HOW TO KILL OFF YOUR WRITER - By Writer's relief staff:

This is just some stuff I got from Writer's relief. It's got loads of info. I really dig it and i hope you do to



When you’ve reached that point in your story or novel where your main character dies—whether it’s from a disease, fatal accident, murder, or other creative cause—it’s important to handle the death in a way that your readers don’t want to turn away. It’s natural for readers to create an attachment to the central character, and saying good-bye is a hardship we all share. To make the death of your main character a little easier to bear, the following are points of advice to consider when crossing this difficult literary hurdle.

Keep it real.
An unrealistic death may be hard for the reader to understand. Readers will expect a solid reason behind the death of the character they have bonded with, so death from…a stubbed toe…may anger them. Make sure your reasoning for killing the character is plot-driven and not writer’s block-driven. Most readers will be able to tell if this was a thought-out decision or a mode to rush your way to the ending.
On the flipside: Unless your character has superpowers that the reader already knows about, a normal human can’t survive unreasonable circumstances. Explosions, accidents, ferocious animal encounters, alien invasions: Keep in mind what is plausible for him/her to survive.

Give the reader time to mourn.
If the death of your main character is sudden, give the reader time to absorb and react to what happened. You don’t want to kill him/her off and then move on as if nothing happened, or your readers might feel offended by the lack of dignity given to his/her passing.
Sometimes, it’s effective to not truly kill off your main character, but to lead your audience to believe he/she is dead, or even to bring him/her back in a revival. But consider the following before you decide to throw in a twist of that nature:


Make sure you have reasonable motive behind your main character’s revival.
Not every character is intended to return from the dead, so don’t use recovery lightly. If you reverse the death of your main character, it should be vital to the plot of the story, not because you are afraid to stick to your instincts. And if you decide to “trick” your audience by alluding to the main character’s death, rather than stating or showing that he or she is dead, make sure you have a good reason. If you cause your readers grief or worry over the perceived death for shock value alone, you might have an angry audience on your hands.
Essentially, you need to consider the feelings and emotions of your reader. Think about how people act toward the idea of death in real life, and incorporate that same sentiment in your writing. After all, readers easily regard main characters as if they are real people they care about and know. At the end of the day, you know what’s best for your plot and characters; after all, you created them! However, you want to think of the reader, and by doing this, hopefully, when your main character dies you won’t end up as “dead meat” with your audience.

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HOW TO NOT LOOSE INTEREST WHILE WRITING A NOVEL

 You've just gone half-way writing that 70,000-word Sci-fi novel and you begin to feel nauseous about the characters, the plots, the theme, everything! Going back to finish the task up now becomes a really big herculean task for you.
       Don't fret now. It's a normal trend among writers especially the big guns in the literary world. Stephen King, for instance, had dumped the incomplete manuscripts of his first novel,Carrie in his trash can after loosing interest in writing it until his wife, Tabitha, had gingered him to write it again. Then, a $400,000 contract followed up after it was finally published in 1974.
     So, clearly, you're still on track to making the bestseller author list. There could be a lot of reasons for loosing interest. You just have to identify the problem and search frantically for its solution to enable you round off that future best seller of yours.   
     Here are a list of the major problems causing lack of interest in most future writers and their solutions (Not all of the problems are exhausted in this article):

NOT YOUR NICHE
  
First off, If you're in it just for the money, then, trust me, there are other less time-consuming ways of earning money. Some people are into the romance genre only because books in this category tend to be in higher demand compared to fiction or other genres. If Romance ain't your thing, I suggest you quit, because it will only be a matter of time before the task wears and breaks you.
      Discover your passion and keep on writing on it since you tend to express yourself more when it comes to your specialty.


THOSE NEW IDEAS. EH?

 At a point, you run out of ideas and then some days later, totally different ideas keep streaming into your brain. Then you decide to dump the first draft and go for a companion draft.
      New ideas are highly welcome most of the time, but sometimes, they could be redundant. The way to avoid is is to draw out what i call a 'vomit' draft before you start. This is where you pour out all your ideas on the subject you're writing about. Then sieve and organize them in your working draft which you will always refer to while writing. Then if new ideas come up, you could always cross-reference them with the 'vomit draft' and see where they fit in. If not, discard! But, be careful when making choices about new ideas for they seem to be tough decisions to make.


LOVE YOUR CHARACTERS

If you've totally hated your draft, then you could learn to love the characters. Then, by so doing, you could pick up interest again. Imagine the whole plot happening in real time. Talk to your characters as you would a close friend. Find out more about them, something you hadn't known. You could get a book and record the bio of each important character. Also, make the characters interact with themselves. Feel the story revolving around you. Maybe, you could give yourself  different roles and right down your feelings about each. In just a matter of time, you'll come around (This usually works for me. It's what keeps me going)



ENGAGE IN OTHER STUFF!

Don't be too into it. Writing 2-3 hours is okay for starters. Then, with time you could increase the number of hours you spend writing. It varies for everyone. So, you have to know what works for you, and stick to it well enough. Once you overstep, the whole process could get really boring and messy. When you're not writing, get enough relaxation. You could even pick other books to read to improve your writing skills.


NEVER LACK INFORMATION

Stories exist because of availability of information. Make wide researches and read enough articles about the subject you want to write on. Having a whole lot of information at your disposal makes the process a whole lot easier and interesting. Even though it seems stressful, im the end, it always pays off. An example of an extensive researcher cum writer is Dan Brown. He went to the extent of having an audience with the pope before writing Angels and Demons.

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Teddy Gaynes

NICHE-WRITING

                                                 

                                                    DISCOVERING YOUR WRITING

There are a lot of different niches where a writer can belong to. See the full list of writing niches here. And discovering your writing niche in  the literary world is very necessary. It's like the 'operating system' in a computer. Your niche drives you to piece specific niche-related ideas together. A different niche, a different idea. For example, in the horror genre, you'll be all about gathering heightened suspense ideas, moving a bit slow-paced with it,  yet organize  them in short and sharp manners. The number of words, chapters, and other qualities depends on the niche you are writing as well.
     Knowing what niche you're supposed to write could be difficult sometimes. You've just got to know and understand yourself a lot. What type of books do you really have a penchant for? horror, mystery, non-fiction? What type of films or stories interest you? drama, or religion? Just ask yourself more personal questions and when you'd get to know yourself a bit, then finding your place i the literary world wouldn't be as difficult as it seems.
   Left for me, I'd say, writing multiple genres is not a bad idea. You've got to take chances at least once in a life time. In this way, you get to discover the niche you are most comfortable with. Hey, don't get me wrong! Once you notice you are definitely not up for that side of the world, QUIT pal.     
   Don't do it because most bestsellers emerge from that literary genre when you know nothing about the genre. Trust me, your fumbling will no know bounds. As a local author, I understood that perfectly well. Romance wasn't really my thing and I went into it for a year and the results were .... well, that's a subject for another day.
   Even though, you got a lot of ideas in scattered genres, pick the one that suits you most. Develop in that area, and you'll come out a 'daddy' in your niche. Ain't nothing better than being the king of your own home.
John Grisham, a well renowned legal-niche writer is very loved by his readers. He never deviates from his genres and as such, his readers always know what to expect of him. 
Nevertheless, some renowned authors have the ability to support more than two niches. That's nice, very nice, if you're gifted like on of those authors. It gives you an edge over others.                                      
  Knowing your niche could take years. It's a slow and unconscious process just like 'growth'. You could always tell judging from your numerous manuscripts and your favorite authors.
   So, Just think creative and find your writing niche.
Mine is twisted horror (the dark is a nice place to be) and I could really do well at mystery and thrillers.

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Teddy Gaynes
 

WRITING THE KILLER FIRST CHAPTER

                               

If you're reading this post, probably you've chosen the topic to write on while considering your audience and your purpose. Possibly, you've drawn out your working draft as well and you are yet to begin the first mind-blowing chapter of yours.
   Just so you know, first impression matters. Word!, even though its the most cliche of al things cliche. Having a mighty good start means a great deal in the literary world. If you start off in a wobbly manner, boy, it'll take decades before you get back up from the large ditch.
   Here, your objective is to create a stinging impression on the writer. Make him feel a sharp, glowing interest after going through the very first page of the book that will keep him glued through the first chapter, the second and the whole book till the end.  Let's shoot!


FOCUS MOST OF YOUR WRITER ENERGY ON THE FIRST CHAPTER
Spend a lot of time piecing the ideas for the first chapter together. Without brilliant ideas, there can't be any brilliant story.Dedicate about 3-5 hours a day working on it. Do take your time, though. Think a while before you put down the next two lines.


THE REVISION STRATEGY
Take about a third of  the total time allotted for writing in a day to go through the draft over and over again, proofreading and editing  till they fit n perfectly to your taste. You can go as many as 11 times. Just make sure you are making progress every time you edit it. You could also ask for professional help if you feel you can't do it yourself.

THE MORE DETAILED, THE BETTER
Make the first chapter much more detailed than ever compared to the other chapters. This will keep the reader conscious and 'alive' throughout the journey as the reader paints a vivid picture of the characters and plots in his sub-conscious using the given details in the book.To enable him understand the characters more from an introductory point of view, a clearer picture is needed and that means more detailed information. Also, keep dialogues to a minimum for now as what the reader would mostly rely on for the first stage isn't the communication but the detailed narration.

LET IT FLOW
 Let every paragraph in the first chapter flow into each other, using transitions and other grammatical tools. The ideas in the first chapter should have a very deep connection to the second. This will create a lasting impression as the reader gets hooked from the very beginning, to the next till he finishes the very last page.

You can see contemporary works of great authors like Stephen King and Grisham and imitate them in a mature way.

View this blog theadventurouswriter.com/blogwriting/ for articles related to this post

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Teddy Gaynes