Wednesday, February 27, 2013

How to Use a Mentor Novel to Improve Your Writing


Some writers avoid reading books in the genre or age group that they’re writing for, because they don’t want to be influenced by a similar character, style or plot. But when I’m working on writing middle grade stories, I like reading middle grade books. I find that it helps to keep my mind firmly in the world of ages 9-  to 12- year olds and their humor and language. It’s the same when I’m working on a picture book – I want to read other picture books to get a feel for the pacing, language and level of humor.

Mostly, I read for enjoyment, hoping I’ll absorb something that will improve my own writing. But once in a while, I’ll take a favourite book and study it more closely to see why it’s successful and how I can make my own story more like that. And by more “like that” I mean, a story that gives a reader the same kind of satisfying, emotional experience that I get when I read one of my favourites.

It’s not that I copy the plot or even the writing style, but I try to uncover strategies that will strengthen my own writing. For example, not so long ago, I was stuck and not making much progress with revisions on one of my middle grade writing projects. So I studied The False Prince by Jennifer Neilsen to see what made it such a captivating read, and it reminded me of some things I could do to make my story stronger:

1. Make my character more active. There is never a dull moment in The False Prince. Even though some of what the main character is doing is “off stage”, he’s always up to something. As a reader, I feel like he’s always scheming and that keeps me hooked.

2. Bring out more voice. I really admired way Jennifer Nielsen gave readers a strong sense of Sage’s personality right from the beginning. My story has a totally different main character and perspective than Jennifer Nielson uses in The False Prince (my main character is a girl, and I’m telling the story in third person, not first), but by thinking about my "mentor novel" I could see that what my story needed was more of my main character's personality. I discovered that you need to be a little dramatic in creating your character’s voice, otherwise it can come across as too quiet or not distinctive enough.

3. Show most story events through the main character’s thoughts and feelings. I believe some people call this “interiority” (for more on that see literary agent Mary Kole's Interiority vs. Telling). To me, it means that if I'm describing trees, I'm describing what it is about the trees that is important or noticed by my character (and if she's not thinking about the trees, then I don't mention them). Through reading The False Prince, I realized that it's okay to "tell" the reader some things, if that's what the character is thinking about (just don't go overboard).
 
Do you ever use a novel as a "mentor text" to help you with your own writing?

For more tips, check out this post by Dee at Dee Scribe Writing, Tuesday Writing Tip: Why Writers Need to Read.

11 comments:

  1. Yes, I study books too, or at least, watch for things I'm struggling with. I've even outlined books out when I was a newer writer. You've hit all the great reasons The False Prince is such a fantastic book. I'm reading The Runaway King now and it's just as fantastic.

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    1. Natalie, I just finished The Runaway King last night! I enjoyed it, though my 13-year-old had a different experience. She stopped reading near the beginning saying it was "too political". I'll have to try to get her to make a second attempt.

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  2. I do this all the time. :D

    Okay, that's just plain dumb not to read the genre you write. How do you know if your idea is fresh? And if you don't read the genre, you can't be all that passionate about it. I write and read YA and NA because I love those stories. I couldn't imagine writing them but not reading them. That would be crazy wrong.

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    1. I think it's more that some writers don't read in that genre while they're working on their own writing, because they don't want the voice or style to bleed into their writing.

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  3. I reread Harry Potter 4 and Stephen King's It every year to improve my writing. I also pay close attention to writers who are great at writing background description, since I often forget to set the scene and have to revise my settings in draft two. Ingrid Law is awesome at setting and description, so I reread her stuff.

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  4. The best writing mentors I've had is through reading books. Sometimes even books that may be in the same vein as mine. I think we all have an unique voice -- there are no new stories under the sun.

    Mentor novels spark ideas and when you deconstruct them, they offer a vast amount of knowledge.

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    1. So true, Karen. When I need to know how to do something in my writing, I look to my favourite books to see how other authors handled it.

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  5. I've taken hints from this and that novel, but I've never actually used one novel as a mentor. It's a wonderful idea. And I'm going to get The False Prince, because it keeps popping up everywhere I look.

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  6. Interesting. I love reading and I find that everytime I read a book, I learn something more that can develop my craft.

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    1. So true! Actually, now I'm starting to pay much more attention to elements of craft while I'm reading.

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  7. Great post! I always read what you call mentor novels -- books that inspire me by their characterization, handling of action (which I think is hard to write well), and development of plot. I'll have to check out The False Prince.

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