Avoid Putting Asides In Your Stories (Without Careful Consideration, At Least)

It can sometimes be difficult to get information directly to the audience. After all, you can show them an entire scene, describe everything perfectly, and insinuate the threads you want them to weave together, but there will still be some folks who just don't get it. A common device used in stage productions, and even in some TV shows, is the Aside; those times when a character will speak directly to the audience, usually voicing unspoken thoughts that aren't heard by the rest of the characters onstage or in the scene with them.

 

While asides are a viable tool, it's important to ask yourself if it's the right tool to bring across the proper feeling for your story. Because like a lot of other things adapted from more visual mediums, it can often backfire when you try to use it in text.

 

Sometimes you don't need to swing a hammer, you know?

 

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Should You Set Asides To The Side?

We've all read fiction where we have the protagonist (or at least the point of view character) talking directly to us. Sometimes it's direct 4th wall breaking, like we see in Deadpool or She Hulk comic books, but other times it's just reading the direct thoughts of the protagonist in the form of an inner monologue. And while this is an established way of doing things, it's worth asking if this is the way you want your book to read.

 

It's all about the tone, here...

 

The main reason this is worth asking yourself is because asides have a tendency of cutting through tension, and giving you a method to tell your audience what's happening in your character's own words, rather than trying to show it through descriptions and actual dialogue. And while that can be expedient, it can also make it more difficult to take a story seriously, or to build proper tension.

For this reason it's important to consider what the benefits of an aside are in your story, what the drawbacks are, and how naturally an aside slips into your narration.

 

For instance, if you're writing a story from a first-person perspective, then asides will feel pretty natural even if they don't take the form of dialogue. On the other hand, having asides in third-person requires a third-person omniscient perspective, or for the asides to come from the narrator, as who else would have the ability to see into the minds of the cast in order to deliver these asides to the reader?

 

The key question you need to ask is how do you want to limit your readers' access to information, or present them with particular perspectives? Because if you are getting asides from the POV character, but no one else, you're still limited to their perspective, which can allow you to keep certain facts behind the curtain, so to speak, until they're presented in prose or dialogue. If you are able to present asides from different characters as the narrator, this can be used to enhance dread or tragedy as the reader sees the big picture, but also knows that the characters don't. And asides can also be used to tell jokes, turning the tool itself into a form of comedy.

This last is actually one of the most common uses for asides in books, and it's for that reason it isn't always advisable to use them. Because it can sometimes be difficult to deliver an aside without it feeling like a joke. Even if you have a literal Greek chorus that's intoning doom and tragedy, making an aside that straight-faced can also feel like a joke... and if that's not your intent, it can be a serious problem.

 

So, to reiterate the thrust of today's post, asides are a perfectly functional tool. So is a 12-pound sledgehammer. And in a task requiring that tool, and its lack of subtlety, it's absolutely the right choice for the job. If it isn't, though, then it's probably a better idea to use a tool with more finesse in order to get the job done.

 

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Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Don't Lock Into A Story Point That No Longer Serves Your Plot

Too often authors think of themselves as slaves to their stories. They claim they aren't responsible for the actions of their characters, for the holes in their plots, or for the walls they're running into. And if you find yourself trapped in a situation where you feel like your plot is slithering away from you, or you can't figure out a way to get from where your characters are to where you want them to be... take a moment, and remember that you are in charge of things, and you can change them as needed.

It's a heavy responsibility, but you're the captain of this ship... whether you like it or not!

It really is all up to you.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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It's Your Story, And You Can Change Anything About It

Let's say you're writing an epic fantasy story. You've assembled a party of skilled and daring adventurers, and part of the plot for your story is that you want the former thief to betray their companions. But as the story goes on, and you get a better sense of that character, that face-heel turn just feels less and less authentic. However, you need the party to fall into the clutches of the enemy so they can be dragged in chains to the dark fortress where they meet a wizard that's been locked up in the dungeon. No matter how you turn things, though, it just feels like a sour note in the narrative.

So change it.

Gun to your head, you can do anything.

For example, do the characters get captured by a bounty hunter that you introduce as a new antagonist, and he hands them over to the villains? Do the characters find out where the wizard is and get themselves captured to enact a jailbreak? Or does the wizard manipulate things with minor magics to bring the characters to their side, allowing the plot to get back on track?

All of these are acceptable changes and shifts. Or you could do something even bigger if you want to! It's your book, and no one can stop you.

If there's a character you were going to kill off who'd be more useful alive, you can just have them not die. If there's a motivation that doesn't make sense, or which has been rendered moot by a direction the story has gone in, you can come up with a different one. If there is a character who feels too much like an exposition dump, you can remove them entirely and find a different way to get the information to your reader.

I've said it before, but think of your book like it's a road trip. You know where you're starting, and you know where you're going. Your outline is your preplanned route. And some of us can just follow that route, get where we're going, and that's a wrap! Sometimes, though, you find there's construction and you have to take a minor detour. Other times a bridge will be out, and you've got to take the scenic route. Sometimes there's a natural disaster like a flood or an earthquake, and you have to completely reimagine your route.

You are in control of where you go. And if a road you were planning on taking is no longer serving you or your story, take a different route. If the book hasn't been published yet, then nothing is set in stone, and you can do whatever the hell you want!

More importantly, no one is going to know if you don't tell them. So keep your initial drafts and outlines so you can share tales of what might-have-been on podcasts or during YouTube interviews, but remember that these are just ideas and plans... if you get to chapter 17 and the bridge you were going to drive over is out, you don't turn around and go home. You bust out your map, look for a detour, and ask what other way could you get to your final destination?

Because sometimes the road is rocky... but you'll get there in the end.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

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- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (a channel full of short stories, many of which are mine)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Follow The First Draft Sprint With An Editorial Amble

There's an old phrase that most folks who write for a living (or just a passion) have heard before. That phrase is Write drunk, edit sober. And the spirit of that phrase is good, since I feel it's a smart thing to go in with all the gusto, enthusiasm, and creativity you can muster, and only once it's all out to go back in with an eye toward tightening things up, and making your writing smoother and slicker.

However, I wanted to look at a different facet of this sentiment this week. Because the first draft is a breakneck run as you cut the path and just try to get from point A to point B. Editing, though? Editing can't be rushed, or put off until later. Editing is all the detail work you didn't necessarily have time and energy for during that initial rough draft run.

You need to slow down during editorial... take your time. Because your readers will be taking time to stop and smell the roses, which is why you should make sure you fill in the sights, smells, and textures of every bouquet they pass along the way.

It's a lot, I'm not going to lie.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Editorial Has Different Goals

There are a few other well-thumbed pearls of writing advice floating around I want to rope in here. The first is The only thing a rough draft has to do is exist, and the other is You can't edit a blank page. The interaction of these sentiments embodies the necessary gear change that too many of us neglect to do when it comes to our writing, and our stories can suffer from it.

In short, the rough draft's goal is to get from the beginning to the end as fast as possible. It's the sketch layer of your drawing. There are some good vibes, sharp pieces of dialogue and fun action scenes, but you probably aren't stopping to detail every flower, scent, and sensation in every scene. There's also going to be quite a few things just left dangling, or not fully fleshed out. Some of them might even be, "Protagonist has snappy comeback here."

You run into difficulty, though, when you treat your editorial stages with the same attitude as your rough draft. Because once the draft is done, and you're going back over it, that's when attention to detail matters. That's where you're making placement corrections, shifting the colors, and smoothing out awkward flow in your plot. But if you approach your editing sweeps with the attitude of trying to get it done as fast as possible, you're going to wind up with a slapdash story that's going to need even more editing to fix it.

Getting all the layers is REALLY important, here.

Too often we think of writing as a one-and-done. You put the words on the page, you hit the end, and maybe you read it over for spelling mistakes, but then you're done. That is not, in fact, the way it works. Instead, it's better to think of writing a story as similar to painting. You generally lay down a sketch of the work to get the general thrust onto your canvas. Then once the sketch is done, you may add darker lines, creating a more hard-edged, final outline. At that point you start layering in paint. And it is that layering that gives you the final result as you build it one layer after another, until it creates the optical illusion that this is all just a single, seamless image.

That is what you're doing in editorial with your story. Yes, you got the rough sketch layer done. Maybe you were even efficient, and you go the dark edges done as well. But editorial is where you start adding in those color layers to really make the image pop, to draw the eye, and to do things that you simply could not have done earlier in the process. This is where you're really looking at building the finished product.

Some stories, like some paintings, are relatively simple. Maybe they only need a couple of layers (or just two coats and a sealant) before they're done and ready to hang. Others need a lot of attention to detail because there are complicated things going on here, and each layer adds into the next layer in a way that needs to be deliberate.

At the end of the day, though, you can do a little rushing on the rough draft. You can leave some blank spaces, and a few Fill This In Later sticky notes as long as it keeps the story flowing. But when editorial comes around you need to roll up your sleeves and get that part done instead of just spackling over it because you want to be done for realsies.

That, too, is part of the process.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

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- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (a channel full of short stories, many of which are mine)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Know What Your Ending Is Before You Start Writing

For folks who didn't know, Pixar has a list of writing rules that people are expected to follow when crafting storylines for the company. Most of them are good things to keep in mind, but today I wanted to refer to writing rule #7, which (according to No Film School) reads:

Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously, endings are hard, get yours working up front.

This might not feel natural for a lot of writers, but trust me, botching the ending is a very real issue. Hell, if Stephen King can get lambasted for his endings falling on their faces often enough that it was a serious problem with his body of work, then the rest of us need to take time to make sure we don't suffer from the same problem.

Seriously... know where you're going before you start.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

You Can't Plan A Road Trip If You Don't Know The Destination

If writing a book is a journey, then the ending of that book is your destination. And while general destinations can work (We're going to California!), the more specific your end point is, the easier it becomes to plot your trip (We're heading to the Holiday Inn in Pasadena).

Take two examples of this. You're writing a spy thriller, and you know that your secret agent's handler is actually a mole who has been manipulating things from the inside, and he's responsible for the game of cat and mouse going on throughout the book. A general ending is, "And then Agent Carter unmasks Gerald, and defeats him." Sure, that works, but it's still pretty vague as to what actually happens. What form does this unmasking take? What does defeated mean in this context? It's still a destination, but it's vague with the details, and that could become a problem for you as the writer.

A more specific ending would be something like, "Carter fakes his death, and then breaks into Gerald's safe house, knowing he'll be going there to meet his contact. He confronts him, recording the incident in question, and getting his confession. Gerald is shot dead by a sniper, and in the final report Carter gives, we find out that Gerald was selling out the agency to a far more dangerous terrorist organization that's set up as the villain in the sequel."

Sorry, Gerald, but you're no longer useful to us.

It's one thing to know you're going to a particular town, but it's another thing to know exactly where you're going to end your story because you can then work backwards from there to figure out the plot, important story beats, and so on. Writing a novel is hard enough, there's no reason to just wing it, throw as hard as you can, and hope you hit the target instead of launching your story so far out to sea there's no way to recover it.

Don't drive your plot endlessly around in circles just looking for a place to park. The story will suffer, and more than that, you're going to bore your audience. However, it's also important to remember that your ending isn't set in stone. If it turns out you think of a better ending along the way, or you need to make changes to your plan, you can still do that. However, it's a lot easier to change your destination when you actually know what it is, instead of just depending on instinct and intuition to tell you when it's time to start winding down your narrative.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (a channel full of short stories, many of which are mine)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!