BOOKS – Four Things to Think About When Writing a Novel Part 2 of 4

Simpsons Quote:

Lisa: “I think books have an amazing power to bring people together. Look, even Cletus is checking one out.”

Cletus: “Now hold still. Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.”

Hi, this is part two of four of  “Four things to think about when you’re writing a novel.” This time I’m joined by my wife, Alesha Escobar, and we’re going to be talking about setup in stories.

You can watch the video or read the transcription below:

On Setup

Luis: I’ve been editing Alesha’s books from The Gray Tower series.  Which includes Tower’s Alchemist and Dark Rift. And I’m currently editing and reading the manuscript for Circadian Circle.

Alesha: Almost through with it too.

Luis: The what?

Alesha: You’re almost done.

Luis: I’m almost done.

Alesha: Almost done.

Luis: The thing is that because I was talking about this, I thought maybe I might as well invite Alesha over to talk about this stuff, especially because we started talking about it anyway. She’s gradually gotten really good at not doing this anymore, but when she first started out, setup was an issue. And what do I mean by setup? Setup is when you are trying to convey something like an emotional moment that’s going to happen to a character. Say, if they’re afraid of spiders and they’re going to get over their fear of spiders. Setup is something that you do to lay the groundwork within a story so that when that moment happens where they are able to triumph, you’ve actually laid the groundwork already. You’ve set that up a little by giving clues, by giving examples of the problem.

So Alesha, what do you think about setup? Using the novels as an example, how do you now setup? Because now, you do it really well.

Alesha: Well, I think when you’re first starting off and you’re trying to find your way, you really want to, like you said, hit those great moments in the story and bring the reader along. But you have to be able to lay the groundwork for that so that it’s fully appreciated. So for example, in The Tower’s Alchemist, I would say, what was, I guess, one of your favorite payoffs?

Luis: Well, I don’t know how much I can say because it would be too much of a spoiler.

Alesha: Ah, okay. It’s Tower’s Alchemist.

Luis: Oh gosh. Now you put me on the spot.

Alesha: As I should.

Luis: Here, let me get back to you. I’ll have to read it, hold on.

Alesha: But I understand what you’re saying about that, because I think when I wrote like, maybe my first draft and we went over it together, we really had to take some parts that needed that fuller development so that when the reader would hit it, go ah-ha! Or, wow! Or, ah-mmm! So, I think they would appreciate those specific moments with—

Luis: Yeah, I just remember being really harsh going, what the heck!? Where’d this come from?

Alesha: Really, really harsh.

Luis: I just don’t remember—

Alesha: Big meanie.

Luis: I just don’t remember those parts were now because they’re all fixed, but, I mean, it happens. And you just, as a writer you have to keep that in mind. You have to make sure that you just don’t come out of left field with somebody just showing up and doing something. Oh, well it’s because this person really, originally had this power already, or you know? And it’s like well, no you never set it up. There was no foundation for that thing, you know?

Alesha: I think also, sometimes as writers, we’re the ones who created the world and the characters, so sometimes we forget that the reader’s don’t always know what we know about the world.

Luis: Yeah, you’re assuming everybody’s in your head. Yeah, there’s a little bit more of an explanation and you have to just like lay the groundwork on that sort of thing. So yeah, that’s what I would say about setup. It’s something that once in a while now, I may make a note of it. But really, you’ve gotten so good at setting everything up and laying down the groundwork that it’s really not much of a problem anymore.
So, yeah. So that’s our tip for today. Just make sure that you setup all the things so that you’re able to pay off the emotional moments better when you get to them. And if you like this sort of thing, just leave a comment and let us know. And if you want a free book by me, you can—

Alesha: This isn’t about you, Luis. Oh wait, this is your video. Okay, never mind.

Luis: If you want an ‘Art of’ with my artwork in it, with an explanation of the art, you could subscribe to my newsletter. You could get it free. It’s a digital download for free. And if you want to get The Tower’s Alchemist for free, go to Amazon and you can download it for the Kindle. Yeah, it costs $0. So just go to Amazon and pick yourself a copy so you can see how good everything’s setup in that book. Alright, so we’ll see you next time with tip number three? Alright. Talk to you next time. Bye.

MOVIES – Did I Like Man of Steel

In case you were curious, I did go see Man of Steel last weekend.

Did I like it? YUP! I really did.  I got what I wanted out  of it.

I’ll give my spoiler filled review on a future post.

For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.

I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.