Well, I’m bored, so inspired by our Captain’s post about Naval Flags, I decided I was going to do a short bit on something common to all Knights and nobles; Heraldry!
Let’s begin! —
WHAT IS HERALDRY?
Heraldry is a pretty broad term, but generally refers to a
Coat of Arms, personal, hereditary, military, or to some extent, even national.
This usually takes the form of a shield or badge with associated colours,
symbols, or heraldic beasts, mottoes, and occasionally a crest.
It is important to note a crest and a heraldic Coat of Arms are not the same
thing; a crest refers to a 3D icon placed atop a helmet. Often this is related
to the family of the one wearing the said crest, but not always.
WHAT IS IT FOR?
Heraldry has kind of been in use since antiquity, but the
essential purpose is to identify yourself and your allegiance. It’s not too
dissimilar to modern forms of identification. For a Knight in the mediaeval
period of history (so; fall of Rome onward to early Modern period), their
heraldry was a way of declaring “I am Sir/Dame X of Y, belonging to house Z,
etc”. Naturally, you’d think someone could just create their own heraldry and
blag their way to the top, but Heralds kept a close eye upon which house had
what heraldry, meaning it was not an easy task to create a convincing bit of
heraldry without close scrutiny. Not to say it didn’t happen; it was just
difficult.
Naturally, a person or family that was ennobled had the right to create their
own heraldry, thus having special permission to do so.
Heraldry also played a part in combat; Knights would often avoid targets
without heraldry, seeing the average soldier as beneath them, and targeting only
other knights specifically. Or at least, ideally they would have done so. In
reality, and especially toward the late mediaeval period, Knights would target
anything in their way. However, even then, heraldry served the purpose of
revealing whom was whom, what allegiance they held, and what forces they had
gathered about them. Wearing your heraldic banner allowed your allies to rally
around you, but also allowed enemies to focus upon you, making it a
double-edged sword. However, glory-seeking Knights favoured open displays of
their valour, thus it was considered honourable to display one’s Heraldry in
battle.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Well that’s a pretty broad function to narrow down, but let’s
focus upon the basics here:
To create heraldry, you have to use an assortment of things: ·
– a shield/badge·
– a heraldic symbol or beast·
– personal colours of Heraldic specification
(Tinctures)·
– Occasionally (especially in modern military and
academic organisations), a motto All these things should be fairly unique and personal, which
differentiates the bearer and marks them out. Remember; this is a form of
identity!
(EXAMPLE)
Knight will use their own Coat of Arms for reference (no I’m not about to show
you an image of it; that’d be telling), via description:
Knight’s Family Coat-of-Arms is a Shield/Field (Verte), slashed with Crosses
(Ermine). The small crosses are all that separates this heraldic Coat from the
similar Heraldry of the Kingsley Family.
So to translate that: Green Shield, White Crosses/Lines, Black small crosses.
The heraldic beast used as a crest for Knight’s family is usually depicted as
either a Goat’s head or an Antelope, depending upon stylistic depiction, though
more commonly the Goat.
The Motto is (as mottos often were), fluid, and there are two different mottos
associated with the Family, specifically: “Virtute et Fortutido” and “Haud
Facile”, meaning, respectfully: “By Valour and Strength” and “Not With Ease”.
Both correlate well, making it fairly straight forward why both correspond to
the theme here.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Now, if Knight wanted to enter a tournament in the mediaeval
period, along with a patent of nobility, he’d be expected to display his
heraldic colours. Partly to gain glory, but also to let people know, again, who
is who.
Special exceptions exist however, with “black knights” entering the tournaments
using false or fake heraldry, or even fully painted black shields. Such things
were allowed when a patent of nobility was presented at the lists, though a
knight could keep anonymity by way of changing or hiding their heraldry. This
was allowed in rare cases for rule of drama (hey, the mediaeval people liked
plot-twists as much as we do now), sometimes without noble patent, but this was
a very rare instance usually again permitted for dramatic purposes. A
tournament is, after all, as much about showing off as it about sport!
Naturally, there were times when it was favourable to hide one’s heraldry, and
this is where heraldry that was well known was useful; for example, in the High
Middle Ages, High Middle French was commonly spoken by the nobility as their
primary language. So, say you were a Knight in the Hundred Years War, trying to
hide your English identity in French territory? Well, speaking High French was
a good start, but if you happened to be able to repaint your shield of kit with
Heraldry belonging to the Constable of France (Charles I of Albret), as an
extremely high-profile example, you’d manage to pass in the French countryside fairly
well. So essentially,
WHAT ARE TINCTURES? Back to basics: Tinctures!
What are they? Essentially, colours, specific in Heraldry.
The most prominent and basic are the two Metalics: Or (Gold) and Argent
(Silver/White). Essentially, these make up whites and yellows on Heraldry, and
the former is usually used by Royalty.
Next up are the primary Heraldic colours: Gules (red), Azure (blue), Verte
(green), Sable (black), Purpure (purple), Sanguine (blood red), Tenny (tan).In addition to that are the furs: Ermine (white and black),
Emines (black and white), Erminois (yellow and black), Pean (black and yellow),
Vair (blue with white belled shapes), Counter-Vair (blue with white), Potent
(Blue with white T shapes), Counter-Potent (reverse of the former).
HERALDIC BEASTS? This is VEEEERY broad subject. Basically most animals can be
used in heraldry, as with mythological beasts, most typically a dragon (early
England, Scandinavian countries) or Unicorn (Greece). The way an animal is
depicted in posture defines it at times by name. Most obvious example:Lion on all fours = “Leopard”/Lion-passant-guardant
Lion on hind legs = “Lion”/Lion-RampantBoth are Lions, but depending on how it is depicted, it will
be named a Lion or a Leopard. Reason being is caught up in mediaeval zoology; a
leopard was thought to be a beast created by the union of a lion and a
fictional beast called a Pard; hence “Leo-Pard”.Back on topic; literally any animal can be used and there is
a huge list of heraldic beasts, and if I tried to list them all we’d be here
all day. In short; the only limit is your imagination. Though, naturally,
people will try to keep it noble, native, or mythological, and somewhat
serious.
EXAMPLES? Let’s make some imaginary examples of heraldry, using the
WAA gang.
To make it simple, I’m going to use Tarek (Paladin), Meriel (AntiPaladin) and
Edward (Knight/Cavalier), as they are all knights, and would use heraldry.
So let’s take what defines each as a character, and their symbolisms/aesthetics; Tarek = Light, black and gold, goodness, courage, Middle-Eastern
aesthetics.
Meriel = Darkness, blood red and black, evil, fear and strength, Lovecraftian
aesthetics.
Edward = Chivalry, red, gold and black, honour, bravery, High Mediaeval
aesthetics.Some of those are, again, a bit broad, but these are what I’ll
work with.
So, assuming all of them use a shield base, lets take their colours.
Tarek = Black and gold becomes Pean (black field with gold marks)
Meriel = Sanguine field and Sable (blood red and black)
Edward = Gules field and Or (red and gold)Now add additional symbolism.
Tarek is an adherent of the
First Sun, so we can use a Sol alchemical symbol, or to fit his aesthetics, a
Persian inspired sun symbol, in the colour Or (gold). This fits nicely on the
black background and golden symbols (which themselves give a mid-eastern look).
Meriel USED to be a Paladin of Serenae (sun goddess), but is now a dark and
corrupted version. Considering her family had an attachment to said Goddess,
and being the landed gentry, I’ll assume they used the sun as well in their own
heraldry, and Meriel has since altered it to fit her new Patron; red field upon
which a Sable jagged Sol/Sun sits, sort of like the Germanic Black Sun symbol
of antiquity.
Edward embodies Knighthood on the whole; knights and chivalry are associated with
armour and the sword. For this mental exercise, I’ll draw upon both; a gauntlet
grasping a sword, Ors (gold).
Now the Heraldic beasts. Kind of hard to summarise for the
characters individually, but I’ll take what seems to fit:
Tarek = Persian inspired Lion/’Leopard’
(Lion-passant-Guardant), or perhaps a Phoenix? Naturally, the colour here will
be Or (gold).
Meriel = Lovecraftian aesthetics are hard to put onto heraldry, so I’ll use a
very odd creature for hers that is terrifying – either a Yale, or Biscoine. The
former being a bizarre and somewhat terrifying looking beast almost resembling
a goat, the latter being a serpent in the act of consuming a child. Colours
used will be Sable (black).
Edward = Lion Rampant, due to the courageous, noble, and chivalric
connotations. Colour used will be Or (gold).
So what do we get for our basic level Heraldry?
Tarek = A shield in Pean (black with gold), depicting a
stylised Sun and Lion/Phoenix roaring or rising beneath the dawning sun
imagery.
Meriel = A shield in Sanguine (blood red), depicting a black and wrong looking
Sun in Sable (black), beneath which a Yale or Biscoine howls or swallows the
very symbol of youth and life itself under the corrupted sky.
Edward = A Gules (red) field, with a Lion Rampant in Or (gold), wearing a
gauntlet and grasping aloft a sword, also in Or (gold).
This is, of course, just a basic example, but I hope this
has been an interesting read for all that have observed it!
~ Knight
PS: @weareantipaladin, @wearepaladin I know Antipaladin wanted help with heraldry a while back, not sure what became of that. If you’re still looking, hopefully this is useful. As for Paladin…I just hope you enjoy the idea for your heraldry?
There are many ways to use color in magick. Here are just a few examples:
You can choose clothing, altar cloths, chord, candles, and almost anything else in colors associated with the intent of your spell or ritual.
You can write spells, incantations, talismans, and sigils using ink or colored pencils in colors corresponding to the magick you are working.
When meditating, you can envision yourself surrounded by light in a color associated with your purpose.
Black
Grounding, wisdom, learning, protection, safety, reversing, uncrossing, unhexing, repelling black magick, banishing negativity, releasing, shapeshifting, defense, scrying, pride
Blue
Communication, will power, focus, forgiveness, good fortune, weight loss, truth, fidelity, patience, domestic harmony, organization, removing bad vibrations, sincerity, astral projection, water element
Brown
House blessing, animal/pet magick, earth magick, concentration, material goods, stability, locating lost objects, earth element, real estate, construction, food, financial crisis
Copper
Business success, passion, money, fertility, career growth
Gold
Masculine divinity, great fortune, abundance, prosperity, male energy, understanding, divination, fast luck, solar/sun energy, positive attitude, justice, health, attraction, luxury
People in the Middle Ages valued sweet smelling breath and bodies, seeing them as desirable, so there is a great deal of evidence from the period of tooth pastes, powders and deodorants.
Contrary to the typical Hollywood depiction of medieval peasants with blackened and rotting teeth, the average person had teeth which were in fairly good condition, mainly due to the rarity of sugar in the diet. Most medieval people could not afford sugar and those who could used it sparingly.
Archaeological data shows that only 20% of teeth had signs of decay, as opposed to 90% in the early twentieth century. The main dental problem for medieval people was not decay but wear, due to a high content of grit in the main staple, bread.
For deodorants, soap was available for the wealthy, but a variety of herbs and other preparations were also used. Soapwort is a plant native to Europe and Asia which, when soaked in water, produces an effective liquid soap. Mint, cloves and thyme were also extensively used by simply rubbing into the skin, and alum (hydrated potassium aluminium sulphate) was an effective deodorant.
I am trying to keep to 14th century technology on my pilgrimage to Canterbury, which gives me various options when looking at hygiene. In the middle ages people generally cleaned their teeth by rubbing them and their gums with a rough linen cloth, or the chewed end of a stick. There are various recipes for pastes and powders that could be put on the cloth to help clean the teeth, but I have chosen simple salt to whiten them and to aid fresh breath. I will also be using the stick method, and will be taking along a supply of liquorice root sticks for that purpose.
I also have a few blocks of alum, which when rubbed into wet skin has a deodorising effect. Alum, like beeswax, was used extensively in the middle ages for a variety of purposes, also being useful:
* in the purification of drinking water as a flocculant * as a styptic to stop bleeding from minor cuts * as a pickling agent to help keep pickles crisp * as a flame retardant * as an ingredient in modelling clay * as an ingredient in cosmetics and skin whiteners * as an ingredient in some brands of toothpaste
The photograph shows my wash kit including home made olive oil soap, salt for the teeth, a block of deodorising alum, cloves, a boxwood comb made for me by Peter Crossman of Crossman Crafts and some liquorice root sticks, all on a woollen ‘towel’. Note that the cloves are kept in a ventilated box….this is because insects hate the smell of cloves and so a perforated box will keep them out of my kit and food bag when I am sleeping rough. TIP: If you steep some cloves to obtain the oil and put the liquid around the doors and windows of your house, it keeps spiders and insects out.
Pay attention medieval-ish fantasy authors- filthy people without any cleaning or self care is Not Historical.
Sometimes, writers find it necessary to add more depth to the world surrounding their characters. I’ve collected a few links that should be helpful in this process. Some of these are better for a fantasy stories, but have ideas that could prove useful for writers of all genres, in one way or another.
MAP GENERATION If you have decided to create your own land mass for the sake of your story, you may be grateful to have this link. Users should read the description below before using, but it is easy to use and helpful for anyone wanting to create a new island or continent. I prefer using this tool over any others I’ve seen online. This website only contains the demo. The full version has more ways to edit the map, but getting the full version requires downloading and having proper software. I’ve found that the demo, on its own, should be enough for anyone who can’t get the full version for one reason or another. However, the link for full version is also on the page, should you want it.
WEATHER AROUND THE WORLD Knowing weather details of areas can be helpful when writing about an area, especially if it’s one you’re not familiar with. This website has the recorded weather of pretty much everywhere on Earth, and even provides averages for the past year in specific areas. It’s great for writers who want an understanding of how the weather in their story might affect the characters. For instance: if the summer heat in an area is consistently over 100 degrees, the characters might be less willing to go outside, and be in need of constant hydration.
FANTASY JOBS THAT AREN’T KNIGHT OR PEASANT Anyone who is writing a story that takes place in a less developed civilization, be it medieval times, or a fantasy world that hasn’t quite hit its industrial revolution, should probably have this list. It’s a simple list of a 100 jobs that you might consider giving to the characters in your story to make them seem like real people. The creator of the list even adds a few at the end for younger characters. Choosing any of them for your story may take some added research, but will be worth the depth added to your story.
FAMILY TREE TOOL If you’ve ever read the series “Lord of the Rings”, you may know that pretty much everyone in the books has a long list of ancestors. While I would never endure such an endeavor, if you feel so inclined to come up with a lineage for your character, this is a tool you can use. It’s easy to use, and allows for adding information beyond name and year of birth/death. You’re able to change what information shows up on the table, and when finished you can even print it out.
HOME DESIGNER So this is good if you have time to kill and really want to do some in-depth building. This tool will let you be the designer of the home of your characters. You’ll get out what you put into it, so if your character lives in a three story, 10 bedroom home, you may have to put in a bit more effort to use this tool effectively. You can also simply create individual rooms, if that’s more along the lines of what you want. Over all, while this tool may take a bit of time to learn, it isn’t very complicated. I suggest it to everyone who wants to explore how the home of their characters looks.
LANGUAGE CREATION If you were thinking about writing your own language, this link will make you decide whether you really want to create your own language, or if you want to give up on the idea entirely. It’s a long process, but is completely spelled out in this link, and the additional pages that the website provides links to. You can also buy the book by the same author for $0.99; but all the information is available for free. Either way, it should be an easy choice to make after reading through what the website has to offer. I think creating a language is for people with more time, patience, and understanding of their own language than I have, but it is certainly fun to think about. The author also discusses different methods people use to create languages, and what is wrong with those methods. I believe this is, by far, the best resource for creating a language.
For more information on my blog please visit my ABOUT PAGE
the politics of light and dark are everywhere in our vocabulary…psa to writers: subvert this, reveal whiteness and lightness as sometimes artificial and violent, and darkness as healing, the unknown as natural
Some ideas for bad things that are white/light:
lightning, very hot fire
snow storms, ice, frost on crops
some types of fungus/mold
corpses, ghosts, bones, a diseased person
clothing, skin tone, hair, etc. of a bad person
fur, teeth, eyes of an attacking animal/monster
bleached out deserts, dead trees, lifeless places
poison
Some ideas for good things that are black/dark:
rich earth/soil
chocolate, truffles, wine, cooked meat
friendly animals/pets/creatures
a character’s favorite vehicle, technology, coat, etc.
a pleasant night
hair, skin tone, clothing, etc. of a good person
undisturbed water of a lake
the case/container of something important
valued wood, furniture, art
velvet
Think to burn, to infect, to bleach vs. to enrich, to protect, to be of substance.
don’t forget yin vs yang yin = dark, soft, feminine yang = hard, bright, masculine
Spudfuzz on Deviantart made the original resource, which I modified to be a bit more realistic. She gave me permission to post this.
☛These swatches, like all art resources, should be used as a “jumping off point!” All colours are relative, and change with lighting conditions. As they are now, these swatches work best for adoptables, character lineups, and other art where local colour is important. ☚
I read a lot of writing in my line of work and while that’s amazing, I see the same flaws again and again. Below is a list of 7 common writing mistakes in fiction and how you can fix them. This list is by no means complete. In fact there’s a great list over at The Editor’s Blog that covers even more mistakes.
1. Bad dialogue
Sometimes writers can forget that they’re writing a conversation and thus not write a conversation. The dialogue can be boring, stilted and unnatural, and I’d rather listen to the territorial call of an Australian Raven than read one more word of it.
There are many things that contribute to bad dialogue, but here are the three that really get on my nerves:
Not using contractions–I’ve seen work that is modern and still doesn’t use contractions. Consider this: “You are going to be late.” Unless the speaker is trying to sound like an irritated mother and is leaving an emphatic silence between each word to sound threatening, use contractions. It sounds really drawn out and like the speaker is pointing their nose in the air. We generally don’t speak like this in real life, so neither should your characters.
Using complete sentences–Not only is it natural for your characters to chop their sentences, this can also contribute to their voice. Does your character say “I don’t know.” or “Dunno.” Would he/she say “I missed the train and had to find a lift home.” or “Missed the train. Had to find a ride.” In casual speech, we often only use the words necessary to convey our message, even if it doesn’t form a complete sentence. You shouldn’t apply this to every line of dialogue, but consider it if your dialogue sounds stale.
Using characters as a conduit for research and plot information–Sometimes writers like to show off their research (looking at you Jurassic Park), backstory, world building and plot by having their characters talk way too much. If your character says “Once this valley was home to an ancient race of elves, who looked after the land and treated it with respect. One day, the secret magic spring dried up and then the goblins came. Without their magic spring, the elves couldn’t fight back, and they were killed by the goblins. The goblins didn’t respect the land and now it’s uninhabitable.” he should probably shut up. It sounds less like a person talking than it does an audio tour. The information he’s shared could be given in a much more interesting way.
How you can fix it:
Listen to and watch the way real people talk to each other. Do they speak in full sentences with full words? Do they speak with grammatical correctness? Do they speak differently in different situations? How do hand gestures, body language and facial expressions help them communicate?
Read your dialogue out loud as if you’re practising lines for a movie. Does it sound natural? Does it flow?
Test every piece of information your characters give out. Does it all need to be said? Would your character say all of it at once? Do they need to say it all in so many words?
2. Passages of uninterrupted speech or thought
Sometimes you might want to avoid telling the reader about something and have a character tell another character instead. Sometimes you might want to avoid telling the reader how a character feels about something by having them think about it excessively instead. If this goes on for longer than a couple of paragraphs (or less), you risk allowing your reader to drift out of the scene.
The only thing anchoring your reader in the scene is your characters and what they’re doing. If the characters are talking or thinking for a long time without interacting with anyone or anything else, they might as well be floating in space, which can make the reader feel like they’re floating in space. That’s not to say that they’ve forgotten where the scene is taking place or who else is involved, just that it can feel that way if this is how the character acts.
How you can fix it:
If your characters have a lot to say, try to include the other characters as well. Have them ask questions or make comments so it feels like a scene and not a soliloquy.
If your character is around others when he/she is deep in thought, try to include the other characters in some way. If the POV character is thinking about something that the other characters can see, why not give voice to one of the other characters in between thought paragraphs?
If the character is alone when he/she is deep in thought, is there a way they can interact with their environment? Unless they’re standing in front of a wall, they should be able to see, smell, feel or hear something.
If your character is absolutely, completely lost in thought, is there a way you can bring some sort of image into it? For example, on page 216 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss is thinking about how to treat a burn she receives. Almost the entire page is a paragraph describing a memory; however, there is still action in this memory and, therefore, there is something for the reader to imagine.
3. Not knowing when to/not to use said
Some people will tell you to use descriptive speech tags and others will tell you there’s nothing wrong with said. Both are true, but when do you follow the former and when do you follow the latter? And when do you use no speech tags at all?
Using anything but said and using nothing but said both get exhausting and boring very fast.
How you can fix it:
Below is a rough guide to what kind of speech tag to use. Please bear in mind that it is only a guide and will not and should not apply to every situation.
Said is unobtrusive–a way of letting the reader know who’s talking without making a song and dance about it. Specific verbs (e.g. whispered, shouted, mumbled) give the reader information about how the words are being said. Adverbial tags can also give extra information about how something is being said, but more often than not they can be replaced with a stronger verb (e.g. she said loudly can be replaced with she shouted). Writers can also fall into the trap of telling where it’s better to show when using adverbial tags, which can make the writing bland. Sometimes telling is better, but with speech tags, it’s usually better to absorb the reader in the conversation. If you’ve used an adverbial tag, go back and have a look at it. Is there a better way you could get the message across?
What you need to pay attention to when determining what speech tags to use is the context of the speech. If the reader is already aware of the manner in which a character is talking, it won’t be necessary to remind them every time the character speaks. If there are only two characters in the conversation, it won’t be necessary to finish each quote with he said/she said. Going back to #2, you can also do away with speech tags entirely and use action to demonstrate how a character is feeling, while also grounding the reader in the scene.
The key to avoiding repetition and blandness is to find a balance between using the unobtrusive said, using something more specific, and mixing it up with a bit of action, which means you might not even need a tag at all.
4. Too much description/overwriting
Sometimes it’s better to tell and not show. Some details just aren’t important enough to warrant a lengthy description. If you want your reader to know that it’s raining, you can write something better than “It was raining”, but there’s no need to go overboard and write a poem about how the puddles on the asphalt looked like a great abyss.
Think of description like camera focus. The more you describe something, the more focus you put on it. If you put enough focus on something, you eliminate everything else. What’s this? A close-up. What does a close-up in a movie tell you? That object of the close-up is significant.
Be wary: when you write thirty words describing the way the moonlight is reflecting off the inky black lake, you might not be just setting the scene. You might also be giving the lake undue emphasis, and it’s probably going to irritate your reader when they realise there’s nothing significant about the lake at all, you were just showing off your imagery skills.
How you can fix it:
Keep it real. What would the character notice, what would they think about it and is it worth the attention? And try not to focus on sight. Your characters have more than one way to perceive their environment, and incorporating their other senses can help build a 3D setting for your reader rather than just painting them a picture. Give the reader enough to imagine the scene, and no more.
5. Not knowing when to/not to use adverbs
There’s a lot of writing advice out there that will tell you to cut all adverbs. The result is that many writers now think adverbs exist only to eat their children and wouldn’t dare to ever use one.
There is truth to the advice, but to say “The road to hell is paved with adverbs”? Really, Stephen King? And his dandelion analogy assumes there’s no editing process.
Adverbs aren’t evil, but there is such a thing as using them ineffectively. Which of the below are more descriptive?
She ran quickly or She sprinted
“It’s a long way down,” he said nervously or “It’s a long way down,” he said
He was shamefully prone to anxiety or He was prone to anxiety
She sprinted not only gets to the point faster, it also creates a more powerful image for the reader. “It’s a long way down,” he said gives no indication of how the speaker is speaking or feeling; however, “It’s a long way down,” he said nervously is telling, not showing. Rather than using an adverb here, the writer could describe the speaker’s body language. He was shamefully prone to anxiety tells you how the character feels about being prone to anxiety and there is no stronger word to replace “shamefully prone”.
How you can fix it:
Ask yourself:
How would the meaning of the sentence change if the adverb was removed?
Can the adverb and verb be replaced by a single verb?
Does the action really need clarification?
Does the adverb add something to the sentence that can’t be described in another way?
6. No conflict in the beginning
The first few chapters of a lot of stories I’ve read involve the main character plodding along in their daily life. This is a good thing as the reader needs to get a feel for your character before the big plot things happen, but that doesn’t mean the first few chapters should be without conflict. I don’t want to read about a character waking up, looking at themselves in the mirror, getting dressed, getting coffee, going to work, getting home, going on a date etc. for three chapters. It’s boring and I don’t care about any of it.
The confusion might be caused by common story structure theories that say the main conflict enters the story at the first plot point, or 25% into the story. But this doesn’t mean there should be zero conflict at the beginning! At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Harry was told ‘no funny business’ or he’d be grounded. Not long after that, there was some vanishing glass and an escaped boa constrictor. After this happened there was a mysterious letter addressed to Harry, and he spent an entire chapter trying to get hold of it as the weirdness escalated. There’s conflict and a goal right off the bat, and the story hasn’t even really started yet. In The Hunger Games Katniss faces the Reaping. In The Hobbit Bilbo finds himself hosting a dinner party for dwarfs and being asked to go and fight a dragon.
How you can fix it:
Take a look at all the books you’ve read. Most of them (if not all) start with some sort of problem or goal. Study up on this to help you realise what makes a good beginning.
Don’t fill your first few chapters with characterisation and nothing else. Build your character in the context of a problem or goal.
Keep in mind that you find your characters more interesting than your reader does. What you like about your character might not be enough to keep the reader’s interest.
What’s going on in your character’s life? How is this going to influence what happens when the conflict or story goal takes the stage?
What would happen if you cut your beginning out of the story? Would the plot still make sense? Maybe it’s better to start the story at a later point.
7. Lack of story structure
When you write a first draft, whether you’ve planned it or not, there are going to be structural flaws. Maybe halfway through you thought of a way to solidify a character’s motivation. Maybe at the climax you thought of a way to strengthen your conflict. Maybe somewhere in the middle you had no idea where you were going with this and slugged your way through some boring scenes. It’s all good; this is how stories come together.
What should happen next is that you revise your draft with story structure in mind. There’ll be a lot of “I should add a scene here about this” and “what was I thinking when I wrote that?” and after a few goes, you’ll have a story.
Writers don’t always do this though (which, by the way, makes my job take longer and cost more). They’ll go through and fix all of the obvious problems, but what remains is a manuscript that still lacks a solid structure. It’s messy to read, it’s confusing, it’s clearly not thought out, and it feels like the writer is giving me the finger. I’ll regret paying for the book, stop reading it and leave a negative review on Goodreads. Is that worth not giving your book a good edit?
How you can fix it:
Read a lot. Make sure you have a decent grasp on different story structures. Make sure you understand the way stories progress, the way they’re paced and what keeps the reader engaged.
Re-outline. Or if you pantsed your way through the first draft, make an outline. Write a checklist for what each scene should accomplish and what each chapter should accomplish. Make a timeline of how the events progress and how the tension increases. Don’t base this on what you’ve written, base it on what you’ve figured out about your plot.
Edit ruthlessly. If a scene doesn’t measure up to your new plan, cut it. If it’s in the wrong place, move it.
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