Writing Real: Mastering Realistic Fiction

1. Introduction: Hello, and welcome to writing Real Mastering realistic Fiction. My name is Nia Hogan, and I'll be your instructor. As an Indie author of multiple realistic fiction titles with nearly a decade of experience helping clients plot and write realistic fiction novels, I have extensive experience in this genre and love teaching others how to master the art of writing real stories. This course was designed for writers interested in learning more about what goes into writing authentic, realistic fiction. In this course is the write real workbook, which aligns with the course and can be found in the project section as a free downloadable PDF. Throughout this course, I will cover strategies and techniques to help develop realistic characters, establish real world settings, write authentic dialogue, craft conflict, and resolutions that feel like they were inspired by the real world events. 2. What Makes Realistic Fiction Real: If you're ready to dive into the magic that is realistic fiction, let's start with the first lecture. What makes realistic fiction real? Realistic fiction was my favorite genre growing up, which made it easy for me to apply my knowledge of storytelling techniques to my own books. Realistic fiction is a literary genre that depicts stories that are true to life. Story elements such as characters, settings, and the events will model people, places and events you might experience in the real world. Crossroads that characters face or their will to get whatever they're after are relatable, unbelievable. When a reader selects realistic fiction, they are expecting that the story mirrors the world around them. Sometimes these stories take place in the past and make readers nostalgic for a different time in their lives. The aim regardless of the time period the story is set in is to reflect the world as it is with all the complexities that naturally exist. When writing in this genre, it's easy to say, keep it realistic. But what does that really mean? That's what this course will elaborate on. How to make the important elements of your story feel real for your reader. 4. Real Worlds: Now on to our second lecture on setting and world building real worlds. Creating a realistic setting is all about believability. If you were basing your story in an existing location, it's important to research the area. Maybe you grew up there. That's great if you're re imagining this place as it was when you once lived there. The best way to achieve authenticity is to base your story on the time you live there or visit to see what's changed. Imagine reading a story set in your hometown and realizing the author is out of touch with landmarks and the social climate of the area. It will be harder to establish credibility with readers if your real world setting seems off. Realistic fiction is not a contract to write about places that exist in the real world. It's about creating settings that feel like a place you could visit. Realistic environments make sense for their geographical location. For example, a story set in Florida is not going to experience a blizzard. If you say your character took the train all the way to the airport in New York, you will lose some credibility. If you couldn't even research the correct train route, what else did you fail to research? The moment you begin establishing the exposition, readers are trying to create a picture of your setting in their minds. An issue with setting you may have experienced is when authors create stereotypical environments that are overused or dramatizations. Stories set a impoverished neighborhoods might have gun toting gang members, abandoned buildings full of drug using squatters and streets lined with potholes. While neighborhoods such as this may exist in the real world, ask if your muse for this setting is based on an old literary reference or a setting that you have an intentional purpose for creating. Falling into stereotype shows a lack of creativity and limited reference points. When writing about a setting that's inspired by a real place, it's essential to create authentic descriptions. Pictures can certainly assist with this if you're unable to visit the place. But when it comes to writing about time periods that you didn't live through, it's important to research as much through people who did as possible. Their personal experiences and memories can help you fill in the gaps that will create a more realistic atmosphere for readers. Grounding a setting in reality is easy for stories that are set in present day. You understand the world around you because you're living in it. Writing stories in the past will force you to ensure there is accuracy in things such as technology, current trends and fashion, and even popular culture. Asking people you know for photos taken during this time period can help you with crafting authentic imagery. Asking them about their experience growing up during this time can also assist in creating authentic situations and understanding the social climate beyond reading books and watching films. When readers are introduced to your setting in the exposition, it helps them connect to the imagery and learn more about your characters. Providing your readers with visuals and context for the world your characters live in helps readers root themselves in your world and engage in your story line better. Setting can create an immersive experience and work in your favor. Think about your favorite story worlds. What did you love about them? Did you want to be friends with this group of people, visit the places they frequented. Give your readers something to marvel at. 5. Real Talk: Moving on to our next lecture, real talk. Crafting authentic dialogue takes practice. Realistic dialogue is not going to sound like a real world conversation. If you candidly were to record you talking to another person, there will be a lot of filler words, people talking over each other, and information is sometimes going to be unclear. Writing realistic dialogue should not mimic real life conversation. It's all about creating relatable conversations with human like imperfections, but making the message to readers clear and the dialogue purposeful. What I mean by good dialogue must serve a purpose is that it should be revealing information and or advancing the plot. If your dialogue isn't giving readers more information or helping to move a scene, it should be omitted. Fulfill this purpose by thinking about who your character is, how they speak, and what they must say in order to advance the storyline. Your characters should have a unique voice. Developing this voice comes from understanding who they are at their core. Is your character flippant and impatient? Are they warm and enjoy sharing their knowledge? Are they lonely and hence tend to overshare with strangers? A big part of writing authentic dialogue is understanding how your character would sound in the real world. Oftentimes, characters are inspired by other literary references, people we know, or people we know exist. Study how they talk, how they express ideas, and how they respond in social settings. Let's explore three different characters sang dialogue with the same purpose. Passing a salt shaker across the dinner table. Character one. Seriously, can you stop yapping and pass the salt? Character two. Can you please pass the salt, dear? I know it's not good for me, but I can't eat corn on the cob without it. And character three. Sorry to bother you. The salt is out at my table. Can I borrow your shaker if you're not using it? These three different ways of asking for Salt reveals a little something about the characters that the reader can infer or wonder about. Why is character one so irritated over salt or lack thereof? Why does character two need to justify their use of table salt? And why doesn't character three take salt from an empty table themselves or ask the waiter? Characterization through dialogue should not feel forced. Some people in real life like telling people who they are. I'm a good person. It's something people say. But ask yourself, is this how you want your character to be revealed? Are they saying this to convince themselves that they are a good person or are they truly? Remember that actions speak louder than words. Your characters may never say who they are or who they think they are to others. They may not even be that self aware. Consider what, if anything, you want your characters to reveal about themselves through what they say. In the same way, characters might reveal things about other characters through their dialogue. For example, if one says, you're really mean, it may simply be an opinion, but when there's a consensus among characters, these repetitive similarities help the reader draw conclusions about a character's personality. Dialogue can be a powerful tool if used well. An easy way to test if dialogue sounds authentic and realistic is to read it aloud in the voice you heard in your head as you wrote it. If content seems like purposeless fluff, it probably is. If it's too wordy, paraphrase or ask yourself what is needed. If it doesn't align with your character's voice, how else could you say the same line, like we discussed in the past the Salt example? Workshop the dialogue to make it reflect who your character is. Take your time. 6. Crafting Conflict: Conflict is the engine that keeps your story rolling and should be a realistic journey. In this lecture, we'll discuss how to do just that Craft conflict. A well written story will take your characters on a journey of highs and lows. Creating tension is the spark that keeps readers wanting to turn the page. Crafting conflict that feels realistic begins with knowing what your character's motivations are. If your character has a goal or desire, consider how they would reach their goals in the real world and what could naturally go wrong or get in the way of what they want. How could other characters or events impede with them reaching their goals? Realistic obstacles don't have to be boring. I'll give you a few examples of character goals with some realistic barriers. A character that wants power might be blackmailed out of her involvement in a scandal, or another character might be in the position they want. A character seeking acceptance for maybe a fraternity might face hazing practices, have self esteem issues that make them feel unworthy of the organization, or there's a current member that despises them. A character seeking fortune by investment might have worked with a new social media platform startup, and now they're finding themselves hiding this financial move from a spouse, or maybe an emergency occurs and they just don't have the money to handle it. A character seeking freedom to a new country may realize their passports are expiring soon. Maybe they don't have enough money to take the entire family with them, or there might be threats against their lives. These challenges can create interesting events in your story. The outcome of conflict should matter to your characters because it's putting a strain on their life, desires, and or future. What's at stake has to be realistic. In your personal life, your biggest hurdles are ones that are not solved easily or overnight. A character facing eviction realistically is not going to walk past a paper bag full of money with enough to cover their rent. A character who wants to save the relationship probably isn't going to purchase a love potion, nor will their partner likely have a change of heart overnight without provocation. Consider if this problem existed in the real world to someone like your character. What would they have to lose if they quit or if something goes wrong? Conflict that resonates most with readers are problems they can relate to. Think of themes that affect most people at some point in their lives, relationship struggles, power struggles, loss, challenges in the workplace. There are so many universal conflicts that people across generations and between cultures can connect to. Conflict has to progress naturally. Things should not happen out of nowhere or for no reason. Feel rushed or be an avalanche of never ending problems. Yes, people are laid off out of nowhere, and this is still a realistic problem that requires solving. If this happens to your character, this best serves as a catalyst for your story rather than a rising action. The reaction to this layoff should align with your character's temperament and what's at stake for them. A character who loved their job or has been with the company for the last 20 years will react differently than someone who hated the job but just needed the income versus someone who was getting ready to resign anyway. Consider what makes most sense for your character. Cause and effect has to be realistically paced and the most natural reactions to actions that are possible. I like to ask myself, what are the odds of this happening, and why was that the reaction? The chances of a car bomb exploding blocking off the one road to a local hospital for a mother who's ready to give birth is not likely, although it could happen in the real world. But what is more realistic of an obstacle that's keeping her from getting to the hospital in time? That the police pulled her over for speeding, that the pain of the contractions is too much to bear and she has to pull over, that the car is low on gas, and there may not be enough to get them there. All three scenarios would build tension that feels real. Lastly, conflict must be resolved in a way that changes the character in a sensible way. Most characters won't do a 180 transformation, and that's perfectly okay. How they change is important to note, and was a clear lesson learned from the outcome and their growth as a person? Can readers resonate with this change, as well? Keep your story grounded in real life to meet your reader's expectations of the genre, craft plausible conflicts with authentic challenges. The more realistic they are, the better readers can relate to your character's journey. Evoke genuine human emotions such as love, loss, hope, and joy, so readers can feel the impact of your story. 7. Conclusion: It's time to wrap things up. We've come to the end of this course, and I want to thank you so much for joining me in the virtual classroom. If you found this course helpful, please leave a positive review and share this course so that others who are in need of help with writing realistic fiction can get the help that they need, as well. If you still have questions or comments or concerns, you can feel free to email me at novel writing for beginners@gmail.com. Again, my name is Nia Hogan, and it's been a pleasure to serve you. Happy writing.