Fiction is any piece of literature, be it a novel, play, short story, or novella, that is created from imagination and not put forward to the readers as fact. However, it may be based on true events. Fiction is presented in front of the readers in a way that entices them to keep on reading the material. Thus, fiction writers are artists who know the art of beautification of writing.
The novel as a genre is considered the highest form of literature according to Mikhail Bakhtin, a twentieth-century Russian literary theorist, and philosopher of language. He said, “The novel is the sole genre that continues to develop, that is as yet uncompleted,” which means, the novel does not have a fixed pattern or form and it keeps on evolving with time. Before beginning to write fiction, a writer should adhere to the values of his time.
There are some points that a beginner should keep in mind before writing fiction:
- Fiction is all about creativity and creativity cannot be defined with one singular style.
- Know how your story ends before writing it. The writer should be aware of his goal, and according to that the plot will be developed and layers will be added. If the fiction writer is not aware of how the story is going to end, he/she will likely be deranged. Knowing the end will help the writer make calculated decisions in writing to help move the plot along.
- Characters should not be perfect, because people are not perfect in real life. That is why, it is difficult to relate to perfect characters. Characters are likable when they are relatable. Instead of making them perfect, they have to be made real.
- People admire characters that work hard, underdogs, who rise from the ashes and become victorious. A problematic character who tries to solve his problem and achieve his goal. The reason why Pip from Great Expectations is remembered is that he is a flawed character. He is not admirable and keeps on showing his weaknesses.
- Language comes when you are expressing. It has to be expressive and honest. “Register” is a different use of language by people for different professions. The language a lawyer uses is legalese. A doctor’s language is medicalese. Language has diverse registers. A fiction writer has to have his own sign language.
- Be a sadist. No matter how sweet your characters are, make them do awful things and make awful things happen to them. The writer has to find the comfort zone of the protagonist and force him out of it. If he is wealthy, make them poor. If he is a vegetarian, make them eat meat. Make them go out of their values. And through that journey, the protagonist has to learn to grow and be a different man at the end. Probably from good to bad or vice versa.
- Space is not simply territorial. There is cultural space, political space, religious space, and so on. It is wrong to destroy all these spaces. Time is both clock time and time of the mind; someone’s own mental clock. The fictional piece is all about constructing an alternate time. The time that defines you. Be sure not to discuss the state of mind of the protagonist. Show it through their actions. Actions that result in introspection. Shakespeare’s heroes are time bound. The mind was obstructed by the idea of time.
- The writer should not use coincidence to get the character out of a difficult situation. For example, the protagonist feels thirsty and after a while, he finds a well. It made his life easy. However, the coincidence should make the life of the character difficult. He may find the well, but struggles hard to take the water out of it.
- While writing a novel, a writer should create living people, not caricatures. Caricatures are distorted images of characters. Do not make the reader cry all the time. Otherwise, the reader will get habituated to expecting you to make him/her cry.
- It is encouraged to avoid cliches, because they are overused. However, if they are presented in a different manner, things could get interesting.
As the writer, why is fiction important to you? What are you trying to prove with it? Even if the story deals with fantasy elements, it should have a message. Fiction only for commercial purposes is not remembered by the readers. Some writers are called “airport authors,” because their fiction is read at the airports and left there. They are not remembered for a long time. Make your fiction worth remembering. Conclusion has to be unique that has never been seen in any form. A fiction writer constantly finds new dimensions.
Writing a story might follow a formula, but there is no formula for making a story amazing. The tips above might be helpful for writing interesting fiction. However, these basic tips might be a key to turn a normal draft into something worth remembering.
Writer:
Risalat Rahman Hridoy
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE