This week, Alida & Kathryn welcome Kavita Das to the Story Works Round Table. Kavita has a new book out, Craft & Conscience, all about writing that is concerned with social issues. And really, what writing isn’t in one way or another getting at the aspects of being human and being human together that could use some work? This conversation is equally beneficial for fiction and nonfiction writers.
This is part 2 of our conversation with Kavita.
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida & Kathryn welcome Kavita Das to the Story Works Round Table. Kavita has a new book out, called Craft & Conscience, all about writing that is concerned with social issues. And really, what writing isn’t in one way or another getting at the aspects of being human and being human together that could use some work? This conversation is equally beneficial for fiction and nonfiction writers.
What is a high concept idea? And do you need one in order to write? Should you build your story around your theme or let it emerge through your story? And what about writing to genre conventions? We talk about what inspires us, how to write in and out of the box, and shut down that voice of resistance in your head!
How do you know if you have created a distinct character? How important is role? And what is a supporting character anyway? How do motivation and subplot work toward giving your characters individuality? And what sort of tools can you use to help create these individuals? In the end Alida wraps it all up together, and even gives some great exercises to help you create distinct characters.
How is setting different from world building? What do you put on the page and what should you leave out? How much detail is too much detail? And how do you keep your setting active in your story? Robert gives great practical ways to evaluate your style of writing setting, and how to make it better!
What is trouble? How does it contribute to both character and plot arcs? How do you have to pay off trouble? And do you have to get it into every scene? We enjoy making a character struggle with a speeding ticket, and talk about how it can contribute to hooks both between chapters and books.
At what point does a character or place earn a name? How do naming and significance relate? And how do you keep nameless characters descriptors from becoming boring or repetitive? And what about real world places? Is there such thing as a short cut? And finally we commiserate about the difficulty of naming characters. We all just want them to sound awesome!
How do you define literary fiction? And is there a value judgment between literary and genre? Is literary just a feeling or can we measure it? And how can you make your own novel literary? Want to pick up a literary book – we’ve got plenty of examples for you to choose from!
What is the difference between a cliffhanger, an end hook, and an ambiguous ending? And what about cliffhangers within books versus at the end? How can you avoid cliffhangers within a series? And what does the reader actually want at the end of the book, story, or part in a serial?
What makes a fantasy a fantasy? Can you combine fantasy with other genres? What are the main things that go into a fantasy novel? And what are reader expectations of your world and characters? And what are some pitfalls you need to avoid as a fantasy writer?
Since our last conversation about foreshadowing created more questions than answers we decided to try again! Here we lay down a solid definition of foreshadowing and talk about why you want to do it, and how to do it well. What elements in your story can foreshadowing be used in? Does it require hindsight? And are you opening loops? Or providing answers to questions the reader hasn’t even thought to ask?