Q&A - Questions you may have been asking yourself!

    When writing a book, you ask yourself a lot of questions, because it is not easy! I sometimes have a lot of questions, like - how to describe this? Should I say this, or not? How to explain this? And many more, but there are more precise questions about writing that I want to answer that may help you!  

    I gathered some of the questions on google. You may have been asking yourself these questions, or you tried to find the answers for them on google - whichever way, I am here to answer some questions that I have found on google and some that I have thought of my self. 

1. Does my story need an Antagonist - Or can Protagonist be his own Antagonist?

    Writing is Art - I don't believe in many rules when writing -  you should write what you believe is right! If you can write a damn good book without an antagonist, well... then go for it! Your main character doesn't have to have a person who is going to be there to make their life miserable (for example). The obstacles they face could be their "antagonist".  For example, you can write a short story or a book about someone who writes a diary which you read - in that diary, there is no story about his life, but life in general, about love, about happiness - philosophical thoughts.

   The protagonist CAN BE his OWN Antagonist.  We all do something that we may or may not regret later. Our actions can affect our surroundings, on our self, on the people we love... so yes, your protagonist doesn't have to be good, he can also be bad. 

    In life we see our self's as protagonists and people who hurt us we see as an antagonist - but what if we are antagonists in their eyes?  Have you ever thought of a book, TV show, or a movie, where we follow a story of a bad guy but we still root for him even do he does a very bad thing to good people? That is the power of perspective and the backstory. If we were to follow the story of the policeman who wants to catch a bad guy, we root for the policeman. But, if we were to follow the story of the criminal, we would root for the criminal! Just remember this when reading, or watching television, and think about who are you rooting for and who is the bad guy and the good guy. 

 

2. What is the difference between Chapters and Scenes?

    You have a book - a long story with many, many words. A chapter is a unity of more than two pages - let's say 15 pages, but there is no rule on how many chapter should have pages - keep that in mind. In each chapter, you can have as many scenes as you want. For example, you have two or more characters - You write about one character named Alice - Alice is in a park. - That is one scene in a chapter. The next scene is about David, and David is in school. - That is another scene. Those two scenes can be one chapter. 

    Why include chapters? The chapter divides your story as a couple of unities - for each chapter or unity to have a specific meaning. If you don't feel like giving a meaning to every chapter, chapters are still great, and you should include them! When I read and I feel sleepy because it is late and I am tired, I look where is the end of the chapter to put a stop there. That is a great way of giving your readers a break. 

    How to divide scenes? What I usually do, and what works for me, is that I just click a few times on the space bar (two or three is enough). What you can do also is to do what I have just said, and put a star (*) in between, or more, like three, if you feel like it. Either way, if you publish, people who will take care of your book for publishing will decide (I think that it works like that) 

3. Should I Edit as I go, or when I Finish a Book?

    You should defiantly edit when you FINISH your book. I am a pantser (more on pantser - https://nancydrayce.blogspot.com/2020/07/how-to-write-short-story.html) and I don't know how the book will end until I finish writing. When you are writing your book (as a pantser, don't know much about plotting because I don't have experience) you are also reading your book. What happened to me a lot of times is that I would write something and I wouldn't know what is going on and why I should include what I just wrote. But I still decide to leave it until I finish, because I don't know for what I am going to need that. What you can, and should do is to READ what you wrote while you are writing - especially if it is a long book, and you are writing for a long time. It can happen, we forget what we wrote and you should read if it helps you. 

    So my advice is to always edit when you finish writing your book. A lot can happen until the end. The first draft (when you finish writing for the first time) doesn't have to be good or bad. The big thing is that you finished it, and when you finish you can decide if you want to keep the chapters as they are and just make a few changes or you can change a lot - it depends on you, and what you feel should be done. 

    The next post will be about editing, so stay tuned!

4. Should I use Real-Life settings or Made-Up settings?

    It depends... It really isn't that big of a deal - like you must do one or the other. For my books, I choose made-up settings because it is easier for me to write in a made-up setting. If I was to live in a bigger city for some books I would choose a Real-Life setting. It also depends a lot on what you are writing in your book - for some books you may choose real-life settings and for some you may choose made-up. Whatever works for you, will also work for the reader! 

    If you choose a made-up setting - I would recommend Pinterest because it can help you a lot with imagining your made-up setting. And if you choose real-life settings, always make sure you get everything right - so do your research. 

5. What if I try to write one story and it becomes something else?

    There is nothing wrong with that. If you intended to write something, and it became something else, it means that it should have happened that way. I am a pantser (more on pantser -  https://nancydrayce.blogspot.com/2020/07/how-to-write-short-story.html) and I don't know how the story will unfold so, having said that, I write with the feeling a have, with intuition. 

    This is how I like to explain it - You have a plane to catch. You are supposed to go to another country. You know that you will get on the plane, you have a plan to listen to music, to read, to eat, etc. You have a basic idea of what you are going to do on the plane. But once you get on the plane, your plans may change based on what you feel at the moment. It is the same when writing. I know where I want my character to be in the next scene, but I have a tunnel vision of their full actions UNTIL I start writing. You go with the flow, with the feeling, as if the characters are telling you what to write and what they want to do. Sometimes you feel like nothing makes sense, but it will, I believe it will because it always makes sense when I write. 

    It happened to me a lot of times that I would want something to happen, but something else happens instead, and I like it more! So, just believe in your gut. Just go with the flow and go with what you feel is right. No one knows your story better than you, always keep that in mind. So don't be worried if your story becomes something else besides what you intended it to be.   

6. Does rewriting always make your story better?

    I would say... yes! But, by saying "rewriting" I mean to read it over and over again and make necessary changes. I don't mean changing the whole plot, conflicts, the characters (small changes yes). I believe that the soul of the story should stay the same. 

    I have a book that is dear to my heart, and I wanted to go over it again because I wrote it when I was young, and at the very begging of my writing journey. I want to make some changes so it would have more of the story, to be more fulfilled - but I don't intend to write it again, but to go over it yes! What that means is that I am not changing the plot, the story, the soul it already has - I am just going to shape it a bit differently. 

    So in that sense, if you feel like your writing skills have changed and you love the story that you wrote, it will make it better. Even if it is your current book, reading it again multiple times will make it better. But don't go overboard, and change everything because it may lose its soul and you don't want that, if you don't want that! It really depends on what you feel! If you don't like it, feel free to change it, but if you like what you wrote, don't be so harsh and change everything. 

    The book I want to publish, I believe, I read like 10 times; I know it that well... but if someone was to ask me to write it all over again, I wouldn't be able to do it. There is a reason why sometimes you have a feeling you should start writing now, even if it wasn't your plan. The world we live in is a strange place, and I believe that everything is happening for a reason -  so if the story can't leave your mind write it now, even if you haven't planned to. 

7. How to know If I want to be a published author?

    With being published author comes the fact that people will read your book - SHOCKER! It is okay to joke sometimes, but let's get real now. The publishing process is hard. You have to acknowledge that it won't be easy if you choose to publish. That would be a whole another topic - I am not a published author, but I know the struggle of finding an agent because I am going through it.   

    So let's talk about this -  as I said in the begging - people will read your book -  are you ready for that? How to know if you are ready for other people to see your work and possibly judge it. If you don't feel like giving your book to your friends and family to read it, maybe you should really consider the question -  do you want the world to see your book or not. 

    This is how I felt from the start -  I wanted people to read my stories from the very begging. I have a friend that also likes writing, but she doesn't feel like showing her stories to other people. You should really question your self and find out on what side of the spectrum you stand. Also know, that it is not one or the other, you can stand in between. 

    So, in the end, my advice is - RESEARCH. After you do your research and find everything you would want to know about publishing, you will know if you want to publish your book or not. If you are willing to give other people your book for them to read, and if you feel like you are ready for the publishing process - DO IT! Don't be anxious, just put yourself out there, and TRY!

8. How to deal with friends and family members who are not supportive of my writing?

    People can't get in your head, therefore they can't know what you feel, and how you feel about your writing. In my writing journey, my family is super supportive, especially my mom who read all my books. And what is great about my mom's feedback was that she wouldn't tell me that my stories are awesome or amazing just because I am her daughter; she is always real with me and she always says what she thinks about my books. So you should try and find that person - someone who will be super honest and real with you. 

    But, what I experienced and what is still very hard for me, is that I don't have a lot of feedback besides my mom, because my friends aren't that much into reading, or they are, but it feels like they don't believe in me enough, therefor they would show interest but they wouldn't read my book. 

     If someone tells you they don't want to read your book, or they show interest but never start, it doesn't mean that your book isn't good, it just may mean that they think like - yeah, I don't believe that is a real book, or whatever... - They may don't see you as a writer just because your book doesn't have a cover, isn't published, isn't on the bookshelves - they just can't see what you know and see. Don't presume your book isn't good just because someone didn't read it. If people reject you as a writer and don't read your book even if they are readers, it just means they don't believe in you even they don't want to acknowledge it. 

    Don't be scared when I say that they don't believe in you - you really don't need them if they don't believe in your work, love, and passion. If you love what you do, and if you feel free, feel loved, feel like you are at the top of the world when you write - you can do anything. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I just see it as "they don't believe in me". Maybe in your case isn't that they don't believe in you, maybe is something else. I just got the feeling from my own experience that people don't believe in me. Maybe I am wrong even for myself, maybe they believe... I just can't know. 

    So my advice is just to keep writing. Don't focus too much on other people's opinions that are not based on your writing but on the fact that you just write... What I mean by that, is do focus on people's critique because it can help A LOT, but if they haven't read your stuff, how can they have an opinion? 😉

9. Is it okay if I finish the book fast (like less than 2 months) or If it takes me a long time? 

    It is totally okay! When I started writing I had this question and I was wondering if is it normal that I finished my book so fast. There is no restriction on how much time should pass for a book to be finished. And also, taking your time with writing is not wrong either. 

    What is good for you is to write as much as you can every day, or every other day - even if it is just one page. But don't stress over it too much, I sometimes have a bloc, and I just can't write anything until something hits me and I get an idea that I needed to continue. So, my advice is to try as much as you can to be consistent, but don't force your self to write when you don't feel it. If you don't feel like writing and you write something just for it to be written, I feel like the person who will read it won't connect with the words that you forced. So take your time and write with your heart. 

10. What might I need to give up to make this all happen?

    I don't believe you should give up on anything! There is a lot of writers that also work their daily job besides writing. I am a student at the university where I study Psychology and I still manage to write my books, to edit my books and even write a blog. You should not be scared that you would have to give up on anything because if you know how to schedule your time there will be no problem for you to write and work on your writing process and also do stuff besides writing - like going to college or work. 

11. Should I write by hand or on the computer?

    You should definitely type your book on the computer (there will be a post about options you can consider when deciding where to write). When I was writing my first novel, some sections I was writing by hand and it took me quit some time to type it out on the computer. If you are writing a short story, there is no problem to write it by hand and later type it out on the computer if you want, but with the book, you should definitely consider writing on the computer. 

    I also know that it is very nice to have it written by hand - it has emotional value, but it is not practical.

That concludes today's topic. If you want more information on how to write, please make sure to let me know down in the comment section!