6.5 Lessons From The WHISPER DUOLOGY

The Whisper duology, comprising of Whisper and Weapon, is by Australian author Lynette Noni. If you guys read last week's post, you'll remember her from the YA section. 

I have been most fortunate to skip the tense waiting between books and binged the whole series within a week. While I don't think it beats her Medoran Chronicles, it's still an enjoyable read. It's short, so it doesn't take up much time if you have other things to do.

For those who haven't read it, it's a dystopian story about Jane Doe. Jane is locked up in a secret government agency facility called Lengard, a place that is, to say the least, unpleasant. She hasn't spoken in two years. 

Without further chit-chat, here's 6.5 lessons from the Whisper duology. 

Let's get to!

  

1. Keep consistent characterisation 

Authors love to talk about how they developed their characters. Oh, I used 67 different questionnaires, one might say. Or, I used every major personality typing method! Or maybe even, I made a rip-off version of the Lord of the Rings characters! 

If you've found a method that works, that's great. But there's no point in spending so much time developing characters if you're not going to keep them consistent.

Having consistent characterisation doesn't mean they don't change. It doesn't mean that they don't occasionally act differently in a pleasantly surprising way. It doesn't mean that they don't react differently to events that really stretch their limits.

Far from it. Rather, having consistent characterisation means that the characters act in a way that makes sense for their personality. This means that a normally stoic character might cry at the death of their loved ones. It doesn't mean that they suddenly cry when they stub their toe, unless there's a good reason for it.

Once you've developed your character's personality, don't let all that effort go to waste. Your character should act similarly throughout the story, else have a solid reason for diverging or show the gradual change as readers follow their character arc.

The same theory applies to the character's abilities. Whether mental, emotional or physical, if you've established what a character is good and bad at, stick to that. If your character is a klutz, they'll still be a klutz when enemies are rushing at them. Think about it: How many clumsy characters do you see snap into kick-butt action mode the second the author needs them to look epic, but trip over their own feet when there's no baddies to beat up?

Of course, there will be exceptions like the ones stated earlier. Characters may, and generally should, improve their abilities over time. Showing their improvement is totally fine. On the other hand, they may lose their finesse. Showing their skill deteriorating is also totally fine. Just make sure why they're improving or becoming worse is clear to the reader. 

Let's take another look at the klutz. They may start out that way, but if they apply themselves to their samba classes (or whichever area of physical activity you want), they'll most likely become less clumsy. It makes sense. 

Jane Doe falls flat in this area. At the beginning, she's completely silent. We're not told why Jane doesn't speak, but it's clear that she won't because it will leave drastic consequences. That's why she is outwardly emotionless and applies her heart, soul and body to her PE classes. The biggest manifestation of why she is silent is that she pushes away people before they can become close. 

But she *spoiler* doesn't remain that way. Landon Ward, her newest examiner, walks into her life with his dimpled smiles and green - so green - eyes, the colour in her life of black and white shades. He contrasts every other examiner bar one, the one in question being the PE teacher. Not too much later, Jane's crushing on Ward, is tripping on a pin and smart-talking him. 

Let's point out she's been in virtual isolation for two years. Worse, she was tortured. This leaves her - or rather, should have left her - with serious mental illness and likely social in-adeptness. The change happens with a snap of her fingers that leaves readers doubting the type of person Jane was set up to be. *end spoiler*

2. Love interests should interact   

Are two of your characters in looooooove? Is there, perhaps, a love triangle? Regardless of the type of relationship between characters, there's no relationship without interaction. Duh. This is especially true when it comes to lovers. 

Interaction plays a big part in the reader's engagement with the story. Too much introspection means the reader only gets to know one character in basically similar situations. Interaction allows the reader to build relationships with more than one character. It also allows conflict to build, sparks to fly and witty banter to occur. Don't deny it, we all need witty banter in our lives. It's as necessary as air.

What do interactions mean for the characters? Well, that's an easy answer. Whenever two or more characters get together, they develop a nice little thing called character chemistry. 

I talk about character chemistry in 4 Lessons From Final Fantasy 15, so go check it out! It goes into the specifics, which I'm not going to cover here. I also have a full post planned in the future. Don't miss it by signing up for the newsletter in the left sidebar. 

Strong chemistry between lovebirds is vital, or else no one will be rooting for the couple, let alone care. You can't develop chemistry unless the characters interact. Enough explaining. Now to the big question: does Whisper and Weapon live up to this?

The answer is: no. *spoilers* Jane has a number of interactions with Ward in the first half of Whisper. We can see the chemistry, but it isn't the ideal type for a romantic relationship. There's a significant power gap. Yet, Ward is kind to Jane. Then we find his niceties was a facade and the chemistry between Ward and Jane changes. 

Around the midpoint, Jane leaves Lengard and Ward. We find out that Ward's kindness was not a facade, but his emotionless mentor mask was. And also that Ward is self-sacrificing for Jane. The thing is, since Ward isn't there, he doesn't get enough page time with Jane for readers to really determine their chemistry and whether or not they are suitable. 

In the second book, Weapon, Ward is mind controlled for 99%. That means, while Jane and Ward do interact, the chemistry is not with Ward's real self. Thus, these are not true interactions. At the end, Jane and Ward do hitch up. 

This should be a time where the readers celebrate, but we don't see their compatibility. We're told how obvious it is that Ward and Jane are crushing on each other, but we don't see it. Why? Because they don't interact. 

Compare this with Kael, a character introduced midway in the first book. Since that point, he has been around Jane and has considerably more page time than Ward. He's the third member of this not-so-subtle love triangle. Kael has more time to build chemistry with Jane. While it is, arguably, still weak, it is better than Jane and Ward's almost non-existent one. *end spoiler*

3. Have reasonable pacing

Your story's pacing is how fast or slow the action develops. Pacing is responsible for retaining the reader's attention. Too fast and the reader will become exhausted, too slow and the reader will become bored. 

For most stories, the pacing should gradually increase, peaking toward the end. The only genre coming to mind that doesn't necessarily have to do this are classics about life, like Little Women. 

Pacing can be controlled on a large and small scale. In regards to Whisper, I'm only going to focus on the large scale pacing. Again, I have a full post planned on pacing, so stay tuned!

The way to control your pacing is by utilising story structure. You may be using the Hero's Journey or the Three Act Structure. It doesn't matter what structure you use, the tips for controlling pacing are the same. 

Each story beat is placed at a certain percentage mark. The percentage in question is related to the word count. For example, in the Three Act Structure, the first plot point is at 25%, the midpoint at 50% and the third plot point at 75%. These three are typically where paradigm shifts take place. Between these major beats, there should be a relatively even amount of words. This way, you're not hurtling from one beat to another and then meandering for three quarters of the book between another two. 

Other important beats have a certain percentage mark they should be around. At each of these beats of the story structure, the pace should pick up, then slow until the next beat. Where there are more beats, the pacing will be faster. Where there are fewer, the pacing will be slower. 

Whisper starts with a whole lot of exposition, so the pacing is slow. It remains slow until it shoots up around the midpoint, then slows again until the end. The pacing doesn't steadily build up over time. It's jagged, it doesn't ebb and flow. 

While the major beats are clearly planned out, they aren't placed evenly. The lesser beats aren't there to keep interest up. Instead, there's exposition to fill in the gaps. 

4. Create a strong theme

Themes are so often overlooked. Most authors will simply write whatever is interesting without adding a greater thematic depth. But they miss out on what can elevate a good story to a great story. 

The moral of the story is something I've talked about a lot early last year. At that time, it was something I struggled in applying to my WIPs. I knew it was important. I knew theoretically how to use it. But for whatever reason, it didn't click with the bits and pieces of my stories. 

Since then, the piece has clicked. It was not that long ago too. I'm in no means a master, but I write this blog to figure out what I'm doing with you guys. It really does help. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. Let's move on, haha.

Having a theme adds an underlying emotional element that readers can subconsciously pick up and identify with. But it also makes plotting your story easier. You want detail? I got a full post planned for the future. (I know I've said this so many times in this post. I guess I'm finally getting hit by the Blog Post Inspiration Truck, lol!) 

The theme, or rather, the story's thematic question, is the centrepiece of your book. This question of the ultimate truth is what the character's arc will follow, and characters drive plot. Utilising the structure of character arcs and story structure, you can see how much easier it is to develop a storyline.

The relationship between plot, characters and theme are inherent to the story. Perhaps you can say that theme is the driving force. So where does the Whisper duology stand with theme? Let's look at the tagline:

"One wrong move, one wrong word, could change the world."

Whisper is all about the power of words. *spoilers* The magic system works when a person Speaks - capitalisation meant - with intent. For example, if you say "cat" with the image of a cat in your mind, a cat you shall create. This is the physical embodiment of the tagline. The midpoint occurs when Jane breaks her two year silence shouting "stop", which causes the world to freeze.

The metaphorical embodiment is lacking. In other words, the characters don't struggle with their words in a way that makes sense in regards to a character arc. How about a character who thinks before speaking? Or a character who says mean things with good intent? Or the opposite - a character who says nice things with bad intent? *end spoilers*

All these characters and whichever variation you can think of lacks in Noni's story. Yes, it means changing the canon storyline. I've got to be honest and say, I felt like the emotional depth was seriously lacking. 

If Noni had created a stronger storyline around the tagline, if the power of words had been a more prominent issue, the duology would have been much more cohesive and meaningful. Not only that, there would have been a larger push for the plot, more developed characters, and so much more. My biggest frustration is that I can see what it could have been, but it missed the spot. 

5. Be aware of the messages you are writing

In this context, "messages" isn't related to theme. Rather, this is about the character's behaviours and smaller things like that. 

Society holds many prejudices. Some people are explicit about their biases, but the world has largely been progressing away from racism, sexism and other -isms not listed here. Where there is no explicit bias, there are implicit biases. 

Once you've finished writing, take a step back and look closely at the subtle messages you are reinforcing. Is every character ogling every other character and being positively reinforced? That may be a sign of objectifying humans (or whatever race your story is about). 

*spoilers* There are many instances of this throughout both novels. One scene had Jane working out in a tank top. Ward makes comments about how good she looks in that outfit. This would have been a compliment, except that it was implied in a sensual way. That right there is objectifying.

In another scene, when Jane and Kael interact for the first (or was it second?) time. Kael has taken to calling Jane by the nickname "princess". Jane tells him to unjokingly to stop, but Kael insists on calling her that. Between friends, you have a right to ignore what they tell you as long as you stay within proper boundaries. But if you've just met someone, you don't know what these boundaries are. Kael should have stopped, or later asked for her consent. *end spoilers*

On the flip side, you may be excluding an important consequence. Actions lead to consequences, whether positive or negative. This is harder to find as you have to think about real-world consequences instead of just noticing and pressing the backspace key. 

*spoilers* The biggest instance of this is that Jane has been in isolation, bar her time with her examiners. On top of that, she has been manipulated, tortured and silent for two years. You'd think she'd have developed mental illnesses as a result. 

Instead, after the midpoint, those two years have been brushed off. They were only mentioned when they were necessary for the plot. Mental illnesses - trauma - are huge part of today's world, and if the story is dark enough to describe torture, it should describe the healing process. There's no reason not to, especially with the internet at our fingertips. Here's another hit-and-miss situation. *end spoiler*

Even well-intentioned authors fall into this trap. You might be doing this without knowing you are aware of it. The best way to avoid this is by hiring beta readers and editors to suss out every mishap. If you do make this mistake, learn from it. You won't be alone. I, for one, haven't written a complete book, but I know I'll be needing help on this. 

6. Have a consistent tone

The tone of a book is the narrator's overall attitude to events. Don't confuse this with voice, which is the personality of the speaker. 

A story's tone should set the scene for viewers, and prepare them for what's to come. The tone of a piece of writing is equivalent to how lighting, framing and colour sets the mood of a visual medium. Add sound to the list of it's an animation or live action sequence. 

Tone informs a reader how they should feel. The tone may change from event to event. For instance, a bantering scene may have a lighter tone than an action scene where the heroes are losing. However, the overall tone, or the underlying tone, should remain consistent. If your story is a dad-joke style comedy, the tone probably wouldn't be grim dark, like it may be in sarcastic stories. 

On a subtle level, tone hints to the ending of a piece. A tragedy may begin with jokes, but the tone should be on a dark level on par with how tragic the ending is. Imagine a story beginning light-heartedly but ends with every character dead. It's jarring. 

Whisper begins with a suspenseful, darker, quieter tone. It draws us in on its intrigue. There's a sense that the narrator, Jane, knows more than she lets on. The readers are compelled to befriend Jane on her journey. 

*spoilers* But the suspenseful tone stops when Jane joins Lengard's secret secret program. Suddenly, the tone switches to more of an opinionated, I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing tone. If you've read The Medoran Chronicles, you'll recognise it as Alex's tone. It works for Alex because she begins with that tone and it suits her character. Not so from Jane's set-up. *end spoilers*

7. Have your story set in a place that isn't the US 

Have you noticed how many mainstream contemporary stories are located in the US? If not, then it's in the UK. 

Whisper and Weapon are set in Australia. Specifically, Sydney. As an Aussie myself, I have only one thing to say:

Source: Tenor

~ 

It took me four days to write this post. It should have been published two days ago, haha! In my defence, a typical post is around 1000 words. This is more than 3000 words. *mind blown*

Six out of seven tips here reflect negatively on Noni's duology. But despite these flaws, I still enjoyed reading about Jane and co. The twists were fantastic, even if they did grow old. I loved it so much I had a back-to-back reread. Enzo is the best bro, by the way.

A wrap up of all seven points:

1. Keep consistent characterisation
2. Let love interacts interact
3. Have reasonable pacing
4. Create a strong theme
5. Be aware of the messages you are subtly reinforcing or neglecting
6. Have a consistent tone
7. Remember that the US and UK aren't the only places to set your story

  

And a final message: Happy Australia Day to all my Aussie mates for the 26th! 

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