Cleaver explains that the need to hear and share stories is one of the deepest human social needs.  We’ll even tell stories that put our safety and freedom at risk (such as when bank robbers can’t resist sharing tales of their exploits which eventually get them arrested).  A “story” in this sense is defined as a narrative that contains conflict, action, and resolution.  Conflict occurs when a character or characters in a story want something, but there is an obstacle in their way.  To get what they want, characters must take action.  The action they take reveals something about them.  In the end, they’ll get what they’re after or fail (which is “resolution”).  In fact, Cleaver says that “if the characters are having a good time, the reader is not.  If it’s going well, it’s going nowhere.”

Fixing a Story That’s Not Working

When you’re looking at a scene or story that just isn’t working, you should ask yourself these questions and make sure you have the answers:

• Who wants what?
• What’s the obstacle?
• What’s the character doing to overcome the obstacle?
• How does that turn out?

It’s not necessarily one character in a scene who wants something.  If characters have opposing “wants”, it can lead to a more interesting story.  For example, a detective in a mystery may want clues from a witness that would help unravel the case.  The witness may want to tell the detective what he saw, but fears doing so because it would expose an affair he was having.  While these two characters are verbally “battling” in the story, the reader learns more about both of them.  Revealing character, according to Cleaver, is the writer’s primary purpose at all times.

Other Tidbits from Immediate Fiction

Some other interesting points made in the book:

• Cleaver encourages writers to think about emotion as they write.  Writers are encouraged to “look for all the emotions that the character could possibly be feeling at one time.  If he could be feeling it, he should be feeling it.”
• Remember that no matter how strangely a character or person is behaving, what they’re doing makes perfect sense to them and would make sense to you if you understood how they see the world.  The key is to understand what would make you act that way and reflect that in the character.
• Readers experience a story through the characters, and share the experience the character is having.
• If you have exposition to share with the reader, spread it out across the scene rather than doing a “dreaded info dump”.
• When you’re trying to decide what a character will do in a situation, ask yourself what is more dramatic and what will reveal more character, and do that.
• Pretty much every writer’s first draft of a novel is bad.  The successful novelist is the one who sticks with that bad novel and keeps polishing it until it’s good.

Cleaver’s description of the writer’s subconscious is excellent:  “It’s like having a trusted friend who helps you with everything, whom you must depend on to get anything done, but who every so often without warning and for no reason decides to clobber you.”  When you’re on a roll, the subconscious is helping you keep in the flow.  But sometimes it pops up and tells you that your writing is awful, that you should quit, etc.

In addition to advice on writing fiction, Cleaver also covers overcoming writer’s block, the difference between scriptwriting and fiction writing, and marketing your work.

As you read through the book, the constant reminders to refer back to want, action, obstacle, resolution, and emotion feel incredibly redundant.  But these are important concepts Cleaver is trying to pound into the reader’s brain.  It’s written in a very conversational style, and manages to be both informative and fun to read.

In my opinion, this book should be on every fiction writer’s bookshelf.  It’s one I refer to again and again.

In the section entitled “Imagery Versus Description”, Smith begins by saying “My advice: Never write description.  Description implies stopping the story to write colorful stuff.  Instead, create powerful imagery which suggests keeping the story in motion using those images to pump up the action, conflict, and dialogue.”  He then shows examples of how to do this, by weaving the description into the action, incorporating images into the action, seeing through the character’s eyes, using tiny but telling details, choosing action-bearing verbs and non-verbs, inventing fresh viewpoints, and creating an image without saying so.  He not only provides examples of how to do these things, but explains afterward how the technique was used in the example.

His suggestion in “How to Write a Bestseller” is an interesting one.  He tells you to take your favorite bestselling author’s novel, and copy it word-for-word by hand on paper.  Why?  Doing this, Smith says, can teach you simple mechanics like punctuating dialogue.  It can help you see more clearly how the author uses imagery, describes action, and writes dialogue.  You may even begin to see how “every word serves a purpose in a best-seller, carrying the freight without detours.  In short, you learn how not to waste your own time and words.”  Smith suggests taking notes as you copy, to jot down the lessons you learn from the author’s work. You should also stop periodically and try to write a similar scene yourself, using what you’ve learned.

The other sections of the book cover characterization, editing, beginnings and endings, point of view, word choice, dialogue, pacing, plot, writer’s block, and getting your work published.  Depending on where you are as a writer, you’ll find some topics more helpful than others.  You may find some to be completely useless, and others to be eye-openers.  Personally, I found most of the book to be filled with easily-digested, useful ideas and “things to ponder”. 

The Writer’s Little Helper would make a great gift for a friend who is thinking about writing a novel, or someone who’s struggling with some part of their story.  It’s also a great reference to flip through occasionally, just to remind yourself of techniques you’ve mastered and to get you to think about those you may not have mastered.  It’s also a relatively inexpensive book, which is a bit unusual for a modern hardcover.

Books can be downloaded for free in some cases,
and for prices that max out at about $8.00. That’s quite reasonable
compared to mainstream titles you might pick up at your local bookstore.

Books can be downloaded in DRM-free MP3, AAC, and
Ogg Vorbis formats.