I've been blogging for over four years, most of them on how to write in a more literary fashion. I thought this week I'd do a round up on the most helpful techniques on which I've written when it comes to writing in a literary fashion. Writing in a literary fashion is all about taking a simple story (about life, in poetic form, or in fiction form) and adding deeper meaning.
1. Find your passion. Before you can write, you need to find what genre, what style, what characters, what meaning excites you. Literary greats like Shakespeare, Austen, and Dickens start with what excites them and makes them love to write. Dickens had a passion to give insights about the plight of the poor. Austen and the Brontes had a passion for writing romance. Shakespeare loved history, comedy, and tragedy. What drives you to read? What drives you to write? Whatever it is, read that. Write that.
2. Plot at a deeper level, with meaning in mind. Consider what motivates or drives your story. This is where you can push past cliches to use outlining, types of conflict, balancing light and darkness, hero's journey principles (or the female version, if that works better with your character, base your story on a fairy tale or piece of classical literature (Austen, Dickens, Shakespeare, etc), and/or consider themes as a foundation for your storyline (religious themes, social commentary, etc.).
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3. Characterize main characters and antagonists at a deeper level, which can include intensive backstory planning, loss and tragedy, basing characters on a well-researched characterization system such as the Meyers-Briggs system or the enneagram (either of which can give a strong and deep basis for character relationships, so you don't have to do the work yourself), foils, archetypes such as the everyman, or on classical characters (as in placing Darcy- and Lizzy-like characters in a Shakespeare yarn set in medieval France, the present, or a dystopic future), or on one of several interviews you can find online.
4. Consider perspective and the use of irony, personification, referencing literary material with shakespearean, biblical or allusion, foreshadowing in multiple ways, flashbacks, symbolism, themes, and any of a plethora of literary devices that can enhance the meaning that you plan for your story. Decide how you will keep rule number one in writing, which is to help the reader feel.
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6. Send it out in the world to get help with revision from writer's groups, friends, beta readers, freelance editors.
7. Seek out an agent, publisher, or consider self-publication and research the process.
Start over with a new piece. You can do this.
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