Wednesday, November 10, 2021

A guest post by Lisa de Nikolits

Lisa de Nikolits has been hailed as “the Queen of Canadian speculative fiction” and is the international award-winning author of ten novels. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in various international anthologies and journals. Originally from South Africa, Lisa lives and writes in Toronto, and I’m very pleased to have her here as my guest, answering this week’s question. 

You’re writing a novel set in the current time. Do you include covid, politics, climate change among the background or foreground parts of the environment? If so, why? If not, why?


by Lisa


So you’re writing a new novel and you’re tempted to use Covid-19, politics/politicians, climate change or current events in the plot. But before you dash off that first draft, I invite you to take a small pop-up quiz! 

 

1: I need this person/event or I can’t write my book. 

 

2: This person/event will be as relevant in three years as it is today.  

 

3: Everyone will know who and what I am talking about. 

 

4: The person/event will engage the majority of my readers. 

 

5: It’s not vital to my plot but it’s important to me to have my say when it comes to this person/event.  

 

6: If I don’t write about this person/event, I will regret it down the line.  

 

7: I have a unique spin on this person/event that no one else will have. 

 

8: I’ve run the idea past a few beta readers – do their eyes light up or glaze over? 

 

9: Is there a more interesting way I could tell this story without having to be specific about this person/event? 

 

10. Am I being lazy or savvy by using this person/event? 

 

In my experience, when it comes to writing, my imagination comes up with far better ideas than a fact that precipitated it. I like to use IRL as a seed for an idea and no more than that because while truth can be stranger than fiction, it can be more boring when transcribed as such. And, even if a thing is true, it may not ring true in a book. Truth may be stranger than fiction, but that doesn’t mean that strange truths make for good fiction.  

 

If I’m stuck for an idea, then I start off by using IRL event or person, but I invariably end up completely rewriting. With The Rage Room, I was concerned that by the time the book was published, that rage rooms would either have been written about by a bunch of other people or they’d become so commonplace that no one would be interested in them.   

But I answered my own questions like so:  


1: I need this or I can’t write my book. Yes. I need a room where people smash stuff.  

 

2: This will be as relevant in three years as it is today. Yes. Even if rage rooms become commonplace, my spin on them will be like no one else’s.  

 

3: Everyone will know who and what I am talking about. It doesn’t matter if they don’t because I’ll contextualize it via plot and backstory.  

 

4: The person/event will engage the majority of my readers. The concept will excite some readers and turn others off, but I have to write this book anyway.

 

5: It’s not vital to my plot, but it’s important to me to have my say when it comes to this person/event. It’s pivotal to the whole book.  

 

6: If I don’t write about it, I’ll regret it down the line. Yes! I would have kicked myself several times over if I didn’t write it. 

 

7: I have a unique spin on this person/event that no one else will have. Absolutely. Time travel like it’s never been done before (and it’s not just me saying that, reviewers and readers have said the same thing.) 

 

8: I’ve run the idea past a few beta readers – do their eyes light up or glaze over? Light up! 

 

9: Is there a more interesting way I could tell this story without having to be specific about this person/event? No. I have to do it this way.  

 

10. Am I being lazy or savvy by using this person/event? The Rage Room was the most difficult book I’ve ever written. It challenged me like no other book, and I’m really proud of my tenacity at seeing it through. In the end, it said everything I wanted it to say.  

Thank you for having me as a guest today, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the post. 


You can find out more about Lisa and her writing at her website here.

3 comments:

Dietrich Kalteis said...

Thanks for dropping in and answering this week's question, Lisa. Well done.

Brenda Chapman said...

Lisa - An interesting perspective and some good questions to ask when writing the next plot line. Thanks for this, Lisa!

Lisa de Nikolits said...

Thank you both very much! I really enjoyed writing the post!