Writers in the Storm

by Louise Privette

People read biographies to learn more about people they admire or better understand the motivations of those they despise. A great biographer offers a glimpse into the lives of noteworthy individuals. Readers share the individual’s journey, experience their triumphs and failures, and gain insights into their own lives.

I recently wrote a friend’s biography. The task took longer than the return on my five-year certificate of deposit, and I faced some unique challenges while crafting his life story. Here are some lessons learned and tips for writing a captivating biography.

Choose a Subject Worth Knowing

Make sure their story passes the “so what?” test. Although many people lead honorable lives and are loved by those close to them, they may not have a story that the wider world will want to read. Whether writing about a historical figure, a famous person, or your next-door neighbor, make sure this person has a story worth telling.

Sylvia Nasar offers a relevant quote in A Beautiful Mind, the biography of mathematician and inventor John Nash. Nobel Prize winner Nash said:

“Find a truly original idea. It is the only way I will ever distinguish myself. It is the only way I will ever matter.” 

Find the Hook that will Resonate with Readers

What is it about your subject that will draw readers in and make them want to learn more about this person? Is your subject a:

• cancer survivor?
• modern-day hero like Captain Sullenberger of Hudson River fame?
• villain like Adolf Hitler?
• member of a marginalized group?

After researching the key events in baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s life, author Doreen Rappaport found her hook. She realized that courage and defiance defined the man who opened the gates for athletes of all races. Due to Robinson’s contributions to the sport and society, Major League Baseball retired his number. Ms. Rappaport hit a home run with the title of her book: 42 Is Not Just a Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson. 

Set the Scene

Ground your reader in time and place. What historical events were happening at the time of this person’s life—Woodstock, Desert Storm, the Civil Rights Movement? Capture the mood, music, and culture of your subject’s era.

Jack Weatherford immersed himself in the region and culture to write Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.

“It took an anthropologist—who spent years learning Mongolian, living on the steppes for a part of each year, and listening for the truth of Genghis Khan’s life—to flesh out a biography of a man whose life may actually have been bigger than his myth.” https://www.audible.com/blog/article-best-historical-biographies

Do Your Research

Ask for diaries, personal letters, and photographs. Gain permission to interview family members and people who know the person well to gather anecdotes and gain different perspectives. After interviewing my subject’s girlfriend, she provided dialogue and vivid descriptions of the settings. She also offered insights that made him more vulnerable and relatable.

If your subject is long deceased, review historical records, newspaper articles, speeches, and other books about this person. Genealogy sites like ancestry.com may lead you to surviving family members or descendants.

Walter Isaacson is one of the most famous biographers of our time. His works include Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Elon Musk, and Einstein: His Life and Universe. Isaacson conducted more than forty interviews with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and conversed with over 100 friends, family members, and business rivals to complete the biography of this entrepreneur.

I wrote the biography of Tristan Peigné, a biracial man. Through my research, I discovered that interracial marriage only became legal in the United States following the Supreme Court decision of 1967, the year of Tristan’s birth.

Create a Timeline

Subjects rarely recount the events of their lives in chronological order. After listening to the most compelling stories of my subject’s life, I organized the chapters into a coherent narrative arc. Like any great story, there should be a well-defined beginning, middle, and end. Although structure is essential, I began my subject’s biography in medias res, in the middle of the action, to focus on a critical moment in his life and capture the reader’s attention. Then, flashbacks clarified the situation, foreshadowed future events, and enhanced the story.

Jeanette Walls, the author of Glass Castles, also began her life story in medias res with one of the most memorable opening lines:

"I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster."

Take us on an Emotional Rollercoaster

Most writers know the adage, Show, don’t just tell. Use descriptive language to help the reader feel the ups, downs, twists, and turns of this person’s life. Engage the reader’s five senses to evoke sensory experiences and immerse us in the story.

“Like my father, I’ve always been a daydreamer, and sometimes I’d imagine that on the way home, a terrorist might jump out and shoot me on those steps. I wondered what I would do. Maybe I’d take off my shoes and hit him, but then I’d think if I did that, there would be no difference between me and a terrorist. It would be better to plead, “OK, shoot me, but first listen to me. What you are doing is wrong. I’m not against you personally; I just want every girl to go to school.”

 ~ Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban (Prologue, pp. 6-7).

Help Your Subject to Become Vulnerable

Most of us don’t want others to know our deep, dark secrets; however, people unwilling to share their flaws, failures, and challenges will not be relatable to their readers. I’m fortunate to have a doctorate in counseling psychology, and I used this knowledge to guide my interviews. However, biographers don’t need a background in Freud to employ active listening skills. By gently probing, listening without judgment, paraphrasing, and clarifying, I gave my subject the space, respect, and safety to tell his story. Using my iPhone, I recorded my subject’s life story over four years while traveling in a car, dining together, or meeting at his studio.

Identify Overarching Themes

Themes describe the lesson or message that the author wants to convey. The overarching theme is central to the individual’s character. For example, many people associate Abraham Lincoln with honesty, Mother Teresa with compassion, and Walt Disney with imagination.

In Dancing Through Life, the protagonist’s story is one of resilience, perseverance, and passion. Tristan faced the challenges of dyslexia, homelessness, injury, illness, and racism. Use your subject’s themes to provide structure and insight into your character’s motivations.

Exercise Good Judgment

A biographer must balance a need to tell an honest story and protect the privacy and feelings of others. When possible, obtain the necessary permissions to divulge personal information and be mindful of the potential impact of your words. Unless you’re comfortable with a Jersey Boys handshake, consider a contract to outline the terms of your agreement.

Purchase professional liability insurance if you wish to add a layer of protection. Together, my subject and I chose to omit several chapters and various facts that might cause psychological harm to individuals who are still living.

Review, Revise, and Polish

I had no idea how long it would take to complete the biography of my dance instructor. Covid halted the interviews, gave my teacher an unplanned vacation, forced me to pull out my old Jane Fonda exercise tapes, and set the project back for over a year.

Due to my subject’s dyslexia, I had to read each chapter aloud to him. He then provided clarification while I recorded the necessary changes. I revised each chapter at least five times.

Don’t plan on pounding out the biography in six months and scheduling a Caribbean cruise with your royalties. Allow yourself enough time to write your initial draft, edit, revise, and polish your work. I joined several writers’ groups whose members provided invaluable feedback. Once I finished writing the manuscript, I sought the assistance of several beta readers who focused on not only the grammatical errors but also the flow of each chapter.

Final Thoughts

Writing a biography is an opportunity to honor someone’s life and legacy. Hopefully, it will be a labor of love that enables you to present someone’s extraordinary and complex life. Following these tips, you can craft a biography that captivates, informs, and delights your readers.

Have you considered writing a biography? What do you think is the most important aspect of writing a biography? Do you have a favorite biography?

* * * * * *

About Louise

Louise co-authored Dancing Through Life: A Memoir and served as the executive editor of Many Worlds, Many Stories, Inkslingers Anthology Volume 5. She practiced school psychology for over 30 years and taught classes as an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University. Louise holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from Argosy University.

As the 2015-16 president of the Arizona Association of School Psychologists (AASP), Louise wrote a monthly column for Intervention, the official newsletter of AASP. She is currently working on The School Psychologist’s Survival Guide. Keep up with future projects and events on her website: https://louiseprivette.com.

Louise enjoys ballroom dancing, oil painting, volunteering as a Goodyear arts commissioner, and spending time with family and friends.

Top image from https://pixabay.com/photos/book-store-knowledge-library-books-7643976/

By Kris Maze

It is the season of NaNoWriMo, a festive writing time when writers challenge themselves to madly type away at their latest-great-idea, trying to complete 50,000 words in a manuscript. Writers devote a lot of time to plot out their story line, to build their immersive worlds, and to craft compelling characters. When finished with the first draft, there are multiple layers of revision for writers who want to see their book in print.

But jump ahead a few months, to when you have revised and edited your manuscript. Dreaming big, your book may be picked up by an agent, or you may decide to publish with a hybrid publisher, or on your own. Even if the story is superb, there are many writing tasks involved with writing the front pages of a book for publication. And those parts, even though they are only tangential to the core of the story, are important too.

Next Steps – Prepare for Publication

The pages in the front of the book matter, especially for publication, and require the same attention to detail as the beats and story arcs. In recent work with a hybrid publisher, I realized that a list of these parts of the book, their functions, and how they should look in a published book, would be useful for organizing these key book parts.

Here are the pages that occur at the beginning of the book, in the order that they should appear. Each has a quick explanation of it’s function, the type of content it typically has, and the desired page side of the book (odd pages are on the right and the even pages are on the right.) Read on for considerations for authors and how they can leverage these pages to give readers the best experience with your book possible.

Having this information ready after the manuscript is finished will speed up your publication process. Completing these pages with thought can lead to a better reader experience and more engagement with your ideal audience.

Anatomy of the First Pages of a Book

Title Page (Odd Page Number):

1. Explanation: The title page is the opening page of your book and serves as a cover for the internal part of the book. It features the book's title, your name as the author, and may include the publisher's information or logo.
2. Considerations: Make sure the title page is aesthetically pleasing and reflects the tone of your book. Consistency in font and design helps create a professional look.

Copyright Page (Even Page Number, Back of Title Page):

1. Explanation: Found on the reverse side of the title page, the copyright page includes legal and bibliographic information such as copyright details, publication information, and ISBN. This is the only page in this section that has to appear on the left side of the open book.
2. Considerations: Ensure all necessary copyright information is accurate. Include any disclaimers or permissions and consult legal professionals if needed.

Dedication (Odd Page Number):

1. Explanation: The dedication page allows you to express gratitude or dedicate your book to someone special.
2. Considerations: Keep the dedication concise and heartfelt. Personal touches can create a connection with readers.

Table of Contents (Usually Starts on an Odd Page):

1. Explanation: The table of contents lists chapters and sections, aiding readers in navigating your book.
2. Considerations: Ensure accuracy in page numbers. If it spans two pages, the second page can start on an even page. A clear and organized table of contents enhances the reader's experience.

Foreword (Or a preface):

1. Explanation: A foreword is an introduction to your book written by someone other than you, providing additional context or perspective.
2. Considerations: Choose someone relevant to your book's theme or genre for the foreword. A compelling foreword can generate interest in your work.

Preface (Or a foreword):

1. Explanation: The preface is your own introduction to the book, explaining its purpose, scope, or context.
2. Considerations: Use the preface to connect with readers, sharing insights into your writing process or motivation. Keep it concise and relevant.

Acknowledgments (Can Go in Front or Back):

1. Explanation: Acknowledgments express gratitude to individuals or organizations that contributed to your book.
2. Considerations: Decide whether to place acknowledgments before or after the main text. Would it be better for the reader to see which individuals and organizations supported this work before or after reading the novel? Be sincere and specific in your acknowledgments.

Introduction:

1. Explanation: The introduction sets the stage for your book, providing context and preparing readers for the content to come.
2. Considerations: Clearly outline the purpose of your book in the introduction. It's an opportunity to engage readers from the beginning and to hook them into the story.

First Text Page (Should Start on Odd/Right Page):

1. Explanation: This is the beginning of the main content of your book, typically starting on the right-hand side for a clean layout. This is the start of the reader’s main journey and it should draw the reader in right away.
2. Considerations: Ensure the formatting is consistent and visually appealing. A polished beginning creates a positive, intriguing first impression.

Final Considerations for Authors

Authors can use these pages to their advantage when selling books by considering the following:

• Professionalism: A well-designed and organized front matter creates a professional impression, enhancing the overall quality of your book.
• Reader Engagement: Elements like the foreword and introduction can capture readers' interest, encouraging them to delve into the main content and to keep turning pages.
• Marketing: Consider using the dedication or acknowledgments to subtly acknowledge and thank readers. This personal touch can foster a connection and encourage word-of-mouth promotion.
• Navigability: A clear table of contents and properly formatted page numbers make it easy for readers to navigate your book, enhancing their reading experience.

By paying attention to these details, authors can present a polished and engaging book that appeals to readers and contributes to its overall success. Use this list and the considerations to assist your preparation for book publication. 

Final Thoughts

What tools do you use to organize the parts of your book?  What stage is your work in progress?  Share with our readers below and encourage each other in our writing efforts.

About Kris

Kris Maze is an author, writing coach, and teacher. She has worked in education for many years and writes for various publications, including Practical Advice for Teachers of Heritage Learners of Spanish and the award-winning blog Writers in the Storm where she is also a host. You can find her horror stories and young adult writing on her website. Keep up with future projects and events by subscribing to her newsletter. And other writing work HERE.

A recovering grammarian and hopeless wanderer, Kris enjoys reading, playing violin and piano, and spending time outdoors.

And occasionally, she photographs shy mushrooms in the forest.

by Lisa Hall-Wilson

Looking for a quick effective way to take your writing up a notch? Subtext. K.M. Weiland calls it the black belt of fiction writing. When you can replace spoken dialogue with silent communication, with familiarity, shared goals, etc. you invite your readers deeper into the story world.

We employ silent communication all the time in real life. If you’ve been in a long-term relationship of any kind – think back to your parents, siblings, highschool, college, your marriage – all of these relationships (both professional and personal) will utilize silent communication – subtext.

What is Subtext?

Subtext is silent communication. It’s the body language we use like posture, gestures, and subtle movements. It’s not just what is spoken aloud, it’s also the tone of voice, the intonation, cadence, emphasis, and affects on our voice. It includes facial expressions and micro expressions – smiles and winks, but more subtle shifts in eyebrows, eye movement, or quirks of our mouths.

Subtext also employs shared familiarity about a past event or experience at both an intimate personal level and wider shared cultural knowledge. And this silent communication can happen in place of spoken dialogue, or it can happen alongside spoken dialogue signalling a deeper meaning (what’s said between the lines).

Subtext can add a layer of realism and authenticity to our stories and is a necessary technique when using deep point of view.

One aspect of subtext that’s not often explored on blogs is how power or authority applies a filter to subtext. Those who have spent time learning about domestic violence, abuse, and coercion will understand the dynamics about power imbalances, but let’s dive into that a bit and get curious about how we can leverage this in our fiction.

How Does Power Affect Subtext?

Power and authority have the ability to directly or indirectly influence the behavior of others. Power and authority are situational. One can have power and authority in the workplace, but none at home, or vice versa. There are some who exercise power and authority everywhere they go.

The thing about power and authority is that inevitably, there are those with it and those without. It creates an imbalance. And sometimes that imbalance is OK because the power is not abused, it’s not used to coerce or influence, it’s used to protect. That imbalance, good or bad, MUST create a filter for our character’s intuition, fears, thoughts, priorities, interpretations, and actions.

So, how do we capture that authentically in fiction? It requires a few different tools from our writer toolbox: subtext, body language, spoken dialogue, internal dialogue. And when we try to do this in deep pov, it adds more complexity by removing the author/narrator voice.

6 Questions To Ask Your Characters About Power Imbalances

There must be consequences. If trying to decide which side of a power imbalance your character finds themselves on, there are some questions below to help you get started. Pick one or two of these questions and answer them – for yourself. Get curious about how the answer to questions would FEEL? I like to jot down 3-5 possible emotions that would spring up from that. It’s OK if they’re opposing emotions.

How would that emotion manifest physically? How does your character suppress their emotions – is there a part of the body where that emotion is contained (in their throat, shoulders, back, stomach)? Is this emotional reaction helpful? What would be some helpful thoughts to help them through this situation? In what ways might the character condemn themselves for thinking or feeling this way – even if they’re the only one who knows what they’re feeling and thining? What would a better person do? Why don’t do they do that?

1. What’s At Stake If They Say No?

Is your character free to say no? The request might be spoken aloud, but the character might also need to employ interpretation of body language or subtext (which is sometimes misinterpreted – there’s room for that too). If your character refuses, will the consequences be immediate or down the road (and perhaps later subverted)? Will the consequences be overtly connected to their refusal? If they face the loss of something, what will the impact of that loss be?

2. Is Saying No An Option?

If your character is facing a situation where saying ‘no’ isn’t an option (in the character’s perception. This of course would apply to outright threat of physical violence, but in the context of power imbalance does the character feel free to say no?), how does that make them feel? What’s their best plan for getting through this, if they would otherwise refuse but can’t?

How is that emotion going to be shown in their body language (posture, expression, gestures, tone of voice)? If they need to hide that emotion, there has to be a consequence to that suppressed emotion – what will it be?

3. What Kind Of Person Are They?

Is the power imbalance personal, professional, social, economical (is the power imbalance limited to a particular situation or setting or is it over their whole life). Do they have an escape from this power imbalance?

If the power imbalance is at work, how do they compensate for those feelings when they’re not at work? Do they take a perceived (or actual) persecution or abuse out on others when out from under that power influence? What’s important to them? What kind of person do they want to be? Are they that person – what do they need to learn/do to change?

4. Is the Power Misinterpreted or Abdicated?

Is the character’s perception of the power over them true – is their perception accurate? Do they have power in a situation, but choose not to use it for a reason? A husband who believes his wife has one foot out the door thinks she has all the power – his perception might be that he’s powerless to make/convince her to stay. What would that thinking lead to (actions, emotions, thoughts)? That wife might believe he doesn’t find her attractive, so in her perception he has all the power. What might her reaction be to that situation – would she just give up and constantly shame herself, or would she hit the gym, go to the hairstylist, read self-help books?

Would her need to remain proactive, feed his insecurity? They’ve both abdicated their power because of shame. Oooh – what a tangled web we weave.

5. How Is Touch Employed To Convey Power?

Touch is an expression of authority and power, and relationship. We choose who we allow close enough to touch us. There are some benign touches that are socially acceptable: a handshake, a kiss on the cheek in greeting, an inadvertent brush as you pass another, being squeezed in a crowded space (like an elevator), etc.

Touch can be reassuring and comforting, flirtatious, polite greeting, inviting or intimidating, claiming or denouncing, teasing or withholding, promising or threatening. Some use their bodies to intimidate by leaning over, standing too close, blocking escape without actually touching (and building in deniability for themselves).

Think about the power of a raised hand over someone cringing waiting for the expected blow to land? The fear invoked by a touch too harsh, too hard – the grabbing of a jaw, the squeezing of cheeks, the harsh handshake, etc.

What of the man who notices another staring at his date? How would he demonstrate possession without being overt? He might put his hand on the small of her back or around her waist, or take her hand in his without asking. Showing he has her permission to touch. There is lots communicated in this way.

Withholding touch is also about a power imbalance. What of the wife who puts on lingerie, makes a point of prettying up for bed. And her husband notices the lingerie, and simply turns the light off and rolls over? This is another withholding of touch that communicates power imbalance.

Can you use either the power of touch or of withholding touch to communicate authority and power?

6. Who Is Exercising Power and Authority?

We all write characters who have power and authority in various settings in our novels. What tools do you have to SHOW they have power and authority, without resorting to the narrator/author voice explaining or summarizing the situation for readers? How would they use that power and authority productively, and how would it be abused?

Once a character has to pull rank, so to speak, how are they left feeling afterwards? Do they feel powerful? Drained? Frustrated? What’s their leadership goal? What kind of person do they want to be, and does that power corrupt them at all? Can they see that corruption, and what will they do to prevent it?

Power Imbalance In Action

From Fast and the Furious

I love this scene between Dom and Letty where Dom finally gets a chance to talk to Letty after believing her dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hAfJb3oHo4

He has power over her – her memories – their shared history together. She’s lost her memory of those things. But what does he do with that power? At first, he touches the car in place of her. Then the touches get more and more intimate. He pulls aside the tank top strap to show a scar that’s otherwise hidden.

She tolerates his growing boldness, but in the end, the part with hands extended towards one another, not even fingertips touching. Letty has power to reject him, but Dom’s got the greater balance of power in this scene because he has intimate knowledge she doesn’t and she feels like she lacks something.

From The Devil Wears Prada

The "Gird Your Loins" scene from The Devil Wears Prada is very illustrative. It’s over-the-top, but watch the body language and actions of everyone ELSE. How could you incorporate this into your scenes? Watch the way body posture changes, defers, etc. And the juxtaposition of Anne Hathaway’s character who has no knowledge of the ultimate power structure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PjZAeiU7uM

From Erin Brockovich

This clip from Erin Brockovich is fascinating. Watch for the power shift. Watch the change in body language, the posture, gazes, tone of voices – every character in the scene is aware of the shift at different times. It shows what’s important to that character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpISHolWtKs

From Yellowstone

In this scene from Yellowstone, initially it’s hard to see who holds the balance of power. But very quickly, the hierarchy is reestablished and the one with the actual power stands up to the bravado. Watch for the shift in posture, tone, volume. Where does the threat come in – a threat without any physical violence. What one character stands to lose is what gains compliance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e1Mya1uUK0

Which of these six questions resonates with you and your current WIP? In what way would using subtext and power/authority help immerse the reader in your character’s lived experience?

About Lisa

Lisa Hall-Wilson is a writing teacher and award-winning writer and author. She’s the author of Method Acting For Writers: Learn Deep Point Of View Using Emotional Layers. Her blog, Beyond Basics For Writers, explores all facets of the popular writing style deep point of view and offers practical tips for writers. 

She runs the free Facebook group Going Deeper With Emotions where she shares tips and videos on writing in deep point of view. 

Image Credits:

Top image from Depositphotos.