i'm so sorry for the delay-

weekly 1, part 2

Welcome to the second part of this weekly! In this section, we’ll be learning about how to write an interesting spin on the perspective of a story – how to write a dual timeline. In short, this enables the writer to be able to tell two different stories that come together by the end of the novel. But first, to understand and master this unique spin on traditional storytelling, head over to Sandy’s fantabulous workshop XXX.

Once you’ve grasped the rough idea of a dual timeline, write XXX words for each timeline for a total of XXX words!

timing weekly - intro

Hello everyone, and welcome to this session's first weekly! We've got quite a few exciting activities in store this week and across the weeks ahead, so grab your mangoes and pens and get ready. This week, we'll be focusing on timing - how to show the passage of time, connect eras across time, and work timing and pacing into your own writing. Understanding how timing works is an essential part of any writer's toolbox. After all, as modern songwriting genius Taylor Swift said, it's all in the timing ;D

This weekly starts on July 3rd at 12:01 AM UTC. Please wait until then to start writing, and have a wonderful time, everyone!

weekly 2 - final part

You have reached the final part of the weekly! Step into your own shoes and get your pens ready for this task! Now that you have created your world and a character write XXX words where you have been transported into this story being sure to write yourself in an impartial style. Make sure to include the character you made originally seeing and reacting to you.

and i have question for the weekly example i have. just making sure i understand this correctly, should the first the third scene be the same character or does it switch twice?

and i have question for the weekly example i have. just making sure i understand this correctly, should the first the third scene be the same character or does it switch twice?

first and third same!

Here's your reminder that weekly parts are due in 1 hour and 24 minutes. If they are not sent by then, the parts will be reassigned to backups ^^

weekly 1 - example character/scene switches

Lena
Lena tapped her finger impatiently against her glass staring out the tavern’s window. Her mind was full of thoughts of Maya as she worried what sort of problems she must have run into to be so delayed.

Maya
Maya’s breath caught as she heard the sounds of her captors feet. She had just gotten free of her bonds by finding a jagged stone but it seemed luck was not on her side. Her hands flew making an illusion of tied hands as she prepared to meet the person behind all of this.

Lena
Lena grabbed her coat in a rush dropping some money on the table and swiftly left the tavern. More than an hour had now passed and Maya was nowhere in sight. Lena looked out onto the road that split into three paths trying to make a decision.

i hope this is okay, let me know if this is too long or if i should change anything <3

Ekphrastic poem example

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
Based on the painting by Georges Seurat

Warmth, and peace, and calm
Are the words on the lips of all
Who lounge comfortably on the soft green grass
And gaze at the swiftly sailing ships

Ladies dressed in Sunday best
Rows of unfurled parasols
Yet the children are still dear friends with the sun
And cherish its golden glittering gaze

It’s a perfect day for a picnic
To go out on the shining water
To do anything that the heart desires
Underneath the soft tree shade

Self insertion + metafiction workshop - this is just a transcription of the project/canva so the formatting is a little off, and you see me refer to “slides” a number of times ^^

Writing metafiction and self-insertion:

Introduction

Hello there and welcome to another SWC workshop! Over the course of the next few slides, I’ll be introducing and explaining two literary concepts: Meta-fiction and self-insertion. In this workshop, we’ll be exploring what these techniques are, how to use them effectively, and why they are important to utilise in writing.

Grab up a seat and let’s move forward!


Metafiction

What is metafiction?

Good question! Metafiction is an interesting literary technique in which the author of the text writes in such a way that the narrator or characters are aware that they are part of a work of fiction. You’ll often see this style referred to as “self-conscious” because the work acknowledges its own fictionality.

In metafiction, the act of telling the story becomes a part of the story itself. This branch of fiction actively reminds readers through characters or textural features that what they are reading is a constructed work of an author.

Examples

It’s likely you’ve encountered metafiction before without realizing it - even as young children we’re encouraged to read by books that acknowledge their nature as a fictional work.

If you’ve ever encountered picture books that urge the reader to turn the page, or engage with an element of the physical document, then you’ve been introduced to metafiction! Of course, metafiction is much more broad than this niche, but it’s a good example to wrap your head around a difficult definition. You can find a few more examples on the next slide to familiarise yourself with the technique

• Character (commentary of a character regarding the story’s construction)
  

— “There are only 20 pages left to solve the mystery!”

— “She is my thinly developed love interest.”

• Narrator (commentary of a narrator regarding the story’s construction)
  

— “Do you remember this character? No? Well, it has been a while since they were introduced in Chapter 1.”

• Other features
  

Textural features are a little more complicated, and involve more than a statement spoken aloud. For example, a textural feature may include interspersing your piece with segments of “reality” to contrast the fiction elements, and remind your audience that what they’re reading is in fact, a story.

Why is metafiction important?

Metafiction is often used to parody or encourage readers to consider the construction of a particular trope or literary convention that they may be familiar with. More broadly, metafiction explores the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art.

The use of metafiction can both establish a playful and ironic tone, or a reflective piece that considers the nature of writing, and subverts conventional storytelling methods, depending on how and when you choose to implement it. When writing metafiction, consider the timing, intention, and instigator of the reminder of fictionality in establishing your tone for the piece; for example, the excerpts provided on the last slide can be considered instances of more comedic use of metafiction.

Self-Insertion

Moving on to the second part of this workshop, we’ll be discussing the literary device self-insertion.

Self-insertion is a technique used by authors in which a persona or abstraction of themselves is imposed into their writing, often via a character that possesses similar qualities, interests, or physical resemblance to the writer.

Self-insertion can occur in both the author’s own work, and into other texts as a means of fanfiction, however the principle remains the same.

Implementing self-insertion

The process of self-insertion is rather self-explanatory; to incorporate a self-insert in your story is to simply create a character that resembles yourself (physically, emotionally, otherwise, or both) in your writing. This can include appearances, personality traits, names, history/ lived experiences, country of origin, ethnicity, and sexuality.

Self-insert characters may be main or supporting figures in a writing piece, and can appear in largely any genre of fiction in some capacity. Self-insertion is a technique that is rather notorious within writing circles, due to its nature as a difficult technique to execute effectively. We’ll unpack this further on the next slide.

Common mistakes:

To clarify; there is nothing inherently “wrong” or “bad” about self-inserts in a story, however several common mistakes can often hinder the quality of pieces of writing containing self-inserted characters, as listed below.

• Ignoring flaws or “undesirable” characteristics:
  

As self-insert characters are models of ourselves in fiction, it can be challenging to give them the characteristics of ourselves that we find unfavourable. Conversely, it can also be difficult to critically examine our own traits, and acknowledge our flaws in order to pass them on. As such, self-inserts are often “perfect” or two-dimensional characters that lack the interesting features of internal or moral conflict, and the journey for self-improvement. Including struggles and flaws is crucial to creating a relatable and engaging character that speaks to your audience, so it’s vital that self-insert’s maintain the ‘negative’ qualities of their creator.

• Idealistic worlds and story:
  

We’ve established self-inserts’s potential for poor character development, but even self-inserts with well rounded representations of the writer have potential to detrimentally affect elements of the plot and world building of a story if not properly considered. To explain; the nature of self insert characters as a writer’s persona establishes a personal connection to the character’s story that is intrinsically linked with the author’s own. This tends to lead to reluctance to add conflict to the writing, and an idealistic storyline in which the character is consistently exposed to positive experiences. Moreover, the personal connection to the character means that self-insert’s are often given undue importance in a narrative’s plot, and act as a vessel for the author to impose the experiences they wish to have - lacking consideration for plot development.

Why use self-insertion?

Nevertheless, when executed correctly, self-insertion is a very valid technique that can yield positive results.

Self-insertion can be a good introspection process and a way of sifting through emotions, internalized beliefs/values and a means of self-discovery through writing. Alternatively, writing what you know, and creating characters that have their roots in a real person (ie. yourself), can provide more realistic results that benefit your story.

And of course, a large part of the benefits of writing stems from your own personal enjoyment, so as a general rule, write whatever you like, for yourself!

If you’d like to use self-insertion in your story, go ahead! But be mindful about these tendencies, and look for ways to incorporate imperfections and challenges into your character and story to provide a more balanced and interesting work that you can still enjoy creating. They key to creating a sophisticated and nuanced self-insert is to maintain some distance from the personal connection between writer and character, and to give comparable treatment to self-inserts as to original characters.


Summary and Activity

In this workshop, we’ve covered the techniques of metafiction and self-insertion, looking at their definitions, examples, and ways they may be implemented in writing.
To summarise; metafiction involves the creation of texts that acknowledge/ are aware of their own fictionality, and can occur through commentary of characters, narrators, or textural features. Self-insertion, however, is the technique of authors imposing their persona in the form of a character into a writing piece.

Thank you for making it through this workshop, and hopefully you’ve enjoyed learning more about some unique literary techniques, and are now equipped to tackle the weekly activity.
For further clarification on any point, feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to elaborate on any of the concepts explored above.

final workshop <3

- a guide to pacing (draft) -

Introduction

Hello there, and welcome to this workshop! Over here, we will be going through what pacing is, the types of pacing, and how to employ those different types of pacing. We'll also learn about tension, why it is important, and how to utilize it while writing a story! However, keep in mind that these devices should not be used for the sake of a change of pace. Instead, they should always fulfill a purpose within the story itself.

What is pacing?

In literature, pacing is a technique that controls the rate at which a story unfolds itself. This stylistic device is a very important feature that impacts your writing quite a bit! In this workshop, we'll learn how to slower down your pace in situations that call for it, and fasten it up when the time is right.

Why is pacing important?

There is a quite prejudiced opinion that all you need to hook your readers are compelling characters and a rich plot. While those components are very essential to a story, you do need a bit more than that! Even books containing beloved characters like Percy Jackson and Inej Ghafa would not be as popular if it described them slugging through their daily activities. That's where pacing comes into view! Pacing affects the mood and tension of your piece, helps develop ideas and themes, and allows your dear readers to connect with your characters and understand the events that are taking place.

Effects of poor pacing:

It is very important to try and maintain a good pace, as poor pacing can lead to a disjointed narrative and loss of tension, leading to reader/audience disengagement. If a story is too fast-paced, the reader may not have time to invest in your characters and understand your well-planned out plot fully! If a story is too slow-paced, your story may appear to drag, risking boredom and detachment.

Don't worry, heroes- pacing can be quite hard to control, however, here is a guide to buckle down that beast and ride it proudly! Here are some tips to maintain slow-paced in gentle and wonderous situations, and have it fast-paced in tensed and rigid scenarios.

- how to maintain a slow pace or a fast pace -

Lengthen or cut down your sentences

The structure of your sentences and paragraphs can significantly impact the pace of your writing! Longer sentences can efficiently slow the pace down, while shorter and rapid sentences could fasten it up. Here are some tips on controlling the flow and length of your sentences based off your pace.

Shorten your sentences

In slow-paced situations, it would be recommended and better to use shorten sentences. This would help readers feel your characters heightened emotions from use of descriptive words, as well as the use of a certain element called a *staccato structure.
While using shorter sentences, it is clear that things are moving at a speed and makes the piece more intriguing, while helps arouse curiosity.
It is ideal for action scenes or climactic movements. They also get directly to the point, allowing you to skip unnecessary directions and details that are implied.

Take this example from 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy- “Kettle, plug, fridge, milk, coffee. Yawn.”

Instead of taking the readers through the whole process of making a cup of coffee, Douglas Adams simply chose the words associated with the action, allowing readers to fill in the blanks.

Staccato structure*:

A staccato structure is an element that is ideal for slow-paced scenarios. It is short and on to the point, and uses few words to make an idea clear. It is useful for grabbing attention or showing action, and is used significantly to add drama or a sense of urgency. A staccato structure helps readers understand integral points quickly. However, keep in mind that this element should be used carefully. An overuse can make sentences feel choppy and not well-defined. It can be mixed in with longer sentences to give more of a balance, which keeps the reader engaged and makes the message stand out.
Take these examples, all succesfully driving to the point in short and abrupt sentences:

- The courtroom was packed. Sweating. Silent.” (To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee)

- “I don’t know. I don’t know, he said. It’s like a furnace in there. A churning crimson furnace.” (Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury)

- “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved.” (Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott)

Lengthen your sentences:

In long paced scenarios, longer sentences help slow down pace since they take longer to read. They are often associated with being able to explain more complicated ideas, and allow for reflection and deeper understanding. They comprise of detailed descriptions and introspective movements, which let the audience connect with the characters and feel their thoughts and emotions.

Take this section from The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in which Dickens describes his thought process on the saying- “Dead as a door-nail”.

“Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest pieces of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.”


Description or dialogue

In stories, the use of description and dialogue is very essential! What most people don't know that it also plays an integral role in pacing. Depending on your pace, you might either focus on description or dialogue. it is important to realize that your piece should have a combination of the two, but as regards to your pace, you might want to focus slightly more on one of the two. Here are some ways in which you can quicken up and slower down your pace using more of one element!

Dialogue

Rapid dialogue will go a long way in quickening up the pace of your story! Instead of long-winded descriptions, create captivating dialogues where your characters can interact and show their personality. This can help you remove irrelevant descriptions and be more on-point and focused. Dialogues are a very handy tool, but can ruin your story and is frowned upon if it is overused. Make sure to balance the amount of dialogues you have!
As a handy example, take this exchange between Robin and Strike, the main characters of The Cuckoo’s Calling.

“It’s a death threat,” she said. “Oh yea,” said Strike. “Nothing to worry about. They come in about once a week.” “But—” “It’s a disgruntled ex-client. Bit unhinged. He thinks he’s throwing me off the scent by using that paper.” “Surely, though — shouldn’t the police see it?” “Give them a laugh, you mean?” “It isn’t funny, it’s a death threat!” she said, and Strike realized why she had placed it, with its envelope, in the plastic pocket. He was mildly touched. “Just file it with the others,” he said, pointing towards the filing cabinets in the corner.

Descriptions

Descriptions can help you slow down the pace of your story. In other words, stop and smell the roses! Try and include five senses, and have detailed sentences- however, make sure to not make it too long.
Sure, it’s useful to be concise — but if your purpose is to have your readers take a breather, then adjectives are your allies! These can help you give more of an explanation, and make the pace slower. It's also extremely useful to focus on the background and the settings of your story!
Additionally, show some introspection. More than just describing your character’s actions, show what they are thinking and how they are feeling. Show the reader the thought process that leads a character to make a specific decision. This makes your story more interesting, and gives time for your audience to understand your characters and even relate to them!

Take this section from the The Two Towers by Tolkien, which describes the forest scenery that Merry and Pippin encounter after escaping from the orcs:

“The ground was rising steeply still, and it was becoming increasingly stony. The light grew broader as they went on, and soon they saw that there was a rock-wall before them: the side of a hill, or the abrupt end of some long root thrust out by the distant mountains. No trees grew on it, and the sun was falling full on its stony face. The twigs of the trees at its foot were stretched out stiff and still, as if reaching out to the warmth."


Subplots- or cliffhangers?

In stories, having subplots may be a good idea! These can significantly shorten down the pace and avert direction from the main narrative. The more shifts and subplots you include, the longer it’ll take to reach the resolution of the main storyline! However, it is important to keep in mind to not avoid focus on the main storyline for /too/ long, as it can be quite boring.

Additionally, making use of flashbacks and backstories is also an important consideration. Those can divert attention from the main storyline. However, in short-paced scenarios, they might not be the best solution. Rather than having flashes from the past, in short-paced situations, cliffhangers are one of the best and most intriguing ways to keep a reader hooked!

Subplots and flashbacks!

Shifting your story’s focus to a secondary storyline will decrease the pace at which the main story line progresses.
In Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, there are two main storylines: Anna’s and Levin’s. These stories take place simultaneously, with constant back-and-forth shifts but little crossover. This allows readers to take a break from one story and jump into another, slowing down the pace at which each storyline resolves.
A good way to break the focus from the current narrative is to go back and show the readers what happened in the past. This way, you can simultaneously halt the story and give additional information and context to your readers. However, keep in mind that these devices should not be used for the sake of a change of pace. Instead, they should always fulfill a purpose within the story itself.

Limit your subplots- and wait, is that a cliffhanger?

The fastest route is a straight line — so, if you want to get directly to the resolution, the best way to do so is to cut out or limit any unnecessary plot points that take the reader away from the main narrative.
To use a previous example, if Tolstoy had limited Anna Karenina to her involvement with Vronsky, we would have a much shorter romance, instead of the 800+ pages of Russian society, politics, theology, and philosophy that we did get.
Nothing keeps a reader more hooked than wanting to find out what happens next, which is why cliffhangers are so popular. These are abrupt, unresolved endings to chapters or entire stories provoke tension, which encourages readers to press on and discover how the story resolves.
An example of a great cliffhanger is in The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell. Towards the end of chapter two, we are given a wonderful piece of intrigue when Sophie, who has just moved into a school cottage beside the woods, discovers a sign nailed to a fence.

She turns to put the latch on the gate as she leaves the back garden and as she does so her eye is caught by something nailed to the wooden fence.

A piece of cardboard, a flap torn from a box by the looks of it.

Scrawled on it in marker and with an arrow pointing down to the earth, are the words, ‘Dig Here.’

Those are my main pointers in slowing down your pace, and bringing it back up! Keep in mind while using all of these that any of these techniques should not be overused, as they can quite ruin your writing, and make it less engaging for your audience. Now that we're done learning how to quicken up your pace and slow it down, let's talk about the different types of pacing. The factors here can help you build up that pace over a long period of time, changing from slow paced to fast paced!

- types of pacing -

Fast Pacing: This often involves quick action, rapid dialogue, and events that unfold in rapid succession. Fast pacing is used to create excitement and keep the reader engaged and on edge.

Slow Pacing: Characterized by detailed descriptions, introspective passages, and a focus on character development or setting over plot. Slow pacing allows for deeper emotional connections and builds tension in a more subtle way.

Variable Pacing: A combination of fast and slow pacing within the same story, often used to keep the reader’s interest peaked while allowing time for character development and setting exploration.

Incremental Pacing: This type of pacing comprises of a gradual increase in the pace of the story, intriguing the audience and building up tension.

- tension -

What is the purpose of creating tension in a story?

Tension is a critical element in storytelling that serves various purposes and enlightens a story, the key among them being to engage and maintain the reader’s interest throughout the narrative. Tension compels readers to continue turning pages in anticipation of the outcome by creating a sense of uncertainty about what will happen next!

Engagement and emotional connection

Tension engages the readers/audience by raising the emotional stakes in the narrative, and immersing them in it. This element makes the story resonate with them on a deeper element, and allows them to feel the atmosphere and emotions that are apparent in that particular moment. This emotional movement makes the highs more exhilarating and the lows more devastating, allowing the audience to connect with the characters and their journeys.

Driving the plot forward

Besides being there for audience engagement, tension is a pivotal point that helps drive the plot forward. It makes progress in the storyline and introduces conflicts and obstacles that the characters must navigate. This continuous momentum is crucial for keeping the story dynamic and preventing stagnation.

Enhancing character development

Tension plays a vital role in the development of characters. It shows us how different characters respond to different conflicts and obstacles, and how they deal with stress and problems. As the tension escalates, characters are pushed to their limits, revealing how they act and their defense systems when they're pushed to the edge. This shows the character's hidden personality, and gives the audience an understanding of their general behavior.

Creating a memorable experience

In the end, ultimately, the point of using tension is to create an overall memorable and enjoyable experience! A story that expertly weaves tension will create a lasting impression, prompting reflection, discussion, and maybe even different theories once the last page is turned.

How to use pacing to build tension in a story

Set the stage with slow pacing

In the beginning of your story, lay out a foundation and start with a slower pace to allow characters and settings to develop. This not only gives chance for the readers to form attachments and understand the characters, but also sets up the right stakes to create more tension. Use the tips mentioned above to help you write with slow pacing!

Introduce conflict at a steady pace

Now that we've set up our base, let's build on it! Gradually introduce elements of conflict while slightly increasing the pace. Use the techniques mentioned in the first section to help you do this. It keeps the audience interested and starts to build anticipation, intriguing your readers.

Utilize chapters and section breaks

This is the time to bring up the cliff-hangers mentioned earlier! Use the end of chapters to create a piece of mystery which intrigues your readers. Nothing keeps a reader more hooked then wanting to find out what happens next. Starting a chapter with a swift, action-packed scene can also reinvigorate interest and tension.

Climax with fast-pacing

As you approach the climax, the high point of the story, increase the pacing! Use the techniques mentioned above to make the scenes tense and rigid. This should be where tension peaks and events unfold quickly, compelling the reader to race to the resolution.

Resolve and reflect

Gradually solve the elements of conflict and decrease the tension in the story. This slower pace helps wrap up the story and allows for reflection and resolution! Congratulations, heroes, you've made it to the end of your story.

While this way of introducing tension is common and highly recommended, there are other ways of doing so! Some stories start directly with the problem, introducing the conflict in the first sentence of the chapter itself. An example of this is apparent in a book we know all to well- ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’. It starts with the line- “Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood”- introducing the problem in the starting itself, decreasing the pace from there, and increasing it back up. This allows your readers to get hooked, and invigorates their interest.

Another way of doing this is also ending with a cliff-hanger, which is common in many books as well. While this can arise a lot of angry fans ranting about how the story ended, it definitely will pique interest in its sequel!

- conclusion -

Congratulations, you've completed this workshop! I hope you've learnt quite a bit about pacing, how to control it, and how to use tension effectively in your story. Head on to the weekly to find out the task, and good luck! I can't wait to see your incredible pieces. Have fun!

hero you go! I’m probably going to edit it quite a bit in the next few days, but this is my draft for now

Workshop: The Monomyth

Intro

Hello there, SWCers (and anyone else who happens to stumble upon this project/forum :D)! Today, you will be learning about the concept of the monomyth, also known as the Hero’s Journey. This story structure is one of the most recognizable in literature- once you understand it, you can spot examples everywhere in your favorite books or pieces of media.

Anyways, I hope that my workshop today is able to give you more of a firm grasp upon this concept, so that you may add it to your writing toolbox to draw upon whenever you need.

So, without further ado, let’s get into the Hero’s Journey!

What is the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero’s Journey is a centuries-old storytelling framework that details the adventures of a protagonist, or hero, as they embark upon a grueling journey into an unknown world, and tells of the many challenges the hero faces before defeating their obstacle.

The concept of the monomyth is a timeless and universal idea that has been used by famous authors and amateur storytellers alike, but the version of the Hero’s Journey that we know today wouldn’t exist without one man: Joseph Campbell.

Joseph Campbell’s Vision

Joseph Campbell was a literature professor at Saint Lawrence College and an incredibly influential figure in the creation of the standard Hero’s Journey. He was the one who coined the term ‘monomyth’, and he summarized it like this:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell introduced his 17 stages of the Hero’s Journey. He separated these into three parts: the Departure, where the hero embarks on their journey, the Initiation, where the hero achieves their tasks, and the Return, where the hero comes back to their world with new knowledge. But what are the individual stages?

Stages

Departure

Call to Adventure: The hero begins in an Ordinary World, a place where they’re relatively safe and comfortable. However, the hero receives something that calls them to head off into the unknown, interrupting their quiet life to present a problem or opportunity.

Refusal of the Call: The hero initially rejects their summons, preferring to stay in their comfort zone. They may do this out of a sense of obligation to those back home, a feeling of fear, or anything else that keeps our hero trapped in their own circumstances.

Supernatural Aid: The hero eventually decides to embark on their journey, and then meets a mentor of some sort, who usually gives them an item or tool to help them on their way.

Crossing the Threshold: In this stage, the protagonist officially embarks on their quest, leaving behind everything they know in favor of an unknown realm teeming with challenge and adventure.

Belly of the Whale: The hero finally crosses the point of no return, and, by entering this stage, gives up everything they know in order to enter their journey with an open mind. The hero may also encounter a number of obstacles in this stage.

Initiation

The Road of Trials: In this stage, the adventurer undergoes many challenges on the road to their transformation. Usually, the hero fails at some of these tasks, but eventually overcomes their failures and continues on their way.

The Meeting with the Goddess: The hero meets allies that help them on their journey, providing aid (usually magical items of some sort) and guidance as they navigate their path.

Woman as Temptress: In this stage, the protagonist is tempted by something and urged to stray from their path in favor of what is usually a material or physical item such as a lover, the promise of fame, or money. The “woman” mentioned in the title is a metaphor for life’s temptations and doesn’t have to refer to an actual woman.

Atonement with the Father: This stage is a major turning point in the story, where the hero confesses everything: their desires and motivations, their fears and doubts, and the reasons behind their actions. They also confront a higher power in their life (usually a father or god of some sort, but it could refer to any powerful figure that the hero looks up to). Everything in the story has led up to this moment, and everything that follows stems from it.

Apotheosis: Emboldened with a new understanding of their purpose from the previous stage, the adventurer prepares for the next and most difficult part of their journey.

The Ultimate Boon: Finally, the hero achieves their ultimate goal. Sometimes, this might be an item that restores life such as an elixir of immortality or a sorcerer’s stone, but it could be anything that the hero desires.

Return

Refusal of the Return: After the hero discovers such happiness in the other world, they might be hesitant to return to the home they know.

The Magic Flight: Once the hero decides to return, they must escape with their magical reward, foiling those who wish to take it back along the way. Sometimes, the challenges the hero faces trying to get home are as great or even greater than those they conquered to reach their reward in the first place.

Rescue from Without: The hero receives external help from a guide or mentor figure of some sort, who allows them to return home safely, sometimes with the help of magic items.

Crossing of the Return Threshold: In this stage, the hero successfully makes it home to their Ordinary World. Their goal is to retain the knowledge they captured in the other realm and use it to help others in their own.

Master of the Two Worlds: In this stage, the protagonist finally achieves a balance between both worlds they live in, becoming successful and competent in either realm.

Freedom to Live: In this final step, the hero’s mastery of life achieved in the previous step allows them to escape the fear of death and, in turn, have the freedom to truly live. This lets the hero exist without regretting the past or anticipating the present, teaching them to truly live in the moment.

Examples

As I explained earlier, you can spot versions of the Hero’s Journey everywhere. Here are two particularly well-known examples in the media:

- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Harry’s Ordinary World is his life with the Dursley’s, his time at Hogwarts is his Initiation, and his recovery and return to his aunt and uncle serve as his Return.

- Star Wars: A New Hope: Luke Skywalker’s normal life on Tatooine is interrupted by a transmission from Princess Leia that calls him into the mysterious world of the Jedi and the Rebellion. His destruction of the Death Star is his Ultimate Boon, and his triumphant arrival at the rebel base counts as his Return.

Conclusion

Congrats on making it to the end of this workshop! I hope that you enjoyed reading and hopefully learned something. Your bidaily activity is posted in the main cabin, so have fun writing and good luck! <3

edit: sorry for this post! accidentally quoted something and sent it, it was a complete accident <3

Switching Characters and Scenes Workshop

Intro

Hey SWCers, welcome to the first workshop of this weekly! We’re going to be looking at a common storytelling device that you may already have seen before in some of your favorite books, or even in your own writing: switching between different perspectives and settings. You’ll learn about why this is a helpful writing strategy, as well as how and when to use it effectively. Let’s get into it!

Why switch between characters and scenes?

• Pacing: Skipping forward in time is often essential to maintaining good pacing in your story. “Unimportant” events are not necessary to describe and might end up boring the reader if included. For example, say two of your characters talk to each other in the morning, and agree to meet up again in the evening. Both of these moments are important to the plot, but nothing notable happens in between. You don’t need to write about what either of the characters got up to in the afternoon – you can skip between morning and evening with a scene change.
  

• Suspense: Ending scenes on cliffhangers before switching to different perspectives/locations can greatly heighten suspense in your story. Leigh Bardugo demonstrates this in her novel Six of Crows, which follows a group of outlaws trying to pull off a high-stakes heist. Chapters alternate between viewpoint and location, and often end just as one character is facing a particularly risky situation. The reader is left desperate to find out what happens to them next, and must read through the next character’s viewpoint chapter before they can find out.
  

• Unique Perspectives: Whether you’re trying to develop your world, cover multiple plotlines at the same time, or flesh out different characters, it can be enormously helpful to write multiple points of view. Each of your characters will have unique experiences and perceptions that you may want to explore. What better way to do that then to spend some time directly inside their head?
  

Writing Scene Transitions

In order to write effective scene transitions, you must keep clarity in mind. The last thing you want is for your reader to be confused about where the story is taking place, or whose perspective it is being told from. The first and last lines of every scene should be written to indicate that something has changed, or is about to change. Begin your scene by informing your reader of the new setting and (if necessary) viewpoint. Take this opening chapter line from Maggie Stiefvater’s novel The Raven Boys:

“Gansey woke in the night to find the moon full on his face and his phone ringing.”

In one sentence, the time (night) and viewpoint character (Gansey) are established. The reader can also infer the location (Gansey’s bedroom). This is also important to note: you don’t have to explicitly spell out everything. It would get repetitive to start every scene with “X character was at X location, at X time.” Instead, you can supply some details and let your reader deduce the rest.

It is also important to signal the end of a scene with a strong closing line. This could be a sentence or line of dialogue that suggests an end to the current action; for example, if your scene is about a group of characters meeting up at a restaurant, the last line could describe them leaving. Another technique that you’ve probably seen before is a cliffhanger end. Leave the reader eager to dive into the following scene and find out what happens next.

Switching Between Perspectives

Just like scene transitions, different viewpoints must be clearly handled and distinguished. A common mistake writers make is that all their characters’ perspectives sound the same. You should always try to give your viewpoint characters unique voices so that the reader can distinguish between them (and it’s also just a good practice for character development). When writing from a character’s perspective, try filtering the world through their eyes. How would they describe certain people/events? Do they perceive life through a pessimistic lens, or a more hopeful one? Are there things that they are more likely to notice (or not notice) about their surroundings? Do they use specific words and phrases more often in their vocabulary? All of these are good questions to ask yourself to differentiate their voice from other characters’.

Aside from more subtle changes in tone and style, it can also be useful to provide a visual cue before viewpoint switches. Many writers begin chapters or scenes with a header that states the current narrating character’s name. You should remember the rule of establishing important details in your opening sentences, as well. Try to include the viewpoint character’s name early on in your scene, and paint a clear picture of what they are doing or thinking. Your goal is to pull the reader directly into their experiences, their mindset, their world.

Should you change scenes/perspectives?

When you are switching between characters and settings, there should be a purpose to it all. Don’t throw in random location hopping and viewpoint changes just because you feel like it. Does it make sense for you to end a scene here, and start a new one? Has the moment come to a natural end? Is it being dragged out too long, or being cut off before its time? Take care with your pacing; you want events to move along at an engaging speed, but too-quick transitions will leave your reader overwhelmed. Furthermore, make sure all of your different viewpoints serve an important purpose in the overall narrative. Too often, writers get carried away with adding new character perspectives into their story. What results is a narrative bogged down by voices that are unnecessary and difficult to keep track of. Each viewpoint that you write should be well-fleshed out and contribute something significant to the story you want to tell. If you don’t need it, maybe consider deleting it.

Conclusion

And that’s a wrap on this workshop! Hopefully you’ve learned something about scene/viewpoint transitions, and are ready to try both in your own writing. Good luck with the weekly activity, and remember to have fun!

(I will definitely be fleshing this out and smoothing out the writing in the final draft)

Workshop on Dual Timelines

Introduction

Hi there! Welcome to the workshop in dual timelines, in which I’ll go over the concept of dual timelines and the ways you can create them. If you would like more general information on plotting timelines, feel free to reference my previous workshop, but this should be all you need for the weekly activity!

Let’s jump right into it!

I. Definition

Timelines

First off, to understand dual timelines, we should define timelines. Well, what exactly are timelines? Strictly speaking, they are representations of a sequence of events arranged by time. A timeline is traditionally structured graphically in a line format, true to its name; however, it can be organized in any format, as long as it indicates the passing of time and the corresponding events. There are two main types of timelines: linear and nonlinear.

Linear timelines present the events of the story in the order in which they occur. The narrators can change, and there can be short time skips, but overall all of the events are happening in chronological order. Many books and short stories utilize this format of storytelling.

Although linear timelines are common, there are occasions where an author may opt for non-linear timelines! They involve the events of the story being presented in a non-chronological order, and the narrative may be jumping back and forth in time.


Dual timelines

Now that we have timelines and their two main categories established, we’ll get to defining dual timelines: they are an example of a nonlinear timeline, and they (as you might be able to tell by the name) involve two (or more!) separate timelines happening at different times. An example would be Alan Gratz’s book, Refugee, where the three protagonists’ storylines take place during the 1930s, 1990s, and 2010s, respectively.

Common non-linear devices include flashbacks and flashforwards, which are often utilized in an otherwise linear storyline.


II. Outlining Dual Timelines

General timeline tips

Some folks may prefer flexibility in planning, while others prefer specific details, and that’s perfectly fine! However, there are some aspects of your story that are best determined before you start writing.

For example, the main conflict and resolution should be figured out. They don’t have to be extremely detailed; just make sure you have these backbones of your story fixed.

Plot points are the critical events that build up your plot and drive it forward. They usually have large effects on your characters, making an opportunity for character development to occur. And you should map your plot points out in your timeline. Consider the relationship between them: is it cause-and-effect, where one event causes the next? Or are they relatively unrelated? Are they caused by the same character or another plot point?


Dual Timelines Outline

Here’s an example of what a dual timeline might look like!

Timeline 1: Event #1 (1914, chapter 1) ———— Event #2 (1915, chapter 5) ———— Event #3 (1999, epilogue)
Timeline 2: Event #1 (1940, chapter 2) ———— Event #2 (1942, chapter 6) ———— Event #3 (1999, epilogue)

The plot would follow the timelines back and forth, switching in every chapter/page break or so.

For dual timelines, it’s important to keep both/all timelines equally interesting, so readers won’t be overwhelmingly favoring one over the others. Be sure to reduce dissonance: the pacing, intensity, and plot revelations (among other aspects) should more or less match between the timelines.

And of course, the timelines should become increasingly convergent. There are a variety of ways to do this, but the reader gradually sees how the timelines are connected. (In some cases, the end of one timeline also becomes the beginning of another; for other timelines that takes place at the same time, with intersecting points where both timelines share a plot point.) Do the protagonists meet? What is the significant thread linking these timelines together?

There is often a common motif among the timelines, one example of which is a harmonica that all three protagonists encounter, from the book Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan. You’d have to find a way to bring the entire story together, showing how the characters, plot, and themes of the separate timelines are entwined with each other. Personally, this is what I love the most about dual timelines!


Considerations

Beyond just a motif, the themes of your story should benefit from your use of dual timelines. Usually, there is something fundamentally similar in both of the dual timelines.

There are also different approaches you can take with the convergence of the two timelines. In many works with dual timelines, the connection between the timelines is usually slowly expanded on, with revelations scattered throughout the course of the story. However, you can also have the connection be much more subtle at first, and reveal the majority of it during the climax of the story. With either approach, however, make sure your timelines explain each other!


Execution

While writing and planning dual timelines and devices, there are several things you should keep in mind.

Maintaining consistency in point of view/tense is a good idea when switching between timelines. POVs and tenses can be changed according to the structure and time, but it can be confusing when there are too many shifts. In addition, it is often good to be consistent in pacing and emotion as well—for example, the climaxes of separate sections often occur within consecutive chapters.

Another thing that can be helpful in switching between narratives are visual indications – page dividers, italics, a different storytelling voice/format (shifting from prose to poetry, for example), etc. – when deviating from a linear timeline. This will make your timelines more identifiable to the reader. Similarly, make sure you transition well between

Finally, build suspense! Suspense is one of the advantages of nonlinear timelines over linear ones – the revelation of information has a huge potential for impact across the other timeline(s) of the story. Creating complex storylines and placing the key plot points in the right places can be very meaningful, especially when plot points overlap. What happens often in dual timeline works is that arcs stop at cliffhangers before transitioning to another timeline, which is great for building anticipation. (However, remember that all timelines should be engaging enough, especially at the climax!)


Mediums
Finally, where would you go about outlining dual timelines?

I find that spreadsheets are very helpful: you can make columns/rows for individual timelines’ time and events, and you can also configure the order in which you present the separate timelines in your writing. You might want to limit elaboration on your plot points, as spreadsheets can get clunky and difficult to navigate with too much text.

If you’re not as comfortable with spreadsheets, you can try using a word-processing application. You can still arrange the information in the same way, and it’s also easier describing the details of your plot points. (If you like both, you can use it in conjunction with a spreadsheet!)

There are also many great options for making timelines on paper! You can trying using index cards or post-it notes to represent your events, then rearranging them in the order that you like.


Conclusion
Thank you for reading through this workshop; free to ask for clarification on anything written here ^^ I hope that you’ve learned new things about dual timelines - have fun working on the activity!


Sources
(I used a good few sites for reference, but these are the main ones)

• https://www.masterclass.com/articles/guide-to-nonlinear-narrative
  
• https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ways-to-structure-your-narrative-timeline
  
• https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/6-ways-to-pull-off-dual-timelines-in/
  
• https://www.thenovelry.com/blog/dual-timelines
  
• https://www.jeannettedebeauvoir.com/thoughts/multiple-timelines
  

(as i edit i'll be elaborating more on certain points, like themes, and focusing more on dual timelines as opposed to timelines in general! i'll also see if i can find more concrete examples to cite ^^)

For the final, I’ll be adding in more concrete examples, flesh things out, and add a list of things to keep in mind. I have some more miscellaneous information I want to add, but not sure how to fit them in yet.

Unreliable Narrators: A Workshop

Narrators play a key role in storytelling, and subsequently, how they tell the story. So what if your readers can’t trust them? Unreliable narrators are a fun way to add suspense and plot twists. It keeps the readers in a perpetual state of guessing what is real and what is fake (…or cake? ;0) In this workshop, we’ll be going over what an unreliable narrator is, why we use them, how and and why they are unreliable, and how to write them effectively.

What is an unreliable narrator?

Unreliable narrators, as the name indicates, are narrators that aren’t reliable. Let me explain. For a reason or another, the narrator’s perception of what is going on is different from reality. Some ways that this can be done is by withholding information, tweaking the reality, or lying about what is happening. Due to their subjective view and casting biases onto the reader, the narrator isn’t truthful about what is going on. Another key point to keep in mind is that the readers need to see the cracks in their facade, in order to make them wary about the narrator. If the narrator is not telling the truth, but there are no side effects of that, they don’t read as unreliable.

Why use an unreliable narrator?

So, now that we know what they are, why would we use them? When reading a story, we have questions that need to be solved. What happened? Why did things go this way? Who did it? By including a narrator that cannot be trusted, we give readers more questions to solve: why is the narrator not telling the truth and what are they hiding from us? Withholding information only ever furthers the drives to search for the answer.

Unreliable narrators are most often used in thrillers and mysteries, because of the ways that they lend themselves to those genres with similar aspects (not knowing the truth, suspense, etc.) However, they are not limited to those genres and are able to be used in any genre. They create a direct tension between the book and the reader. The reader wants to be in the know, but the narrator extracts key information, giving more depth to the character and pulling the reader in.

How and why is your narrator unreliable?

The how and why of your narrator can be very similar, but they aren’t the same thing. Every character has a motive, so what’s yours? In this specific case, you also have to consider why your narrator is unreliable and how that impacts the story. I would say that there are two kinds of unreliable narrators, those who unintentionally muddle the truth and those who intentionally lie and deceive.

Unintentional unreliable narrators are unaware that they aren’t telling the truth. This can be done with children, or naive characters in general, who genuinely don’t understand what is going on. Amnesia is a popular trope to use with unreliable narrators, because while they may know some of the truth, their memories aren’t credible, as important pieces of information may be gone or slightly askew. They could also have mental disorders, like schizophrenia, not being mentally stable to tell the truth, even if they believe that they are. (If you do decide to go this way, be sure to research in order to portray disorders accurately ^^) Another way that narrators may unintentionally be unreliable is by filtering the world through their biases, exaggerating scenarios or by letting their emotions dictate how they view the world around them.

Biased narrators aren’t always unintentional though, as they could also be intentionally letting those biases dictate how they choose to present themselves. For example, they could be disregarding important facts, simply because it doesn’t line up with their narrative (Ex: All signs point to them being the culprit, but they make questionable excuses and focus on minor facts to prove that they aren’t.) Narrators can also be smarter than average, staying one step in front of everyone else and using that to their advantage.

We should also know why your narrator is unreliable. In some cases, it's as simple as they don't know any better, because of naivety, impaired knowledge, or faulty memory. In other cases, it could be that the narrator has a motive. Is the narrator the culprit all along, intentionally trying to get the reader to believe them and believing that they are in the right? A compulsive liar? Delusional? They could be trying to get away with a crime, attempting to convince the reader and those around them that it wasn't them. Whatever their reason, it should filter nearly everything that is being told by the narrator directly towards the reader, keeping the motive consistent.

How do you write an unreliable narrator?

The final step: how do you write a good unreliable narrator? First thing to consider is the point of view. First person is often used because the narrator and the character are the same. However, other POVs can achieve this as well, specifically deep third person. A bit of a hybrid between first person and third, it gets into the character's head, but still uses the third person pronouns (he/she/they) over the first person (I/me). Point of view is important because the readers need to be given limited amounts of information, not knowing the whole truth. A third person omniscient perspective, for example, is all-knowing, making it harder to achieve an unreliable narrator.
How do you let readers know that the storyteller is not to be fully trusted? As stated earlier, readers need to be able to see that the narrator isn't telling the truth, or at least not all of it. Showing this straight off the bat is a good way to ensure that readers catch on and there are a few ways to do so, but essentially, readers need to have some access to reality. They need some glimpse at the truth to know what the lie is. Side characters can play a key role in this. Perhaps the narrator is recollecting what went on earlier to a friend, but they are lying, and readers will know because they know the truth. Or, in another scenario, the narrator could also be in a discussion about the big case that is going on and the evidence that other characters are bringing up contradicts what the narrator has told you. Side characters may also mention facts about the narrator in passing that weren't revealed to you earlier. All of these make you wonder about the credibility of the narrator. The reader should either know the truth when a lie is told, or be told an undeniable truth contradictory to the lie that they have believed.

Summary

In this workshop, we have learned:

• Unreliable narrators don’t accurately portray the reality of what is going on

• They can be used to create tension and engage readers

• There are intentional and unintentional unreliable narrators

• Narrators have a reason to be unreliable

• Readers need to be able to see the flaws in their facade and know that they can’t trust everything that we are being told

Conclusion

And that is it on unreliable narrators for this workshop! If this interested you, I encourage you to look into it more on your own; they are so much fun <3 Feel free to ask any questions and I hope that you learned something new.


Main Sources

https://www.writingmastery.com/blog/how-to-write-an-unreliable-narrator
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/8-tips-to-writing-unreliable-narrators
https://thehistoryquill.com/top-tips-for-pulling-off-an-unreliable-narrator/

i'd like to include more in the ‘summaries vs. scenes’ section, more references to popular books/stories, and a ‘sources’ section.

Passage of Time – A Workshop

I. Introduction

Passage of time is a critical part of any story, and something that all writers should consider when bringing their piece to life. In this workshop, I’ll be going through various ways of conveying the passage of time, the merits and drawbacks of each one, as well as referencing several pieces of well-known storytelling along the way. Grab a pen and let's get started!


II. Why is time important in writing?

Time, as well as location, establishes the setting of a story and, particularly in books that centre around time travel or are based in specific time periods, this is a pivotal element to bear in mind.

For example, much of the success gained by the hit show Stranger Things stems from not only its brilliant plotlines and intriguing characters, but also the nostalgia for those who grew up in the ‘80s. From kids riding bikes for hours without anyone batting an eyelid, to mullets and perms and house phones, Stranger Things encapsulates some of the best trends of the ‘80s.

Time anchors readers in the journey that your characters are on, and you should be able to convey this passage of time without boring your audience or detaching them from the story. Here are a few ways to do that effectively…


III. Clear Time Skips

By time skip, we usually mean: “two weeks later…”

This is a very obvious time leap that can be found in many popular pieces of literature, and therefore isn’t without its merits. It’s a clear, concise way of indicating time passing and doesn’t dwell on unnecessary details. In some cases, less words is more.

Moreover, time skips are often more effective for short time periods rather than longer ones. For example, “two weeks later” goes over the reader’s head and suggests that nothing of note has happened in those few days. However, “two years later” might detach the reader from the story because it is more likely that readers have missed some important development.

So, think carefully about where to include these time skips, but don’t be afraid to sprinkle them in if necessary!


IV. Natural Descriptions

This includes descriptions of the natural world around your characters (usually the setting), and you can use these details to indicate the passage of time. Some things to incorporate are:

– Weather: the transition of rain to snow is an example of this, and change in location can also be shown through weather.
– Seasons: similarly, the changing seasons can be shown through falling leaves, hot summers, hail in December, etc.
– Plants: the growing and wilting of plants such as trees and flowers.
– Moon phases: waning and waxing of the moon at different times of the month.
– Decay: collapsing buildings, growing moss/vines, ruins and fossils, etc.

Natural descriptions are a good way of showing the passage of time instead of simply telling it, and adds another dimension to your setting(s).

One thing to remember when applying these is to avoid wordy descriptions – in some cases this is fine, however small references to natural changes such as “burgundy leaves fell” or “clouds shadowed the crescent moon” give a brief reference to the passage of time without feeling too long-winded.


V. Changes in Characters

This doesn’t just refer to personality changes in characters, but also relationship dynamics and physical differences. Here are a few ways to show this:

– Relationships breaking or forming: how does this affect your character? Is it awkward? Do they have a new dynamic with another character?
– Differences in appearance: have they grown taller? Is their hair longer? Are they stronger than they were before? Have their fashion preferences changed?
– Personality: have their likes and dislikes changed? Do they have different views on life?
– Hobbies: have they given any up, or taken on a new one? Why?

Similarly to natural descriptions, changes in characters is a good way of showing the passage of time, and allows readers to form vivid, memorable impressions of characters that add to the story.


VI. Summaries vs. Scenes

The natural order of storytelling is that the more dull and boring parts of any tale are only briefly told, but we spend much longer on those which we find interesting. And so, there are moments in writing where you’ll need to choose which parts deserve entire scenes on them, and which are sufficient with a few sentences summary.


VII. Summary

– Time establishes the setting of any story.
– Time skips are a clear, concise way of indicating the passage of time, but are more effective for short time periods.
– Natural descriptions include the changing of weather, season, moon phases, etc.
– Changes in characters include the changing of relationships, appearance, personalities, etc.


VIII. Conclusion

And that’s it for this workshop! I hope you enjoyed this and learnt something new – head back to the main cabin to work on your activity! ^^

Switching Characters and Scenes Workshop

Intro

Hey SWCers, welcome to the first workshop of this weekly! We’re going to be looking at an essential storytelling device that you have almost certainly seen before in some of your favorite books, or even in your own writing: transitions between different perspectives and scenes. You’ll learn about when you should switch between scenes and viewpoints, how to not confuse your reader when doing so, and how to avoid abrupt transitions. Let’s get into it!

Why switch between characters and scenes?

• Pacing: Skipping forward in time is often essential to maintaining good pacing in your story. “Unimportant” events are not necessary to describe and might end up boring the reader if included. For example, say that you are writing a murder mystery. Your detective visits the crime scene in the morning, takes a break to go back home and eat lunch, and then interviews a suspect. Two of those events are obviously relevant to the plot, and one is not. You don’t need to write about what the detective ate for lunch – you can skip over that moment entirely with a scene change.
  

• Suspense: Ending scenes on cliffhangers before switching to different perspectives/settings can greatly heighten suspense in your story. Leigh Bardugo demonstrates this in her book Six of Crows, which follows a group of outlaws trying to pull off a near-impossible heist. Chapters alternate between viewpoint and location, and often end just as the stakes have been significantly raised for one character. The reader is left anxious to find out what happens next, but they must read through a different character’s viewpoint chapter before they can find out.
  
  Additionally, perspective/scene changes can reveal or withhold certain knowledge from the reader. By switching to the viewpoint of a secondary character, for example, the reader might learn something that the protagonist is unaware of. Or perhaps a secret is revealed to the main characters, but hidden from the reader via a scene skip.
  

• Unique Perspectives: Whether you’re trying to develop your world, cover multiple plotlines at the same time, or flesh out different characters, it can be enormously helpful to write from multiple points of view. Each of your characters will have unique experiences and perspectives that you may want to explore. What better way to do that then to spend some time directly inside their head?
  

Writing Scene Transitions

In order to write effective scene transitions, you must keep clarity in mind. The last thing you want is for your reader to be confused about where the story is taking place, or whose perspective it is being told from. The first and last lines of every scene should be written to indicate that something has changed, or is about to change.

Beginning Scenes

Start your scene by informing your reader of the new location, time, and (if necessary) viewpoint. Take this opening chapter line from Maggie Stiefvater’s novel The Raven Boys:

Gansey woke in the night to find the moon full on his face and his phone ringing.

In one sentence, the time (night) and viewpoint character (Gansey) are established. The reader can also infer the location (Gansey’s bedroom). This is also important to note: you don’t have to explicitly spell out everything. It would get repetitive to start every scene with “X character was at X location, at X time.” Instead, you can supply some details and let your reader deduce the rest.

Ending Scenes

The last lines of each scene should serve as a setup for the next one. For example, Chapter 12 of Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief ends:

She pointed downhill, toward train tracks I hadn’t been able to see last night in the dark.“There’s an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon.”

This segues smoothly into the following chapter, which begins with Percy, Annabeth, and Grover on the train. The ending of a scene should introduce the next point of action, and signal a resolution of the current moment. Alternatively, you can end on a cliffhanger, leaving the action unresolved in a way that increases suspense. To take another example from The Lightning Thief, Chapter 13 ends:

I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river.”

Obviously, the reader will want to keep reading, so that they can learn if Percy survives this seemingly fatal fall. And they will find out, in the next scene, which picks right up where Chapter 13 left off.

Switching Between Perspectives

Just like scene transitions, different viewpoints must be clearly handled and distinguished. A common mistake writers make is that all their characters’ perspectives sound the same. You should always try to give your viewpoint characters unique voices so that the reader can distinguish between them (and it’s also just a good practice for character development). When writing from a character’s perspective, try filtering the world through their eyes. Consider some of the following:

• How would they describe certain people/events?
  

• What is their attitude like?
  

• What are their thought processes like?
  

• Are there things that they are more likely to notice (or not notice) about their surroundings?
  

• Do they use specific words and phrases more often in their vocabulary?
  

These are not by any means the only questions you can ask when developing your character’s voice. However, they are a good place to start. Every single person processes the world differently, and a skilled writer is able to reflect that in their characters.

Aside from more subtle changes in tone and style, you should remember the rule of establishing important details in your opening sentences. Try to include the viewpoint character’s name early on in your scene, and paint a clear picture of what they are doing or thinking. Your goal is to pull the reader directly into their experiences, their mindset, their world.

Other Common Mistakes

You should always switch between scenes and perspectives with a clear sense of purpose. Don’t throw in random location hopping and viewpoint changes just because you feel like it. Does it make sense for you to end a scene here, and start a new one? Take care with your pacing; you want events to move along at an engaging speed, but rushed transitions will leave your reader overwhelmed.

Furthermore, make sure that all of your different characters’ perspectives serve an important purpose in the overall narrative. Too often, writers get carried away with adding new viewpoints into their story. What results is a narrative bogged down by voices that are unnecessary and difficult to keep track of. Each viewpoint that you write should be well-fleshed out and contribute something significant to the story that you want to tell. If you don’t need it, maybe consider deleting it.

Finally, you should ensure that the placements of your perspective changes make sense. Maintain balance between viewpoints; the main character’s perspective should receive more attention than the side characters’, for example. Stories with multiple main characters should hone in equally on each protagonist. If you are unsure whose head to hop into during a scene, a good rule of thumb is to pick the character who is most impacted by the current action. Readers will want to follow someone who has the most to lose, or feel, or learn. Also remember the technique of revealing/withholding information discussed earlier in this workshop. Be smart about whose thoughts you are inhabiting, and when; you can manipulate viewpoints to convey specific knowledge at specific times.

Summary

• Scene transitions are necessary to control pacing, and can also increase suspense
  

• Shifting viewpoints can add depth to a story and its characters
  

• The start of a scene must clearly establish what has changed
  

• The end of a scene must transition smoothly into the next scene
  

• Character viewpoints should be easy to differentiate between
  

• Scene and perspective changes must be made with purpose
  

Conclusion

And that’s a wrap on this workshop! Hopefully you’ve learned something about scene/viewpoint transitions, and are ready to try both in your own writing. Good luck with the weekly activity, and have fun!

Sources Used

How to Write Multiple Perspectives: 5 Tips for Switching Points of View - 2024 - MasterClass
Writing Multiple Points of View: How to Bring A Story to Life (self-publishingschool.com)
6 Tips & Tricks For Writing Scene Transitions - Writers Write

final draft <3 i apologize for the delay with this!

Workshop on Dual Timelines

Introduction

Hi there! Welcome to the workshop on dual timelines, in which I’ll go over the concept of dual timelines and the ways you can create them. If you would like more general information on plotting timelines, feel free to reference my previous workshop, but this should be all you need for the weekly activity!

Let’s jump right into it!

I. Definition

Timelines

First off, to understand dual timelines, we should define timelines. Well, what exactly are timelines? Strictly speaking, they are representations of a sequence of events arranged by time. A timeline is traditionally structured graphically in a line format, true to its name; however, it can be organized in any format, as long as it indicates the passing of time and the corresponding events. There are two main types of timelines: linear and nonlinear.

Linear timelines present the events of the story in the order in which they occur. The narrators can change, and there can be short time skips, but overall all of the events are happening in chronological order. Many books and short stories utilize this format of storytelling.

Although linear timelines are common, there are occasions where an author may opt for non-linear timelines! They involve the events of the story being presented in a non-chronological order, and the narrative may be jumping back and forth in time.


Dual timelines

Now that we have timelines and their two main categories established, we’ll get to defining dual timelines: they are an example of a nonlinear timeline, and they (as you might be able to tell by the name) involve two (or more!) separate timelines happening at different times. An example would be Alan Gratz’s book, Refugee, where the three protagonists’ storylines take place during the 1930s, 1990s, and 2010s, respectively.

Common non-linear devices include flashbacks and flashforwards, which are also often utilized in an otherwise linear storyline. The distinction between flashbacks/flashforwards and dual timelines is important to note: dual timelines are typically more or less equal in terms of content and focus, and each tells a cohesive story, while flashbacks and flashforwards are typically very brief.


II. Outlining Dual Timelines

General timeline tips

Some folks may prefer flexibility in planning, while others prefer specific details, and that’s perfectly fine! However, there are some aspects of your story that are best determined before you start writing.

For example, the main conflict and resolution should be figured out. They don’t have to be extremely detailed; just make sure you have these backbones of your story fixed.

Plot points are the critical events that build up your plot and drive it forward. They usually have large effects on your characters, making an opportunity for character development to occur. And you should map your plot points out in your timeline. Consider the relationship between them: is it cause-and-effect, where one event causes the next? Or are they relatively unrelated? Are they caused by the same character or another plot point?


Dual Timelines Outline

Here’s an example of what a dual timeline might look like!

Timeline 1: Event #1 (1914, chapter 1) ———— Event #2 (1915, chapter 5) ———— Event #3 (1999, epilogue)
Timeline 2: Event #1 (1940, chapter 2) ———— Event #2 (1942, chapter 6) ———— Event #3 (1999, epilogue)

The plot would follow the timelines back and forth, switching in every chapter/page break or so.

For dual timelines, it’s important to keep both/all timelines equally interesting, so readers won’t be overwhelmingly favoring one over the others. Be sure to reduce dissonance: the pacing, intensity, and plot revelations (among other aspects) should more or less match between the timelines.

And of course, the timelines should become increasingly convergent. There are a variety of ways to do this, but the reader gradually sees how the timelines are connected. (In some cases, the end of one timeline also becomes the beginning of another.) Do the protagonists meet? What is the significant thread linking these timelines together?

There is often a common motif among the timelines, one example of which is a harmonica that all three protagonists encounter, from the book Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan. The motif can also be a character or a setting. With all of the timelines, you'd have to find a way to bring the entire story together, showing how the characters, plot, and themes of the separate timelines are entwined with each other.


Considerations

Beyond just a motif, the themes of your story should benefit from your use of dual timelines. Usually, there is something fundamentally similar in both of the dual timelines. Usually, there is something fundamentally similar in both of the dual timelines. This is part of the reason that dual timelines are utilized so often in historical fiction: often, the combination of the timelines serves to give a greater understanding of the era(s) the story is set in. Referring back to the example of Refugee, all three timelines of the book focus on characters who are trying to leave their country, and their struggles and relationships have significant parallels as well. In other cases, a cohesive backstory provides an immense amount of context to the story set in the “present” time; this applies significantly to the mystery genre.

There are also different approaches you can take with the convergence of the two timelines. In many works with dual timelines, the connection between the timelines is usually slowly expanded on, with revelations scattered throughout the course of the story. However, you can also have the connection be much more subtle at first, and reveal the majority of it during the climax of the story. With either approach, however, make sure your timelines explain each other - adding callbacks, both trivial and major, between timelines allows strengthens the connection between them.


Execution

While writing and planning dual timelines and devices, there are several things you should keep in mind.

Maintaining consistency in point of view/tense is a good idea when switching between timelines. POVs and tenses can be changed according to the structure and time, but it can be confusing when there are too many shifts. In addition, it is often good to be consistent in pacing and emotion as well—for example, the climaxes of separate sections often occur within consecutive chapters.

Another thing that can be helpful in switching between narratives is visual indications – page dividers, italics, a different storytelling voice/format (shifting from prose to poetry, for example), etc. – when deviating from a linear timeline. This will make your timelines more identifiable to the reader. Similarly, make sure you transition well between

Finally, build suspense! Suspense is one of the advantages of nonlinear timelines over linear ones – the revelation of information has a huge potential for impact across the other timeline(s) of the story. Creating complex storylines and placing the key plot points in the right places can be very meaningful, especially when plot points overlap. What happens often in dual timeline works is that arcs stop at cliffhangers before transitioning to another timeline, which is great for building anticipation. (However, remember that all timelines should be engaging enough, especially at the climax!)


Mediums
Finally, where would you go about outlining dual timelines?

I find that spreadsheets are very helpful: you can make columns/rows for individual timelines’ time and events, and you can also configure the order in which you present the separate timelines in your writing. You might want to limit elaboration on your plot points, as spreadsheets can get clunky and difficult to navigate with too much text, especially given the fact that two (or even more timelines can quickly become confusing).

If you’re not as comfortable with spreadsheets, you can try using a word-processing application. You can still arrange the information in the same way, and it’s also easier to describe the details of your plot points. (If you like both, you can use it in conjunction with a spreadsheet!)

There are also many great options for making timelines on paper! You can trying using index cards or post-it notes to represent your events, then rearranging them in the order that you like.


Conclusion
Thank you for reading through this workshop; free to ask for clarification on anything written here ^^ I hope that you’ve learned new things about dual timelines - have fun working on the activity!


Sources
(I used a good few sites for reference, but these are the main ones)

• https://www.masterclass.com/articles/guide-to-nonlinear-narrative
  
• https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ways-to-structure-your-narrative-timeline
  
• https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/6-ways-to-pull-off-dual-timelines-in/
  
• https://www.thenovelry.com/blog/dual-timelines
  
• https://www.jeannettedebeauvoir.com/thoughts/multiple-timelines
  

so sorry for the delay ^^

Passage of Time – A Workshop

Introduction

Passage of time is a critical part of any story, and something that all writers should consider when bringing their piece to life. In this workshop, I’ll be going through different ways of showing the passage of time, the merits and drawbacks of each one, as well as referencing several pieces of well-known storytelling along the way. Grab a pen and let's get started!

Why is time important in writing?

Time, as well as location, establishes the setting of a story and, particularly in books that centre around time travel or are based in specific time periods, this is an important element to bear in mind.

For example, much of the success gained by the hit show Stranger Things stems from not only its brilliant plotlines and intriguing characters, but also the nostalgia for those who grew up in the ‘80s. From kids riding bikes for hours without anyone batting an eyelid, to mullets and perms and house phones, Stranger Things encapsulates some of the best trends of the ‘80s.

Time anchors readers in the journey that your characters are on, and you should be able to show this passage of time without boring your audience or detaching them from the story. Here are a few ways to do that effectively…

Clear Time Skips

By time skip, we usually mean: “two weeks later…”

This is a very obvious time leap that can be found in many popular pieces of literature such as Harry Potter or Eragon, and therefore isn’t without its merits. It’s a clear, concise way of indicating time passing and doesn’t dwell on unnecessary details.

For example, The Inheritance Cycle, written by Christopher Paolini, is a tetralogy (four books) which span an entire continent and its people. We watch as Eragon befriends the dragon Saphira and travels all across Alagaësia over the course of weeks, even months. Because of this, Paolini strategically uses time skips in order to speed up the passage of time, and smoothly transition the reader from one scene to the next.

Time skips are often more effective for short time periods rather than longer ones.

For example, “two weeks later” suggests that nothing important to the story has happened in those few days, and goes over the reader’s head. However, “two years later” might detach the reader from the story because things have likely changed for the characters, and readers have therefore missed this.

So, think carefully about where to include these time skips, but don’t be afraid to sprinkle them in if necessary!

Natural Descriptions

This includes descriptions of the natural world around your characters (usually the setting), and you can use these details to indicate the passage of time. Some things to incorporate are:

• Weather: rain changing to snow is an example of this, and different weather can also be used to show the change in location.

• Seasons: similarly, the seasons can be shown through falling leaves, hot summers, hail in December, etc.

• Plants: the growing and wilting of plants such as trees and flowers.

• Moon phases: waning and waxing of the moon at different times of the month.

• Decay: collapsing buildings, growing moss/vines, ruins and fossils, etc.

Natural descriptions are a good way of showing the passage of time instead of simply telling it, and adds another dimension to your settings.

One thing to remember when applying these is to avoid wordy descriptions – in some cases this is fine, but you don’t want to lose your reader with hefty descriptions of the moon.

However, small references to natural changes such as “burgundy leaves fell” or “clouds shadowed the crescent moon” give a subtle reference to the passage of time without feeling too long-winded.

Changes in Characters

Changes in characters doesn’t just mean the development of their personality, but also relationship dynamics and physical changes. Here are a few ways to show this:

• Relationships breaking or forming: how does this affect your character? Are their interactions awkward? Do they have a new dynamic with another character?

• Differences in appearance: have they grown taller? Is their hair longer? Are they stronger than they were before? Has their fashion preference changed?

• Personality: have their likes and dislikes changed? Do they have different views on life?

• Hobbies: have they given any up, or taken on a new one? Why?

Similarly to natural descriptions, changes in characters is a good way of showing the passage of time, and allows readers to form vivid, memorable impressions of characters that add to the story.

Summaries vs. Scenes

The natural order of storytelling is that the more dull and boring parts of any tale are only briefly told, but we spend much longer on those which we find interesting. And so, there are moments in writing where you’ll need to choose which parts deserve entire scenes on them, and which are sufficient with a few sentences summary.

For example, one Harry Potter book spans the course of an entire academic year in Harry's life at Hogwarts, but summaries are used in various places to keep the reader's attention. We don't need to see what all of Harry's O.W.L.s were like, because one detailed scene and a vague summary of the rest are enough. In some cases, less words is more.

A good rule of thumb is: if you as the writer are bored of the scene you’re writing, your readers will probably feel the same.

This might be a sign that you need to shorten a few scenes and turn them into summaries by using time skips, or showing the effect of time through descriptions, etc. This allows your story to flow naturally, and keeps your reader’s interest piqued long enough for them to follow the character's journey from its humble beginning, right to its very end.

Summary

• Time establishes the setting of any story.

• Time skips are a clear, concise way of indicating the passage of time, but are more effective for short time periods.

• Natural descriptions include the changing of weather, season, moon phases, etc.

• Changes in characters include the changing of relationships, appearance, personalities, etc.

• Write summaries for parts that can be skimmed through, and entire scenes that are necessary for the story to progress.

Conclusion

And that’s it for this workshop! I hope you enjoyed this and learnt something new – head back to the main cabin to work on your activity! ^^

Sources

• https://www.novlr.org/writing-tips/how-to-write-the-passage-of-time

• https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/tips-for-dealing-with-the-passage-of-time-in-a-story/

• https://writershelpingwriters.net/2017/06/a-question-of-when-indicating-time-passage-in-our-stories/

• https://www.aliventures.com/handling-time-in-fiction/

• https://writersedit.com/writing/5-ways-present-flow-time-story/

thank you so much for the extension <33

The Monomyth Workshop

Intro

Hello there, SWCers (and anyone else who happens to stumble upon this post )! Today, we’ll be examining the concept of the Monomyth (also known as the Hero’s Journey). In this workshop, you’ll be learning about the different stages and versions of the Hero’s Journey, some popular examples, and lastly, how to incorporate this structure into your own writing. 

So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

What is the Hero’s Journey?

The Hero’s Journey is a centuries-old storytelling framework that details the adventures of a protagonist, or hero, as they embark upon a grueling journey into an unknown world, describing the many challenges the hero faces before overcoming their obstacle. The structure is separated into three parts: the Departure, where the hero embarks on their journey, the Initiation, where the hero achieves their tasks, and the Return, where the hero comes back to their world with new knowledge.

The concept of the Hero’s Journey is a timeless and universal story blueprint that has been used by famous authors and amateur storytellers alike, but the version that we know today wouldn’t exist without two very important men: Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler.

The Minds behind the Hero’s Journey

Joseph Campbell was a literature professor at Saint Lawrence College and an incredibly influential figure in the creation of the Hero’s Journey. He was the one who coined the term ‘monomyth’, and he summarized it like this:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell introduced his 17 stages of the Hero’s Journey. However, in 2007, a screenwriter named Christopher Vogler decided to shake things up by publishing The Writer’s Journey, which condensed the framework into 12 steps. This quickly caught on, and is now the most widely used version of the Hero’s Journey in the world. (I’ll be using his version in this workshop.)

But what are these 12 steps he describes?

The 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey

Departure

Ordinary World: Before the hero’s journey even begins, we’re introduced to their mundane reality: their Ordinary World. This is a place where they’re relatively safe and comfortable, and it’s about to get turned upside down.

Call to Adventure: However, in this step, the hero receives something that calls them to head off into the unknown, interrupting their quiet life to present a problem or opportunity that could shake up their world forever. This is a summons that the hero cannot ignore, and it introduces the main conflict as well as determining the trajectory of the rest of the story.

Refusal of the Call: The hero initially rejects their summons, preferring to stay in their comfort zone. They may do this out of a sense of obligation to those back home, a feeling of fear, or anything else that keeps the hero trapped in their own circumstances. However, the hero eventually has no choice but to capitulate, accepting the task and deciding to set off into the great unknown.

Meeting the Mentor: The hero then meets a mentor of some sort, who usually gives them an item or tool to help them on their way. This mentor helps the hero learn the ropes of the whole ‘journey’ business, and offers wisdom and training to move into the next part of their journey.

Crossing the First Threshold: In this step, the protagonist officially embarks on their quest, leaving behind everything they know in favor of a new realm teeming with challenge and adventure. The hero is fully committed to their journey at this point, and even if they don’t have everything they need to succeed just yet, they’re ready to start.

Initiation

Tests, Allies, Enemies: In this step, the adventurer undergoes many challenges on the road to their transformation. This is often the longest part of the journey, as it takes the hero a while to acclimate to their new circumstances and overcome the obstacles in their way. Usually, the hero fails at some of these tasks, but eventually recovers and continues on their path.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: In this stage, the hero draws closer to their goal and the end of their high-stakes quest. This isn’t a physical cave; instead, the ‘inmost cave’ refers to the most dangerous part of the unknown world, such as the Chamber of Secrets or the Death Star. It’s important to note here that the stage does not refer to the hero actually entering this dangerous climax, only preparing for it.

Ordeal: In this step, the hero faces a great challenge, a ‘mini climax’ of sorts. Though the hero eventually survives this occurrence, they will emerge transformed after undergoing some sort of death and rebirth (whether literal or metaphorical), leaving the person they were in Stage 1 behind in favor of a stronger version of themselves.

The Reward (Seizing the Sword): Finally, the hero has completed their ordeal, no matter the result, and receives a reward of some sort: the object of their quest in the first place. After the hero’s dark moment in the Ordeal, the Reward is a welcome victory for the hero before they complete the grueling journey back to the Ordinary World. This reward propels them into the climax of the story, and when worst comes to worst, it’s the only thing that ensures their survival.

Return

The Road Back: Once the hero decides to return home, they try to escape with their reward, but face a lot of problems along the way. Sometimes, the challenges the hero faces trying to get home are as great or even greater than those they conquered to reach their reward in the first place. Most of the time, these consequences stem from the seizing of the reward: perhaps the dragon comes sniffing around for his stolen gold or the opposing armies come marching up the hill in revenge for the murder of their wicked king. But we haven’t reached the end of our story just yet: there’s still a lot of action left.

Resurrection: Finally, the climax occurs! This is the most important moment in the entire story, where the hero battles against the Dark Side and hopefully emerges victorious. Think of it as the hero’s final exam: this is when their knowledge, strength of character, and resolve is tested against the forces of evil. Whether the hero wins or loses, this moment ties together everything that’s happened in the story thus far, and the stakes are higher and the emotions more acute than anything the hero has ever experienced before. This step teaches the protagonist to truly accept their role as hero and return home changed and ready to make a difference.

Return with Elixir: In this final step, the hero returns home to great fanfare, bringing their reward with them. They’re excited for what this new chapter of their life might bring and armed with a new perspective, having grown and changed from the moment they set out on their quest. They’ve won their battle, but the hero has realized that the reward they seized is not half as important as the knowledge they’ve gained and the lessons they’ve learned. And that is the most important reward of all!

Examples

The Hero’s Journey structure is one of the most recognizable in literature. Once you understand the steps, you could spot examples everywhere. Here are two particularly well-known ones:

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Harry’s Ordinary World is his life with the Dursley’s, his time at Hogwarts is his Initiation, and his encounter with Voldemort and subsequent recovery serve as his Return.
  

• Star Wars: A New Hope: Luke Skywalker’s normal life on Tatooine is interrupted by a transmission from Princess Leia that calls him into the mysterious world of the Jedi and the Rebellion. His destruction of the Death Star is his Resurrection, and his triumphant arrival at the rebel base counts as his Return with Elixir.
  

How to Use the Monomyth in Your Writing

Now that you understand the basic outline of the Monomyth, you might be wondering how to apply that blueprint into your own writing. Here are some tips to help you on your way!

Stay organized. With so many steps, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everything you’re writing about. Therefore, it’s best if you plan all of the stages out before you even write the first sentence. This doesn’t have to be complicated at all: you can simply make an outline describing each step, and reference that when writing your story.

Feel free to manipulate the structure as much as you wish. It’s not set in stone, and sometimes the most interesting stories come from experimentation. The parts of the Hero’s Journey are flexible and open to interpretation, so don’t feel like you have to follow the steps to the letter.

Balance the hero’s outer and inner journey. The hero’s Inner Journey refers to the emotional growth the hero undergoes throughout their quest, and the Outer Journey describes the external factors they face. Make sure to balance these two elements: for example, let the hero’s emotional growth dictate how they respond to a situation, and let the outcome of that situation influence their inner confidence.

Develop interesting characters. The Hero’s Journey is incredibly reliant on compelling characters. If you have a dry, stereotypical ensemble, your narrative, however engaging, falls flat. Therefore, be sure to give your characters dimension, purpose and uniqueness. This will make your story soar.

Summary

In this workshop, we learned:

- The Hero’s Journey is a popular story structure that describes the adventure of a protagonist as they journey into an unknown world
- The format was influenced by the writings of Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler.
- It is comprised of three stages: the Departure, the Initiation, and the Return, with twelve individual steps.
- Two examples include Star Wars and Harry Potter.
- Using the Hero’s Journey in your own writing involves preparation, flexibility, balance, and character development.

Conclusion

Congrats on making it to the end of this workshop! I hope that you enjoyed reading and hopefully learned something. Your bidaily activity is posted in the main cabin, so have fun writing and good luck! <3

Sources

• Writing 101: What Is the Hero’s Journey?
  

• The Hero's Journey: 12 Steps to a Classic Story Structure
  

• From Ordinary to Extraordinary: How To Write The Hero’s Journey
  

• Mastering The Hero's Journey: A Comprehensive Guide To Storytelling Success
  

• The Hero’s Journey Breakdown: ‘Star Wars’
  

sorry for the delay in getting this out ^^“”

Unreliable Narrators: A Workshop

Narrators play a key role in storytelling, and subsequently, how they tell the story. But, what if your readers can’t trust the storyteller? Unreliable narrators are a fun way to add suspense and intrigue. It keeps the readers in a perpetual state of guessing what is real and what is fake (…or cake? ;0) In this workshop, we’ll be going over what an unreliable narrator is, why we use them, why and how they are unreliable, the kinds of unreliable narrators, and how to write them effectively.

What is an unreliable narrator?

Unreliable narrators, as the name indicates, are narrators that aren’t reliable. Let me explain. The way the narrator shows what is going on is different from reality, for one reason or another. Some ways that this can be done is by withholding information, tweaking the reality, or lying. Due to their subjective view and casting biases onto the reader, the narrator isn’t truthful about what is going on. Another key point to keep in mind is that the readers need to see the cracks in their facade, in order to make them wary about the narrator. If the narrator is not telling the truth, there should still be nuggets of truth that the reader is able to see, or the narrator won’t come off as being unreliable.

Why use an unreliable narrator?

So, now that we know what they are, why would we use them? When reading a story, there are questions that come up. What happened? Why did things go that way? Who did it? By adding a narrator that cannot be trusted, we give readers more questions to ponder: why is the narrator not telling the truth and what are they hiding from us? What else are they not telling us? Withholding information fuels the search for the answer.

Unreliable narrators are most often used in thrillers and mysteries, because of the ways that they lend themselves to those genres with similar aspects (not knowing the truth, suspense, etc.) However, they are not limited to those genres and those principles can be applied to other genres as well. They create a direct tension between the book and the reader. The narrator extracts key information, giving a different depth to the character and pulling the reader in.

Why is your narrator unreliable?

Every character has a motive, so what’s yours? In this specific case, you also have to consider why your narrator is unreliable and how that impacts the story.

There are two kinds of unreliable narrators, those who unintentionally muddle the truth and those who intentionally lie and deceive.

Unintentional unreliable narrators are unaware that they aren’t telling the truth. This can be done with children, or naive characters in general, who genuinely don’t understand what is going on. Amnesia is a popular trope to use with unreliable narrators, because while they may know some of the truth, their memories aren’t credible, as important pieces of information may be gone or slightly askew. They could also have mental disorders, like schizophrenia, not being mentally stable to tell the truth, even if they believe that they are. (If you do decide to go this way, be sure to research in order to portray disorders accurately ^^) Another way that narrators may unintentionally be unreliable is by filtering the world through their biases, exaggerating scenarios or by letting their emotions dictate how they view the world around them.

Biased narrators aren’t always unintentional though, as they could also be intentionally letting those biases dictate how they choose to present themselves. For example, they could be disregarding important facts, simply because it doesn’t line up with their narrative (Ex: All signs point to them being the culprit, but they make questionable excuses and focus on minor facts to prove that they aren’t.) These intentional unreliable narrators could be smarter than average, staying one step in front of everyone else and using that to their advantage. They know that they are lying to the readers, which can make parsing the truth in the lies harder, as they are crafting a story around the false narrative.

Why a narrator is unreliable can be a simple or complicated question to answer. In some cases, it's as simple as they don't know any better, because of naivety, impaired knowledge, or faulty memory. In other cases, it could be that the narrator has a motive. Is the narrator the culprit all along, intentionally trying to get the reader to believe them and believing that they are in the right? A compulsive liar? Delusional? They could be trying to get away with a crime, attempting to convince the reader and those around them that it wasn't them. Whatever their reason, it should filter nearly everything that is being told by the narrator directly towards the reader, keeping the motive consistent.

How is your narrator unreliable?

There are many ways that narrators can distort the truth, but in 1981, Willian Riggian identified five archetypes for the unreliable narrator: picaros, madmen, naifs, clowns, and liars.

• Picaros: The Exaggerators. Think drama queens and hyperboles. What they are saying has some truthful basis, but it’s blown out of proportion.

• Madmen: The Mentally Unstable. They are not mentally in tune with what is going around them in order to properly view and project it.

• Naifs: The Child/Naive. The characters who know the truth, but aren’t well-versed and are confused by what is going on around them.

• Clowns: They don’t take narrating seriously and play around with the reader’s expectations and the truth.

• Liars: Often consciously fabricating a story, these narrators tell blatant lies.

These can be mix and matched and how your narrator is unreliable doesn’t have to be exclusive to these categories ^^

How do you write an unreliable narrator?

The final step: how do you write a good unreliable narrator? One thing to consider is the point of view. First person is often used because the narrator and the character are the same. However, other POVs can achieve this as well, specifically deep third person. A bit of a hybrid between first person and third, it gets into the character's head, but still uses the third person pronouns (he/she/they) over the first person (I/me). Point of view is important because the readers need to be given limited amounts of information, not knowing the whole truth. A third person omniscient perspective, for example, is all-knowing, making it difficult to achieve an unreliable narrator.
How do you write an unreliable narrator that is clearly an unreliable narrator? As stated earlier, readers need to be able to see that the narrator isn't telling the truth, or at least not all of it. Showing this straight off the bat is a good way to ensure that readers catch on and there are a few ways to do so, but essentially, readers need to have some access to reality. They need some glimpse at the truth to know what the lie is.
Side characters can play a key role in this. Perhaps the narrator is recollecting what went on earlier to a friend, but they are lying, and readers will know because they know the truth. Or, in another scenario, the narrator could also be in a discussion about the big case that is going on and the evidence that other characters are bringing up contradicts what the narrator has told you. Side characters may also mention facts about the narrator in passing that weren't revealed to you earlier. All of these make you wonder about the credibility of the narrator. The reader should either know the truth when a lie is told, or be told an undeniable truth contradictory to the lie that they have believed.

Misc Things to Keep in Mind/Prompts

• Remember that even though your narrator is unreliable and and have many things that can be frustrating for readers, they still have something going for them so that your readers don’t hate them or not enjoy the reading experience due to it.

• What truths you choose to lie about or tweak should have a reason. Think about how omitting the truth in a situation won’t only affect the scene, but also the story as a whole.

• Plot twists can be especially fun in unreliable narratives, because they can come from the narrator themselves, not an outside force. They could show their true selves for a scene or finally reveal a major piece of evidence readers have been kept in the dark about.

• Play around with the POVs and characters! Having dual POV unreliable narrators can give the readers a better glimpse at what is the truth (what is said by both) but also explores how both characters are withholding information and the differences in how they choose to show the world.

• Have fun with the genres too! Fairy tales with an unreliable narrator? An exposé style piece from the POV of a naivete? A typical thriller story, but with a high fantasy twist? The possibilities are endless.

Summary

In this workshop, we have learned:

• Unreliable narrators don’t accurately portray the reality of what is going on

• They can be used to create tension and engage readers

• There are intentional and unintentional unreliable narrators

• Narrators have a reason to be unreliable

• There are five unreliable narrator archetypes.

• Readers need to be able to see the flaws in their facade and know that they can’t trust everything that they are being told

Conclusion

And that is it on unreliable narrators for this workshop! If this interested you, I encourage you to look into it more on your own; they are so much fun <3 Feel free to ask any questions and I hope that you learned something new.


Main Sources

https://www.writingmastery.com/blog/how-to-write-an-unreliable-narrator
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/8-tips-to-writing-unreliable-narrators
https://thehistoryquill.com/top-tips-for-pulling-off-an-unreliable-narrator
https://www.thenovelry.com/blog/unreliable-narrator
https://studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-elements/unreliable-narrator/#:~:text=The%20five%20most%20common%20types,readers%20in%20the%20wrong%20direction