Lee Rene's Blog, page 2
April 29, 2017
How to Read Like A Published Writer
by Caitlin Jans
I was a reader long before I was a writer. As a child I fell in love with books like The Balloon.
When I was a teenager I remember being shocked by the fact that most of the adults around me didn’t read more than one book a year. But they all told me that they were busy, and when I was older I would understand, and I wouldn’t have time to read.
I now read around a hundred books a year. I did that before I had a full time job. I continued to read that much after getting a full time job and getting married. When I was pregnant I assumed having a child would change all that. And while becoming a mother has changed every aspect of my life, I still read one hundred books every year. I am not counting children’s book either. The habit of reading is such a part of me that while other things have gone by the wayside (watching anything), no matter how busy I am, I always make sure I have time to read, even if it is just ten minutes before bed.
I believe that reading is an important part of being a writer. I think of it as part of my job as a writer to continue reading. There is a lot of attention paid to the idea that writers have to read to be good writers, and that is true. But I think to be a published writer you don’t just have to read, you have to read strategically, in a way that supports your life as a published writer.
If you are not convinced that you have to read to become a writer at all, the article is for you.
If you want to learn how to read in a way that best supports your career as a published writer, this is the article for you. You might already be doing a few of these things, but you are probably not doing all of them. As a published poet with three collections under my belt, and an aspiring novelist, I feel all of these steps have helped me get where I am, and they are going to help me get further.
Read the Genre You Write in
I know a lot of authors who write young adult (YA) fiction and don’t actually read it. A friend of mine who is writing a YA novel confessed that the last YA book she read was in high school. She is now in her fifties. The same goes for literary fiction, surprisingly. I think this is less likely to happen in genres like science fiction, but I might be incorrect.
I am going to use YA as the example genre in this section because most people have some familiarity with it. Even if that familiarity is dated.
Even if you don’t love the genre you’re writing in, you should be reading it. You should have read the classics. In the YA genre that includes books like The Outsiders
and
The Perks of Being a Wallflower. You should also have read at least three books that have been published in that genre in the last few years, if not more.
This is important for a number of reasons. If you don’t read within your genre you don’t understand what is standard and what is not, what is controversial and what is just par for the course. You can’t come in with just a one book filter, if all you read of YA was
Divergent your filter would be very different than from someone who had only read The Fault in Our Stars.
The more you read in your chosen genre the more you can learn from the good choices (and the mistakes) that other authors make. One of the YA books I read and loathed, had a very well written fight scene. The book was mostly a waste of time but that one scene really helped me write one of the most important scenes in my own novel. Of course, you can learn some of those lessons outside of your genre, but not always.
You need to read books that have been recently published.
First, you learn what is being published right now and who is publishing it. But even more importantly, at least from a publication standpoint, is that many publishers and agents want you to compare your book to two or more recently published books in your query letter. The more you read, the more accurate those comparisons can be.
It is important to read outside of your genre too. I think the best writers are diverse readers who read a whole range of writing.
Research for your book with books
I love researching on the internet. It is so easy to look up facts. The novel I wrote relies a lot on geography and so I found myself Googling a large number of maps and also asking the internet specific questions, like “how long does it take to get from Venice to Umag by boat?”.
But in order to get deeper into the lives my characters really lead, I had to read books. The internet is a great way to resolve specific questions, or look at maps or pictures, but much of the information lacks depth.
My book involves refugees in transit between countries. I found that while podcasts helped, nothing beats a good long book for really conveying the experience. Not all stories require research, but if yours does, including books as part of your research is always a good idea, because the information is more likely to be correct and because books tend to go far deeper into a subject.
Pay attention to the publishers
The first thing I do when I see a book is look at the publisher. Now it seems obvious to me. But for over two decades I read books without, for the most part, noticing who published them. Most readers don’t notice the publishers, and if they do it is just in passing.
If I have never heard of a publisher before and I enjoyed the book I usually look the publisher up and do research on them. If the same publisher has published a number of books that have something in common with mine, I add their name to my “To Submit” File.
I have learned quite a lot by paying attention to who publishes the books I read. Some of it is relevant to what I write, and most of it is not. for example I know a lot about children’s book publishers because my child loves books, but I don’t ever plan to write one. Still, that information helps me be more informed about how publishing works. It is part of the bigger picture.
Even if you are not submitting directly to a publisher, it helps to know what publisher might be a good fit for your book. Author friends of mine who have mentioned the potential publisher for their novel in their agent query have had a very high success rate of landing an agent, and often a publisher that way.
Browse in bookstores, buy in bookstores
When I go into a bookstore I also pay attention to a publisher. Sometimes, if I have read an eBook that I like and the publisher claims to have good distribution, I look for the print version in the book store. If I can’t find it, I ask the booksellers about it.
At a good bookstore they often know if they carry that publisher or not. The same goes for publishers I have read about online but am not otherwise familiar with.
Browsing through a bookstore educates you in many ways. You should be looking at covers. What trends are prevalent right now? What subjects seem well covered? What books seem to move? What are the booksellers recommending?
What a lot of people do now is browse in bookstores but buy elsewhere. Often just taking pictures of the covers of the books they want to buy. This is not good. Good independent bookstores help authors sell books. They support independent publishers. They help raise children into readers with story hours. It is important to support their financial health and ongoing existence.
Read the Front Matter and Back Matter
Front and back matter are a wealth of information, particularly in certain genres. Front matter is everything before the actual text of the book. Things like the table of contents and acknowledgements. Back matter includes bibliography and authors bio.
The acknowledgments and the authors bio can often be the most helpful parts of books.
Acknowledgments often reveal the author’s agent (if they have one) and editor (many who freelance, and who you could theoretically hire to polish your book).
In the case of poetry and short story collections acknowledgments are very helpful because they reveal where the author’s work has been published before, what journals and magazines have published them. The literary journals listed in there are usually a mix of the established and known (such as the New Yorker) and newer up and coming journals that are still becoming established but are most likely already respected within the publishing community.
Focus on submitting to those literary journals and magazines and your odds of having a full collection published usually increases dramatically.
Bio: Caitlin Jans is a poet, a novelist, and the editor of Authors Publish Magazine. Her writing can be found in The Conium Review, The Moth, Labletter,Literary Mama, and elsewhere.
I was a reader long before I was a writer. As a child I fell in love with books like The Balloon.
When I was a teenager I remember being shocked by the fact that most of the adults around me didn’t read more than one book a year. But they all told me that they were busy, and when I was older I would understand, and I wouldn’t have time to read.
I now read around a hundred books a year. I did that before I had a full time job. I continued to read that much after getting a full time job and getting married. When I was pregnant I assumed having a child would change all that. And while becoming a mother has changed every aspect of my life, I still read one hundred books every year. I am not counting children’s book either. The habit of reading is such a part of me that while other things have gone by the wayside (watching anything), no matter how busy I am, I always make sure I have time to read, even if it is just ten minutes before bed.
I believe that reading is an important part of being a writer. I think of it as part of my job as a writer to continue reading. There is a lot of attention paid to the idea that writers have to read to be good writers, and that is true. But I think to be a published writer you don’t just have to read, you have to read strategically, in a way that supports your life as a published writer.
If you are not convinced that you have to read to become a writer at all, the article is for you.
If you want to learn how to read in a way that best supports your career as a published writer, this is the article for you. You might already be doing a few of these things, but you are probably not doing all of them. As a published poet with three collections under my belt, and an aspiring novelist, I feel all of these steps have helped me get where I am, and they are going to help me get further.
Read the Genre You Write in
I know a lot of authors who write young adult (YA) fiction and don’t actually read it. A friend of mine who is writing a YA novel confessed that the last YA book she read was in high school. She is now in her fifties. The same goes for literary fiction, surprisingly. I think this is less likely to happen in genres like science fiction, but I might be incorrect.
I am going to use YA as the example genre in this section because most people have some familiarity with it. Even if that familiarity is dated.
Even if you don’t love the genre you’re writing in, you should be reading it. You should have read the classics. In the YA genre that includes books like The Outsiders
and
The Perks of Being a Wallflower. You should also have read at least three books that have been published in that genre in the last few years, if not more.This is important for a number of reasons. If you don’t read within your genre you don’t understand what is standard and what is not, what is controversial and what is just par for the course. You can’t come in with just a one book filter, if all you read of YA was
Divergent your filter would be very different than from someone who had only read The Fault in Our Stars.
The more you read in your chosen genre the more you can learn from the good choices (and the mistakes) that other authors make. One of the YA books I read and loathed, had a very well written fight scene. The book was mostly a waste of time but that one scene really helped me write one of the most important scenes in my own novel. Of course, you can learn some of those lessons outside of your genre, but not always.
You need to read books that have been recently published.
First, you learn what is being published right now and who is publishing it. But even more importantly, at least from a publication standpoint, is that many publishers and agents want you to compare your book to two or more recently published books in your query letter. The more you read, the more accurate those comparisons can be.
It is important to read outside of your genre too. I think the best writers are diverse readers who read a whole range of writing.
Research for your book with books
I love researching on the internet. It is so easy to look up facts. The novel I wrote relies a lot on geography and so I found myself Googling a large number of maps and also asking the internet specific questions, like “how long does it take to get from Venice to Umag by boat?”.
But in order to get deeper into the lives my characters really lead, I had to read books. The internet is a great way to resolve specific questions, or look at maps or pictures, but much of the information lacks depth.
My book involves refugees in transit between countries. I found that while podcasts helped, nothing beats a good long book for really conveying the experience. Not all stories require research, but if yours does, including books as part of your research is always a good idea, because the information is more likely to be correct and because books tend to go far deeper into a subject.
Pay attention to the publishers
The first thing I do when I see a book is look at the publisher. Now it seems obvious to me. But for over two decades I read books without, for the most part, noticing who published them. Most readers don’t notice the publishers, and if they do it is just in passing.
If I have never heard of a publisher before and I enjoyed the book I usually look the publisher up and do research on them. If the same publisher has published a number of books that have something in common with mine, I add their name to my “To Submit” File.
I have learned quite a lot by paying attention to who publishes the books I read. Some of it is relevant to what I write, and most of it is not. for example I know a lot about children’s book publishers because my child loves books, but I don’t ever plan to write one. Still, that information helps me be more informed about how publishing works. It is part of the bigger picture.
Even if you are not submitting directly to a publisher, it helps to know what publisher might be a good fit for your book. Author friends of mine who have mentioned the potential publisher for their novel in their agent query have had a very high success rate of landing an agent, and often a publisher that way.
Browse in bookstores, buy in bookstores
When I go into a bookstore I also pay attention to a publisher. Sometimes, if I have read an eBook that I like and the publisher claims to have good distribution, I look for the print version in the book store. If I can’t find it, I ask the booksellers about it.
At a good bookstore they often know if they carry that publisher or not. The same goes for publishers I have read about online but am not otherwise familiar with.
Browsing through a bookstore educates you in many ways. You should be looking at covers. What trends are prevalent right now? What subjects seem well covered? What books seem to move? What are the booksellers recommending?
What a lot of people do now is browse in bookstores but buy elsewhere. Often just taking pictures of the covers of the books they want to buy. This is not good. Good independent bookstores help authors sell books. They support independent publishers. They help raise children into readers with story hours. It is important to support their financial health and ongoing existence.
Read the Front Matter and Back Matter
Front and back matter are a wealth of information, particularly in certain genres. Front matter is everything before the actual text of the book. Things like the table of contents and acknowledgements. Back matter includes bibliography and authors bio.
The acknowledgments and the authors bio can often be the most helpful parts of books.
Acknowledgments often reveal the author’s agent (if they have one) and editor (many who freelance, and who you could theoretically hire to polish your book).
In the case of poetry and short story collections acknowledgments are very helpful because they reveal where the author’s work has been published before, what journals and magazines have published them. The literary journals listed in there are usually a mix of the established and known (such as the New Yorker) and newer up and coming journals that are still becoming established but are most likely already respected within the publishing community.
Focus on submitting to those literary journals and magazines and your odds of having a full collection published usually increases dramatically.
Bio: Caitlin Jans is a poet, a novelist, and the editor of Authors Publish Magazine. Her writing can be found in The Conium Review, The Moth, Labletter,Literary Mama, and elsewhere.
10 Proofreading Tools for Writers
Editor, Mary Walton, shares some of the tricks of the trade with writers in this post.
You may well be rushing to get that text out on time, but you should always stop to proofread first. Many writers have fallen foul of a spelling or grammatical error that is glaringly obvious in their copy. Before you hit ‘publish’, use these ten tools to make sure your writing is flawless.
1. Respelt
Online, you only have fractions of a second to make a good impression. If you have misspellings on your site, it can be disastrous. This tool will check your site daily, and let you know if corrections need to be made. It’s even free, so checking your copy won’t have to cost you a thing. Perfect if you’re on a budget.
2. Quetext
The last thing any writer needs is to be accused of plagiarism. This free tool can check your copy against a huge database, making sure that it doesn’t accidentally plagiarize another text. As a writing tool, it’s worth its weight in gold.
3. Free Online Spell Check
This site does what it says on the tin. Copy your work in, and you’ll have all the misspellings in your copy underlined. You simply click to correct them, then you copy the modified text back into your piece. Nothing could be easier.
4. Custom Essay
This custom writing service can take your copy and proofread it for you, while you’re getting on with writing your other pieces. They’ll edit it for you, returning you a perfect piece ready for publishing. They only hire the best writers, so you’re getting a high-quality service.
5. Language Tool
This proofreading tool is the perfect tool to use if you write in languages other than English. It can proofread text in more than 20 languages, including Polish, French, and German. It can also be downloaded into the text editor of your choice for ease of use.
6. UK Writings
This proofreading tool is great if you need clarification on errors you’re making. Send them your text, and they’ll highlight any error. Click on the error in question and you’ll get an explanation of the grammatical rule.
7. Google Drive
This online office tools service gives you everything you need to create your copy wherever you are, thanks to its cloud storage system. It also has an advanced inbuilt spell check system, so you can edit as you write.
8. Slick Write
This text editor is stuffed full of tools to edit your copy and make you a better writer. It even has a word associator tool, which will help you find that elusive word or phrase that you need.
9. Write My Assignment
Sometimes you don’t have the time to get everything written, and that’s when mistakes happen. Putting all that pressure on yourself isn’t necessary. Send some of your jobs to this writing service instead, and they’ll take the pressure off. Then, you’ll have the perfectly polished copy and some time to spare when you need it the most.
10. Online Spellcheck
This spell checking tool can help you proofread your document in a number of different ways. You can paste your work into the box on their site, or you can give them a URL, file, or cloud document to check over. Once you’ve done that you’ll be given an advanced report on what needs to be amended.
There’s a lot of pressure in writing, so take some of it off by using these tools. You’ll soon see that your copy becomes a lot cleaner, and your skills will improve. When your skills improve, you’ll make fewer mistakes, so there’s no reason not to try these tools out the next time you write.
Mary Walton is a professional editor living in Santa Monica, California.
You may well be rushing to get that text out on time, but you should always stop to proofread first. Many writers have fallen foul of a spelling or grammatical error that is glaringly obvious in their copy. Before you hit ‘publish’, use these ten tools to make sure your writing is flawless.
1. Respelt
Online, you only have fractions of a second to make a good impression. If you have misspellings on your site, it can be disastrous. This tool will check your site daily, and let you know if corrections need to be made. It’s even free, so checking your copy won’t have to cost you a thing. Perfect if you’re on a budget.
2. Quetext
The last thing any writer needs is to be accused of plagiarism. This free tool can check your copy against a huge database, making sure that it doesn’t accidentally plagiarize another text. As a writing tool, it’s worth its weight in gold.
3. Free Online Spell Check
This site does what it says on the tin. Copy your work in, and you’ll have all the misspellings in your copy underlined. You simply click to correct them, then you copy the modified text back into your piece. Nothing could be easier.
4. Custom Essay
This custom writing service can take your copy and proofread it for you, while you’re getting on with writing your other pieces. They’ll edit it for you, returning you a perfect piece ready for publishing. They only hire the best writers, so you’re getting a high-quality service.
5. Language Tool
This proofreading tool is the perfect tool to use if you write in languages other than English. It can proofread text in more than 20 languages, including Polish, French, and German. It can also be downloaded into the text editor of your choice for ease of use.
6. UK Writings
This proofreading tool is great if you need clarification on errors you’re making. Send them your text, and they’ll highlight any error. Click on the error in question and you’ll get an explanation of the grammatical rule.
7. Google Drive
This online office tools service gives you everything you need to create your copy wherever you are, thanks to its cloud storage system. It also has an advanced inbuilt spell check system, so you can edit as you write.
8. Slick Write
This text editor is stuffed full of tools to edit your copy and make you a better writer. It even has a word associator tool, which will help you find that elusive word or phrase that you need.
9. Write My Assignment
Sometimes you don’t have the time to get everything written, and that’s when mistakes happen. Putting all that pressure on yourself isn’t necessary. Send some of your jobs to this writing service instead, and they’ll take the pressure off. Then, you’ll have the perfectly polished copy and some time to spare when you need it the most.
10. Online Spellcheck
This spell checking tool can help you proofread your document in a number of different ways. You can paste your work into the box on their site, or you can give them a URL, file, or cloud document to check over. Once you’ve done that you’ll be given an advanced report on what needs to be amended.
There’s a lot of pressure in writing, so take some of it off by using these tools. You’ll soon see that your copy becomes a lot cleaner, and your skills will improve. When your skills improve, you’ll make fewer mistakes, so there’s no reason not to try these tools out the next time you write.
Mary Walton is a professional editor living in Santa Monica, California.
April 28, 2017
20 Archetypes for People Based on Names
I found this list of 20 archetypes for people based on names on Daily Writing and have used some of them in my own writing.
1. Average Joe: the average man from a demographic viewpoint; from the ubiquity of the name Joe
2. Chatty Cathy: an annoyingly verbose woman; coined through alliteration and rhyme
3. Debbie Downer: a naysayer or pessimist; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
4. Doubting Thomas: a skeptic; inspired by the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, who refused to believe in Jesus’s resurrection until he saw him.
5.Dumb Dora: a dimwitted or foolish woman, from early-twentieth-century slang; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
6. Gloomy Gus: named by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
7. Good-Time Charlie: a hedonist; probably based on a reference in a Damon Runyon story about a speakeasy by that name
8. Handy Andy: a person with useful skills; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
9. Jack-the-lad: an arrogant, carefree young man; probably inspired by the name of a thief who became a folk hero because of multiple escapes from prison
10. Joe Blow: (see “Average Joe”)
11. Joe Cool: someone who presents a fashionable or unflappable persona; probably originated with the name of an alter ego of the character Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip
12. Joe Six-Pack (or “Joe Sixpack”): (see “Average Joe,” imagined as a working-class man who enjoys drinking beer, thus the reference to a six-pack)
13. Mary Sue: any main character in a story who is unrealistically capable and flawless; inspired by the name’s all-American, wholesome, winsome associations
14. Merry Andrew: a clownish person; based on an archetypal clown act
15. Nervous Nellie: a timid, easily upset person of either gender; originally, a reference to a high-strung racehorse, influenced by Old Nell, a name associated with nags, or older horses
16. Peeping Tom: a voyeur; based on an apocryphal story of an onlooker (identified with a common name) during the based-in-fact tale of Lady Godiva
17.Plain Jane: a girl or woman of average appearance, or any unprepossessing object; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
18. Simple Simon: a gullible, unintelligent person; derived from a folk character
19.Smart Aleck (or “smart alec”): a know-it-all; apparently inspired by a nineteenth-century con man the police called “Smart Alec”
20. Typhoid Mary: a person who spreads disease or another undesirable thing; named after Mary Mallon, an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid
1. Average Joe: the average man from a demographic viewpoint; from the ubiquity of the name Joe
2. Chatty Cathy: an annoyingly verbose woman; coined through alliteration and rhyme
3. Debbie Downer: a naysayer or pessimist; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
4. Doubting Thomas: a skeptic; inspired by the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, who refused to believe in Jesus’s resurrection until he saw him.
5.Dumb Dora: a dimwitted or foolish woman, from early-twentieth-century slang; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
6. Gloomy Gus: named by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
7. Good-Time Charlie: a hedonist; probably based on a reference in a Damon Runyon story about a speakeasy by that name
8. Handy Andy: a person with useful skills; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
9. Jack-the-lad: an arrogant, carefree young man; probably inspired by the name of a thief who became a folk hero because of multiple escapes from prison
10. Joe Blow: (see “Average Joe”)
11. Joe Cool: someone who presents a fashionable or unflappable persona; probably originated with the name of an alter ego of the character Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip
12. Joe Six-Pack (or “Joe Sixpack”): (see “Average Joe,” imagined as a working-class man who enjoys drinking beer, thus the reference to a six-pack)
13. Mary Sue: any main character in a story who is unrealistically capable and flawless; inspired by the name’s all-American, wholesome, winsome associations
14. Merry Andrew: a clownish person; based on an archetypal clown act
15. Nervous Nellie: a timid, easily upset person of either gender; originally, a reference to a high-strung racehorse, influenced by Old Nell, a name associated with nags, or older horses
16. Peeping Tom: a voyeur; based on an apocryphal story of an onlooker (identified with a common name) during the based-in-fact tale of Lady Godiva
17.Plain Jane: a girl or woman of average appearance, or any unprepossessing object; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
18. Simple Simon: a gullible, unintelligent person; derived from a folk character
19.Smart Aleck (or “smart alec”): a know-it-all; apparently inspired by a nineteenth-century con man the police called “Smart Alec”
20. Typhoid Mary: a person who spreads disease or another undesirable thing; named after Mary Mallon, an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid
March 2, 2017
The Seven Most Common Manuscript Submission Mistakes
I'm sharing this wonderful and informative article written by Emily Harstone of Authors Publish Magazine. Ms. Harstone gleaned the valuable information in the post by interviewing a number of agents and editors. Enjoy!
When I talk to agents, writers, and editors I always hear them complain of the same mistakes over and over again. The other day I was reading a back issue of Poets & Writers and based on the question “What kind of submissions do you not take seriously?” (I am paraphrasing here) I was able to guess exactly what the agents would say in response to this question.
Even writers who write imaginative and creative pieces are capable of falling into the same traps, particularly if you don’t know what other writers are doing in terms of submissions or what agent’s and editor’s expectations are. Speaking from personal experience, I made a lot of mistakes when I started submitting.
Agents and editors are so used to seeing query letters and sample chapters day in and day out, but most writers only interact with their own submission packet. If you do have a chance to see other authors submission packets that is always a good place to start.
Another good place to start? Learning what not to do. Below I cover the top 5 most common complaints agents and editors have about submission packets. All of the reasons are based on information I have learned from talking directly with agents, writers, and editors. This is concrete information you can use to craft the best submission packet you can.
1. The Submission Did NOT Obey Their Submission Guidelines
Agents and publishers receive submissions all the time where the submitter does not follow directions at all. They include the whole manuscript when only the first 30 pages are asked for. They don’t include a cover letter at all. They submit a marketing packet instead of a manuscript or cover letter. The variety of mistakes are wide ranging, but the fact remains the same – the author did not follow that agent or publisher’s submission guidelines at all.
Submission guidelines exist for a reason. Ignore them at your peril. Most of the editors I have talked to either automatically reject submissions that do not follow guidelines, or they refuse to respond to them entirely.
2. They Didn’t Submit to the Right Agent or Publisher
There is no way to predict which agent or publisher will be the right fit for you or your novel. But it is pretty easy to eliminate ones that won’t fit at all based on genre.
If you have written a young adult (YA) book, don’t submit it to a publisher that does not publish YA. They will not accept your book. If you submit your work of fantasy to an agent that only focuses on literary fiction they will not accept it.
Most authors think of this in terms of what the agent or publisher explicitly states on their site that they don’t publish, but when submitting, particularly to agents, it is important to see what books they represent. For example an agent might not say “No Fantasy” but the only books he has represented are works of literary fiction. Even if he was to be won over by your wonderful dragon filled novel (which is unlikely) he probably would not be the right person to represent it because his connections are in a different genre.
Also, and this is a bit of a tangent, most small publishers who accept unsolicited submissions and are open to multiple genres do not sell as many books as those publishers who focus on one or two niche markets. If you have a fantasy novel it is generally best to place it with a fantasy publisher.
3. Do Not Include Rhetorical Questions
What would you do if your parents were killed by pirates? What would you do if you could breath underwater? What would you do if your boyfriend became a werewolf?
These and many other rhetorical questions are something that agents are so used to seeing in cover letters, that some agencies just toss them into a pile together and leave it at that.
Sometimes an entire paragraph of a cover letter is devoted to rhetorical questions, other times it is just a sentence or two. But after reading a few hundred or so of them, most agents grow to dislike them.
It is really easy not to use them in a cover letter and really much more effective. So if you have any in yours, remove them. They might seem like a fun way to intrigue the agent, but that isn’t what the agent is thinking.
4. Don’t Talk about Copyright
Never say you have copyrighted your book with the Library of Congress. Your book is copyrighted the moment you put the words on paper. To have it done officially, dates your material–forever. Let the publisher do that.
From literary agent, Joyce Holland; a book with a copyright date of 2013, and submitted in 2016, speaks volumes to an editor or agent. It means it’s been shopped around, a lot! If you are really worried someone will steal your material, register it with the Writers’ Guild, East or West. For a small fee they will record the work, proving when you wrote it. And then, unless you are submitting to an entertainment agent or producer, keep your mouth shut. Copyright marks and WGA numbers suggest you don’t trust us.
Tempted to use this symbol Ⓒ instead of talking about copyright directly? Don’t! It sends the message that not only do you not trust the agent, you are new to submitting. We talk more about that here.
If you don’t trust a publisher or an agent you probably shouldn’t be submitting your manuscript to them for consideration.
5. Don’t Query (Yet
Most publishers and agents mention a time frame within which they respond to most submissions. For some publishers it is 2-4 months, for others it is a week, others 6 months. After that time has passed and you have not heard from them, it is fine to query. Querying involves sending a polite email inquiring about your submission. I actually like waiting an extra month on top of the time they mention before querying, just to be polite.
If they don’t mention a time frame at all, don’t query for at least six months. If they ask you not to query, don’t! These are rules they set in place for a reason, but more importantly, querying too quickly, or bothering them too frequently about your work can really tick them off. It can also send them the wrong message – that if they were representing you, you would be very needy. Don’t do that.
6. Politeness and Formality Is a Must
I have already talked a little about how important politeness is if you are following up on your manuscript, but it is vitally important throughout the entire process.
I’ve seen cover letters that are rude. Usually along the lines of “You are so very lucky to receive my wonderful manuscript.” Often the rudeness is right at the end of the cover letter, such as signing off with this line “I can’t wait to receive the acceptance letter you will send me”.
It is also particularly important to respond politely, or not at all, if they decline your submission. Sending them an email imploring them to give your work a second look or calling them out for rejecting your work, will only do you harm. Remember agents, agencies, and publishers talk to each other. If you behave badly it could hurt your reputation at a much larger scale than you might be thinking.
Remember that it isn’t just when engaging with the agent directly that you have to be polite. If you are polite via email, but then blog or tweet to complain about the whole experience, the agent will likely find out, and then be even less pleased.
It is also important to be formal with your cover letter. Just like you would be formal for a job (although honestly I have read a lot of rude and informal cover letters in my day).
Think of this as a time make an impression that is professional. Even if your book is the new version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, you want your cover letter to convey reliability. Unless you already have a Hunter S. Thompson like publication backlog, in which case you would probably not be reading this article.
But don’t go over the top. I have read a cover letter where every other word was archaic and appeared to be pulled from the thesaurus. It did not make a positive impression.
7. Know The Agents Name
From Literary Agent, Joyce Holland; number one on my list of things never to do, is to address a query to 30 or 40 agents or editors at the same time. I’m talking about listing them in the header of your query. We usually toss those without even reading the subject line. Someone sent me one yesterday addressed to at least 50 other agents. I took a moment and tried to figure out what their reasoning might be. Did the writer think I would immediately jump on the material, worried someone would beat me out of a bestseller? Really?
I’m not foolish enough to think authors aren’t submitting to more than one agent or editor at a time. I certainly do, but I never list them so everyone knows. By the same reasoning, don’t ever, ever, send material to all the agents at one agency. We do talk to one another.
I recently received a query stating the author had done his homework and investigated dozens of agents and agencies. It boiled down to me being the perfect person to represent his masterpiece. (Yes, that’s what he called it.) Unfortunately for him, he addressed the query to Ms. Gallagher. Lesson: Be very careful before you press the send button.
When you submit directly to a publisher, unless they specifically state which editor you are submitting to, you don’t know the editors name. If you know the editors name, use it. If it isn’t obviously provided for you – don’t use a name. Just say Dear Editors.
Assume that more than one will see your submission.
Conclusion
If you are ready to submit your manuscript, this article walks you through the process.
When I talk to agents, writers, and editors I always hear them complain of the same mistakes over and over again. The other day I was reading a back issue of Poets & Writers and based on the question “What kind of submissions do you not take seriously?” (I am paraphrasing here) I was able to guess exactly what the agents would say in response to this question.
Even writers who write imaginative and creative pieces are capable of falling into the same traps, particularly if you don’t know what other writers are doing in terms of submissions or what agent’s and editor’s expectations are. Speaking from personal experience, I made a lot of mistakes when I started submitting.
Agents and editors are so used to seeing query letters and sample chapters day in and day out, but most writers only interact with their own submission packet. If you do have a chance to see other authors submission packets that is always a good place to start.
Another good place to start? Learning what not to do. Below I cover the top 5 most common complaints agents and editors have about submission packets. All of the reasons are based on information I have learned from talking directly with agents, writers, and editors. This is concrete information you can use to craft the best submission packet you can.
1. The Submission Did NOT Obey Their Submission Guidelines
Agents and publishers receive submissions all the time where the submitter does not follow directions at all. They include the whole manuscript when only the first 30 pages are asked for. They don’t include a cover letter at all. They submit a marketing packet instead of a manuscript or cover letter. The variety of mistakes are wide ranging, but the fact remains the same – the author did not follow that agent or publisher’s submission guidelines at all.
Submission guidelines exist for a reason. Ignore them at your peril. Most of the editors I have talked to either automatically reject submissions that do not follow guidelines, or they refuse to respond to them entirely.
2. They Didn’t Submit to the Right Agent or Publisher
There is no way to predict which agent or publisher will be the right fit for you or your novel. But it is pretty easy to eliminate ones that won’t fit at all based on genre.
If you have written a young adult (YA) book, don’t submit it to a publisher that does not publish YA. They will not accept your book. If you submit your work of fantasy to an agent that only focuses on literary fiction they will not accept it.
Most authors think of this in terms of what the agent or publisher explicitly states on their site that they don’t publish, but when submitting, particularly to agents, it is important to see what books they represent. For example an agent might not say “No Fantasy” but the only books he has represented are works of literary fiction. Even if he was to be won over by your wonderful dragon filled novel (which is unlikely) he probably would not be the right person to represent it because his connections are in a different genre.
Also, and this is a bit of a tangent, most small publishers who accept unsolicited submissions and are open to multiple genres do not sell as many books as those publishers who focus on one or two niche markets. If you have a fantasy novel it is generally best to place it with a fantasy publisher.
3. Do Not Include Rhetorical Questions
What would you do if your parents were killed by pirates? What would you do if you could breath underwater? What would you do if your boyfriend became a werewolf?
These and many other rhetorical questions are something that agents are so used to seeing in cover letters, that some agencies just toss them into a pile together and leave it at that.
Sometimes an entire paragraph of a cover letter is devoted to rhetorical questions, other times it is just a sentence or two. But after reading a few hundred or so of them, most agents grow to dislike them.
It is really easy not to use them in a cover letter and really much more effective. So if you have any in yours, remove them. They might seem like a fun way to intrigue the agent, but that isn’t what the agent is thinking.
4. Don’t Talk about Copyright
Never say you have copyrighted your book with the Library of Congress. Your book is copyrighted the moment you put the words on paper. To have it done officially, dates your material–forever. Let the publisher do that.
From literary agent, Joyce Holland; a book with a copyright date of 2013, and submitted in 2016, speaks volumes to an editor or agent. It means it’s been shopped around, a lot! If you are really worried someone will steal your material, register it with the Writers’ Guild, East or West. For a small fee they will record the work, proving when you wrote it. And then, unless you are submitting to an entertainment agent or producer, keep your mouth shut. Copyright marks and WGA numbers suggest you don’t trust us.
Tempted to use this symbol Ⓒ instead of talking about copyright directly? Don’t! It sends the message that not only do you not trust the agent, you are new to submitting. We talk more about that here.
If you don’t trust a publisher or an agent you probably shouldn’t be submitting your manuscript to them for consideration.
5. Don’t Query (Yet
Most publishers and agents mention a time frame within which they respond to most submissions. For some publishers it is 2-4 months, for others it is a week, others 6 months. After that time has passed and you have not heard from them, it is fine to query. Querying involves sending a polite email inquiring about your submission. I actually like waiting an extra month on top of the time they mention before querying, just to be polite.
If they don’t mention a time frame at all, don’t query for at least six months. If they ask you not to query, don’t! These are rules they set in place for a reason, but more importantly, querying too quickly, or bothering them too frequently about your work can really tick them off. It can also send them the wrong message – that if they were representing you, you would be very needy. Don’t do that.
6. Politeness and Formality Is a Must
I have already talked a little about how important politeness is if you are following up on your manuscript, but it is vitally important throughout the entire process.
I’ve seen cover letters that are rude. Usually along the lines of “You are so very lucky to receive my wonderful manuscript.” Often the rudeness is right at the end of the cover letter, such as signing off with this line “I can’t wait to receive the acceptance letter you will send me”.
It is also particularly important to respond politely, or not at all, if they decline your submission. Sending them an email imploring them to give your work a second look or calling them out for rejecting your work, will only do you harm. Remember agents, agencies, and publishers talk to each other. If you behave badly it could hurt your reputation at a much larger scale than you might be thinking.
Remember that it isn’t just when engaging with the agent directly that you have to be polite. If you are polite via email, but then blog or tweet to complain about the whole experience, the agent will likely find out, and then be even less pleased.
It is also important to be formal with your cover letter. Just like you would be formal for a job (although honestly I have read a lot of rude and informal cover letters in my day).
Think of this as a time make an impression that is professional. Even if your book is the new version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, you want your cover letter to convey reliability. Unless you already have a Hunter S. Thompson like publication backlog, in which case you would probably not be reading this article.
But don’t go over the top. I have read a cover letter where every other word was archaic and appeared to be pulled from the thesaurus. It did not make a positive impression.
7. Know The Agents Name
From Literary Agent, Joyce Holland; number one on my list of things never to do, is to address a query to 30 or 40 agents or editors at the same time. I’m talking about listing them in the header of your query. We usually toss those without even reading the subject line. Someone sent me one yesterday addressed to at least 50 other agents. I took a moment and tried to figure out what their reasoning might be. Did the writer think I would immediately jump on the material, worried someone would beat me out of a bestseller? Really?
I’m not foolish enough to think authors aren’t submitting to more than one agent or editor at a time. I certainly do, but I never list them so everyone knows. By the same reasoning, don’t ever, ever, send material to all the agents at one agency. We do talk to one another.
I recently received a query stating the author had done his homework and investigated dozens of agents and agencies. It boiled down to me being the perfect person to represent his masterpiece. (Yes, that’s what he called it.) Unfortunately for him, he addressed the query to Ms. Gallagher. Lesson: Be very careful before you press the send button.
When you submit directly to a publisher, unless they specifically state which editor you are submitting to, you don’t know the editors name. If you know the editors name, use it. If it isn’t obviously provided for you – don’t use a name. Just say Dear Editors.
Assume that more than one will see your submission.
Conclusion
If you are ready to submit your manuscript, this article walks you through the process.
February 25, 2017
11 Books Recommended by Gillian Flynn
11 Books Recommended by Gillian Flynn was posted on the Bookbub blog by Vicki Lindem
Are you a big fan of Gone Girl
or Sharp Objects
and looking for similarly gripping reads?
Gillian Flynn has you covered! Check out these recent reading recommendations from Flynn. Covering new releases, classics, and even some true crime — these books are sure to please fans of Flynn. Publishers’ descriptions included.
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
More than 20 years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss — a devastating wound that’s cruelly ripped open when Claire’s husband is killed.
The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: What could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago… and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
Flynn’s recommendation: Flynn is a fan of Slaughter’s works, saying, “I’d follow her anywhere.”
Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight
Motherhood hasn’t been easy for Molly Anderson, and the years since the loss of her second child have been a particular struggle. But six months after moving from New York City to sophisticated Ridgedale, New Jersey, she’s finally enjoying life again, as mother of a five-year-old daughter and fledgling arts reporter for the local paper. But this tenuous stability is threatened when the body of a newborn is found in the woods behind prestigious Ridgedale University and Molly is assigned the story. Over the objections of her increasingly concerned husband, Molly dives into reporting, determined to prove herself by uncovering the truth. What she finds is a decades-old trail of dark secrets that winds through every corner of the town.
Told from the perspectives of Molly; Barbara, wife of Ridgedale’s police chief, whose faltering son is unraveling her picture-perfect life; and a sixteen-year old high school dropout, Sandy, who is dealing with her wayward mother, Where They Found Her reveals that the tragic truth about what happened to the baby lies at the unexpected intersection of these three very different women’s lives. It is a taut and profoundly moving novel about mothers and daughters—the fierce bonds that unite them and the deceit that can drive them apart. But most of all it’s about the heartbreakingly high price of history. The past can be artfully denied, but never truly buried.
Flynn’s recommendation: “McCreight creates a world that pulls us in completely and genuinely, with characters that can enrage, amuse, and fill us with empathy. It’s a thrilling novel.”
The Trespasser by Tana French
In bestselling Tana French’s newest “tour de force,” being on the Murder squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she’s there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she’s getting close to the breaking point.
Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers’ quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed to a shine, and dead in her catalogue-perfect living room, next to a table set for a romantic dinner. There’s nothing unusual about her — except that Antoinette’s seen her somewhere before.
And that her death won’t stay in its neat by-numbers box. Other detectives are trying to push Antoinette and Steve into arresting Aislinn’s boyfriend, fast. There’s a shadowy figure at the end of Antoinette’s road. Aislinn’s friend is hinting that she knew Aislinn was in danger. And everything they find out about Aislinn takes her further from the glossy, passive doll she seemed to be.
Antoinette knows the harassment has turned her paranoid, but she can’t tell just how far gone she is. Is this case another step in the campaign to force her off the squad, or are there darker currents flowing beneath its polished surface?
Flynn’s recommendation: “To say Tana French is one of the great thriller writers is really too limiting. Rather she’s simply this: a truly great writer.”
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in Philip as his heir, a man who will love his grand home as much as he does himself. But the cosy world the two construct is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries — and there he dies suddenly.
Jealous of his marriage, racked by suspicion at the hints in Ambrose’s letters, and grief-stricken by his death, Philip prepares to meet his cousin’s widow with hatred in his heart.
Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame. And yet… might she have had a hand in Ambrose’s death?
Flynn’s recommendation: “Moody and unnerving.”
The Bad Seed by William March
There’s something special about eight-year-old Rhoda Penmark. With her carefully plaited hair and her sweet cotton dresses, she’s the very picture of old-fashioned innocence. But when their neighborhood suffers a series of terrible accidents, her mother begins to wonder: Why do bad things seem to happen when little Rhoda is around?
Originally published in 1954, William March’s final novel was an instant bestseller and National Book Award finalist before it was adapted for the stage and made into a 1956 film. The Bad Seed is an indelible portrait of an evil that wears an innocent face, one which still resonates in popular culture today.
Flynn’s recommendation: “If you’ve never read William March’s stunning 1954 novel about an adorable little sociopath murderess, treat yourself.”
The War of the Roses by Warren Adler
The War of the Roses has over time emerged as a synonym for modern divorce and its emotional aftershock. It has since its publication spawned numerous film and stage adaptations, endless discourse on the dynamics of divorce as well as becoming part of the legal jargon describing the proceedings that follow.
Adler’s iconic tale takes us from suburban bliss to an deadly territorial battle. Jonathan and Barbara Rose are at first glance the perfect couple. Jonathan has a stable law career; Barbara is an aspiring gourmet entrepreneur with a promising pâté recipe. Their large home holds the rich antique collection that originally brought them together, as well as the loving familial bond that intertwines them with their children Eve and Josh.
When Jonathan finds himself suddenly gripped by what is presumably a heart attack and Barbara confronts the loveless spell lingering between them, the sun-soaked sky that was once the Rose family union drifts into a torrential downpour. Their mutual hatred becomes ammunition in a domestic warfare that escalates in the most unpredictable ways while they helplessly eye their dwindling nuptial flame. In the chaos that unfolds Adler allows a moment of much needed contemplation on the shape of today’s matrimonial bonds.
The War of the Roses illuminates the relationship-shattering materialism, contempt and selfishness of husband and wife by posing a timeless question, how far are we willing to allow our material possessions the power to define who we are? Are today’s marriages haunted by the struggle to get even?
Flynn’s recommendation: In a guest post on Read it Forward, Flynn recommended this novel on a list of “four brilliantly written books about husbands and wives who drive each other to dark extremes.”
Until the Twelfth of Never by Bella Stumbo
An in-depth account of Betty Broderick’s killing of her ex-husband and his new wife describes the crime and the resulting trial, painting a disturbing portrait of divorce in America and its victims.
Flynn’s recommendation: “I always have to recommend Bella Stumbo’s brilliant Until the Twelfth of Never.”
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger — and a possible murderer — to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead… but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!
Flynn’s recommendation: “It sucked me in when I read it for the first time as a kid, and it has influenced all my novels in some small way.”
The Spider and the Fly by Claudia Rowe
In this superb work of literary true crime — a spellbinding combination of memoir and psychological suspense — a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search to understand the darkness inside us.
“Well, well, Claudia. Can I call you Claudia? I’ll have to give it to you, when confronted at least you’re honest, as honest as any reporter… You want to go into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want a peek into yours. It is only fair, isn’t it?” — Kendall Francois
In September 1998, young reporter Claudia Rowe was working as a stringer for the New York Times in Poughkeepsie, New York, when local police discovered the bodies of eight women stashed in the attic and basement of the small colonial home that Kendall Francois, a painfully polite 27-year-old community college student, shared with his parents and sister.
Growing up amid the safe, bourgeois affluence of New York City, Rowe had always been secretly fascinated by the darkness, and soon became obsessed with the story and with Francois. She was consumed with the desire to understand just how a man could abduct and strangle eight women — and how a family could live for two years, seemingly unaware, in a house with the victims’ rotting corpses. She also hoped to uncover what humanity, if any, a murderer could maintain in the wake of such monstrous evil.
Reaching out after Francois was arrested, Rowe and the serial killer began a dizzying four-year conversation about cruelty, compassion, and control; an unusual and provocative relationship that would eventually lead her to the abyss, forcing her to clearly see herself and her own past — and why she was drawn to danger.
Flynn’s recommendation:”Extraordinarily suspenseful and truly gut-wrenching… A must-read.”
Written in Fire by Marcus Sakey
For 30 years humanity struggled to cope with the brilliants, the one percent of people born with remarkable gifts. For 30 years we tried to avoid a devastating civil war. We failed.
The White House is a smoking ruin. Madison Square Garden is an internment camp. In Wyoming, an armed militia of thousands marches toward a final, apocalyptic battle.
Nick Cooper has spent his life fighting for his children and his country. Now, as the world staggers on the edge of ruin, he must risk everything he loves to face his oldest enemy — a brilliant terrorist so driven by his ideals that he will sacrifice humanity’s future to achieve them.
Flynn’s recommendation: “Ridiculously good. I love this story so much.”
The 100 Year Miracle by Ashley Ream
Once a century, for only six days, the bay around a small Washington island glows like a water-bound aurora. Dr. Rachel Bell, a scientist studying the 100-Year Miracle and the tiny sea creatures that create it, knows a secret about the phenomenon that inspired the region’s myths and folklore: The rare green water may contain a power that could save Rachel’s own life (and change the world). When Rachel connects with Harry and Tilda, a divorced couple cohabiting once again as Harry enters the last stages of a debilitating disease, Harry is pulled into Rachel’s obsession and hope as they both grasp at this once-in-a-lifetime chance to save themselves.
But the Miracle does things to people. Strange and mysterious things. And as these things begin to happen, Rachel has only six days to uncover and control the Miracle’s secrets before the waters go dark for another hundred years.
Flynn’s recommendation: Flynn called The 100 Year Miracle one of her “favorite novels of 2016.”
https://media.bookbub.com/blog/2017/0...
Are you a big fan of Gone Girl
or Sharp Objects
and looking for similarly gripping reads?
Gillian Flynn has you covered! Check out these recent reading recommendations from Flynn. Covering new releases, classics, and even some true crime — these books are sure to please fans of Flynn. Publishers’ descriptions included.
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
More than 20 years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss — a devastating wound that’s cruelly ripped open when Claire’s husband is killed.
The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: What could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago… and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
Flynn’s recommendation: Flynn is a fan of Slaughter’s works, saying, “I’d follow her anywhere.”
Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight
Motherhood hasn’t been easy for Molly Anderson, and the years since the loss of her second child have been a particular struggle. But six months after moving from New York City to sophisticated Ridgedale, New Jersey, she’s finally enjoying life again, as mother of a five-year-old daughter and fledgling arts reporter for the local paper. But this tenuous stability is threatened when the body of a newborn is found in the woods behind prestigious Ridgedale University and Molly is assigned the story. Over the objections of her increasingly concerned husband, Molly dives into reporting, determined to prove herself by uncovering the truth. What she finds is a decades-old trail of dark secrets that winds through every corner of the town.
Told from the perspectives of Molly; Barbara, wife of Ridgedale’s police chief, whose faltering son is unraveling her picture-perfect life; and a sixteen-year old high school dropout, Sandy, who is dealing with her wayward mother, Where They Found Her reveals that the tragic truth about what happened to the baby lies at the unexpected intersection of these three very different women’s lives. It is a taut and profoundly moving novel about mothers and daughters—the fierce bonds that unite them and the deceit that can drive them apart. But most of all it’s about the heartbreakingly high price of history. The past can be artfully denied, but never truly buried.
Flynn’s recommendation: “McCreight creates a world that pulls us in completely and genuinely, with characters that can enrage, amuse, and fill us with empathy. It’s a thrilling novel.”
The Trespasser by Tana French
In bestselling Tana French’s newest “tour de force,” being on the Murder squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she’s there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she’s getting close to the breaking point.
Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers’ quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed to a shine, and dead in her catalogue-perfect living room, next to a table set for a romantic dinner. There’s nothing unusual about her — except that Antoinette’s seen her somewhere before.
And that her death won’t stay in its neat by-numbers box. Other detectives are trying to push Antoinette and Steve into arresting Aislinn’s boyfriend, fast. There’s a shadowy figure at the end of Antoinette’s road. Aislinn’s friend is hinting that she knew Aislinn was in danger. And everything they find out about Aislinn takes her further from the glossy, passive doll she seemed to be.
Antoinette knows the harassment has turned her paranoid, but she can’t tell just how far gone she is. Is this case another step in the campaign to force her off the squad, or are there darker currents flowing beneath its polished surface?
Flynn’s recommendation: “To say Tana French is one of the great thriller writers is really too limiting. Rather she’s simply this: a truly great writer.”
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in Philip as his heir, a man who will love his grand home as much as he does himself. But the cosy world the two construct is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries — and there he dies suddenly.
Jealous of his marriage, racked by suspicion at the hints in Ambrose’s letters, and grief-stricken by his death, Philip prepares to meet his cousin’s widow with hatred in his heart.
Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame. And yet… might she have had a hand in Ambrose’s death?
Flynn’s recommendation: “Moody and unnerving.”
The Bad Seed by William March
There’s something special about eight-year-old Rhoda Penmark. With her carefully plaited hair and her sweet cotton dresses, she’s the very picture of old-fashioned innocence. But when their neighborhood suffers a series of terrible accidents, her mother begins to wonder: Why do bad things seem to happen when little Rhoda is around?
Originally published in 1954, William March’s final novel was an instant bestseller and National Book Award finalist before it was adapted for the stage and made into a 1956 film. The Bad Seed is an indelible portrait of an evil that wears an innocent face, one which still resonates in popular culture today.
Flynn’s recommendation: “If you’ve never read William March’s stunning 1954 novel about an adorable little sociopath murderess, treat yourself.”
The War of the Roses by Warren Adler
The War of the Roses has over time emerged as a synonym for modern divorce and its emotional aftershock. It has since its publication spawned numerous film and stage adaptations, endless discourse on the dynamics of divorce as well as becoming part of the legal jargon describing the proceedings that follow.
Adler’s iconic tale takes us from suburban bliss to an deadly territorial battle. Jonathan and Barbara Rose are at first glance the perfect couple. Jonathan has a stable law career; Barbara is an aspiring gourmet entrepreneur with a promising pâté recipe. Their large home holds the rich antique collection that originally brought them together, as well as the loving familial bond that intertwines them with their children Eve and Josh.
When Jonathan finds himself suddenly gripped by what is presumably a heart attack and Barbara confronts the loveless spell lingering between them, the sun-soaked sky that was once the Rose family union drifts into a torrential downpour. Their mutual hatred becomes ammunition in a domestic warfare that escalates in the most unpredictable ways while they helplessly eye their dwindling nuptial flame. In the chaos that unfolds Adler allows a moment of much needed contemplation on the shape of today’s matrimonial bonds.
The War of the Roses illuminates the relationship-shattering materialism, contempt and selfishness of husband and wife by posing a timeless question, how far are we willing to allow our material possessions the power to define who we are? Are today’s marriages haunted by the struggle to get even?
Flynn’s recommendation: In a guest post on Read it Forward, Flynn recommended this novel on a list of “four brilliantly written books about husbands and wives who drive each other to dark extremes.”
Until the Twelfth of Never by Bella Stumbo An in-depth account of Betty Broderick’s killing of her ex-husband and his new wife describes the crime and the resulting trial, painting a disturbing portrait of divorce in America and its victims.
Flynn’s recommendation: “I always have to recommend Bella Stumbo’s brilliant Until the Twelfth of Never.”
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger — and a possible murderer — to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead… but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!
Flynn’s recommendation: “It sucked me in when I read it for the first time as a kid, and it has influenced all my novels in some small way.”
The Spider and the Fly by Claudia Rowe In this superb work of literary true crime — a spellbinding combination of memoir and psychological suspense — a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search to understand the darkness inside us.
“Well, well, Claudia. Can I call you Claudia? I’ll have to give it to you, when confronted at least you’re honest, as honest as any reporter… You want to go into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want a peek into yours. It is only fair, isn’t it?” — Kendall Francois
In September 1998, young reporter Claudia Rowe was working as a stringer for the New York Times in Poughkeepsie, New York, when local police discovered the bodies of eight women stashed in the attic and basement of the small colonial home that Kendall Francois, a painfully polite 27-year-old community college student, shared with his parents and sister.
Growing up amid the safe, bourgeois affluence of New York City, Rowe had always been secretly fascinated by the darkness, and soon became obsessed with the story and with Francois. She was consumed with the desire to understand just how a man could abduct and strangle eight women — and how a family could live for two years, seemingly unaware, in a house with the victims’ rotting corpses. She also hoped to uncover what humanity, if any, a murderer could maintain in the wake of such monstrous evil.
Reaching out after Francois was arrested, Rowe and the serial killer began a dizzying four-year conversation about cruelty, compassion, and control; an unusual and provocative relationship that would eventually lead her to the abyss, forcing her to clearly see herself and her own past — and why she was drawn to danger.
Flynn’s recommendation:”Extraordinarily suspenseful and truly gut-wrenching… A must-read.”
Written in Fire by Marcus Sakey
For 30 years humanity struggled to cope with the brilliants, the one percent of people born with remarkable gifts. For 30 years we tried to avoid a devastating civil war. We failed.
The White House is a smoking ruin. Madison Square Garden is an internment camp. In Wyoming, an armed militia of thousands marches toward a final, apocalyptic battle.
Nick Cooper has spent his life fighting for his children and his country. Now, as the world staggers on the edge of ruin, he must risk everything he loves to face his oldest enemy — a brilliant terrorist so driven by his ideals that he will sacrifice humanity’s future to achieve them.
Flynn’s recommendation: “Ridiculously good. I love this story so much.”
The 100 Year Miracle by Ashley Ream
Once a century, for only six days, the bay around a small Washington island glows like a water-bound aurora. Dr. Rachel Bell, a scientist studying the 100-Year Miracle and the tiny sea creatures that create it, knows a secret about the phenomenon that inspired the region’s myths and folklore: The rare green water may contain a power that could save Rachel’s own life (and change the world). When Rachel connects with Harry and Tilda, a divorced couple cohabiting once again as Harry enters the last stages of a debilitating disease, Harry is pulled into Rachel’s obsession and hope as they both grasp at this once-in-a-lifetime chance to save themselves.
But the Miracle does things to people. Strange and mysterious things. And as these things begin to happen, Rachel has only six days to uncover and control the Miracle’s secrets before the waters go dark for another hundred years.
Flynn’s recommendation: Flynn called The 100 Year Miracle one of her “favorite novels of 2016.”
https://media.bookbub.com/blog/2017/0...
January 23, 2017
5 Author Networking Tips – And Why You Should!
From author Barb Drozdowich
I hear this type of comment frequently from my clients: “I have great content on my blog, but no one reads my posts!” As Canadian Blogger John Chow says, “… many authors think blogging is like the movie, Field of Dreams. If you build it, they will come. You can build it, but if nobody knows about your blog, they’re not coming!”
Creating a beautiful blog, crafting great posts, then sitting back and waiting for readers to find your site is comparable to a child standing alone on a busy playground, arms akimbo, claiming no one will play with them. Most parents chuckle at that picture. But isn’t that what we do when we wait for readers to find us?
What’s the Solution? Network!
So how do you draw them in? How does a blogger attract reader traffic? One simple answer is ‘networking.’ Most adults are great networkers in real life. They may work in a corporate environment and communicate with contacts on a regular basis. The conversation among this group may be by email, phone, even chatting over drinks at a yearly conference.
But networking isn’t just a corporate thing. In fact, my 13-year-old is learning the basics of networking in her school’s Leadership class. And if you stand outside a school and listen to parents waiting to pick up kids, you’ll hear conversations about who is doing what for the next class party, where to get good prices on craft supplies, or advice from someone with a needed skill.
So, if we can network in real life, why do we struggle with the necessity of online networking? Although a properly set up and optimized blog will eventually be found, authors can speed the process and gain more traffic by working with others. Here are five ways authors can network a blog:
1. Publish great, properly optimized content
To attract an audience, you need to provide them with something to read. That seems obvious, but I recently had a discussion with an author about the lack of traffic to his blog, which only had 3 posts. No one will visit if there’s nothing to see!
So before you network, publish a reasonable body of work. Then, when you reach out to potential readers, they have a reason to visit and stay. If your blog is set up properly, this body of work will be found and indexed by Google as it is created. If someone performs a Google search for the topic of one of your posts, your blog can be found by that searcher. If that reader enjoys that post, they will hopefully go on to read more, and may even be compelled to subscribe so they receive new posts from you in their inbox each time you publish. But that won’t happen if you don’t have quality content.
2. Register your blog on database sites
You can register your blog on many database sites, which is the equivalent of introducing yourself to strangers. For instance, create a free account on BlogLovin.com, use its built in mechanism to connect your blog’s feed, then associate your content with various categories so people looking for blogs to read can find and follow it.
Bloglovin is more than just a database site, however. It is also a feed reader, similar to Feedly. Account holders can choose blogs to follow and actually read their posts on Bloglovin’s site. They can also receive email notifications and get a daily digest email with the latest content from blogs they’ve expressed interest in. Because email notifications are sent daily, you don’t have to rely on followers to remember to visit your site or BlogLovin to check for new posts. Note: This site will also help you with another point below: finding blogs to read, comment on, and follow.
I established The Book Blogger List in 2013 to serve as a comprehensive place for authors to find bloggers who will review and or feature their books.
At the time, there wasn’t an up-to-date website that could be searched by genre and that’s what I set out to create. The Book Blogger List database gets 600 – 800 unique hits daily, more on weekends and holidays. I have a massive mailing list of people who want to be notified as new bloggers are added. Blogs that are listed on this site get noticed! So, if you review books or feature authors on your blog, fill out the form and get your site included.
3. Find other blogs in your niche and comment
Seeking out bloggers in your niche and leaving comments on their posts is a traditional, hands-on (and therefore time-consuming) method – but it works. Successful bloggers who started several years ago will tell you that visiting and commenting is a great way to be noticed. And, like any large project, it is best done in smaller bites. Set up a spreadsheet in Google Docs or on your computer and list 5 active blogs that you have found in your niche. There are thousands on BlogLovin.
Visit each one, read a recent post, then leave an appropriate, thoughtful, sincere comment. Do thank each blogger for sharing, and indicate that you are a new fan. Don’t be pushy. Don’t give unsolicited advice. Don’t self-promote. Aside from logging in to the commenting system, don’t leave links to your blog unless invited to. Indicate the date on your spreadsheet and move on. A few days later, repeat the process with five new, active blogs. After doing this for a few weeks, begin at the top of your list and re-visit.
Bloggers are a curious bunch – after you have visited and commented several times, your own blog will likely be visited in turn. If you have quality information to share, that visit should be a positive experience and will perhaps gain you a subscriber.
4. Seek influencers in your niche and offer help
Authors, if you don’t know the big players are in your niche, go to Amazon, research the bestsellers in your genre, and find out which ones blog. Then, offer to feature their books on your blog via a post that requires no input from them. Sharing thoughts about other authors’ books with your (however small) audience helps you develop more content. And if your thoughts are particularly positive, they may choose to link to your review from their site, which is a great potential audience builder and good for your SEO.
Or, why not send a note of thanks to an influencer? Let them know that you enjoyed their book, that you enjoy listening to their podcast, that you referred people to their course, etc. Doing something sincerely nice with a no-strings-attached attitude can get you noticed and appreciated!
5. Reach out to other authors
Although you can’t expect influencers – the power players in your niche – to give you much time, it is possible to collaborate with authors in a similar position to you. For instance, you can form a like-minded group for book and blog cross-promotions. Search for active, positive, motivated peers who write in a similar genre. As you all build your platforms, you can help ‘cross-pollinate’ audiences by swapping guest posts, etc.
As a reader, I appreciate discovering other authors who write books I might be interested in. Whether I find out about other authors through reading about them on blogs or being told about a group promotion, a new book/author is a good thing in my world! I know of several similar groups of authors who joined forces at the beginning of their career, and are still together and stronger because of their networking.There is not one silver bullet networking method, but I hope these ideas have stirred your creative juices, I hope you explore them, and, as a result, discover other ways to collaborate with others. Happy networking!
About Barb
I’ve written eleven books that focus on helping authors, and every subscriber to my mailing list gets two free – one about social media and the other to help you find book reviewers. I also post about the technical issues that authors struggle with on my business blog, and create YouTube videos that walk my audience through challenging issues. I currently have 36 videos available, with more on their way. Thanks for letting me share!
I hear this type of comment frequently from my clients: “I have great content on my blog, but no one reads my posts!” As Canadian Blogger John Chow says, “… many authors think blogging is like the movie, Field of Dreams. If you build it, they will come. You can build it, but if nobody knows about your blog, they’re not coming!”
Creating a beautiful blog, crafting great posts, then sitting back and waiting for readers to find your site is comparable to a child standing alone on a busy playground, arms akimbo, claiming no one will play with them. Most parents chuckle at that picture. But isn’t that what we do when we wait for readers to find us?
What’s the Solution? Network!
So how do you draw them in? How does a blogger attract reader traffic? One simple answer is ‘networking.’ Most adults are great networkers in real life. They may work in a corporate environment and communicate with contacts on a regular basis. The conversation among this group may be by email, phone, even chatting over drinks at a yearly conference.
But networking isn’t just a corporate thing. In fact, my 13-year-old is learning the basics of networking in her school’s Leadership class. And if you stand outside a school and listen to parents waiting to pick up kids, you’ll hear conversations about who is doing what for the next class party, where to get good prices on craft supplies, or advice from someone with a needed skill.
So, if we can network in real life, why do we struggle with the necessity of online networking? Although a properly set up and optimized blog will eventually be found, authors can speed the process and gain more traffic by working with others. Here are five ways authors can network a blog:
1. Publish great, properly optimized content
To attract an audience, you need to provide them with something to read. That seems obvious, but I recently had a discussion with an author about the lack of traffic to his blog, which only had 3 posts. No one will visit if there’s nothing to see!
So before you network, publish a reasonable body of work. Then, when you reach out to potential readers, they have a reason to visit and stay. If your blog is set up properly, this body of work will be found and indexed by Google as it is created. If someone performs a Google search for the topic of one of your posts, your blog can be found by that searcher. If that reader enjoys that post, they will hopefully go on to read more, and may even be compelled to subscribe so they receive new posts from you in their inbox each time you publish. But that won’t happen if you don’t have quality content.
2. Register your blog on database sites
You can register your blog on many database sites, which is the equivalent of introducing yourself to strangers. For instance, create a free account on BlogLovin.com, use its built in mechanism to connect your blog’s feed, then associate your content with various categories so people looking for blogs to read can find and follow it.
Bloglovin is more than just a database site, however. It is also a feed reader, similar to Feedly. Account holders can choose blogs to follow and actually read their posts on Bloglovin’s site. They can also receive email notifications and get a daily digest email with the latest content from blogs they’ve expressed interest in. Because email notifications are sent daily, you don’t have to rely on followers to remember to visit your site or BlogLovin to check for new posts. Note: This site will also help you with another point below: finding blogs to read, comment on, and follow.
I established The Book Blogger List in 2013 to serve as a comprehensive place for authors to find bloggers who will review and or feature their books.
At the time, there wasn’t an up-to-date website that could be searched by genre and that’s what I set out to create. The Book Blogger List database gets 600 – 800 unique hits daily, more on weekends and holidays. I have a massive mailing list of people who want to be notified as new bloggers are added. Blogs that are listed on this site get noticed! So, if you review books or feature authors on your blog, fill out the form and get your site included.
3. Find other blogs in your niche and comment
Seeking out bloggers in your niche and leaving comments on their posts is a traditional, hands-on (and therefore time-consuming) method – but it works. Successful bloggers who started several years ago will tell you that visiting and commenting is a great way to be noticed. And, like any large project, it is best done in smaller bites. Set up a spreadsheet in Google Docs or on your computer and list 5 active blogs that you have found in your niche. There are thousands on BlogLovin.
Visit each one, read a recent post, then leave an appropriate, thoughtful, sincere comment. Do thank each blogger for sharing, and indicate that you are a new fan. Don’t be pushy. Don’t give unsolicited advice. Don’t self-promote. Aside from logging in to the commenting system, don’t leave links to your blog unless invited to. Indicate the date on your spreadsheet and move on. A few days later, repeat the process with five new, active blogs. After doing this for a few weeks, begin at the top of your list and re-visit.
Bloggers are a curious bunch – after you have visited and commented several times, your own blog will likely be visited in turn. If you have quality information to share, that visit should be a positive experience and will perhaps gain you a subscriber.
4. Seek influencers in your niche and offer help
Authors, if you don’t know the big players are in your niche, go to Amazon, research the bestsellers in your genre, and find out which ones blog. Then, offer to feature their books on your blog via a post that requires no input from them. Sharing thoughts about other authors’ books with your (however small) audience helps you develop more content. And if your thoughts are particularly positive, they may choose to link to your review from their site, which is a great potential audience builder and good for your SEO.
Or, why not send a note of thanks to an influencer? Let them know that you enjoyed their book, that you enjoy listening to their podcast, that you referred people to their course, etc. Doing something sincerely nice with a no-strings-attached attitude can get you noticed and appreciated!
5. Reach out to other authors
Although you can’t expect influencers – the power players in your niche – to give you much time, it is possible to collaborate with authors in a similar position to you. For instance, you can form a like-minded group for book and blog cross-promotions. Search for active, positive, motivated peers who write in a similar genre. As you all build your platforms, you can help ‘cross-pollinate’ audiences by swapping guest posts, etc.
As a reader, I appreciate discovering other authors who write books I might be interested in. Whether I find out about other authors through reading about them on blogs or being told about a group promotion, a new book/author is a good thing in my world! I know of several similar groups of authors who joined forces at the beginning of their career, and are still together and stronger because of their networking.There is not one silver bullet networking method, but I hope these ideas have stirred your creative juices, I hope you explore them, and, as a result, discover other ways to collaborate with others. Happy networking!
About Barb
I’ve written eleven books that focus on helping authors, and every subscriber to my mailing list gets two free – one about social media and the other to help you find book reviewers. I also post about the technical issues that authors struggle with on my business blog, and create YouTube videos that walk my audience through challenging issues. I currently have 36 videos available, with more on their way. Thanks for letting me share!
November 10, 2016
How to Write a Compelling Short Story
From Authors Publish Magazine by Stephanie Norman
Have you ever wondered what makes people so impressed by short stories? There is something magical about the ability of an author to capture so much wisdom in so few words. The sentences are magnetic. The reader may spend less than an hour with the story, but the effect will last for days.
Needless to say, not all short stories have such an effect. Kafka, Hemingway, Nabokov, Lawrence, Asimov, and Salinger – these are only few of the masterful authors that captivated the hearts and minds of millions of readers. When we analyze their work, we notice few features that every great short story should have. These tips will lead you to greatness:
1.Make it strange
A talented short story author sees the world differently. He knows how to find meaning and depth in the simplest things of our daily lives. Marcel Proust could write a novel for the ray of light that shined through his window and enlightened his dessert on the table. He found meaning in the simplest things and conveyed the philosophy of life through them.
Regardless of the theme you choose, you can always add bits of weirdness into the story. They will make it more compelling and interesting. Don’t cross the limit, though; you don’t want to waste a reader’s time with nonsense.
2.“Every sentence must do one of two things – reveal character or advance the action.” – Kurt Vonnegut
It’s safe to name Vonnegut as the Master of Short Stories. He deserves that title, mainly because he respected his own rule. Every single word in his stories have a purpose. Each sentence tells you important hints that help you understand the character and connect the dots.
Follow the Master’s lead; think about the purpose of every sentence in the story. If you think you could do without a certain phrase, sentence or even paragraph, then get rid of it. If you feel like there are gaps in the story, add more background information.
3.Real people are your ultimate inspiration
A short story is the perfect literary form to express brutal reality. Make your readers think about the problems of this world. Make them wonder about the purpose of their existence. They should start thinking about the troubles and joys other people are experiencing and they should feel like they understand the world a bit better after reading your piece.
The best way to accomplish such an effect is to make your characters real. Find inspiration from people that surround you. Borrow their manners, appearance, expressions and attributes.
4.Make it short
Isn’t this the most obvious thing in the world? Yet, it’s a wonder how many authors forget about this rule and bother their readers with several pages. If you realize that you just wrote a story that’s longer than 3500 words, then you should shorten it a bit. Reconsider the opening and make sure every single sentence is important.
There is a name for a really long short story: it’s called a novella and it’s not what your target audience is looking for.
5.Develop a hero
There should be at least one character in your story the readers will cheer for. He may be a flawed, real person that experiences struggles, but you should also infuse positive features in his characters. The reader should care about the way this character’s destiny develops throughout your short story.
6.Leave the readers in contemplation
A successful short story should leave lasting impressions. The reader can’t stop thinking about the effects it left in his mind, whether they are cheerful or burdening. You can achieve this effect by adding a surprise twist, such as an unexpected love choice, sudden death, or anything else that fits into your story.
A Short Story Leaves Lasting Memories
A brilliant short story throws the reader into contemplation about right and wrong. He starts redefining his values and wondering about the meaning of everything that surrounds him. Some writers have incredible talent to realize what their readers want. The rest of us have to practice and write.
Bio: Stephanie Norman from Sydney has been a contributing blogger and professional writer for 4 years already. She writes creative content covering writing, self-publishing, and content marketing issues as a freelancer. Also, sometimes she provides editing services at Australian Writings, a company that offers assignment help and assistance for students.
You can follow her on Facebook and Google+.
Have you ever wondered what makes people so impressed by short stories? There is something magical about the ability of an author to capture so much wisdom in so few words. The sentences are magnetic. The reader may spend less than an hour with the story, but the effect will last for days.
Needless to say, not all short stories have such an effect. Kafka, Hemingway, Nabokov, Lawrence, Asimov, and Salinger – these are only few of the masterful authors that captivated the hearts and minds of millions of readers. When we analyze their work, we notice few features that every great short story should have. These tips will lead you to greatness:
1.Make it strange
A talented short story author sees the world differently. He knows how to find meaning and depth in the simplest things of our daily lives. Marcel Proust could write a novel for the ray of light that shined through his window and enlightened his dessert on the table. He found meaning in the simplest things and conveyed the philosophy of life through them.
Regardless of the theme you choose, you can always add bits of weirdness into the story. They will make it more compelling and interesting. Don’t cross the limit, though; you don’t want to waste a reader’s time with nonsense.
2.“Every sentence must do one of two things – reveal character or advance the action.” – Kurt Vonnegut
It’s safe to name Vonnegut as the Master of Short Stories. He deserves that title, mainly because he respected his own rule. Every single word in his stories have a purpose. Each sentence tells you important hints that help you understand the character and connect the dots.
Follow the Master’s lead; think about the purpose of every sentence in the story. If you think you could do without a certain phrase, sentence or even paragraph, then get rid of it. If you feel like there are gaps in the story, add more background information.
3.Real people are your ultimate inspiration
A short story is the perfect literary form to express brutal reality. Make your readers think about the problems of this world. Make them wonder about the purpose of their existence. They should start thinking about the troubles and joys other people are experiencing and they should feel like they understand the world a bit better after reading your piece.
The best way to accomplish such an effect is to make your characters real. Find inspiration from people that surround you. Borrow their manners, appearance, expressions and attributes.
4.Make it short
Isn’t this the most obvious thing in the world? Yet, it’s a wonder how many authors forget about this rule and bother their readers with several pages. If you realize that you just wrote a story that’s longer than 3500 words, then you should shorten it a bit. Reconsider the opening and make sure every single sentence is important.
There is a name for a really long short story: it’s called a novella and it’s not what your target audience is looking for.
5.Develop a hero
There should be at least one character in your story the readers will cheer for. He may be a flawed, real person that experiences struggles, but you should also infuse positive features in his characters. The reader should care about the way this character’s destiny develops throughout your short story.
6.Leave the readers in contemplation
A successful short story should leave lasting impressions. The reader can’t stop thinking about the effects it left in his mind, whether they are cheerful or burdening. You can achieve this effect by adding a surprise twist, such as an unexpected love choice, sudden death, or anything else that fits into your story.
A Short Story Leaves Lasting Memories
A brilliant short story throws the reader into contemplation about right and wrong. He starts redefining his values and wondering about the meaning of everything that surrounds him. Some writers have incredible talent to realize what their readers want. The rest of us have to practice and write.
Bio: Stephanie Norman from Sydney has been a contributing blogger and professional writer for 4 years already. She writes creative content covering writing, self-publishing, and content marketing issues as a freelancer. Also, sometimes she provides editing services at Australian Writings, a company that offers assignment help and assistance for students.
You can follow her on Facebook and Google+.
October 27, 2016
Is Backstory Killing Your Book’s Plot? Here’s How to Fix It
The following article is an excerpt from writer
C.S. Lakins' s 5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing, available now.
So many new writers start their books with pages — even chapters — of backstory.
They want to tell the reader all about the creation of their fantasy world. Or they want to make sure readers understand every nuance of Mexican politics in 1956 because it will be critical to the plot on page 103. Or they want to make sure the reader understands every feature of time travel or cloning in the year 2133.
Then their writing coaches or editors suggest that instead of including all this material in the opening chapters of their book, they should just reveal the backstory through dialogue.
Aha, the author thinks. Dialogue — of course! But instead of jettisoning their precious descriptions and explanations, they essentially put quotation marks around the same ponderous material.
Problem solved, right? Wrong.
Your backstory can slow down the plot
None of your characters should talk like the narrator.
And readers still don’t want a backstory dump, even in dialogue. Your attempt to stuff backstory into dialogue results in long, tedious monologues instead of more believable two-way conversation.
Let’s take a look at a before-and-after example passage:
Before:
Debby started panicking. “You know, John, that we can’t send people back in time without the right amount of energy, and even though we’ve done an excellent job in extracting energy from dark matter, as our last two experiments attest, I fear that there isn’t enough to get Colleen into the past and out of danger. Just look at the flux capacitor levels — the microcosm indicator is off as well, and it needs to be at 90 percent for a guaranteed trip. The flux capacitor is crucial for making a time jump, and needs to be at about 92 percent efficiency to work well. Also you need to contact Clare and Silas and make sure they can divert another 38 gigawatts of energy to the main frame so in one hundred hours she can make her jump back to the present. The main frame can handle up to 50 gigawatts, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Whew, did you find that tedious to read? It was pretty tedious to write, too.
To make matters worse, these types of monologues often take place in the middle of important action. Readers aren’t going to believe a character will stop and give a lecture when bullets are flying or buildings are blowing up around her. Backstory, even in “active” dialogue, stops the present action.
After:
Debby frowned at the bank of blinking lights. “We don’t have enough energy here for Colleen to make the jump.”
“Is there anything we can do?” John asked.
An alarm sounded, and Debby hit the panel to the left to silence it. “Don’t know.” She glanced at the flux capacitor level and gritted her teeth. It was nowhere near the 90 percent she needed. “I think you need to contact Clare and Silas. Maybe they can divert more energy.”
“Sure, but how much?” John asked.
Debby thought for a moment. “I need another 89 gigawatts of energy.”
“All right,” John said, jumping up out of his chair. “I’ll contact them — if I can find them.
In this example, we assume that John and Debby already know a great deal of the backstory and pertinent information because they are in the story. Even if I wanted to make sure that the reader (as well as John) was clear about time travel, a cumbersome description only slows the action and raises more questions than it answers.
Readers don’t really need to know it all
Have faith in your characters, and have even more faith in your readers. Allow the reader to enjoy the journey. It can be more fun for them to discover the world and plot along with the heroine.
Sometimes dense description given through dialogue sums everything up, causing the reader to wonder why they should bother to read on.
Use a limited amount of shorthand that your readers will understand to convey what’s going on. Use the characters to convey their expertise in their own proprietary language, which can add depth to a character and give a better sense of what’s going on.
Become the expert in your field of study, and of the world you are developing. But don’t build a time machine piece by piece through your dialogue.
Backstory keys to success
Next time you’re weaving backstory into your project, remember:
• Jettison the dense backstory paragraphs at the beginning of your novel’s scenes.
• Explain in common, character-driven language some finer points of the plot via dialogue.
• Trust your reader to pick up on gestures, expressions, and atmosphere as substitutes for direct (and long) explanations.
• Don’t explain everything. Only include bits that are essential and interesting, and that advance the plot.
• Don’t build a time machine all in one monologue.
• No one wants a truckload of information dumped at the start of a story. Readers want to be swept away, transported — not buried under a ton of rock.
Readers don’t spend as much time as they used to “getting into” a novel or story. It’s your job to put the reader into the action and intimacy with your characters as quickly as possible. The rest will follow.
How have you introduced backstory in your own writing?
C. S. Lakin is the author of sixteen novels and five writing craft books. Her award-winning blog Live Write Thrive gives tips and writing instruction for both fiction and non-fiction. She is a novelist, a copyeditor, a writing coach, a mom, a backpacker, and a whole bunch of other things.
She teaches workshops on the writing craft at writers’ conferences and retreats. C.S. lives in California, near San Francisco, enjoys guest bloggings, so contact her for a post on writing and editing.
http://cslakin.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/livewritethrive
C.S. Lakins' s 5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing, available now.So many new writers start their books with pages — even chapters — of backstory.
They want to tell the reader all about the creation of their fantasy world. Or they want to make sure readers understand every nuance of Mexican politics in 1956 because it will be critical to the plot on page 103. Or they want to make sure the reader understands every feature of time travel or cloning in the year 2133.
Then their writing coaches or editors suggest that instead of including all this material in the opening chapters of their book, they should just reveal the backstory through dialogue.
Aha, the author thinks. Dialogue — of course! But instead of jettisoning their precious descriptions and explanations, they essentially put quotation marks around the same ponderous material.
Problem solved, right? Wrong.
Your backstory can slow down the plot
None of your characters should talk like the narrator.
And readers still don’t want a backstory dump, even in dialogue. Your attempt to stuff backstory into dialogue results in long, tedious monologues instead of more believable two-way conversation.
Let’s take a look at a before-and-after example passage:
Before:
Debby started panicking. “You know, John, that we can’t send people back in time without the right amount of energy, and even though we’ve done an excellent job in extracting energy from dark matter, as our last two experiments attest, I fear that there isn’t enough to get Colleen into the past and out of danger. Just look at the flux capacitor levels — the microcosm indicator is off as well, and it needs to be at 90 percent for a guaranteed trip. The flux capacitor is crucial for making a time jump, and needs to be at about 92 percent efficiency to work well. Also you need to contact Clare and Silas and make sure they can divert another 38 gigawatts of energy to the main frame so in one hundred hours she can make her jump back to the present. The main frame can handle up to 50 gigawatts, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Whew, did you find that tedious to read? It was pretty tedious to write, too.
To make matters worse, these types of monologues often take place in the middle of important action. Readers aren’t going to believe a character will stop and give a lecture when bullets are flying or buildings are blowing up around her. Backstory, even in “active” dialogue, stops the present action.
After:
Debby frowned at the bank of blinking lights. “We don’t have enough energy here for Colleen to make the jump.”
“Is there anything we can do?” John asked.
An alarm sounded, and Debby hit the panel to the left to silence it. “Don’t know.” She glanced at the flux capacitor level and gritted her teeth. It was nowhere near the 90 percent she needed. “I think you need to contact Clare and Silas. Maybe they can divert more energy.”
“Sure, but how much?” John asked.
Debby thought for a moment. “I need another 89 gigawatts of energy.”
“All right,” John said, jumping up out of his chair. “I’ll contact them — if I can find them.
In this example, we assume that John and Debby already know a great deal of the backstory and pertinent information because they are in the story. Even if I wanted to make sure that the reader (as well as John) was clear about time travel, a cumbersome description only slows the action and raises more questions than it answers.
Readers don’t really need to know it all
Have faith in your characters, and have even more faith in your readers. Allow the reader to enjoy the journey. It can be more fun for them to discover the world and plot along with the heroine.
Sometimes dense description given through dialogue sums everything up, causing the reader to wonder why they should bother to read on.
Use a limited amount of shorthand that your readers will understand to convey what’s going on. Use the characters to convey their expertise in their own proprietary language, which can add depth to a character and give a better sense of what’s going on.
Become the expert in your field of study, and of the world you are developing. But don’t build a time machine piece by piece through your dialogue.
Backstory keys to success
Next time you’re weaving backstory into your project, remember:
• Jettison the dense backstory paragraphs at the beginning of your novel’s scenes.
• Explain in common, character-driven language some finer points of the plot via dialogue.
• Trust your reader to pick up on gestures, expressions, and atmosphere as substitutes for direct (and long) explanations.
• Don’t explain everything. Only include bits that are essential and interesting, and that advance the plot.
• Don’t build a time machine all in one monologue.
• No one wants a truckload of information dumped at the start of a story. Readers want to be swept away, transported — not buried under a ton of rock.
Readers don’t spend as much time as they used to “getting into” a novel or story. It’s your job to put the reader into the action and intimacy with your characters as quickly as possible. The rest will follow.
How have you introduced backstory in your own writing?
C. S. Lakin is the author of sixteen novels and five writing craft books. Her award-winning blog Live Write Thrive gives tips and writing instruction for both fiction and non-fiction. She is a novelist, a copyeditor, a writing coach, a mom, a backpacker, and a whole bunch of other things.She teaches workshops on the writing craft at writers’ conferences and retreats. C.S. lives in California, near San Francisco, enjoys guest bloggings, so contact her for a post on writing and editing.
http://cslakin.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/livewritethrive
October 17, 2016
How Publishing Really Works.
An informative article from Arthors Publish Magazine by Emily Harstone which breaks down the differences between traditional, self-publishing, and vanity publishing.
When I first approached publishing every part of it seemed overwhelming. Like most people, I didn’t understand how publishing really works. This is partially because it is portrayed inaccurately in most novels (For example, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair and I Regret Nothing and movies (The Proposal and Girl in The Book).
Adding further confusion, the publishing industry is in a period of flux. Things are changing much more rapidly than they used to.
This article won’t be able to cover all of the nuances of publishing, but it will help you avoid many of the pitfalls new writers face. It will also introduce you to three most basic ways to publish.
Often the second and the third ways to publish are conflated, but that conflation is dangerous and leads to a lot of misunderstandings.
Traditional Publishing
Traditional publishers pay their writers. They pay via royalties. Royalties, at their most basic, refer to the amount of money an author earns off each copy of their book that is sold.
Sometimes traditional publishers pay advances. An advance is a signing bonus that is paid to the author before the book is published. It is paid against future royalty earnings.
Traditional publishers do not charge publishers for any of the marketing they do. They offer in-house services like professional editing and professional cover design. If any publisher tries to charge you piecemeal for services like that, they are not a legitimate traditional publisher.
Pitfalls: Traditional publishing is very competitive. Authors can face a great deal of rejection. An agent is required to submit work to a number of the major publishers. Every step takes time and patience. Most publishers and agents take a minimum of 3 months to get back to you. Having an agent will not guarantee that you will be able to find a traditional publisher.
Once you have a traditional publisher there will still be a lot of work to do. You will be expected to help with marketing the book. In the end the financial reward is generally not that great. Most traditionally published authors still have to keep their day jobs.
Benefits: Being published traditionally may not pay all of your bills, but it should pay some. It can help give you the legitimacy to get a job teaching others about writing or publishing. It can lead to other paid opportunities. It can make publishing future books much easier. You are much more likely to get good distribution with a traditional publisher. Good distribution means that your book will be more likely to be available in libraries and brick and mortar book stores. You are much more likely to get a great cover, good editing, and help with marketing.
Self Publishing
People often group self publishing and vanity publishing together. This can cause a lot of confusion, and a lot of misinformation. For the sake of this article, self publishing is solely defined as publishing your book yourself. If you are hiring an editor, you go out and find an editor and pay them, you do not sign up for a package that includes an editor.
Pitfalls: It can be hard to publish a book traditionally after it has been self published. The average self published book sells less than 10 copies. Self publishing successfully requires the author to really learn how to market their own book, which is a whole separate skill set.
Anything that has to be done, from editing to cover design you either have to do yourself or find an independent contractor to do it for you. Also, if you are looking for work at a teacher or professor of writing, it is harder to get hired as a self published writer, unless you are very successful.
Benefits: If you are just publishing a digital book and you don’t have any money, you can self publish through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for free. Or use various other similar services. This does not guarantee that you will make any money (that requires actually selling books), but it does guarantee that you will not spend any money. The same goes for using certain print on demand (POD) services, such as CreateSpace, as long as you are fine with not hold a print copy of your book in your hand. In general print on demand services tend to be very cheap if you are willing to invest in a larger number of print books. For example I once printed 100 anthologies for 2.75 per copy. With self publishing you have complete control over the finished product.
Vanity/Assisted Publishing
Vanity/Assisted Publishing is when a ‘publisher’ charges you in order to publish your novel. Often you buy into a package and that package covers all the things that the publisher will provide from you. You often still split royalties with the publisher, but you pay up front as well. There are a number of publishers who go out of the way to cover up the fact that they are actually vanity/assisted publishers, so carefully read any contract that you are given and always check watchdog websites before proceeding. Some traditional publishers have started referring rejected authors to specific vanity publishers.
Pitfalls:The author has to pay the ‘publisher’ up front. The price they pay the vanity publisher can be anything from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. The contracts can tie up the rights to your work so it can be difficult to get your rights back. Vanity presses can be much slower to publish your work than they promise to be. Delays from six months to a year or two are rather common. They can encourage authors to charge more per book, which can make it harder to sell any copies. Also, all the services you pay for as part of a package, such as editing and cover design tend to have a large mark up. Besides, you cannot vet the editor or cover designer first.
Benefits:It is really hard to think of any. They give you the illusion of a traditional publisher. You can convince friends that know little about traditional publishing that you have a publisher. If publishing seems really overwhelming to you, they can help you do the basics, like find an editor.
This article is an attempt to answer all of the questions and concerns we regularly hear about via email regarding publishing at its most basic. If there is something about the basics of publishing that we did not include with this article, please email us at
support@authorspublish.com.
Publishing might seem overwhelming, but the more you know, the easier it becomes to navigate.
When I first approached publishing every part of it seemed overwhelming. Like most people, I didn’t understand how publishing really works. This is partially because it is portrayed inaccurately in most novels (For example, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair and I Regret Nothing and movies (The Proposal and Girl in The Book).
Adding further confusion, the publishing industry is in a period of flux. Things are changing much more rapidly than they used to.
This article won’t be able to cover all of the nuances of publishing, but it will help you avoid many of the pitfalls new writers face. It will also introduce you to three most basic ways to publish.
Often the second and the third ways to publish are conflated, but that conflation is dangerous and leads to a lot of misunderstandings.
Traditional Publishing
Traditional publishers pay their writers. They pay via royalties. Royalties, at their most basic, refer to the amount of money an author earns off each copy of their book that is sold.
Sometimes traditional publishers pay advances. An advance is a signing bonus that is paid to the author before the book is published. It is paid against future royalty earnings.
Traditional publishers do not charge publishers for any of the marketing they do. They offer in-house services like professional editing and professional cover design. If any publisher tries to charge you piecemeal for services like that, they are not a legitimate traditional publisher.
Pitfalls: Traditional publishing is very competitive. Authors can face a great deal of rejection. An agent is required to submit work to a number of the major publishers. Every step takes time and patience. Most publishers and agents take a minimum of 3 months to get back to you. Having an agent will not guarantee that you will be able to find a traditional publisher.
Once you have a traditional publisher there will still be a lot of work to do. You will be expected to help with marketing the book. In the end the financial reward is generally not that great. Most traditionally published authors still have to keep their day jobs.
Benefits: Being published traditionally may not pay all of your bills, but it should pay some. It can help give you the legitimacy to get a job teaching others about writing or publishing. It can lead to other paid opportunities. It can make publishing future books much easier. You are much more likely to get good distribution with a traditional publisher. Good distribution means that your book will be more likely to be available in libraries and brick and mortar book stores. You are much more likely to get a great cover, good editing, and help with marketing.
Self Publishing
People often group self publishing and vanity publishing together. This can cause a lot of confusion, and a lot of misinformation. For the sake of this article, self publishing is solely defined as publishing your book yourself. If you are hiring an editor, you go out and find an editor and pay them, you do not sign up for a package that includes an editor.
Pitfalls: It can be hard to publish a book traditionally after it has been self published. The average self published book sells less than 10 copies. Self publishing successfully requires the author to really learn how to market their own book, which is a whole separate skill set.
Anything that has to be done, from editing to cover design you either have to do yourself or find an independent contractor to do it for you. Also, if you are looking for work at a teacher or professor of writing, it is harder to get hired as a self published writer, unless you are very successful.
Benefits: If you are just publishing a digital book and you don’t have any money, you can self publish through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for free. Or use various other similar services. This does not guarantee that you will make any money (that requires actually selling books), but it does guarantee that you will not spend any money. The same goes for using certain print on demand (POD) services, such as CreateSpace, as long as you are fine with not hold a print copy of your book in your hand. In general print on demand services tend to be very cheap if you are willing to invest in a larger number of print books. For example I once printed 100 anthologies for 2.75 per copy. With self publishing you have complete control over the finished product.
Vanity/Assisted Publishing
Vanity/Assisted Publishing is when a ‘publisher’ charges you in order to publish your novel. Often you buy into a package and that package covers all the things that the publisher will provide from you. You often still split royalties with the publisher, but you pay up front as well. There are a number of publishers who go out of the way to cover up the fact that they are actually vanity/assisted publishers, so carefully read any contract that you are given and always check watchdog websites before proceeding. Some traditional publishers have started referring rejected authors to specific vanity publishers.
Pitfalls:The author has to pay the ‘publisher’ up front. The price they pay the vanity publisher can be anything from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. The contracts can tie up the rights to your work so it can be difficult to get your rights back. Vanity presses can be much slower to publish your work than they promise to be. Delays from six months to a year or two are rather common. They can encourage authors to charge more per book, which can make it harder to sell any copies. Also, all the services you pay for as part of a package, such as editing and cover design tend to have a large mark up. Besides, you cannot vet the editor or cover designer first.
Benefits:It is really hard to think of any. They give you the illusion of a traditional publisher. You can convince friends that know little about traditional publishing that you have a publisher. If publishing seems really overwhelming to you, they can help you do the basics, like find an editor.
This article is an attempt to answer all of the questions and concerns we regularly hear about via email regarding publishing at its most basic. If there is something about the basics of publishing that we did not include with this article, please email us at
support@authorspublish.com.
Publishing might seem overwhelming, but the more you know, the easier it becomes to navigate.
October 2, 2016
Begin at the Beginning
An information post from writer Jack B. Strandburg's blog, All About Writing.
Perhaps the most popular piece of advice for writers is to begin the story in medias res (in the midst of things). Start with a significant event, something exciting to draw the reader into the story so they can’t wait to read what happens next.
Mystery writer’s typically open their story with a victim, usually a dead body, perhaps floating on the river or buried in a shallow grave in the woods. Romance writers might open their story with the discovery of a sordid affair. Science fiction writers might describe in great detail the explosion of an unexplored distant planet.
Readers want more than anything to know what happens to the main characters. They want to identify with the main character(s), love the protagonist, despise the antagonist, feel their pain and sorrow, and share in their joy. Memorable characters make or break a story and often an author’s success hangs in the balance.
Character’s lives are formed and affected by events, both historical (before the story starts) and ongoing (what happens during the story). An author might have the most interesting characters in the world, but if nothing happens, there is no story. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George and Jerry pitch an idea to NBC for a show about nothing.
Coming up with a story idea and an effective opening which entices the reader to sit up and take notice isn’t usually difficult. A murder, an explosion, a car accident – throw in a character or two and you have a solid opening to a story.
It’s what follows the opening that sometimes bogs us down. Even more, it’s what comes before the opening, the events leading up to where your main character(s) find themselves that sometimes offers a greater challenge and often leads to the writer’s most feared adversary – writer’s block.
Most writers experience writer’s block at some point in their quest to write the Great American Novel and it comes in all shapes and sizes. You might draw a complete blank and cannot get started; staring at a blank page for what seems like hours until you finally surrender and turn on the TV. You might have a solid story line but struggle to organize your scenes and chapters. Or you know what the story is about, have a number of interesting characters standing by waiting to be cast into your imaginary world, but can’t decide what they do, and when, how, and where they do it.
Try doing a biographical sketch of your characters. They all had a life before the story began and thousands of events to draw upon. You don’t need much detail but deciding on the most significant events for your main character will allow you to brainstorm how your character dealt with, say, an abortion or a death in the family. Perhaps he or she was robbed at gunpoint or saved the life of a friend. Maybe they were bullied in elementary school and later on in the story meet one of their tormentors. Memorable events like these shape your characters and influence how they deal with life’s challenges.
I suspect most writers agree conflict is necessary to present an entertaining and hopefully unforgettable story. By brainstorming the life’s events of your main characters (by main characters I mean those contributing to the story), you can determine when and how these characters in conflict first meet and how their lives become intertwined.
I find the biographical sketch method useful in a number of ways.
1. Provides the background story necessary to keep the timeline accurate.
2. Brings your story to the point of your in media res.
3. Encourages a natural reaction to ask What if?
4. Helps to determine character motive.
What will emerge from this process is a timeline for the major characters.
For example, let’s assume your story begins with the protagonist getting death threats from person or persons unknown. Your biographical sketch reveals a few years ago he or she intervened in a hostage situation. The perpetrator was shot by police, arrested and served time, but died violently in prison. A biographical sketch of the scene determines who was there, what happened, and how the other characters will contribute to the story. You might decide a relative of the perpetrator was an accomplice during the hostage situation, was not caught, and seeks revenge on the protagonist.
From the time a person is born (the birth itself might be a memorable event) they meet people, go to school, fall in (and perhaps out) of love, experience death, travel to faraway places, and work a variety of jobs, all of which will not only provide ideas for an entertaining story but reduce the odds of the invasion of writer’s block.
http://jstrandburg.wordpress.com
Perhaps the most popular piece of advice for writers is to begin the story in medias res (in the midst of things). Start with a significant event, something exciting to draw the reader into the story so they can’t wait to read what happens next.
Mystery writer’s typically open their story with a victim, usually a dead body, perhaps floating on the river or buried in a shallow grave in the woods. Romance writers might open their story with the discovery of a sordid affair. Science fiction writers might describe in great detail the explosion of an unexplored distant planet.
Readers want more than anything to know what happens to the main characters. They want to identify with the main character(s), love the protagonist, despise the antagonist, feel their pain and sorrow, and share in their joy. Memorable characters make or break a story and often an author’s success hangs in the balance.
Character’s lives are formed and affected by events, both historical (before the story starts) and ongoing (what happens during the story). An author might have the most interesting characters in the world, but if nothing happens, there is no story. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George and Jerry pitch an idea to NBC for a show about nothing.
Coming up with a story idea and an effective opening which entices the reader to sit up and take notice isn’t usually difficult. A murder, an explosion, a car accident – throw in a character or two and you have a solid opening to a story.
It’s what follows the opening that sometimes bogs us down. Even more, it’s what comes before the opening, the events leading up to where your main character(s) find themselves that sometimes offers a greater challenge and often leads to the writer’s most feared adversary – writer’s block.
Most writers experience writer’s block at some point in their quest to write the Great American Novel and it comes in all shapes and sizes. You might draw a complete blank and cannot get started; staring at a blank page for what seems like hours until you finally surrender and turn on the TV. You might have a solid story line but struggle to organize your scenes and chapters. Or you know what the story is about, have a number of interesting characters standing by waiting to be cast into your imaginary world, but can’t decide what they do, and when, how, and where they do it.
Try doing a biographical sketch of your characters. They all had a life before the story began and thousands of events to draw upon. You don’t need much detail but deciding on the most significant events for your main character will allow you to brainstorm how your character dealt with, say, an abortion or a death in the family. Perhaps he or she was robbed at gunpoint or saved the life of a friend. Maybe they were bullied in elementary school and later on in the story meet one of their tormentors. Memorable events like these shape your characters and influence how they deal with life’s challenges.
I suspect most writers agree conflict is necessary to present an entertaining and hopefully unforgettable story. By brainstorming the life’s events of your main characters (by main characters I mean those contributing to the story), you can determine when and how these characters in conflict first meet and how their lives become intertwined.
I find the biographical sketch method useful in a number of ways.
1. Provides the background story necessary to keep the timeline accurate.
2. Brings your story to the point of your in media res.
3. Encourages a natural reaction to ask What if?
4. Helps to determine character motive.
What will emerge from this process is a timeline for the major characters.
For example, let’s assume your story begins with the protagonist getting death threats from person or persons unknown. Your biographical sketch reveals a few years ago he or she intervened in a hostage situation. The perpetrator was shot by police, arrested and served time, but died violently in prison. A biographical sketch of the scene determines who was there, what happened, and how the other characters will contribute to the story. You might decide a relative of the perpetrator was an accomplice during the hostage situation, was not caught, and seeks revenge on the protagonist.
From the time a person is born (the birth itself might be a memorable event) they meet people, go to school, fall in (and perhaps out) of love, experience death, travel to faraway places, and work a variety of jobs, all of which will not only provide ideas for an entertaining story but reduce the odds of the invasion of writer’s block.
http://jstrandburg.wordpress.com
