Are You Deaf? Misinformation as Plot Fuel

A reader wants to know how to use misinformation as a way to up the suspense in a novel or essay. She cites the teen cable drama "Roswell" as an example, where a character eavesdrops on a conversation and either hears it or interprets it in a mistaken way. Happens to me all the time.

Writing Tip for Today: If you are writing in 3rd person limited POV (he/she), your reader knows exactly what the character knows and no more unless it's in a different viewpoint. If a character overhears a conversation and then misinterprets the info, the reader won't know it's a mistake until the character does. What to do?

• Give the reader hints with body language. The character who spoke the misinterpreted info won't connect with the eavesdropper, because they are talking apples and oranges. Frustration always leads to tension.


• Let the character repeat the incorrect info to a third party, thus keeping the tension with the first two characters but giving the reader a bigger hint that the viewpoint character misheard.


• If nothing else works, you can use more than one viewpoint (separately of course) and switch back and forth. Caution: this requires skill. The worst thing you can do to a reader is to confuse which character is narrating.

Long and Short: Sentence Length for Writers

I heard about a writer whose editor rewrote the sentences of her novel so that they were all the same length. Don't know which planet this editor was from, but most sentence writing advice cleaves to varying the length.
Writing Tip for Today: Remember my adage? There are only two kinds of writing; writing that works and writing that needs work. Just because Faulkner or James Joyce sometimes wrote long, long sentences doesn't mean you should. On the other hand, writing too many sentence fragments is also a poor practice. Vary sentence length according to the kind of effect you desire, not solely for how literate or smart you look.

• Long rambling sentences will slow the action, so be sure that's what you intend. Beware of filler words such as it, there, very, big, little, really. Be specific and say what you mean.
• Most of the time, reserve fragments for occasional use to highlight characterization, in dialogue or to punctuate fast action.
• Resist the urge to use the semi-colon, except when absolutely necessary. Today's readers prefer shorter, pithy sentences.
• Be Grammatical. If you write a very long sentence, be sure there is subject-verb agreement, no dangling participles and that the sentence isn't run on. For definitions of these conditions, consult your copy of Elements of Style or Eats Shoots and Leaves.
• Don't fall for the temptation to write long or short sentences based only on how the words sound. If the story gets lost, it's only word play. And try not to make all your sentences the same length.

Writer, Be Invisible

This week I've read several student-written scenes where as a reader I was more aware of the author than anything else. Hard to see the story when it's weighed down by writers preening and displaying their literary chops or a writer who is loading the story with all kinds of useless information.
Writing Tip for Today: The best writing is invisible. That is, you get to the end of a story and you realize that you were so caught up that you actually entered that writer's world. You don't necessarily know or care about the beauty of the words, but you're sure your life has been changed somehow. Good writers make it look easy. How can you be more invisible to the reader?

• Resist the urge to explain, or R.U.E. Stick to the action and the emotion and resist the urge to educate your reader.
• Learn to Weave. If you learn to surround your dialogue with all the scenic elements (CSD, action, inner thought/motivation and emotion) you're less likely to veer off into talking heads, the "you know" syndrome, info-loading or the encyclopedic response. Resist the urge to use characters on stage as vehicles to spout off on everything you as the author know. Just because you know a bunch of stuff doesn't mean the reader wants to hear all of it.
• Respect you reader. Your reader is smart (otherwise why would he/she be reading your stuff, right?) so don't play with that reader by forcing him to read word games or long passages of expository oration, just for its own sake. If you need to philosophize pick a different form of writing.
• A novel is not a soap box. Yes, some novels do raise the public consciousness about an issue, but that shouldn't be your primary goal as a novelist. The only way to effectively preach is through genuine real characters with real problems who solve them in an authentic way.
• Read your work for the "author filter." As you read, do you think about the author? If so, the story and its characters must play second fiddle. Are you writing in certain plot developments or information for convenience's sake? Rethink your strategy and work on your skills until you as writer are invisible to the reader.

Settings: Make Them Real

Today I'm the guest blogger on The Bookshelf Muse, the terrific blog run by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. My entry in their Setting Thesaurus (a great resource) is about Trailers, of which I have a lot of memories from growing up in Arizona. Warm climates do seem to get a lot of these mobile homes, but they are everywhere. Thanks, Angie and Becca, for inviting me.
Writing Tip for Today: When you describe your setting, pay attention to the following:

• It's all in the details. A reader can usually tell if you have actually been to a location. That's not to say you can't fake it pretty darn close, but there is no substitute for experience.
• If you are writing about a place you've never been (except virtually) look for someone who has and interview that person. Questions might include: What sensory detail (sight, sound, smells, etc) do you think of first when you think of this place? Most encyclopedias don't give us any ideas beyond the sights.
• They say your setting should be a character. How does the setting of your work compare to the problems faced by your protagonist? Use the elements to heighten the tension. EX: A character who's worried her marriage is falling apart lives near the Northern Pacific coastline. The storms and raw weather can subtly add to the character's dilemmas.
• Weave, don't chunk. Learn to write the setting all around the action of a scene, instead of chunking long descriptions at the beginning of that scene. This helps the setting become dynamic and helps the reader remember the setting details.
• Finally, treat the people in the setting with respect. In my trailer entry, for example, I must remember that the place itself may be tacky or trashy, but there really is no such thing as trailer trash when it refers to a real person. If you make fun of the characters, you look like a snobbish bully, not a writer with generosity and compassion.

Managing Time

I read somewhere that a paragraph which takes a writer hours to write takes a reader only seconds to read. Inside that paragraph, time may slow to a crawl or go whizzing past. What are some time management techniques?
Writing Tip for Today:

• Expanding Time. Do you need the reader to stroll through a description of a lazy summer's day? Write longer sentences which contain perhaps less action or slowed action, romance language root words and more modifiers.
• Contracting Time. Do you want high tension and fast pace? Short sentences with lots of active verbs, few modifiers and more Teutonic-origin words with guttural sounds help time seem to whizz by.
• When you change scenes, be sure to get your time transition early in the first sentence. A reader always needs to know where and when they are.
• Keep transitions short and simple. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. "The next day" is concise and lets the reader go on to the action without wondering how this new scene relates time-wise to the one before it.
• Careful with back story. Resist the urge to dump background info in the first chapters. Don't confuse your reader with a flashback within a flashback.
• If your story jumps around in time, investigate other techniques, such as switching tenses, to cement when the real time story happens as opposed to the flashbacks.

Tomorrow, Thursday Jan. 27, on The Bookshelf Muse, I'm guest posting my ideas of describing trailers as part of the Setting Thesaurus. You'll never think of trailers the same way again.

Writing Prologues: Do They Work?

OK, here we are in Prologueland. Some writers defend their prologues by citing famous examples. A lot of the examples are from fantasy or sci-fi genres, but in fact any novel can have one. Agents and editors often gripe about prologues, and for good reason. If you're dithering about a prologue, examine a few of these examples and ask, "What does the reader find out in the prologue?" and "Why did the author use a prologue?"
Writing Tip for Today: What else do you need to know about prologues?

• Prologues are meant to serve up a bit of information, motivation or other key element that came before the novel's beginning. Sounds like back story, huh? Use as a prologue if you believe there is no other way to set the stage.
• Prologues (and epilogues) should enrich the story, not simply provide the writer a convenient place to dump all the research or cool facts about the world the reader will enter.
• Prologues should be short. As short as possible. Anything beyond a page and the reader wonders when the real story will start.
• Prologues in italics are hard on the eyes. The reader understands that the italics set apart the prologue from the rest, but it's hard to read, so keep it brief.
• Prologues should pass the "Why?" test. Sometimes a different POV character narrates the prologue, or there is a long time span between prologue and story. Make sure there's a reason for your prologue.
• Overall, the prologue should be employed only when the info or motivation of the character can't be placed into regular back story in the body of the novel, or when the reader must know something before the story begins.
• Be prepared. Readers are known to skip the prologue to get into the action.

Coming Soon! I'll be guest posting in The Bookshelf Muse's Setting Thesaurus this Thursday. I hope you'll visit--especially if there's a trailer in your setting!

Novel Writing: First Pages

Writers know well the rule that a novel's opening pages have to "hook" or grab the reader. What exactly does this mean?
Writing Tip for Today: I'm sure different people would say different things, but for me the opening of a novel must do these things:

• Present the reader with a character to care about.
• At least hint at that character's setting, era and problem.
• Get us engaged with what the character is doing to get past that problem.
• Weave action and narrative so the work has kinetic motion from the outset.
• Contain references to the book's overall theme, struggle or lesson.

This last one is perhaps the most difficult and may not be in place until the writer is deep into the revision process. The reader doesn't want everything spelled out, but if the character refers to the arc, premise or theme on the first page, it adds to the reader's satisfaction at the end of the book. Hinting at the larger theme also gives the reader a direction, a promise, and tells the reader we won't be wandering around in terms of theme. Instead we'll have a mission, a puzzle of discovery as we read that fulfills this promise and makes us feel satisfied no matter what the outcome is like for the character.

Novel Writing: The X Factor

The new class of novel writers faced my lecture on "raising the stakes." As usual, some of these writers were uncomfortable or downright shocked to learn that their story might need pumping up. As I tried to gently lead them to raise the stakes of their story, it occurred to me that the "Breakout Novel" that Donald Maass describes always has an X Factor.
Writing Tip for Today: Maass advises writers to combine high human worth, personal and public stakes as well as the willingness to watch the character suffer as ways to raise the stakes. The X Factor:

• Involves deep and universal emotions. That's why animals and small children are able to upstage adults.
• Makes us care on a primal level, so much that we can't stop reading.
• Forms strong bonds between the reader and the character.
• Appeals to readers' sense of moral conduct or code. We love even "bad-guy" heroes like Dirty Harry, because we know these people have a strong moral code they will not abandon.
• Presents the character's personal stakes on an unavoidable collision course with the public stakes. EX: A character who is determined to find a cure for his wife's terminal disease is suddenly faced with a pandemic. These two plot points rush headlong toward each other, usually ratcheting up tension by the sense that "time is running out."

Does your novel contain the X Factor?

Scene Writing: Sequel

Scenes allow readers to "live" events. But what of the processing a character does in response to those events? That's what I call sequel. In Writing Novels that Sell, Jack Bickman quotes Dwight V. Swain: "Gut-level understanding of scene and sequel is the single most crucial factor in becoming a successful novelist."
Writing Tip for Today: For me, a sequel is the emotional or thought processing a character does as the events of a scene unfold or just after. If your novel were devoid of these sequels, a character might be tagged as shallow or the pace might seem too quick. Good sequels don't feel intrusive to the reader, but instead add to the depth of feeling or info the reader craves. Consider these elements: First, scene:

• A scene is comprised of goal, conflict, disaster.
• If the story were all acted out, moment by moment, it would become too long. The reader would have to guess at which parts of the story were important and which were only circumstantial.
• The nature of scene is excitement.
• In a scene, the goal must be clearly stated, specific and obtainable now.
• If a scene ends with something good, it probably won't have as great an effect as if it ends in disaster.

Now, sequel:

• A sequel is a pattern of emotion or reaction, dilemma, decision and action.
• In life when things happen, we often have a blind emotional reaction.
• Later we might try to be logical (weighing the dilemma).
• We make a decision based on our best assessment.
• We act (thereby propelling us into scene once again.
• The nature of sequel is logic, emotion and characterization.

To sum up:

• Scene and sequel don't have to play in chronological order.
• Scene can interrupt sequel and vice versa.
• A scene or sequel can be skipped entirely.
• Use scene-sequel structure to change viewpoints.
• Understanding the use of scenes and sequels are the key to good novels. They know when to rapid-fire action to the reader (scene) and when to slow things down with sequel.

Scene Writing: Tone and Pace

I was reading Novel Journey (an excellent blog that showcases authors) and came across an entry by novelist Gina Holmes. She said her work often teeters on the brink of literary and wondered if it's a good thing. I've had this same problem, that of being mostly a mainstream/women's fiction writer who's been known to turn a pretty phrase. But I've learned the hard way that tone and pace are critical to delivering the promise you made to the reader on page one.
Writing Tip for Today: Presently I'm reading Pulitzer-winning author Marilynne Robinson's Home. The pace is leisurely yet the tension is kept in perfect balance. Her tone is deliberate and beautiful. She's a wonderful literary writer. Here are some thoughts on tone and pace in scene writing:

• The tone and pace should match the novel's theme and intention. If you open in a literary voice, the reader expects this voice to be fairly constant.
• The main character should set the tone. Is the character bitter, funny, desperate?
• Sometimes genre dictates the pace, but overall it too should reflect the character and the theme. Murder mysteries often read at a breakneck pace, with a gritty no-nonsense tone.
• Use foreshadowing and withholding of information as tools to maintain or build tension. When you reveal things is crucial to the reader's experience. You wouldn't want a joke-teller to blurt the punchline at the wrong moment.
• Think of scenes as opportunities that are much like a joke: there's a set-up, a build-up and a punch line (outcome).
• Further influence the tone and pace by contracting or expanding time. Make time seem to fly by with active verbs (maybe of Teutonic origin for their hard sounds) and shorter sentences. Expand time with longer sentences and more Romance Language words.

Scene Writing: What Changes?

Novelists concentrate on writing scenes to tell a story, and rightly so. I list the Eleven Elements of a scene for new writers to help them write more complete experiences. Readers want a scene to be about a character or two, at a time and place. Readers want action and dialogue and lots of CSD (Concrete Sensory Detail). Yet so often a drafted scene feels static. What's the remedy?
Writing Tip for Today: The most essential ingredient of a scene is CHANGE. Something must change. Why else would we read about it?

• The change must be an integral part of the larger story, an occurrence which moves the story forward toward a goal.
• The change can be internal or external, but it must have something to do with the story and/or character's motivation.
• Change or the promise of impending change provides tension and conflict.
• In the first and second acts of a story, most changes are better off being reversals or misfortune. By keeping the reader hoping for a change for the better, the writer is able to manage the reader's reactions.
• If nothing much changes in a scene, either rewrite it with "what's at stake?" in mind or jettison.

MLK and Mark Twain

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I can't help thinking about the recent flap over whether Mark Twain's work ought to be sanitized for sensitive young readers. The debate is about the "n" word. Most everyone including me, cringes these days at the sound of this racial epithet, but in literature, should we alter art to suit modern sensibilities? And what of those writing about eras where the word is a natural part of the landscape?
Writing Tip for Today: We can't know where Twain would come down on the issue, but King, as far as I can tell, would urge us to unite, not divide. Writers today must decide whether their works demands the use of offensive language and if it does, how to portray that "feeling" without driving away readers. I had some thoughts on this:

• Dialogue is the most logical place for profanity of any kind, including racial slurs that are hard on the reader. Even so, a little goes a long way. Think of the same advice you get on creating dialect--most writers are going to struggle with it, and even when it's pitch perfect, the revised spellings and/or apostrophes and dropped gs create a messy page.
• As with the advice for waiting and boredom, I think it's important to give your reader a taste without making that reader drown in whatever kind of language the authentic character will speak.
• Are there any ways to describe the situation without using the profanity? A lot of Christian writers deal with this dilemma all the time. Their audience expects and buys Christian books where profanity, graphic sex, violence and other gritty things are absent. Still, I think the story sometimes requires that shock value in order to portray an accurate character or story. Think of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Euphemisms don't fool readers.
• Creative ways to write about racial, gender or other kinds of injustice--aside from just showering a reader with bad words or offensive acts--are a challenge every writer should aspire to reach.
• Writers should write as honestly and authentically as they can. Sometimes this means hard things to bear, but if the story is a redemptive one, readers may tolerate more of these difficult things. Neither Twain nor King would have us close our eyes to the injustice in the world. Just my two cents.

Weekends: Do You Write?

Saturday. No classes, clients or other duties. What's the first thing on my mind? Maybe I can sneak off and get some writing in. Who cares if the refrigerator needs cleaning, the laundry beckons and my crew goes hungry during the game? Don't bother me--I'm writing.

Writing Tip for Today: I actually started thinking about weekend writing as in keeping up this blog. I wondered, how many prominent bloggers do Saturday and/or Sunday entries? And how many writers can't wait for the weekend when the fam sleeps in and novelists tiptoe to their computers for a few blessed minutes?

Today's tip is more of a survey:

• Do you expect your favorite blogs to post entries on the weekends? Why or why not?


• Do you take guilty pleasure in fitting in writing time off the 5 day work week? What's your favorite time to get in that uninterrupted (aaah, bliss!) word count? I'd love to hear from you.

Critique Groups: What makes Them Work?

Yesterday's guest post by Becca from The Bookshelf Muse cited how she's met co-blogger Angela in an online group called Critique Circle. I've started shepherding three new face-to-face "training wheels" crit groups this term. The ingredients for a successful group stay the same.
Writing Tip for Today: As you join, form or change critique groups, the most important thing is that you have a place to read your stuff. Here are some other elements of successful groups:

• High level of Trust. As you get to know the other writers, you form a bond. The best groups are a safe place to gain valuable feedback while leaving the writer's ego intact. I once belonged to a group that regularly "ate me for lunch." You don't have to become friends but you do need to trust other members.
• Rules with Flexibility. Successful groups have rules in place to keep individuals from taking over or to keep order. I'm SO guilty of cross talk, that is, interrupting another critiquer. It's something I have to work on all the time. The flexibility part comes in where a stray comment now and then doesn't need to be policed. Most good groups also set rules for page count and put in place a procedure for admitting new members, such as a trial period or audition.
• Constant Production. Good crit groups hear from all the members. If writers always want to crit but never bring anything in, I think it hurts the whole group. Again, I'm oh-so-guilty--my busy schedule means I can barely attend, much less bring in pages. But I'm working on it.
• Strengths and Weaknesses. Often, different writers bring different skills to the group. For instance, I'm known as the "big picture" person, as theme, story and structure are my strengths. Others will be the "grammar person (not police!)" or the story logic person (who says, I never saw her sit down. How could she be getting up?).
• A Gentle Touch. Good groups offer positive suggestions for fixing a manuscript. They don't try to edit or rewrite your work, or deliver death blows about it in front of others.
• Careful with Word Choice and Delivery. In an online crit group it's especially important to respect the writer and be sure your style of "online talk" doesn't come off as bullying or dismissive. You don't write in all caps, you avoid pronouncing judgment or announcing that you hate someone's work. Instead, offer solutions to what you view as a problem. In my view, there are only two kinds of writing: Writing that works and writing that needs work.

Introducing Becca Puglisi, Guest Blogger

Thanks so much, Linda, for your support of The Bookshelf Muse, and for inviting me over to chat about the Emotion Thesaurus and its history. Your blog has so many helpful and practical tips for writers. I look forward to the day when I can put your post-acceptance tips to use!

First off, any discussion on the origins of The Bookshelf Muse has to start with this statement, in my best Forrest Gump voice: As far as writing goes, Angela and me was like peas and carrots. We both started writing about the same time and joined an on-line critique site called Critique Circle within a few weeks of each other back in 2004. Somehow, among the thousands of members there, we stumbled into each other and found that we were both at about the same place on our writing paths and had similar goals in mind. It was meant to be, you might say.

A few years into our writing journey, I realized that my characters were always shifting their feet, narrowing their eyes, and fidgeting. To come up with new ways to show emotions, I started a list of physical indicators that I had seen in books, observations I had made, and phrases I had written out myself. Right around that time, Angela opined that her characters were always biting their lips, nodding, and smiling or frowning. She began a discussion in our critique group about how to convey emotions through different indicators. Everyone responded that they struggled with the same thing. I shared my bare-bones list of emotional indicators. We agreed to contribute to the list and Angela kept a master copy.

Shortly thereafter, Angela and I started The Bookshelf Muse. In discussing what kind of blog we'd like to have, we decided that we wanted to offer resources to other writers in a format that would keep people coming back for more. Angela mentioned our list (back then, called the Please Beat Me over the Head Beat List). We saw what a benefit it had been to us and the other members of our critique group and decided to start with that. And so, the Emotion Thesaurus was born.

It took a year before we exhausted our list of emotions. People really responded to the thesaurus, so we followed it up with a new one: Settings. A Colors, Shapes, and Textures resource was next, followed by the current Symbolism thesaurus. Fellow writers have been so positive about the thesauri and how they've helped in their writing. Since we started The Bookshelf Muse almost 3 years ago, we've watched our follower base climb to 1400, and we now have over 330k hits. People say that's pretty good in the blog world, but Angela and I are just awed and totally stoked to be part of such an encouraging and inspiring community. As writers, we're all in the same boat, struggling with the same issues, and everyone needs support. My husband owns a Chick-fil-A restaurant (sorry if you live in a part of the world that doesn't have them and don't know what I'm talking about), and as the founder of Chick-fil-A likes to say: "How do you know if someone needs encouragement? They're breathing." Being an encourager is a pretty good way to be, and it really does describe our followers. They talk about how much they appreciate our blog, but they're the ones who cheer us on, who motivate us to try and find something that might help others as much as we've been helped by them.

So that's The Bookshelf Muse, in a nutshell. We've got a birthday next week, which you know means a parrrrrrtay and an awesome surprise. And while the Symbolism thesaurus is still going strong, ideas are percolating about what might come next. So if you're a follower, thank you so much for your dedication. Please keep coming back. And if you're not, come on over and see what we're about.

Thank you, Becca--it's been a pleasure! ~Linda

Cracking Open Your Character's Lives

In Memoir class, I often mention "cracking open" an incident or event. "Dig deeper," I say. That's where the gold is. Novel writers can crack open their character's lives as well, deepening and sculpting a more memorable character for readers to sympathize with.
Writing Tip for Today: When you crack open a scene to get at the real story, it may be very painful, especially for memoirists who are their own protagonist. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Cracking it open means getting at the truth, not necessarily writing every gory detail.
• You'll face yourself in a way you may never have before. Be prepared to forgive yourself or your loved ones.
• If a traumatic scene is one in which you or the character endured a long wait, the key is to give the reader a feeling of waiting without actually making the reader wait. Same holds true for scenes in which a character is bored. Give the feeling of boredom, but don't make your reader bored.
• Cracking it open may require several drafts to get at the truth.
• Bleeding on the page takes courage. Yet when you "crack it open," you'll be likely to produce honest, authentic writing, which readers love.

Tomorrow! Look for The Bookshelf Muse blogger Becca writing about how she and her blogging partner Angela, came up with the Emotion Thesaurus. Don't miss it!

Back to Basics: Writing a Scene

For all the words devoted to teaching how to write, most of the real work comes down to this: can the writer paint a picture and immerse their reader into that picture? Whether you write fiction, memoir or essay, the reader is always looking to experience the event you're describing. What's the best way to accomplish this? Good scene writing.
Writing Tip for Today: Scene writing might seem too basic an idea to be a writing tip, but I love refreshing my skills by concentrating on the elements of a scene.

• Pay attention to the right details. When I tell a student to be observant, sometimes that student puts down too many details. This is overkill, bores the reader, who is looking for action and dialogue. Think of the way your eyes take in a scene: a few details stand out above the rest, details that give a character or object a quick picture the reader easily can "see."
• When it's complicated, opt to bend the details. Students get anxious about this one, but if you as writer are trying to describe a complex relationship (my in-law's third cousin, only he's only like a cousin, not really related) or object (I love the story of the mom whose toddler melted plastic magnetic alphabet letters in the oven) that gives a more immediate picture by simplifying (she changed it to a blue plastic duck). The alphabet letters could have been any letter any color, and the reader might scroll through all the possibilities, thus taking that reader out of the story.
• Just as a reminder, remember that scenes come alive with three main things: Action (includes dialog), Concrete Sensory Detail (CSD) and Emotion.
• Eleven elements of a scene: Time, Place (setting), Characters, POV character, quality of light (sunny, cloudy, dark), Purpose, sight, sound, smell, taste, touch (CSD).

Don't miss The Bookshelf Muse's Becca Puglisi's Guest Post coming on Thursday, January 13th.

Braving the Critics

Writers who are looking forward to publication can't afford to worry about the reviews. Once you've read your first batch of reviews, however, you anticipate the critics. Most authors will face negative assessments at one point or another. How can you stay positive when the critics write negative reviews?
Writing Tip for Today: The first time I read a nasty review of my novel, The Fence My Father Built, the book was on a blog tour. Some cranky person hated my work, citing not enough of a religious punch and disrespectful kids to boot. Here are some things I learned (quickly!):

• A negative review among scads of glowing reviews is less important than mostly negative reviews.
• Some critics "specialize" in awarding one star to books, especially when they're free. When my book was offered as a free Kindle download on Amazon, I was warned by more experienced writers. Sure enough, several reviewers ranked my story with one to three stars. I took solace in the fact that the worst review was written with several glaring spelling errors.
• People recommend not paying attention to these barbed missives. I don't seem to be able to do that. But, I only allow myself one day to mope. I know lots of authors who NEVER read reviews.
• Look for something constructive. Most negative reviews are little more than diatribes, but now and then the reviewer gives solid reasons why the book didn't work for them. If I see the same type of comment more than once, I do some soul searching.
• Finally, don't let a bad review stop you from writing on. Your publisher, agent and editor believed enough in your story to invest time and money. So not everyone thinks your book is a bomb. If anything learn from the experience and always be working on those writing skills.

Your Blog as Platform

Next Thursday, January 13, I'll be welcoming Becca Puglisi from The Bookshelf Muse blog as a guest poster. I've mentioned the Bookshelf Muse before--Becca and Angela provide a wonderful assortment of resources for the writer. As you build your own writing platform, it may seem as if no one will ever read your blog besides the dog and your mom.
Writing Tip for Today: Here are some ways to help you grow a following for your blog:

• Visit popular blogs and leave comments regularly.
• If you do comment, try to be among the first commenters.
• Make sure your comments are thoughtful and add to the conversation.
• Try not to repeat the same comment as the 20 folks ahead of you.
• Invite well-known bloggers to guest post on your blog.
• Stage contests and/or giveaways to draw readers.
• Do book reviews for the type of book you're writing.
• Change your wallpaper or layout now and then.
• Get a unique background for your blog. There are many designers beyond the template provided by the blog service. Many of these designs are free or low-cost.
• Ask pertinent questions of your readers.

Finding Your Motivation

A new crop of novel writers last night reminded me once again of the motivation and discipline involved in completing a novel-length work. The most common reason for enrolling in my classes is just that: writers want to be held accountable for producing word count.
Writing Tip for Today: Finding and keeping writing motivation is simple but not easy. As Steven Pressfield reminds us in the excellent book, The War of Art, the only thing standing in a writer's way is resistance. Overcome all forms of resistance by employing these strategies:

• Think of yourself as a professional writer, even if you're just starting on the writing journey. If you believe you're a pro, it forces those around you to respect your writing time. This includes family and well-meaning friends who regard your writing as a "little hobby."
• Set up a writing schedule that fits your "season of life." If you are a young parent, you might have less time than a retired empty-nester. But you can set up a schedule and SHOW UP, get in as much WORD COUNT as possible for the time you allot to writing.
• Create an appealing space. Is your writing area a place you can't wait to get to? Or is it buried under bills, magazines or other distractions? Do something this week to spruce up your writing area--even if it's a closet or the kitchen table.
• Once you do the above things, promise yourself you will get your BIC (Bottom in Chair), even if all you write is crap. In fact, crap is better, because you must eliminate the editor's voices in order to free yourself to write the crap. If you panic as you sit in front of the screen, remember that most writers (even famous ones) panic each time they sit down to write. This isn't an excuse. If you have to write stream of consciousness or do writing exercises, then that's OK. Chances are, you will tire of typing nonsense and allow your story to speak.
• Write that one-inch window. Anne Lamott advises writers to take it "bird by bird." A novel is an overwhelming task. But if you only need to write a single scene, that's more doable. You can do it. You're a pro.

Finding Your Audience

Finding your story--boiling down your sprawling novel to one or two sentences--is often a eureka moment for new novelists. But what about your audience? Do you know who your readers are?
Writing Tip for Today: For any novelist, identifying the audience is an important tool. Why? Knowing your potential readers helps you:

• Identify the genre. For instance if you are a literary writer trying to sell a Christian market book, as I have been, you must know that CBA audiences are still quite new to literary fiction and mostly prefer action, suspense or romance.
• Write to your reader. While you are drafting or revising, if you know your audience you can write directly to that typical reader. If you've read widely in the type of novels the audience prefers, you'll be able to pace your novel in a way these readers prefer. Same holds true for use of profanity or other "sensitive" issues.
• Target representation. When it comes time to secure a literary agent, you'll know which segment of the publishing world to target. That literary novel, while it may have some religious themes or content, might be more saleable in the secular world. Agents who only rep religious work might not have contacts in this secular realm. Conversely, overt Christian themes might not appeal to the general population and will be more difficult to place with a secular agency or publisher. Knowing your audience will also be a plus to any agent considering your work. The writer who is sure in this area will garner more confidence by agents. They know this info is an advantage in selling a book proposal.
• Define your brand. As you get more acquainted with your audience, readers will come to expect a certain type of book from you. This will help you narrow your "brand." For example, when you think of Tom Clancy, you think of suspense and thriller.
• Set up book events. When your book comes out, knowing your audience will guide you in planning book events. Is your book about horses? You'll be able to target horse-loving audiences as you plan for signings and speaking engagements.

Finding the Story

I'm a seat-of-the-pants writer. When I begin a novel, I often have only one or two characters in my mind. These characters then begin to speak about who they are, what they want and what's standing in the way. The details shape up as I begin to draft. Yet as I reach the novel's midsection, I often switch tactics and do some outlining.
Writing Tip for Today: Some writers stick to carefully designed plots, others are "pantsers" like me. Whether you plot after your first draft or before you begin, I think it's helpful to think about scenes you need to get your character to the climax. And having at least a rough outline of the action is useful when you begin the revisions.

• As you draft, jot down a sentence that describes the main action of a scene.
• As you approach the middle of the story, it can be helpful to chart these scenes along a story arc.
• Does each subsequent scene ratchet up the tension? Remember, you want the reader pulled higher and higher in the conflict until the climax scene where the character is forced to act.
• Keeping a short record of each scene can also help you see if your opening is slow or weak. If the answer to "What happens in this scene?" is "Well the story is set-up and I tell the reader all sorts of descriptive stuff," reevaluate. Jump into the action as soon as possible.
• Some writers use index cards, white boards or Post-Its to record the scene's action. This gives you a chance to stand back from the novel and look at how the story is unfolding. You can move, delete or add scenes as needed to make a smooth and logical journey from the opening to that all-important climax scene.

Memoir Writing

Memoir Writing is a class I only offer once a year. Tonight I look forward to meeting a new class of memoir writers. A few fundamental questions come up regularly, so I thought I'd give the short answer about some of them.
Writing Tip for Today: Student writers want to know exactly what a memoir is (and isn't). Here are some thoughts:

• A memoir is different than "one's memoirs." A memoir tells a story of a particular person at a particular time of life, illustrated by using fictional techniques such as scene writing, pacing and dialogue. Autobiography can mean memoir, but for me, autobiography and "one's memoirs" or a legacy book has come to mean a chronicle of a life rather than a story.
• A memoir may be book length or essay length, but it must be focused upon a theme, a time span or a phase of life that readers will identify with.
• Just because a person has lead an "interesting life" that person is not an automatic qualifier for a publishable memoir. Most well-known memoirs (as in book length works) fall into two categories: celebrity or compelling storytelling through fine writing.
• Most ordinary people won't find a traditional publisher for a book-length memoir. Exceptions are the compelling writing and storytelling or a celebrity status.
• If you want to write a memoir of your life for your family & friends, consider self-publishing. This type of book is often called a "legacy" book.
• As you write the story, it will be helpful to write it as you would a novel--complete with scenes, dialogue (even if you don't remember exact words) and leaving out the boring stuff.

Timmy and the Tuba

A boy named Timmy wanted to play the tuba in the school band. So he did. Is this a story? No! The worst writing sometimes skates by with a great story. Yet the best writing cannot function without a good story. For many, setting a high enough goal , creating worthy adversaries and giving us an impassioned character are the keys to building a story worth writing.
Writing Tip for Today: When you start writing a novel, you may think you've attained those three elements listed above. Yet as you draft, opportunities will likely arise to ratchet up the tension through higher stakes (what's the character got to lose?), bigger or more formidable adversaries/obstacles, and a main character who feels deeply about this goal. Many writers will say, "Of course the stakes are high! My character is willing to die for the goal." I say, "Really?" Why would Timmy be willing to die to play the tuba in the school band? Consider these scenarios:

• Maybe his mother is too poor to afford a tuba. She works another fast food job so he can join the band.
• Timmy gets the tuba but the bully pushes him and his prized instrument into a mud puddle. Every day.
• Timmy knows that if he can play the tuba well enough, he'll be able to give his dying grandpa the best gift ever.

You get the idea. When considering the stakes of your novel, instead of thinking about earthquakes, car chases and mayhem, aim for the EMOTIONS. A good story always pits deeply held emotions against obstacles that test those emotions.