do this I utilised a narrative triplet. I created a matchstick house for her, something she had made in her childhood and that her ex-husband never liked, but that she was very proud of. I went back into the earlier parts of the story to weave it in and build to the end of the book more neatly.

    In her marriage, she’d kept it the matchstick house in a cupboard out of sight, in the middle of the book she was able to have it out but didn’t feel it had a place to live. At the end of the book, as a final acknowledgement of the journey she has been on, the matchstick house has a place to live, on display.

    It works as a demonstration of how she has come to accept who she is, and be proud of who she is, and is in a situation where who she is celebrated not ignored. It’s a simple detail, but representative of Ivy’s journey in a way that feels composed from the beginning, even though it wasn’t. Being able to go back and edit that detail in improved the story, and the connection to Ivy as a person.

    How To Edit Your Protagonist’s Story Arc

    How To Edit Your Book, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

    When you get to the end of your story, you will be able to look at your story with a richer understanding of your protagonist and their journey.

    Think of something to layer into the earlier stages of the story to show their journey, much like Ivy’s matchstick house, then you go back into your story. Mention it in one context in the first act, again in the second act in a slight development from the first, and then in the third act, at the end of your story, you subvert that so it’s now demonstrating their state at the end, in a narrative triplet.

    Learning who your character is, and getting to know them well, is the key to doing this. The matchstick house is showing an open wound in the first mention, it’s poking it in the second, and it’s healing it in the third.

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    How To Edit in Foreshadowing

    To make the climax of your story more satisfying, again you need to go back into the earlier part of your story and edit in the foreshadowing for it. Expert level foreshadowing, that really elevates the quality of your story, requires that anything at the end of the story appears earlier in the story.

    When your character uses a weapon or tool in a fight, mention that weapon or tool in a different context in the beginning of the story. If they use a piece of information, show them learning it for a different reason. If they have to go to a certain place, have them visit that place earlier. Anything that is plot relevant at the end of the story needs to be plot relevant for a different reason at the beginning.

    How To Edit Your Book, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

    Any appearances in the earlier part of your story need to work in and of themselves as part of the plot, rather than standing out as having been crowbarred in, and therefore a light is shone on it.

    Subtlety is better, and more satisfying for those who have noticed it and remembered it.

    If you get to the end of your story, you can create the illusion of foreshadowing by plucking details from the beginning and using them at the end. A magic spell, a weapon, a hobby or skill. Anything can be utilised at the end that you mentioned simply as world building or character development in the beginning. It creates the same effect as weaving a later detail in earlier, you’re just doing it in reverse.

    How To Edit Your Continuity

    After you’ve taken the time to stitch in the clever writing techniques, it’s time to focus on continuity. Read your story, read it again. Note any significant events and make sure they’re always relevant, track your characters emotional states, check how things are described and make sure it’s consistent.

    How To Edit Your Book, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

    If the last time you wrote a character they were in the clutches of despair or heartache, you need to carry that into their next scene. Even if they’ve moved on and are not still in the same pain, acknowledge that they were previously, or it’ll look like a forgotten detail. If you’ve described one place as a certain distance from another, make sure that’s represented in travel time descriptions.

    It’s very easy to forget tiny details when you’re carrying and constructing an entire world in your head, but your audience will not forget. If you don’t bother to check your continuity and keep it neat, you’ll boot them out of the story and lose their attention. You need to make sure your audience feels like they’re in the stable hands of a storyteller who knows their work inside out. Learning how to edit in continuity will solve the problem of a messy first draft.

    Proofreading

    When you’ve got your book to the best version of it you can, it’s time to send it for proofreading. Find a proof-reader you trust, someone who notices the tiny details, someone who appreciates the effort that goes into the foreshadowing and narrative triplets so that when it hasn’t quite worked, they can explain why.

    How To Edit Your Book, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by emre keshavarz on Pexels.com

    Find someone who is honest, not your mum or your partner who might feel they need to flatter you. Find a professional. I use Steph Warren of “Bookshine and Readbows” and can highly recommend her services.

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    Editing Matters

    Ultimately, you need to remember that taking the time to edit your book is as important as taking the time to write it in the first place. When you start to appreciate the joy of breathing life and craft into the bones of a story, you will start to enjoy the process of editing.

    It’s exciting to find ways to weave the beginning into the end, plucking insignificant moments from the beginning of the story and making them important at the end, and crafting narrative triplets that make every important moment feel special.

    Your story will be elevated because you’ve put in the time, and you, as a writer, will be giving your craft the time and love it deserves.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Create Good Characterisation

    How To Create Good Characterisation

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    How To Create Good Characterisation, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Peter Rabbit

    Your characters are one of the most important things about your story. They’re how your audience connects to the story you’re telling. How your plot moves along, and, usually, the point of the story in the first place.

    The Characterisation Of Mister McGregor

    Young Mister McGregor in the 2018 film Peter Rabbit: The Movie is an example of excellent characterisation. This is a children’s movie, but the writing of this character is excellent.

    Mister McGregor is an antagonist to Peter Rabbit. You’re intended to dislike him (despite the fact the actor, Domhnall Gleeson, is actually very charming on screen) and root for him to fail. However, through the story you actually come to root for him. His character is written to become more and more sympathetic as the story goes on.

    Writing A Character Arc

    The way Mister McGregor becomes more likeable through the story, is that his character is taken on an arc. A strong character arc can really make a character worth reading or watching.

    Going on a journey with a character lets you watch them either learn from their mistakes and improve themselves, or become more evil and corrupt. But that arc makes the character interesting, brings the audience in, and makes them dynamic and interesting. They’re not just flat. This kind of characterisation shows your character has been changed by your story.

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    Mister McGregor’s Arc

    How To Create Good Characterisation, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Peter Rabbit

    Mister McGregor starts the film as a controlling and neurotic grump, working in Harrods, and aspiring to be the manager. He likes things incredibly clean and perfect. So clean and perfect that he could drink water from the toilets (which you almost watch him do.) He is then fired from Harrods, and when he inherits the house in Windermere from the Old Mister McGregor, the goal he sets out on is to get the house cleaned up and put on the market. He intends to use the profits from that sale to set up his own toy shop.

    Upon arrival in Windermere (which we have been to and is utterly beautiful for the record) he is confronted with a herd of sentient creatures. Peter Rabbit’s story goal is to have full access to the McGregor garden so they can eat the vegetables that are grown inside. Mr McGregor and Peter Rabbit are set at odds. Mister McGregor wants to keep them out at all costs to make sure the house is in perfect condition to sell.

    In the grand tradition of using female characters as a tool to improve male characters, Mister McGregor’s new neighbour Bea, played by Rose Byrne, is very loving towards and protective of the animals. She challenges Mister McGregor to accept nature as beautiful and become less controlling.

    Whilst this is a trope I’m personally not a fan of, I have to say it’s really well done in this story. Watching the change in Mister McGregor as he connects with and learns from Bea is very sweet and well performed. You go with Mister McGregor as he learns and changes. His story goals start to change based on those experiences.

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    Characterisation With Vulnerabilities And Humanity

    How To Create Good Characterisation, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Peter Rabbit

    As he grows, the character’s vulnerabilities and humanity comes through more. Allowing your audience to see a character they’ve previously disliked as vulnerable makes them more sympathetic. It starts to explain some of their more questionable behaviours.

    For instance, at the start of the movie he seems incredibly tough. His controlling ways seem purely selfish and cruel. He is antagonistic towards Peter Rabbit and his mates, whom we are automatically sympathetic towards.

    However, through conversation with Bea, this characerisation is developed. You learn that his parents died when he was very young, and he was moved around children’s homes. Control of his environment was hard to come by. He controlled what he could by cleaning and organising everything he could as a coping mechanism. Revealing this brings the audience closer to him, makes him seem softer and more accessible. It starts to change how you respond to the character.

    A Complex Character

    I very much enjoy when the antagonist of a story is, instead of outright evil, a good person who’s flawed. Mister McGregor is an excellent example of this. He’s not setting out to be evil or bad, it’s more complex than that. Mister McGregor has been damaged and hurt by his experiences in life. He’s not a bad person. It’s how he responds to things that sets him at odds with the Protagonist.

    How To Create Good Characterisation, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Peter Rabbit

    Through the story, he learns to deal with those flaws and handle the damage and pain in a healthy way. Ultimately, he becomes a Protagonist in his own right.

    To learn from thec characterisation of Mister McGregor, you can look at the story arc, and how he has layers of motivation. The growth and change is demonstrated in his behaviours. He changes through his relationship with Bea and how he responds to the rabbits.

    The motivations are layered and complex, he cares about more than just one thing. He wants to sell the house to set up a toy shop, he wants to cope with his pain through control and order, he wants to impress his neighbour Bea and have a romance with her. All the way through the story he has multiple goals, and all the way through the story he is growing and learning.

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    Characterisation Through Conflicting Character Goals

    Another interesting part of this character, and again something you can try and bring into a character of your own, is that some of his goals are actually in conflict with each other.

    He wants to sell the house and move back to London, but he wants to be with Bea. He wants to keep the rabbits out, but Bea loves the rabbits and he also wants to impress her. This makes the character complex and interesting. He’s got to constantly navigate his own conflicting goals and that forces him into situations that are more interesting to watch play out. Each scene has the internal conflict he brings with him, as well as any external factors within that scene.

    Characters Are Changed Through The Story

    How To Create Good Characterisation, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Peter Rabbit

    The film ends with Mister McGregor having grown and changed. He accepts the rabbits and is less controlling because he’s happier. He also achieves his goals of opening a toy shop, and being with Bea.

    It shows the character doesn’t have to give up on everything they want through the story to go on an arc, but that the motivations can be changed and developed. His toy shop is now not part of a vengeance plan on Harrods for firing him, it’s part of his happy new life in Windermere.

    Making your characters grow throughout your story, and be changed by the events in the story, humanises them. We all learn from the experiences we have, and we are all changed by them, so let your characters go through that same journey.

    Obviously, Peter Rabbit is a children’s film and will not appeal to everyone, but if you go in watching it with the lense of tracking Mister McGregor’s character development, motivations and conflicts, you’ll learn a good deal about successful characterisation.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Write Set Up And Pay Off In The Style Of Die Hard

    How To Write Set Up And Pay Off In The Style Of Die Hard

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Set up and pay off is a writing technique to make your story feel satisfying. You put something in the earlier part of your story which, in and of itself, makes sense as an isolated moment. Then use that moment later in the story to greater effect. You pay off your audience for noticing and remembering it.

    The Effect Of Set Up And Pay Off

    Set up and pay off used well makes your story more satisfying.

    Including set up and pay off means your audience feels rewarded for paying attention. Those early set up notes are put in just for their enjoyment. Without them the story would still make sense. Paying them off enhances the story climax, and makes your audience have a better experience.

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    Die Hard

    How to write set up and pay off, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Die Hard

    I’m going to be using a couple of examples from the film Die Hard to demonstrate the use and effect of set up and pay off.

    If you haven’t seen it, this includes massive spoilers. If you have, you’ll recognise the examples. It should start to form a clearer understanding of different ways of using this technique in your story, and why it is such a good thing to do.

    Set Up And Pay Off With The Watch

    John McClane goes to Nakatomi Tower. His story goal is to win back the love of his ex wife Holly. She introduces him to Ellie, your classic 80’s movie scumbag, and romantic antagonist to John McClane.

    Ellis wants to taunt John about how successful Holly is without him. He tells Holly to show him the watch she was given by the company as a reward. He tells John that he and his company are superior to John. That he wouldn’t be able to compete with them and give her anything as nice as that watch and the life she has there in LA.

    The watch at the beginning of the film is paid off beautifully at the very end of the movie. Hans Gruber is hanging out of the window of the building, clinging onto Holly’s arm so she might fall out too. The way John stops him and saves the day is to unclip the watch. In that moment, the offensive watch, and the offensive villain, go plummeting downwards in the iconic scene we all know and love.

    Using the watch in this way solves the problem of the villain, and it feels like John is getting emotional catharsis for the company attempting to lure her away from him. They can give her a fancy watch, but he can save her life.

    How to write set up and pay off, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Die Hard

    Set Up And Pay Off With Al’s Gun

    On the outside of the tower, policeman Al is helping John McClane via walkie talkie. He tells John a story about why he was given a desk job after accidentally shooting a kid who was holding a toy gun. Since that day, he has been unable to fire his weapon. It’s an emotional story that connects John and Al, and shows his vulnerability.

    At the end of the film, when John and Holly have finally escaped Nakatomi Tower, and it seems like everyone is now safe, another terrorist comes running out, and goes to shoot John. He is then shot, before he can hurt anyone, and you then are shown that is was Al who shot him. It’s a powerful moment, and obviously means a lot to Al, and John understands why it does.

    This set up and pay off moment is a sign of why this film is unnecessarily good. Al is essentially a side character. He providing support for the lead. But they have still taken the time and care to not only give him a character arc, but with this very clever and emotionally effective set up and pay off style.

    The Impact

    How to write set up and pay off, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Die Hard

    The film would have worked just fine had he won by throwing Hans Gruber off the roof to protect Holly. You’d still get the same shot of him falling. It would have worked fine if Al hadn’t been through the trauma and had just shot the terrorist to protect John.

    The film would have worked fine, the plot would have essentially remained the same. But it wouldn’t hold such high standing in people’s hearts. It’s because the time and dedication was taken. Because the audience’s satisfaction was prioritised.

    When you’re looking to achieve something similar in your own story, remember that you’re making this effort for your audience not for yourself. You can still tell your choice of story, with your choice of characters, without putting the time into the set up and pay off, but your audience won’t enjoy it as much.

    Even if they don’t realise what it is they’re appreciating, they will realise you have taken this time and respected them enough to go to the trouble. You should love your audience enough to do that.

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    Editing Set Up And Pay Off Into Your Story

    The key is to, when you reach the end of your story, if anything is plot relevant go back and seed it into your story early. Or, if you’re looking for something to use in a climax moment, go and look into the earlier part of your story and find something you’ve already placed there as scenery or in a moment between characters.

    Then, you can grow that and you’ll find that it enhances other aspects of your story because when things become more relevant and interesting, the story grows around them to accommodate them and thus becomes richer because of it.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Write Flashbacks

    How To Write Flashbacks

    On The Table Read, “The Best Book Reader Magazine in UK”, JJ Barnes writes about the use of flashbacks in story and how to write them effectively.

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Flashbacks in your story are where you have two timelines, your main story line, and then a storyline in the past where you discover your characters history. At points during the plot, you flashback to the historical timeline for a scene or two, before returning to the present.

    Why Use Flashbacks?

    Flashbacks are used to explain situations in the present day by taking the audience into the characters memories. They let you witness key events in character backstory that impacts how a they’re behaving, or events in the past that are shaping present day politics.

    How To Write Flashbacks, on The Table Read
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    Flashbacks are a great way of using the show don’t tell rule to literally show the audience why things are happening. Rather than having a character give an “as you know” type info dump to another character which is boring and tedious, you actually get to witness the action.

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    Avoid Breaking the Tension

    Disrupting the flow of your main story to show sequences in a non-linear style can boot your audience out of the story by breaking the tension you’ve been building in one timeline, because you have to go elsewhere.

    To avoid breaking the tension with flashbacks, make the scenes in the past somewhere the audience want to go. Withhold certain key information from your reader, information they want to learn, and promise that the answers will be found in the flashbacks.

    By using the flashbacks to support and boost the present-day storyline by providing interesting answers, it builds up the excitement of the present-day timeline rather than distracting from it.

    To promise your audience an exciting thread of information in the flashbacks, you need to tease your audience. Build questions in their minds, about a mysterious past or significant event, that they want to go and find out about.

    The Past Must Support the Present

    If you just go into the past to show events that you find interesting, but that don’t support and enhance your main storyline, you’re focusing on what you want and ignoring what your audience wants. And they will feel that.

    Emerald Wren And The Coven Of Seven by JJ Barnes, How To Write Flashbacks, on The Table Read
    Emerald Wren And The Coven Of Seven by JJ Barnes

    If you particularly enjoy writing the scenes in the past, you have to either create a reason to go back there by placing key information there that your audience needs to know, or, if you’ve run out of reasons to go back, just accept that your time in the past is over.

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    How I Wrote Flashbacks

    Flashbacks make up a key part of my third novel Emerald Wren and the Coven of Seven. I found that teasing the audience with the past of Emerald and Maram’s life, and how they got to where they are in the present-day story, worked well.

    I used the flashbacks to both build the mystery of the two women and their lives and resolve and explain mysteries in the present day. Whilst I really enjoyed writing about their lives growing up, I had to stop jumping into the past when everything that needed explaining from that timeline had been completed.

    Lost

    I’m a fan of how flashbacks are used in the TV series Lost. The flashbacks build intrigue about the characters, you get just enough to tell you a bit about who they are and what their secrets are, but not so much that the character loses their intrigue.

    The drip feeding of information through these flashbacks is what keeps the audience wanting to go back there. It’s just enough information each time that you’re satisfied, and it contributes to the main story, but not so much that you’ve done it all and have no reason to flashback again.

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    Arrow

    If you run out of information to give in the past, your audience won’t want to bother going back there, and if your audience doesn’t want to go back there you shouldn’t bother writing back there.

    For instance, in Arrow, the writers kept doing flashbacks to the island where Oliver Queen was stranded, and they distracted from the main storyline. Because it had been established that the show’s format included flashbacks, despite running out of storylines on the island, they had to make it increasingly ridiculous to try and justify going back there.

    Linking the flashbacks to the present-day timeline wasn’t very well done, and I found present day Arrow was the story I wanted, the flashbacks were what I had to endure. Ultimately, that’s why I fell off and stopped watching. The show is very popular and successful, but I feel that that’s despite the use of flashbacks, rather than because of them. Whereas in Lost, I feel the flashbacks were as massive factor in its success.

    Remember to Keep Flashbacks Intriguing

    If you want to write flashbacks, remember to keep your audience interested in the past timeline by using it to boost the intrigue of the present-day storyline. In the flashbacks, thread little pieces of information that add to and enhance the character and the plot rather than distracting from it.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    Donate to support The Table Read
    We strive to keep The Table Read free for both our readers and our contributors. If you have enjoyed our work, please consider donating to help keep The Table Read going!

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Write Multiple Antagonists in one story

    How To Write Multiple Antagonists in one story

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Just as multiple protagonist stories can be highly entertaining, stories with multiple antagonists can work really well. However, you can write a multiple antagonist story with just one protagonist. Each antagonist is set against the protagonist in a different way, each working against what your protagonist wants.

    I’ll be referencing the film Jurassic Park. During the course of the picture, there are multiple Antagonists all disrupting the experiences of the Protagonists, Grant, Ellie, and (essentially) the entirety of the human race. I’ll explain what they do in the story, and how you can replicate that style in your own work.

    jurassic park
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    Multiple Antagonists In Jurassic Park

    The obvious antagonist in Jurassic Park is John Hammond. He was the designer of Jurassic Park and, arguably, is responsible for all the things that went wrong.

    There’s also Dennis Nedry who sells the science to a rival company, then shuts down the electricity when stealing the “dino DNA”, which then frees the dinosaurs from their cages.

    The dinosaurs themselves are also Antagonists, because they want to be free, and the humans don’t want them to be free.

    John Hammond

    John Hammond is the “man playing God,” which is a kind of antagonist which features frequently in stories, particularly in science fiction. Humans deciding that they are able to create and control life usually ends badly in story, as it sets the created life against the existing life.

    A lot of science fiction, at its core, is about the consequences of choosing to create sentient beings, be they living creatures or robots. The story follows the course of the human beings trying to exist, and the created life forces trying to become dominant. As their enabler, John Hammond represents the created life in this conflict.

    Dennis Nedry

    Dennis Nedry is representative of “the criminal.” Criminals are frequently occurring Antagonists. They are morally unscrupulous characters, and their downfall is their greed. The criminal who is willing to put everyone at risk for their own personal gain is a great character to deploy in your story.

    In the case of Nedry, he’s there from the beginning being sneaky, and even though nobody likes him he’s still trusted enough to have access to everything he needs to be the criminal. So, to use a character like this in your own story, it needs to be somebody who is motivated to put everything at risk, but also trusted enough to be able to do it. This is the character that will often be revealed as the betrayer in a plot twist moment.

    Thematically Nedry is particularly interesting because he represents the lack of control John Hammond has over life. Hammond thinks he has control over everybody which is why Nedry is able to do the things he does. Hammond is arrogant enough to not consider the possibility of betrayal.

    Nature

    Nature itself makes an excellent antagonist in stories. As Jeff Goldblum’s character Dr. Ian Malcolm says, life will find a way.

    Nature is intent on surviving and flourishing, even when humans think they are able to stop it. In Jurassic Park, that is demonstrated by the discovery that the dinosaurs can change their sex because of the frog DNA used in their creation. It hammers home the price of your character playing God.

    Nature will not be controlled. Dinosaurs being able to change sex means they’re able to breed, so they can appear in unexpected places and in larger numbers. This sometimes appears in stories as a volcano, a hurricane, or a tidal wave. But it’s always nature set to do what nature does, and humans being unable to stop it.

    Multiple Antagonists vs Protagonists

    Essentially, all your different Antagonists are working to do something which, when combined, cause a massive problem for your Protagonist. Individually, each antagonist makes things a challenge, but when combined your protagonist is outmatched and forced to grow and change.

    In Jurassic Park, even though killing everybody isn’t the goal of the Antagonists, the consequences of what they’re all doing has that result.

    Creating Multiple Antagonists

    When you have multiple Antagonists, you’ll find that a number of them won’t be evil, they’re not a villain or a bad guy, they’re just flawed humans who are unable to keep their flaws in check.

    In the case of John Hammond, his flaw is his arrogance. He isn’t a “bad guy” who wants to hurt people, he just lacks self-awareness and that causes him to accidentally hurt people. Personally, I really enjoy an Antagonist who is ultimately a good person but just makes huge mistakes and doesn’t fix them. What you need to remember is that when you’re creating an Antagonist, their role in your story is to be Antagonistic towards your Protagonist. So, any kind of Antagonist you put into your story, they’re only an Antagonist if their goals are actively set against the goals of your Protagonist.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    Donate to support The Table Read
    We strive to keep The Table Read free for both our readers and our contributors. If you have enjoyed our work, please consider donating to help keep The Table Read going!

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Write Multiple Protagonists

    How To Write Multiple Protagonists

    On The Table Read, “The Best Book Reader Magazine in the UK“, author JJ Barnes writes about how to construct a story with multiple protagonists and references example from popular fiction.

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    The Protagonist of your story is the main character who you follow on their journey. They start the story wanting something, through the course of the story they go after it, and at the end of the story it’s resolved by either getting it or not.

          To be a Protagonist, they must have an Antagonist, the person or thing that is preventing them from getting what they want. Your story follows the conflict between these two characters.

    When you’re writing multiple protagonists, you’re writing multiple people in pursuit of their goals, each with an Antagonist trying to stop them. These stories will intermingle and connect but are all their own complete conflict.

    The Difference Between Ensemble and Multiple Protagonist

    An ensemble cast doesn’t necessarily mean you have multiple protagonists. You may have a large cast revolving around a single Protagonist, and whilst each of the characters in the ensemble is significant and motivated, they don’t count as a protagonist. They’re only a protagonist if you’re directly following their story.

    You can find examples of multiple protagonism in stories such as The West Wing, Pulp Fiction, Lost, and the first two Avengers movies, but not Avengers: Infinity War, because Thanos is the protagonist of that picture.

    How To Write Multiple Protagonists, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    Where to Use Multiple Protagonists

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    A TV series is a good space for writing multiple protagonists because then your audience is able to spend more time getting to know the different characters and what they are motivated by. Over more time you can track the different characters and different stories more easily.

    Films and books are harder to write a good multiple protagonist story in, simply because you have less time. You need to make sure your audience understands who all your Protagonists are and what they all want in order to tell all their stories successfully. With a more limited page count, that will be a challenge.

    Be Careful with Your Structure

    When you’re writing a multiple protagonist story, you have to be careful to control the structure. You can end up with a bitty storyline, bobbing about so much you never fully get to grips with any of the characters’ stories. Or, if you cram all the stories in, you have to race through different characters too fast so you lose some of the details they deserve.

    Whilst Lost is a genuinely excellent example of this style, some of the Protagonists’ backstories end up cut short and rushed through. Spending too long exploring one story means you end up missing out on everybody back on the island, so something has to be sacrificed. All the characters need to have their stories moved forward in an equally interesting and developed way.

    The West Wing nails multiple protagonists in a really impressive way. Aaron Sorkin, the series’ genius creator, manages to make each Protagonist equally important and significant each episode. Each protagonist has an individual story arc which is ticked along, even if it just a small amount, each episode.

    You might find that in different episodes, or different chapters, you choose to focus on one character predominantly. This allows you to develop that protagonist without too distraction, as happens in Lost and The West Wing for instance, but all the other characters still matter. The other storylines might not be directly involved with the focus plotline but could be thematically linked and still need to be moved forwards.

    Introducing Multiple Protagonists

    When you’re getting to know characters in a multiple protagonist story, you have a lot of characters to introduce with equal value quickly. You need your audience to be able to recognise who each person is, or it’ll just be confusing.

    If you look at how Lost introduces the cast, it’s very clever and very effective. At first, you get to know each protagonist based on one single thing about them, something your audience can latch on to and recognise those characters by. The “Fat Guy”—Hurly. The “Stuck Up Princess”—Shannon. The “Hero”—Jack. The “Cowboy”—Sawyer. You then slowly get to know them better, and understand what it is they want better, after you’ve been able to identify who each of them is.

    To write this yourself, you need to give each Protagonist something really clear about them, something simple that isolates which character it is and can then be built from.

    In Lost, each character is deeper and more interesting than the stereotype you’re trained to recognise them by, but by having these single factors you’ve got a base from which to grow. Once you know who they are, you can develop them, bring in their back stories and motivations.

    A way to do this well is to write your story first, then when you know your characters really well, go back and edit your first chapter. Give each Protagonist something clear that is an easy way to identify them when the audience reads their name. It’s easier to do this once you’ve reached the end of your story and you have a full image of who the character is to extract one tiny seed from.

    Emerald Wren and the Coven of Seven

    For instance, in Emerald Wren and the Coven of Seven, I have an ensemble cast of seven. It’s not a multiple protagonist story, as Emerald is the single protagonist, but the other six are still extremely important and motivated so I used this technique.

    How To Write Multiple Protagonists, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Emerald Wren And The Coven Of Seven

    I went back in and made sure that early on each character had something the audience could latch onto about who they are. For instance, Celeste is a Christian, and her faith is a key part of her personality and story. So, from when you first meet her, I wrote that when she’s anxious she plays with her crucifix. Celeste is much more than just a Christian, but that action tells the audience something significant about her immediately that they can recall when they next read her name.

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    Antagonists

    Every protagonist must have an antagonist. It could be themselves if they have internal conflict, another person in their life who wants the complete opposite to what they want, or even the world at large, nature, or society.

    But to be a protagonist they must have an antagonist who is blocking them from getting what they want. For each of your protagonists, you follow the conflict with the antagonist until the climax when the conflict is resolved.

    Why Write Multiple Protagonists?

    The benefits of writing multiple protagonists are that the energy of your story will be up. Every scene will have more conflict because the characters are equally important and equally motivated, and the more conflict there is in a scene, the more entertaining it is.

    It isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do, and won’t suit every story, but if you do it well it can be very effective and entertaining.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    Donate to support The Table Read
    We strive to keep The Table Read free for both our readers and our contributors. If you have enjoyed our work, please consider donating to help keep The Table Read going!

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • Pantsing Vs Plotting – A Guide to The Writing Techniques

    Pantsing Vs Plotting – A Guide to The Writing Techniques

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    In the Pantsing Vs Plotting debate, there are positives to both methods. You just need to work out what suits you best and how to do it well.

    “Pantsing” comes from “fly by the seat of your pants”. It means to be making your story up as you go. Finding out what’s going to happen along the way.

    “Plotting” is where before you start writing, you work out your story. Who you characters are, key events in the story, what page count you’re aiming for etc in advance. Then you follow that plan as you work.

    Pantsing Vs Plotting, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    Being A Pantser Or A Plotter

    For the pantsing vs plotting debate in my life, my writing partner and I have slightly different approaches. Jonathan McKinney is more of a plotter, but still has elements of pantser about his style. Whereas I am predominantly a pantser, but I have elements of plotter.

    I think most writers exist somewhere on the spectrum rather than being entirely one or the other.

    The reason I am mostly a pantser is because I like to be free. I get ideas all the time. I feel like if I plot too heavily in advance, I won’t be free to let those ideas grow. Sometimes I’ll follow a path down an idea I get when I’m writing, which if I was following a pre-conceived plot I would avoid because it’s an unexpected turn to take. I would miss out on something that’s actually really incredible and worth including.

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    The Benefits Of Plotting Or Pantsing

    Pantsing Vs Plotting, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    The plotting I do in advance is minimal, I like to know the beginning, which is what I initially come up with and I like to understand what I’m going to do with it, and then I like to know my end.

    I like to have an idea of what the climax of the story will be so I can steer my story in that direction. But I’m still very fluid with that end point. If when I’m writing I realise that I’m headed in a different direction than I expected, for whatever reason, I change my ending not my story.

    I think it’s important to be ready to change your story if you find it doesn’t actually flow in the direction you first intended. If something just doesn’t belong, be prepared to not use it in this story. But if you love it, you can always use it in another story where it does belong.

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    What Suits You?

    When it comes to finding what style of writing suits you, it could be either depending on the story you are writing or depending on what you’re personally strongest at.

    If you’re really strong at making the most of conflict in scenes, and finding the entertainment in each scene, then pantsing might suit you. You can just go into whatever scene you’re writing and create something that works because you’re naturally good at it. Pantsing is also more suited to a single Protagonist story that follows a series of events and building to a climax.

    You might be great at building something, a world, a deep storyline, or a concept, and therefore it suits you better to plot carefully. If you’re writing something that needs to be carefully constructed, such as non-linear or multiple protagonist stories, then you will need to plot in advance to make sure you can steer it.

    Ultimately, whatever method you choose to write your story, remember that in editing you can go back and fix anything that didn’t quite work out to make sure you get the best version of your story you can, so just choose what you feel more comfortable with and you’re probably going to be okay.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • Why Too Much Description Can Make Your Story Boring

    Why Too Much Description Can Make Your Story Boring

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Writing effective and interesting prose is something we all have to work on to be good writers. Too much and it’s boring and tedious. Too little and it’s too sparse and you don’t feel like you know the characters feelings or the environment they’re in well enough.

    If you look at the work of Stephen King, he is very heavy on the prose and he describes a lot. There is a lot of description in his books, and a lot of words, which is one of the reasons why they’re so long.

    Stephen King also has far wider and more complex plotlines than a lot of writers. His books can be considered very slow because of it. But he’s incredibly popular and that style is obviously appealing to those who love his work.

    What is Your Personal Style?

    Personally, I prefer to both read and write books that aren’t as detailed. I like a story that moves more quickly so I write less prose and I’m more focused on the action. Too much description irritates me because it gets in the way of the story I came for.

    Essentially, there is no hard and fast rule so you can put as much or as little in as suits your personal style. What will appeal to one person won’t appeal to somebody else.

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    Avoid Too Much Description By Focusing On Characters

    Avoid Too Much Description, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by Yan Krukov on Pexels.com

    When it comes to choosing what you should include in your descriptions, it’s a good idea to remember to focus on what your characters care about. People don’t necessarily care what colour the curtains are in the room, but they care about how the character feels. If the colour of the curtains affects how the character feels, such as by triggering a memory, then it’s relevant and worth mentioning, otherwise it should be left out.

    When deciding what to write about, look at which character you’re in the POV (point of view) of. Your descriptions of the room, the people, the weather etc should be relevant to your POV character. How they feel about those things. If they don’t feel anything, it’s not interesting and doesn’t need including.

    For instance, if the room your character walks into has seven chairs. and three pictures on the wall, and blue curtains, and the curtains have a slight speckled pattern… nobody cares. But who is sitting in those chairs, that is interesting. How your characters mood or emotions are effected by what’s in the room, that’s interesting. If the look of the room is irrelevant to your character, keep descriptions minimal. Too much description can turn interesting world building into tedious and dull homework.

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    What Ivy Wants

    Avoid Too Much Description, The Table Read Writing Advice
    What Ivy Wants

    In the book I’m working on right now, we are in the POV of the Protagonist Ivy. She has lost her job and her husband has left her so she moves back home to live with her parents whilst she gets back on her feet. When she goes into her old bedroom, there’s a McFly poster on the wall. She is reminded of being a teenager again and coping with being back in her childhood bedroom. It triggers an emotional response about having moved backwards in her life.

    I focus on the McFly poster because the other things on the walls aren’t interesting. It’s the poster she used to love that triggers the emotional response in Ivy. The memories and feelings are what is interesting to the audience.

    You wouldn’t walk into your childhood bedroom and think “Oh, the carpet is a slightly olive shade of green”. What you look at and focus on are the things that trigger an emotional response.

    Unholy Water

    In Unholy Water by Jonathan McKinney, there is a moment when one of the main characters, Jack, is walking outside in October. He is frustrated by the lack of chill in the air and impatient for the season to change. He wants change, he is frustrated by his place in the world. Rather than just describing what the weather is like, it’s described through the characters own perception of it and what it represents to him.

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    Entertaining Prose Focus On Feelings Not Too Much Description

    Focusing on the character’s feelings is the key to writing good prose. How much or little you actually write and how deeply you dive into those feelings and what they mean, is really a matter of personal taste. If you find a readership that likes your personal style, whether it’s very descriptive or not, then they will happily go with you. For all the people who love Stephen King because of his long and complex plots and deep descriptions, there is an entire audience out there who hate his work for the exact same reasons.

    Ultimately, as long as you write well there is no actual rule. Just focus on your character’s feelings and write something you would want to read.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • Top Reasons To Write The Death Of A Mentor

    Top Reasons To Write The Death Of A Mentor

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    The “Death of the Mentor” is a technique used in story to motivate the Protagonist, by killing the person who has taught them to do what it is they do. It’s a well-used trope, and thus must be used with awareness and caution to avoid predictability, but it can still work really well. I’ll talk you through what it means, what it does for your story, and how you can make it work in your own writing.

    How To Write The Death Of A Mentor, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Star Wars

    Obi Wan Kenobi

    The classic example of the death of a mentor being written for this purpose is the death of Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

    Luke Skywalker meets Obi Wan Kenobi who teaches him what The Force is and how to use it, about his family, etc., and then gets killed by Darth Vader which motivates Luke to do better throughout the rest of the film. Prior to the death of Obi Wan, Luke was unable to complete is story journey. Forcing Luke to stand alone without the support makes him stronger.

    It’s probably to blame for the trope becoming cliched because of how effective it was at the time, but it’s also a really good demonstration of how and why it is used.

    Parody

    The frequency of use, and fame of this trope, makes it easily parodied. In The Office, Michael Scott’s movie, Threat Level Midnight, features the death of a mentor in a perfectly done parody.

    How To Write The Death Of A Mentor, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Threat Level Midnight

    Cherokee Jack, played by Creed Bratton (played by Creed Bratton), is Michael Scarn’s ice hockey mentor. He killed by the antagonist, Golden Face, three quarters of the way into the film. This then propels Michael Scarn towards the climax with purpose, forced to stand alone without his help.

    The reason the death of this character is such a perfect parody is because as well as being a perfectly executed joke, it’s also a really clear and well-constructed example of how to write it in your own story. When Cherokee Jack dies, it motivates Michael Scarn perfectly to accomplish his goals in a way he previously felt unable to.

    I would genuinely recommend seeking it out and watching it just to see how well structured it is and how the death of the mentor is used, whilst acknowledging it is a clear parody and very funny with it.

    Where Do You Use It?

    If you’re writing in a three act structure, the death of the mentor is best placed at the end of the second act. It will then send your Protagonist on their path to accomplish what it is they want to accomplish in Act 3, in a way they didn’t feel able to do prior to their mentor’s death.

    Even if what they set out to do ends in defeat, they were not previously motivated sufficiently or feeling capable of even trying until this happens.

    How to Write “The Death of the Mentor”

    How To Write The Death Of A Mentor, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Lilly Prospero And the Magic Rabbit

    Being such a well-known trope can make using it something of an issue. Your audience is likely to see it coming and therefore it will have probably less impact, unless you can really make them feel.

    To make the most effective death of a mentor, aim to cause the absolute maximum pain you can. This will stop your audience thinking about the cliché, because they’ll be too busy feeling their emotions.

    I have written the death of a mentor in my own writing (Lilly Prospero and the Magic Rabbit), and I made the choice to deal with the cliché by causing the reader as much emotional devastation as possible. It draws the focus away from the predictability because your reader is too busy coping with their pain.

    It sounds evil, but it’s effective, and allows you to have the impact of it in your story without it being ruined.

    Another method you could use to get over the cliché factor is, instead of a literal death, have the mentor be lost to your Protagonist in some other way. They could be taken away emotionally, so your Protagonist now feels alone.

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    Why Does “The Death of the Mentor” Work?

    The mentor character is very common in fantasy stories, because your Protagonist needs a guide to explain the magical world they’re now in and teach them about the powers or magic of that world. When that mentor is taken away, it then forces your character to stand on their own two feet in this new world they’re adapting to.

    In whatever way your mentor is lost to your Protagonist, losing that support and that guidance is what gives them enough motivation to finally take the final steps they need. It could be to avenge their death or prove them wrong, or it could be to live up to the faith the mentor had in them to honour their memory.

    But either way, that loss takes your Protagonist through the transition from unable to go for their final goal, into willing to do it. You just need to be aware that you’re treading footsteps previously trodden and it’s very easy to slip into predictable cliché if you don’t handle it with care.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How To Write Your Midpoint

    How To Write Your Midpoint

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    The Midpoint in your story comes when you’ve done all the set up in your story. It acts as a pivot to steer it towards the climax. You have got your Protagonist and your Antagonist locked in conflict, and they’re both motivated towards achieving what they want to achieve. Now you need to start the process of crashing them together to see who wins.

    How To Write A Midpoint, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

    I’ll explain where in your timing that your midpoint comes, what it does for your story, and how to write an effective midpoint.

    Where Does Your Midpoint Come?

    The midpoint comes half-way through your second act, right in the middle of your story. Sometimes the midpoint is so game changing that writers will opt for a four act structure as the midpoint breaks act two into two clear and distinct parts.

    Whether you choose to write in three or four acts, your midpoint works to reframe your story. It will push your characters into their journey towards the end.

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    Examples of Effective Midpoints

    This pivot can happen in a number of different ways. The film Titanic is an excellent example of how you can use your midpoint.

    How To Write A Midpoint, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Titanic

    The start of the film is following Jack and Rose and their love story. They meet and fall in love. They are motivated to find a way to be together after the ship has docked in the USA.

    At an hour and a half into the three-hour movie, they crash into an iceberg which changes the entire story. You are no longer watch Jack and Rose falling in love and wanting to find a way to be together. You are now watching them wanting to find a way to survive. It’s very effective and offers immediate high stakes for the story and works as motivation for your characters as you head towards the third act.

    The midpoint in Titanic doesn’t completely derail the initial motivation of the characters, they still are in love and they still want to find a way to be together, but it has shifted and reframed their experiences and motivation due to the potential for imminent death.

    A second example of an effective use of the midpoint in your story can be seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

    Throughout the first half you follow Steve Rogers as he realises he’s being hunted and he begins to develop suspicions about S.H.I.E.L.D.; then, an hour and fifteen minutes in, he finds out that Hydra have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. decades ago. It changes the entire conflict.

    Reframing Your Story

    How To Write A Midpoint, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Captain America And The Winter Soldier

    Have your characters learn something at the midpoint, something that totally reshapes your story. Even if your characters at their core are still pursuing the same thing, it’s in a different landscape with different consequences.

    In Titanic, Jack and Rose still want to be together but now they’ve learned they’re also sinking. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve still wants to find Bucky but now he’s doing it having learned that Hydra have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.

    Writing a Clear Midpoint

    When you want to write a good clear midpoint, think of it like a pivot. You build up to this revelation like one side of a triangle, then you fall back down the other side towards the climax dealing with that change that has happened.

    Something to remember is that if your word count isn’t putting your midpoint exactly in the middle, it really won’t ruin your story. There is always flexibility with story structure. Don’t get too bogged down with worrying about trying to get it at exactly halfway through. But it’s a good guide to try and work to for the most effective use of the midpoint.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How to write in a three act structure – SPOILERS – Die Hard

    How to write in a three act structure – SPOILERS – Die Hard

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    A “Three-Act Structure” is like a framework for your story, a structure to build your story around. It will move your plot along in a controlled way that keeps your story organised and making sense, with a clear beginning, middle and end. I’ll be explaining what elements are included in a three-act structure, and referencing the film Die Hard.

    How To Write A Three Act Structure, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Die Hard

    What is a Three-Act Structure?

    To write in a three-act structure, it’s a good idea to remember this:

    Act One—Put your character up a tree

    Act Two—Throw stones at him/her

    Act Three—Get your characters back down from the tree

    It’s a really effective way of understanding how to use this, and how to write within it. Die Hard is one of my favourite films, and the format is a perfect three-act structure in use:

    Act One—Put John McClane up the tower

    Act Two—Throw terrorists at him

    Act Three—Get John McClane back down the tower

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    Act One

    In Act One we meet John McClane, a New York City cop, who’s travelled to L.A. to spend Christmas with his estranged wife, Holly, and their daughter. He goes up to the top of Nakatomi Tower to Holly’s office, meets her boss and colleagues, with the Act One goal of winning back Holly’s love.

    We see the emerging plot for the film during Act One as the criminals break into the building whilst John and Holly and the office party are up at the top of the tower. It tells you that there will be more to this story than just John’s desire to win back Holly, but John doesn’t know it yet. He’s just going up the metaphorical tree.

    Act One ends when the terrorists announce their presence by busting into the Christmas party with their guns. That changes the story both for the audience and in terms of John McClane’s goals.

    Act Two

    How To Write A Three Act Structure, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Die Hard

    John McClane isn’t with the rest of the party when the terrorists enter as he’s in a bathroom having a shave in his vest. This puts him in position to spend Act Two of the movie trying to figure out how he’s going to stop the terrorists, save all the party guests, and get everybody back down the tower (or the tree.)

    Act Two changes John’s story goals from win back Holly, into save Holly, plus everybody else, and follows him on his quest to do that. We witness him fighting the terrorists, and struggling to overcome the challenges they throw at him.

    Act Two finishes when John McClane has weapons, a guy out front to work with, and he’s ready to put his plan into action to get everybody out, and on the revelation to John McClane that Hans Gruber, the wonderful Alan Rickman, is actually the main bad guy terrorist.

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    Act Three

    Act Three follows John McClane acting out his plan, proving to the suspicious cops outside that he’s not crazy and he was right all along, and rescuing Holly. The climax draws all the threads previous threads together.

    How to Use a Three-Act Structure

    For your story, don’t feel trapped by the idea of putting your character up a tree or a tower. This idea can come in so many different forms. You can do the same thing by showing your character wanting something, then learning about how to get it through experiences, and then finally going after the thing they wanted.

    You can trust yourself to be creative and play with the format, rather than feeling trapped by it, but the three-act structure is a really great framework to use as a base to build a satisfying story around.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • How to be inspired by other writers without losing your own voice

    How to be inspired by other writers without losing your own voice

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Being inspired by other writers can be a very positive thing. We can learn from their work and incorporate certain techniques that make their work great into our own writing. But it’s important to maintain your own personal style as well.

    It’s very important that however inspired you are by other writers, you don’t rip them off. It’s very important that you do not directly copy, either by accident or intentionally, the work of other writers.

    How To Be Inspired By Other Writers, on The Table Read
    Photo by Monstera on Pexels.com

    Proof Readers

    If you are worried that you might be accidentally copying the work of another author, the first job you need to do is get a good proofreader. An experienced proofreader is likely to pick up on any accidental plagiarizing. However, if the author you’re possible ripping off is somebody quite niche, it’s worth finding someone within that specific fandom who is an expert on their particularly work, who can read your book with that lens on it.

    I have worked for years with proofreader Steph Warren. She takes on new people regularly so she comes with my recommendation.

    Vary Your Reading To Be Inspired By Other Writers

    If you’re focusing on one writer at a time, or heavily focusing on a single writer who influences you, then an important thing to do would be to branch out. Widen your reading and possibly read more than one book at a time on a rotation.

    If you’re automatically reflecting one writer’s style because you’re so intrenched in their work, then forcing variety into your reading will help you free yourself from it. You’re less likely to subconsciously copy their work.

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    Write The Bones Of Your Story

    How To Be Inspired By Other Writes, The Table Read Writing Advice
    What Ivy Wants

    Another option is to focus less heavily on prose. When you start writing, for your first draft, write the absolute bare bones of your story. A lot of the style goes into the poeticism and style of the prose, so if you break it down to essentially a script with just what the characters say and where they go, you’ll have a complete and unique story without copying anybody’s style.

    When you’ve got a completed first draft, you go in and edit, developing the prose around what already exists. That way, you cannot literally copy what somebody else has written because your story is entirely unique to you. Nobody else has written these characters before, so therefore nobody else has written prose about these characters before.

    I’m in the process of adapting a film I wrote, What Ivy Wants, into a book. I’ve got the words and the plot, and I’m going in and developing the character’s interiority. Descriptions of the environment and actions and creating the visuals needed.

    It’s actually a really satisfying process. Having a complete story that’s quite plain to breathe life into in this style is so different to anything I’ve done before.

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    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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