writer tips - Sacha T. Y. Fortuné

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On Writing

Cookie-cutter Writing & Missing the Mystery

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I’m a little ashamed to admit it… but… I barely read any books last year.

Literally, less than a handful. Off the top of my head, I can recollect maybe three or four. But that’s it.

Blame the pandemic, blame the baby and the newborn-newmama black hole of despair funk, blame just my utter laziness. The fact is: reading novels was nowhere near my priority list. (And, as a self-published writer, it should be!)

There was just way too much noise in my head to get into a good book.

Mind you, I read a HUUUUUUGGGGGEEEE amount of online news, more than I have ever consumed in my entire life! And I binge-watched a fair deal of Netflix shows.

But one of my favourite pastimes — curling up with a book… went largely out the window.

New Year = New Resolutions = New Reads?

This year, now that my revised Book 1 is launched and out of the way, I’ve committed myself to getting back into the “writer girl” mode.

Part of that means I need to take a fresh look at the market, which means *drumroll, please!*… reading.

So I downloaded a boatload of books, and I got cracking.

A few days later, I’m just as disappointed as I was the last time I did this en masse… which was… you guessed it: last year, around the same time!

There’s something about the “New Year” that drives us all to think we can reinvent the world all of a sudden based on the arbitrary whims of the calendar.

There were a few TERRIBLE books in the bunch, but for the most part the books weren’t bad. Some were pretty good (and I’ll be posting reviews on my website, when I get a chance). But for the most part, they just weren’t… well, for lack of a better word: original.

Formulaic = Write to Market = Selling out?

I’m on what seems like a zillion Facebook writer groups, and I have found them useful to keep a finger on the beat of what’s happening in the writer world.

No one singular thing works for everyone to achieve huge success, but there is a general trend of the more prolific, successful writers encouraging newbie writers to “write to market” — look at your competition, crank out something similar, make the cover and blurb shine, market it, and then watch the money roll in.

It’s extremely useful advice, and it’s helped a lot of writers turn their hobby into a full-time career, because they are aggressively targeting a market with expectations.

But it also means that… well, in a nutshell, I’ve read basically the same book by different authors, over and over and over again.

While I’m thrilled at my mediocre success thus far (because I write for love, not money, as I don’t do this full-time), it would be great to achieve massive success myself.

And I know that if I put my mind to it, I can do it too — I’m not a dumbass, and fortunately I have pretty decent skills in writing, editing, Photoshop, web development, social media, and just general “internet” skills that any self-published writer needs.

But… could I live with myself, if my writing passion was dampened and I churned out a “cookie-cutter” novel?

Categories, Descriptions & the Loss of Mystery

It’s gotten to such a state that writers now advertise exactly what to expect on the cover and in the title:

  • “A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance”
  • “A Enemies-to-Lovers Romance”
  • “A Christian Workplace Friends-to-Lovers Romance”
  • “A Secret Baby Romance”
  • “A Boss-Employee Romance”
  • “A Slow Burn Small Town Romance”

And some go even further and tell you in the blurb:

  • No graphic scenes
  • No cheating
  • Some foul language included
  • Happily ever after

…etc. etc. etc. etc.

Now, of course, some readers like this, and prefer it all to be laid out bare before they even turn the first page… but where is the mystery?

Maybe I’m old school, but one of my favourite memories of childhood was browsing books in the public library, trying to decide which to pick — looking at the cover and blurb and making my own decision about whether this book would rock my world.

Nowadays, you don’t even need to get past the title, in most instances, to make that decision.

The categorisation on the cover tells you exactly what to expect. You open the book, it dives straight into the action, and by the end of the first chapter you’re 99% sure of how the book will progress and eventually end. There are very, very few surprises.

Is there a place for Real-life Romance?

So… back to me. I know my books are awesome. I love my characters, I put a lot into them, and my readers appreciate that!

A quick glance through my reviews (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3) give me affirmation that my writing style and the decision to stick to my guns have produced a whopper of a book series that rocked their world.

But… it rocked their world because it was DIFFERENT. Because they went in, not knowing what to expect, and got carried away by the current of that river of words and emotions that I poured into my books.

My problem is that not having that “mass appeal” of the “cookie-cutter” template means significantly less readers.

Still, what I have always loved about my characters in my Hart & Cole series, is that they are fabulously flawed. The “hero” cheats. The “heroine” is bitchy. Their parenting styles are atrocious, at times. They are terrible friends, sometimes. They are inappropriate. They make mistakes that can make your head spin.

These aren’t people you swoon for. But they’re people you probably know.

They’re people you feel for. People you root for.

They’re people whose stories I want to keep writing.

I don’t know how to write anything else… I don’t know how to “create” characters, when mine have so seamlessly created themselves and begged to be put onto the page.

Maybe someday I’ll write to market, but for now I’m really hoping that there’s still a place in the world for original, unpredictable “real-life” romance.

 

 

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Hart & Cole Series

Writing & Fictionalising Personal Experience

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There’s a line in Pandora’s Poison (Hart & Cole Book 2), that if a certain person from my past reads it, he will burst out laughing… or at least, I hope so!

Thankfully, I’ll most likely never have to find out. I don’t think he reads much, and if he does, my book won’t be his “cup of tea”.

…And then, there’s an another event in my past that I would love to write about. But I can’t, so I don’t…

There are stories I’ve published on my Creative Writing website, The Writink that were inspired by particular individuals; and quite a few items of Poetry that were inspired by crumbling friendships; a few of these I’ll willingly reveal:

And there’s snippets everywhere, from just about everything that I’ve experienced, that may one day slip into a piece of writing.

…But some things, some things that happen to you… never make it to print. Some things, need to die with you.

Because, as a writer, you are a keeper of everyone’s secrets.

But how do you decide which you should keep, and which can be revamped into your “fiction” piece?

 

…Who would recognise it?

I remember I once posted a status on Facebook that upset someone close to me, who assumed it was a direct personal target. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.

The wonderful thing about being a writer is you’re also an escape artist — you get to hide behind that film of “creative license”. And boy, do some of us just love THAT.

In my case, with that flaming one-liner in Book 2, even if the individual in question does perchance stumble on it one day, I don’t think he’d mind. He might even be flattered.

That’s a rarity.

Not everyone appreciates your/their personal history being “fictionalised” for mass consumption and perhaps even ridicule.

I’m sure everyone remembers a couple of pop culture incidents with a similar theme. Let’s just look at rap music:

  • Pitbull was sued for using the lyric “locked up like Lindsay Lohan“; he supposedly meant it as flattery but she took it as an insult. He eventually won the case.
  • Kanye West apparently asked Taylor Swift to use the lyrics “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why, I made that b*tch famous“; she okayed it, and then the story changed afterward.

 

Rule of Thumb – 3 Questions

Of course, as writers most of us are not celebrities, so while EVERYONE knew exactly what the reference was in those incidents, it’s unlikely readers will know if you use something from your past.

But… the person it’s about, will. So does that mean you can use it?

My rule of thumb, is to first ask yourself: “Who would recognise this?”

Have you shared the incident with your friends, has the other person perhaps done so as well?

If not, you’re on the right track so far. Hopefully, the person may smile at the reference and be thrilled to be in on the inside joke.

The next question, should be: “How much damage could this do?”

Be honest with yourself. You DO know what’s potentially inflammatory, and what’s likely to be harmless.

And finally, “How would the person feel about this?”

You may have an idea. But if you are really not sure, and particularly if it’s a potentially sensitive person, ASK.

 

Creative License Be Damned

Of course, you may not always get it right.

The person you think would be amused, may be pissed off when they learn you’ve lifted from your shared personal experience for your own gain.

And yes, as a writer, you do have some personal creative license.

Inspiration has to come from somewhere, after all!

My own personal preference is to use inspiration lightly — so that the person in question may WONDER, but not necessarily KNOW.

It may not be the best choice… thankfully, so far I’ve survived with this method virtually unscathed.

I know many situations, however, where this wasn’t the case.

So, be careful. As a writer, you have a responsibility to use your craft for good, not evil.

And remember…

For the love of God, just ASK.

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