Crafting Fiction

Victoria Grefer is the author of the Herezoth Trilogy as well as Writing For You, a novelists guide to the craft of fiction. With multiple published books she is experienced and knowledgeable in the literary field and knows first hand what it takes to create a novel from start to finish and get it out to the world. Recently we had a chance to talk with her about some common questions that new authors may have, as well as get some tips that might help experienced authors to perfect their craft.

Starving Artist: What are good tactics to draw in readers to your story and keep
your audience’s attention?

Victoria: As a reader, I love a sense of mystery. I love having questions and knowing the answers will be revealed bit by bit as I move through a novel. I love being able to form my theories and hypotheses and then see whether I was right. So the first thing that comes to mind when I ponder this question is that an author shouldn’t reveal everything about his world and his characters all at once.

Give teasers. Reveal part of something: hint that a character has had a traumatic background, but don’t reveal immediately what that trauma was. A great novel has a steady process of development and revelation.

Starving Artist: What are some good sources for writers to draw inspiration from?

Victoria: I find that I draw inspiration largely from my own life, particularly the struggles and problems that are currently bugging me. Fiction can be a form of therapy where you work through problems by altering them a little and throwing them onto characters who have different backgrounds than you do.

I also draw inspiration from books that I’ve read. I often take a plot point that I like from somewhere else and put my unique twist on it. I change the idea that got me thinking, sometimes substantially, but the original inspiration came from what I read.

Starving Artist: How do you overcome writing from the perspective of someone with a
different gender or cultural background than yourself?

Victoria: This is always tough. I handle that by adding pieces of myself, both positive and negative things, to each of my characters. Culture and gender don’t touch the core things that make us truly human, after all. I also try to avoid stereotypes and make sure each character of the same culture or same gender is unique in his or her own way, not one person with many faces.

Starving Artist: Do you have any tips for creating believable dialogue between characters?

Victoria: Don’t worry about the “rules” when you write dialogue. The rules don’t apply. People don’t speak grammatically. Also, make sure you read dialogue aloud to see how it actually sounds when you speak it. Dialogue is speech and has to flow like speech, so make sure you submit it to “the speech test.”

Starving Artist: Do you have any suggestions for overcoming writers block?

Victoria: I tend to solve writer’s block by focusing on my characters. Generally, by either getting to know a character on a deeper level or changing a character’s identity in some substantial way, you can break through writer’s block. I tend to further develop rather than alter my characters, but altering characters can definitely help you advance in your story.

Starving Artist: How do you feel that E-readers, such as the Kindle, and internet
publishing have changed the way that authors reach their audience?

Victoria: The effect has been huge. E-readers and internet publishing have opened the world of publishing. It used to be a clique. You used to have to “do it their way” and pray you could hook an agent and then a publisher. Now you can write what you want the way you want it, and allow people to read it.

The big problem with internet publishing is that some people are releasing books before they’re ready to be released. They are not using beta readers or agents. Their work isn’t of quality, and that reflects on all indie authors. But when you do things the right way, you can find readers and make your mark without fighting to find agents and publishers.

Starving Artist: Do you have any other words of wisdom that you would like to give
to aspiring authors?

Victoria: Just keep writing. Seriously. Writing is a process, and you won’t be good at it when you first start out. Don’t get discouraged. Keep writing and get better. Keep writing and keep reading. Read tons, because reading will teach you how to write.

A huge thank you goes out to Victoria Grefer for sharing her time and wisdom with us for this interview. You can check out the Herezoth triolgy and Writing For You at her website http://www.crimsonleague.com/