3 Steps on How To Include Believable Fictional Media in Novels
Just because it isn’t real for us doesn’t mean it isn’t real for our characters. Author Kristina Forest shares 3 steps on how to include believable fiction media in novels.
My upcoming novel The Neighbor Favor is about is about a shy, aspiring children’s books editor named Lily, who enlists her charming neighbor, Nick, to help her score a date to her sister’s wedding, not knowing he’s the obscure fantasy author she’s been corresponding with online.
Nick wrote a fantasy novel called The Elves of Ceradon; it is Lily’s favorite book and the reason that they initially connect online. Throughout The Neighbor Favor, Nick struggles with writer’s block and coming to terms with the new success he’s experienced thanks to his novel. Because Nick’s novel plays such a significant role in the story, I knew that it was important for readers to really get a good sense of what his novel was about.
In order to make Nick’s book and his career seem realistic and believable, there were a few steps that I followed.
1. I found an example of someone on which I wanted to base Nick’s career. Because Nick is a high fantasy author who lands a television adaptation deal, I immediately thought of George R.R. Martin. Specifically, I was thinking a lot about the time gap between the last Game of Thrones novel and I wondered if one reason that a new book hasn’t published yet might be that George R.R. Martin is struggling with writers’ block due to the success of the television series, and therefore larger expectation from readers. (I have no proof of this, of course! But it would be a very understandable reason, and one that I empathize with!) Nick doesn’t have George R.R. Martin’s level success, but initially his novel was read by remotely no one (except Lily) until it suddenly becomes the novel that everyone is talking about.
2. I made sure to flesh out the details. I wanted The Elves of Ceradon to feel real to readers, to make them feel as though they’d want to go to the bookstore and see if Nick’s book might be there on shelves. I had an entire document dedicated to details of Ceradon: what the fantasy country looked like, the culture of the elves, and key details about the main character, Deko. The novel is about Deko, an elf prince, who is traveling to find a new clan of elves after his people have been killed by a legion of evil creatures. It’s a hero’s journey, which readers will find familiar, like that of Odysseus or Luke Skywalker. When describing Deko’s journey, I thought of books and movies like The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride, and Ella Enchanted.
3. I tried to have fun! Drafting is usually the hardest part of the writing experience for me. I am a much better reviser. I often try to find things that excite me in order to keep going and creating this fictional novel within my own fictional novel was a lot of fun.
Kristina Forest is an author of romance books for young adults. Her novels include I Wanna Be Where You Are, Now That I've Found You, Zyla & Kai, and The Neighbor Favor. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at The New School, and she can often be found rearranging her bookshelf.
