Alexandra Miller's Blog

     Okay, writers…so you’ve just ploughed through at full throttle writing your story! The characters came to life, the plot thickened, the ending turned out even better than you planned, making you truly wonder if maybe these characters are real and deciding their own destinies!

     Then with a heavy sigh you realize it’s time to go back to the beginning…to edit, cut, paste, check important details and aspects of your storyline, spelling, grammar…. the list can feel overwhelming. Instead of dreading this process, however, let yourself find enjoyment in the process. One of the things to look out for are barriers that hinder your story flows. You don’t want your readers to be distracted or become impatient because you are taking too much time to describe tertiary characters (minor characters that populate your story world and serve a purpose but only show up once or twice in the story.)

One of the things I love to do in my revision process is to look for creative and interesting ways to adjust and evolve my sentences to imply something about a character without directly or separately stating it.

For example:

Both of the following versions tell my readers that the character Jeremiah is getting on in years, but version two shows his personality more and uses the description of him in a more flowy way that keeps the story moving rather than just giving a separate explanation.

Version 1:

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Jeremiah said. The man, who was most likely in his seventies, tipped his old, gray slouch hat and told his passengers to hold on.  

 Version 2:

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Jeremiah said with a friendly tip of his gray, slouch hat that had seen better days. “Hold on, now! This rickety wagon’s ‘bout as old as I am!”

Without directly saying it, I’ve alluded to the fact that Jeremiah is friendly, elderly and a happy go lucky sort of fellow. While there are many ways to describe a character, I find it’s more enjoyable to mix it up and use dialogue and the actions of characters to help describe their personality. This can be especially useful if you have a story with a lot of characters! I hope this simple tip helps you in your writing journey! Carry on! :)

Jesus- the author and finisher of our faith! Isn’t it comforting to know the One who knows the end of the story from the beginning?  

     As writers, we may struggle knowing how the story we’re creating is going to end- we want the course our characters have been on to lead somewhere…somewhere pivotal and momentous. We want the images we see in our minds and the depth of emotion we feel in our hearts to transfer to the reader’s heart and mind. One of the things I love about writing fiction is that as the creator of your fictional world, your story, and your characters, it gives you a slight glimpse into God’s perspective-how he sees the big picture! (Unlike us in God’s story, however, your fictional characters don’t have a free will…or do they? Haha sometimes it seems they do!)

 As a Christian writer, I often feel the Lord giving me ideas, which means anything good I write can ultimately be traced back to Him. He is the greatest resource of all, possessing all the knowledge, all the wisdom, and all the creativity. He is generous too and always willing to give ideas for those who ask him.

Sometimes it has been through writing and reading fiction that I better understand and relate to the reality that it the process that makes the story. This is true in both novels and real life. While writing fiction may seem unimportant or useless to some, I have seen and experienced the Lord using it powerfully in my own life and walk as a believer.

How? You might ask. Think of how easy it is for us as humans to get caught up in the temporary and want what is immediate. It is often difficult to see from the Lord’s perspective- to embrace patience and willingly trust the Lord is working behind the scenes for the heart that is dependent upon him. When you write and read fiction, you as the author or reader often see behind the scenes…you see what lies ahead. You see the reward that will come to the character if she patiently waits for her true love (who you know hasn’t abandoned her even though she fears he has). You are hoping she rejects the marriage proposal of the villain who appears so charming but is going to ruin her life! This is just a simple example, but cross that idea over into real life and you get a glimpse of what our lives look like unfolding before God! We can trust that he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion no matter what our circumstances look like at present. Just as the writer orchestrates the story of a novel, so God in his wisdom is orchestrating our lives-and to what degree depends on our willingness to trust and yield to him as the master writer!

How comforting and motivating to know the One who is the author and finisher of our faith and the One who knows the end from the beginning! Even with God’s preeminence and sovereignty, he still desires to partner with mankind! He wants to share his secrets with those who reverence and know him, and he wants to accomplish his purposes through cooperation and fellowship with the humans he created. The fact that we were created for companionship, to walk with and talk with our Creator, to share our heart and thoughts with him, and better yet to have him share his heart and thoughts with us is forever mind-blowing. Where else is there a God like this?

“O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart. 2 Samuel 7:22

“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.” Isaiah 46:9

Sometimes you just know. The idea comes to you as if it has been mailed it to you from a divine source. The setting, the characters, even the plot and sub plots seem to rise freely out of the alcoves of your mind. You write effortlessly for hours, days, weeks, maybe months and then...the flow comes to an abrupt or gradual halt.

You begin to doubt your work. Does your story lack character development? Is the plot plausible? Was the last scene premature? Questions like this start springing into full force, and a wave of dread washes over you that maybe you’ve missed the mark for several chapters or more. This is one of those times you face the challenge to think it through rather than overthink. All of those questions listed above are good questions to ask yourself, as long as you keep a balance of not being overly critical of everything you write.

Here are a few things I do to aid me if my writing juices feel like they’re drying up while I’m in the middle of a novel. I hope this is helpful to you as well!

Remind yourself of the initial idea or story that came to you. That early inspiration is what prompted you to start writing your story in the first place, so hold on to it- trust it.

Identify where in the story the writing flow stopped. Overthinking leads us as writers to think, “oh I should just toss the whole thing”, where as “thinking it through” can realign us with the right path of the story while keeping the heart of the story intact.

Create a separate document. Create a separate document you can paste sections of your story that you need to temporarily (or maybe permanently) “cut”. If you keep your writing, you can pull from it later- cutting and pasting sections back to your novel as needed. I call this document “story scraps”.

Revisit or create your outline. If you haven’t already, write out a very basic (or detailed) outline of your story. Then if sections you are questioning do not help tell the story, cut and paste them to your “story scraps” document.

Reevaluate the scene. If a scene in which you shared an important element seems to be hindering the flow-reevaluate the scene. If there was an initial reason for putting that section in your story, try changing the scene but keep the important element. For example: you want your readers to know your main character is sympathetic to the plight of her bedridden brother, but the way the scene ends stumps you for beginning the next chapter. Perhaps you need to cut the scene and find another way to portray her empathy and love for her brother in a manner that keeps the story still flowing.

Pray. (This should have been number 1) I find that consistently asking the Lord for his help and wisdom makes ALL the difference. The Bible tells us He is the author and finisher of our faith! The Lord is the author of life and the author of our story, so He has the best ideas for even our ficitional writings!

The characters you create are real (at least to you and to the readers of your story) so spending time creating them even before you get to know them better in your writing process is very important! This doesn’t mean you have to know every little thing about them from the onset, especially since you are developing them as you go, but having a basic layout of their appearance, personality, quirks, and at least one thing that makes them unique is very helpful.

I keep a character journal (a handy book I was excited to find on Amazon, but you can use a word document or any random notebook.) This is a great resource to helping you keep your characters consistent in dialogue, appearance and personality. Plus, if you get a touch of writer’s block, you can visit your character journal and spend some time there which often provokes ideas or enables you to delve into a little more character-building ideas. I also find keeping a character journal helpful to refer to if I’m struggling with what my character is going to say or how she/he is going to respond to a certain situation.

Memorable characters are what your readers will remember, so put time into creating them. :)