The World According to Violette: Author DK Walker shares with his views on what stops a book from being great.

Author DK Walker stopped by my blog last week to share his insights on writing. I was graced by his visit and gained great insight by his words. Here is what he said:

“What stops a good book from being great? Well it’s the fluff of course…”

By Author DK Walker

First off I want to thank Ms. Violette Meire for allowing me to guest blog today and I promise since it’s still her world I’ll try my best to leave things intact while I’m here. I’ve been known to cause a ruckus or two from time to time, but just not today...

And please don’t confuse the title of this blog with a Fluffer; although the better the fluff in your book the stiffer the reader becomes in anticipation of the next ‘BIG’ moment in your story (sorry I couldn’t resist). Still scratching your head at exactly what ‘fluff’ is? What I label fluff is the story between the big moments in a book.

Most books have 3 big moments; the beginning, the middle, and the end. The beginning of a book is where the author sets the table and invites the reader to stay a while. A poorly set table and you’ll have a disinterested reader closing your book after a few chapters and later using it as a coaster on their nightstand. The middle of the book is what I like to call when sh*t hits the fan. Here the reader is having a ‘WTF’ moment and now they are so enrapt in your book they can’t put it down. Lastly is the end of your book where hopefully a great climaxed was reached and that ‘WTF’ moment has either been resolved or enough wiggle room has been left to produce a sequel.

Yeah I know you’re still scratching your head wondering where the hell the fluff I alluded to earlier is. Well the fluff is the story that’s between the beginning, middle and end. In some author’s mind they can’t wait to write about as many ‘BIG’ moments as possible and not properly placing a few over the top moments with a well-placed, thought out, and thought provoking story line.

The more substance you place in your fluff, the bigger your three moments of a book will be. Take time out to give each main character of your book credibility as to what part they’re playing. Don’t just paint an abstract picture of their role in your book and expect the reader to connect when it comes time to use them in a big moment; that’s a poor fluffer if you ask me (could you send in the next Jane; sorry I still couldn’t resist).

Let’s take a look at how fluff is used in almost all forms of entertainment. Some comedians use audience interaction before they get into their next big joke; that’s fluff, but its engaging fluff that makes you feel part of the joke. Wrestling (yes I said wrestling; I apologize to anyone in the South reading this… I meant rasslin’) uses women wrestling in between their big matches to give the audience a chance to settle down from the match they just saw and get ready for the big match that’s coming. And yes, this is fluff too; the Tits and Ass kind. Even the most action packed movies have lulls in the action to make the next big scene POP.

As an author you want your book to be talked about in a good way and in order to do that why not take the time to properly make those special moments in your book mean something. In my first book; The Ugly Side of Sex, I made sure that the fluff (in this case character interaction) between my two main characters was so engaging that I made the reader feel like a Peeping Tom given privy to the most erotic conversation they will ever hear. So when I moved forward in my story the reader had been properly engaged since I kept their anticipation mounting with (yep, you guessed it) good fluff.

Contrary to most authors I believe that writing a book is just as easy as writing a paragraph, but because I say it’s this easy don’t take the easy way out. Do some research; find some obscure, but meaningful references to lend to the depth of your character. Don’t over think the process, but please don’t under think it either. Have fun, be free and creative as your mind will allow without muddying the written waters. Most of make sure you give the reader some goooood fluff, so once they put your book down they’ll know they had a hummer of a good time.