Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques – James Hynes

Jun 9, 2024

Top 20 tips from Writing Great Fiction by James Hynes

Start with a Strong Premise: Ensure your story has a compelling idea that can sustain interest throughout the narrative.
Understand Your Characters: Develop characters that are complex and multi-dimensional, capable of growth and change.
Show, Don’t Tell: Use vivid details and actions to reveal character traits and emotions instead of direct exposition.
Use the Freytag Pyramid: Structure your plot with a clear exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution to create a satisfying arc.
Balance Pace: Vary the pace of your narrative to maintain reader interest, balancing action-packed scenes with slower, introspective moments.
Create Memorable Settings: Make your settings vivid and integral to the story, using them to evoke mood and reflect character states.
Start in Medias Res: Engage readers quickly by beginning your story in the middle of an action or significant event.
Develop Subplots: Add depth to your narrative with subplots that complement and enhance the main plot.
Craft Engaging Dialogue: Write dialogue that reveals character, advances the plot, and feels natural and purposeful.
Use Point of View Strategically: Choose the right narrative perspective to deepen reader engagement and reveal crucial aspects of the story.
Build Tension and Suspense: Withhold information strategically and use foreshadowing to keep readers on edge.
Show Character Growth: Allow characters to evolve in believable ways, showing how they are affected by the story’s events.
Integrate Themes Subtly: Weave themes naturally into the narrative without heavy-handed exposition.
Avoid Clichés: Strive for originality in your plot, characters, and settings to keep your story fresh and engaging.
Revise Ruthlessly: Be willing to cut unnecessary scenes, characters, or dialogue that don’t serve the story.
Maintain Consistency: Ensure characters, settings, and plot points remain consistent throughout the narrative.
Use Symbolism and Metaphor: Enhance the depth of your story with symbolic elements that add layers of meaning.
Keep the Stakes High: Make sure the characters have a lot to gain or lose to keep the narrative compelling.
End Strong: Craft a conclusion that resolves the main plot satisfactorily, even if some subplots or questions remain open.
Write Regularly: Develop a consistent writing practice to maintain momentum and stay connected to your story.

Character

Lecture 3: How Characters Are Different from People

Characters vs. Real People: Characters are simpler than real people, created by a single writer and comprising only the most dramatic or representative moments of their fictional lives. Real people have complex lives shaped by heredity, culture, and experience.
Illusion of Wholeness: Fictional characters give an illusion of wholeness by showing only significant aspects, while real people have numerous ordinary moments.
Narrative Structure: Characters exist to serve the narrative, focusing on dramatic structure rather than the mundane details of real life .

Lecture 4: Fictional Characters, Imagined and Observed

Observation vs. Imagination: Writers draw from real-life observations and their imaginations. Some base characters on real people, while others create entirely imagined characters.
Exterior-Interior Continuum: Characters can be built from the outside in (physical details) or the inside out (psychological depth). British and American acting styles illustrate these approaches.
Psychology vs. Circumstances: Characters can be driven by internal psychology or external circumstances. Different narratives balance these aspects to create depth and realism in characters .

Lecture 5: Call Me Ishmael—Introducing a Character

Introduction Methods: Characters can be introduced through straightforward description, action, dialogue, interior monologue, or other characters’ reports.
Examples: Joseph Conrad’s “Lord Jim” introduces a character with vivid physical and behavioral descriptions, while Eva Figes’s “Patriarch” uses action and sensory details.
Economy and Suggestion: Effective introductions are economical and suggestive, presenting characters in ways that evoke curiosity and engagement from readers .

Lecture 6: Characters—Round and Flat, Major and Minor

Round vs. Flat Characters: Round characters are complex and capable of surprising in a convincing way. Flat characters are simpler, defined by a single trait or idea.
Major vs. Minor Characters: Major characters receive detailed development, while minor characters serve specific narrative functions and are sketched quickly but vividly.
Character Function: The function of each character within the narrative determines their level of development. Minor characters add richness to the story world without extensive backstories, while major characters drive the plot and themes .

These chapters emphasize the creation of characters that feel real and compelling, balancing simplicity and complexity, and using various methods to introduce and develop characters within the narrative.

Plot

Lecture 9: Turning a Story into a Plot

Order and Chaos: Literature creates order from the chaos of reality by structuring meaning.
Basic Components: A plot needs a productive situation, characters with a relationship to that situation, and a resolution.
Forward Momentum: A story needs to give readers a reason to keep turning the pages.
Story vs. Plot: A story is a chronological sequence of events, while a plot involves causality and motivation, making the sequence meaningful.
Narrative Tools: Using different points of view and playing with event order can shape the plot uniquely.

Lecture 10: Plotting with the Freytag Pyramid

Freytag Pyramid: This traditional plot structure includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Example: “The Wizard of Oz” is used to illustrate the stages of Freytag’s Pyramid.
Plot Stages: The inciting incident sets the story in motion, followed by escalating tension leading to the climax and eventual resolution.

Lecture 11: Adding Complexity to Plots

Withholding Information: A key principle of plotting involves deciding what information to withhold and when to reveal it to maintain reader interest.
Suspense and Surprise: Suspense is created by letting the reader in on secrets while withholding them from characters. Surprise involves withholding from both characters and readers.
Rearranging Plot Elements: Non-chronological storytelling and flash-forwards or flashbacks can add depth to the narrative.

Lecture 12: Structuring a Narrative without a Plot

Non-Traditional Plots: Some narratives, particularly modern and postmodern works, do not follow traditional plot structures but still engage readers through character development and thematic depth.
Example: Chekhov’s “The Kiss” and Joyce’s “The Dead” show how stories can be effective without conventional plots by focusing on moments of epiphany or deep personal insight.

Lecture 13: How to Start a Plot

Three Methods: John Gardner outlines three methods for starting a plot: borrowing from existing stories, working backward from the climax, and groping forward from an initial situation.
Starting In Medias Res: Many stories begin “in the middle of things” to quickly engage readers.
Limiting Choices: Restricting the time frame or point of view can help focus the narrative and create a more cohesive plot.

Lecture 14: How to End a Plot

Satisfying Endings: The conclusion of a plot should resolve the central conflict in a believable and satisfying way, even if not all loose ends are tied up.
Examples: Endings can range from neatly resolved to open-ended, depending on the story’s themes and the writer’s intentions.

Setting, place, and scene

Lecture 18: Evoking Setting and Place in Fiction

Importance of Setting: While not equally crucial in all stories, a memorable setting often contributes significantly to the narrative.
Setting as a Metaphor: Settings can symbolize larger themes or conflicts in the story. Examples include Dickens’s “Bleak House” and Farrell’s “Troubles,” where the settings metaphorically represent the plot’s essence.
Evoking Mood: Settings can evoke specific moods and emotions, such as fear or suspense, enhancing the reader’s engagement.
Character Revelation: Descriptions of settings often reflect and reveal aspects of the characters. For instance, George Eliot’s description of Casaubon’s home in “Middlemarch” mirrors his personality.
Passage of Time and Movement: Settings can illustrate the passage of time and characters’ movements, as seen in Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” where detailed descriptions slow the narrative to mirror the journey’s pace.

Lecture 19: Pacing in Scenes and Narratives

Narrative Tempo: Stories vary in pacing, with some being fast-paced and action-packed, while others are slow and contemplative. Effective pacing balances information delivery, scene length, and reader engagement.
Proportions and Balance: The essence of pacing is a balance between the length of the narrative and the number of incidents or characters, as well as between action and exposition.
Scene vs. Summary: Important and dramatic events are often dramatized in detailed scenes, while background information or less dramatic events might be summarized. Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” exemplifies this balance, where his early life is summarized to emphasize the story’s critical moments.
Shifting Paces: Intense or dramatic scenes can be either fast-paced or slow, depending on the intended effect. For example, John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” slows the narrative to heighten suspense during critical moments.

Lecture 20: Building Scenes

Daily Writing Process: Writers vary in their daily approaches, focusing on different elements like ideas, sentence crafting, and overall narrative shape. The common goal is to ensure the narrative hangs together cohesively.
Types of Scenes: Scenes range from brief interactions to elaborate, multi-character settings. They can serve different purposes, such as advancing the plot, revealing character thoughts, or providing thrilling action.
Dramatizing vs. Summarizing: Key narrative moments are often dramatized in scenes, while essential but less interesting information is summarized. The decision depends on the scene’s importance and inherent interest.
Balancing Requirements: A scene should be interesting in itself and contribute to the overall narrative. The length and detail should be appropriate to its purpose within the story.