Angela Ackerman's Blog: Writers Helping Writers, page 110

Writing By Design: Using Color Theory

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Writing by design means using techniques from the visual arts to inspire and inform your writing. So far in this series you’ve learned how to use the constraints of space to give your story a shape. You’ve also discovered how to use the psychology of expectation to create—and artfully break—patterns in your writing. In this installment, we turn our attention to color.

Color is perhaps the most obvious—and in my opinion the most fun—aspect of design. It sets a mood and can inspire a feeling or set the tone for a piece of writing. You can use individual colors or a color scheme to capture the essence of your story without words. Think of it as a wordless summary.

I believe that each character in a story has a signature color that captures his or her personality. Truthfully, most characters will likely have palette of three or four colors to capture all their nuances, but to keep this analysis manageable let’s assume that there is one dominant color that best represents that character’s essence. In that case, you can use color theory to put your characters in situations that either create harmony or tension in your story.

Before We Begin, a Few Notes About Color

Associating colors with personalities makes sense, of course, because colors themselves have intrinsic meanings. Red, for example, means “stop” or “danger” in most western cultures. Orange is also an attention-grabbing color so it’s often used for warnings, like traffic cones or a crossing guard’s vest. Green suggests growth and life, and blue generally has a calming influence. If we want to use colors to represent our characters, we also need to consider that they already have a certain symbolism inherent in the pigment itself.

That’s hardly the whole story, though. Traditions and cultures also shape the inherent symbolism of color. In Western culture, for example, the color white implies innocence and purity. In other cultures, however, white—and not black—is the color of mourning.

Consider also how the words we ascribe to colors affect the symbolism. Green, for example, is a color that usually implies freshness or new life. Yet the phrase “green with envy” adds a more negative nuance to the color’s meaning.

When you combine a handful of colors, you get even more layers of nuance. For example, the color blue alone might symbolize peace and calm, but when you add red and yellow, and you get the primary colors, a palette that implies youth and is often used in preschool toys and products. If you take that same triad of colors and replace the yellow with white, you’ll get a patriotic color combination. When you pair colors together, their meanings can change or acquire nuance.

Introduction to Color Theory

[image error]Red, Yellow and Blue are the primary colors. They are called primary colors because you cannot mix any other colors together to get these three.

Not to get super-nerdy, yellow and blue are primary colors for pigment. When you’re talking about color and light, the primaries are actually red, green and blue but that gets us into the differences between the color of light and the color of pigment and that’s beyond the scope of this article.

Orange, Green and Purple are secondary colors. They are called secondary because you can make them by mixing two primaries. As we all learned in elementary school:

Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Blue + Red = Purple

Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are complementary colors. These colors might appear to “clash” but they actually complement each other well and provide contrast. Each of the primary colors has a secondary color as its complement. In fact, its complement is the color derived by mixing the other two primaries.

Red is complementary to Green.
Yellow is complementary to Purple.
Blue is complementary to Orange.

What does this have to do with writing?

If every character has a signature color that represents his or her personality, then one of the best ways to draw create tension is to put that character in a scene with someone completely opposite.

Let’s suppose your character’s signature color is a rich eggplant color. If you pair that character with another whose color is bumblebee yellow, then sparks will likely fly because the colors—and personalities—are so dramatically different. If, on the other hand, you want to create a more harmonious interaction, try putting your character in a scene with someone whose color is more analogous, like a deep emerald green or a feisty (but still compatible) fuchsia.

Years ago, I used to write extensive biographies, outlining every element of my characters’ personalities and obsessing over every obscure detail of their lives. The problem with that approach was that it took forever and when it came to bringing those characters to life on the page, monstrously long bios weren’t very effective.

I needed a more efficient method, which is why I started assigning a signature color to each of my characters. That color serves as a wordless bio. It is far less cumbersome than the written version and still captures the emotional nuances of that character’s personality.

Field Trip!

[image error]Take a half hour to go to a hardware store, and browse the paint aisle. Most stores give out free paint chip samples, so pretend like you’re repainting your house and grab a few. No wait, grab a handful.

Try to find the perfect paint color to represent the main character in your current writing project. If you’re really ambitious, pick out colors for each of your important characters, including your villain and members of your supporting cast.

Then lay out the colors you chose according to the color wheel. See where the contrasts are, as well as the harmonious combinations. Do you notice any tension or contrast you didn’t realize was there? What about relationships that are supposed to be in conflict, like your protagonist and villain? Are these characters aligned too harmoniously? If so, what can you do in the story to create a bigger rift between them?

If you’re really really ambitious, skip the paint store altogether and browse a fabric store instead, where you can play with color as well as pattern and texture. If you don’t have time to browse the stores, break out the markers, colored pencils or better yet, paints. Mix and match and play with color. The point here is to have fun and to use colors to capture the essence of your story.

If you prefer to play with color on a computer, Canva also has an interesting tool for that. Their Color Design Wiki explains different colors (including hex codes for digital design), the meanings of colors, and gives info about different color combinations. While this tool was created for graphic designers, it can also help spark ideas for characters and stories.

So far in this series, we’ve covered three design elements: space, pattern, and today color. In my next (and final!) post of this series, I’ll take a close look at one more design element: light. Watch for this final installment coming up in a few months.

[image error]Gabriela Pereira is the founder of DIYMFA.com, the do-it-yourself alternative to a Masters degree in writing. She is also a speaker, podcast host for DIY MFA Radio, and author of the forthcoming book DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community (Writer’s Digest Books, July 2016). Join the word nerd community at DIYMFA.com/join.

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The post Writing By Design: Using Color Theory appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Tour Guide

Jobs are as important for our characters as they are for real people. A character’s career might be their dream job or one they’ve chosen due to necessity. In your story, they might be trying to get that job or are already working in the field. Whatever the situation, as with any defining aspect for your character, you’ll need to do the proper research to be able to write that career knowledgeably.

Enter the Occupation Thesaurus. Here, you’ll find important background information on a variety of career options for your character. In addition to the basics, we’ll also be covering related info that relates to character arc and story planning, such as sources of conflict (internal and external) and how the job might impact basic human needs, thereby affecting the character’s goals. It’s our hope that this thesaurus will share some of your research burden while also giving you ideas about your character’s occupation that you might not have considered before.

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Everything is bigger in the outback…including termite mounds! (With Australian tour guide Rick.)

Occupation: Tour Guide

Overview: Similar to an Outdoor Guide, a tour guide is someone who acts as a knowledgeable companion for a group of people wishing to experience local sights in a safe and educational way. Excursions might be a few hours (usually at a landmark location like a museum or a walking tour of an urban center) to several weeks, depending on the type of tour. Guides travel with their group, showing them landmarks, historical sites, and other areas of interest, encouraging tourists to immerse themselves in the culture, activities, cuisine, and adventure of the place they have traveled to.

If the tour is a longer one, the guide is also the go-between when it comes to hotel accommodation, restaurant reservations, travel arrangements, transfers, etc. and will interpret between clients and locals if there is a language barrier. They also advise travelers on how to purchase items (bartering), hot to secure transport for non-group activities, and make recommendations for things to see and do with one’s free time. Guides will also ensure travelers in their care understand local laws and customs, and will pass on any other dangers to watch out for (if there are any). Tour guides may operate within a city, take their group to multiple locations in a specified area, travel with them to different parts of the country, or even accompany the group on a multi-country trip.

Necessary Training: Education will depend on the type of guiding the character is doing, but many will have a degree in the area of tourism and travel as well as supplemental training and education that pertains to their area of focus. For example, a guide who focuses on a specific location such as a museum or historical site will have in-depth knowledge of that area, and possibly even an art history degree. If a guide covers a specific town or city, they will have significant knowledge of the history, landmarks, culture, arts, and language of that location, and will be able to answer a range of questions their clients may ask, everything from the specifics surrounding the type of tour and historical and cultural facts of the area to what to see and do after the tour is over.

Tour guides that take longer excursions will have a broader skill set as they will be required to not only be knowledgeable about each area they visit, but to also organizing all management aspects of the trip including accommodation, tickets, transfers, etc. and deal with any problems as they crop up. If the tour includes outdoor camping and overland travel, just as an outdoor guide would, they are in charge of camp management and transport (often driving the group from location to location for part or all of the trip). If the tour is international, they will navigate clients through border crossings and customs which may be very different from the processes they are used to in their home country. Guides have extensive knowledge of the areas they visit and be able to ensure the safety of their guests at all times and will receive a great deal training and mentor ship from the guiding company they are affiliated with.

Many guides speak a second language or even multiple languages as this helps with the work they do (and becomes a side effect of spending so much time with different cultures as they travel). Most will require a license to operate. Because this is a people-focused occupation, they are often extroverted, love travel and adventure, have a friendly disposition, and excel at organization and time management.

Useful Skills, Talents, or Abilities: A knack for languages, basic first aid, charm, enhanced hearing, exceptional memory, haggling, hospitality, making people laugh, multitasking, photographic memory, predicting the weather, promotion, reading people, survival skills, throwing one’s voice, wilderness navigation

Helpful Character Traits: Adaptable, adventurous, calm, charming, confident, courteous, diplomatic, disciplined, discreet, easygoing, efficient, enthusiastic, extroverted, friendly, funny, hospitable, intelligent, introverted, observant, optimistic, organized, passionate, patient, socially aware, spunky, thrifty, tolerant, wholesome, wise, witty

Sources of Friction: A group member entering an off-limits area at a historical site or causing damage to property, clients who wander away during the tour, having clients who are hard-of-hearing when in busy areas, having to compete to be heard over the throngs of tourists and tour groups in a particular area, accommodation mix-ups (not enough rooms at a hotel, rooms being less-than ideal, etc.), personality conflicts between one’s group members, a breakdown, travel delays, a client being pick pocketed, a client breaking a law because it’s not a big deal where they are from, a group member being injured or growing ill and needing a hospital, a mix-up in transfers (a van doesn’t arrive when it should, or the tuk-tuks are a no-show), group members who are given free time in an area and then don’t show up at the meeting spot when they should, causing everyone to wait, language barriers, clients who are entitled and don’t help out as expected with certain aspects of the tour (being on time, being organized, helping to clean up group areas, etc.), demanding clients who expect their tastes and desires to be fully catered to regardless of other group members, food poisoning, other tourists that try to join the group at historical sites to benefit from the guide’s knowledge without paying for it

People They Might Interact With: travelers, bus and cab drivers, other tour group leaders, custom officials, museum curators and employees, security personal, hotel staff, airport staff, restaurant staff, shopkeepers

How This Occupation Might Impact One’s Basic Needs:

Love and Belonging: A character with this job is away from home often, putting in long (or odd) hours. Their energy levels may be sapped from having to look after the every need of others, longer term travel, or both. This may make it difficult to maintain certain types of relationships.


Safety and Security: Having members on one’s tour group not realizing the danger of certain areas may place the guide into trouble if the client ignores warnings or breaks rules.

Common Work-Related Settings:  airplane, airport, ancient ruins, antiques shop, art gallery, badlands, bank, bazaar, beach, big city street, campsite, canyon, casual dining restaurant, cave, cheap motel, city bus, coffeehouse, convenience store, country road, desert, diner, elevator, emergency room, farmer’s market, fast food restaurant, fishing boat, forest, grotto, hiking trail, hospital (interior), hospital room, hotel room, hot springs, lake, laundromat, marina, marsh, mausoleum, meadow, moors, museum, ocean, orchard, outdoor pool, parking lot, public restroom, rainforest, ranch, subway train, train station, tropical island, upscale hotel lobby, waterfall, winery, zoo

For other occupations in this collection, visit our full list HERE.

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15 (Mostly) Free Tools to DIY Your Self-Published Book

Hi everyone! So happy to welcome writing coach Mandy Wallace to the blog, who has rustled up some great links for anyone looking to Self-Publish. As most writers know, a good set of tools is worth its weight in gold…especially when it comes to something as stress-inducing as publishing a book. Please read on!

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You don’t have to ask permission anymore.

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Self-publishing means the freedom to choose—when to publish, where to share your work, and how many readers you reach. No more gatekeepers means your publication goals and how to reach them are up to you.

But that also means your book’s design, writing, and technical details are up to you too.

That doesn’t mean self-publishing has to be hard.

Not when there’s a wide range of free and easy-to-use tools out there that make self-publishing easier. It’s possible, in fact, to DIY every step of your self-published book—from writing and design to file conversions and tracking sales—all without an advanced degree in design or unlimited funds for software and professional services.

Now, not only do you get to decide when and how you publish but also how your book looks and reads across every printed or digital page.

The free tools listed here make it all a breeze. Ready to check them out?

 eBook Tracker provides sales rank and pricing data for Kindle books. Use it to track changes in your sales and monitor the impact your marketing efforts have on them.

Word processors like Google Docs and Mac Pages convert simple documents into ePub files in just one step. Compose your book using the same tools you do to write a simple letter, and export it as an ebook.

Evernote and writers go together like peanut butter and jelly. Keep it (or whatever cloud-based word processor you like) on your smart phone. That way you can capture all those moments you’d usually waste waiting—in the grocery store line or on that guy finishing your oil change—to work on your book instead.

InDesign isn’t free, but its design capabilities are arguably unparalleled. And if you want a book that’s interactive or has a fixed layout—great for kids’ books, cookbooks, textbooks, manuals, and graphic novels—you can’t beat InDesign. InDesign can export documents into the ePub format that works on most non-Kindle devices. Convert them from there into Mobi, which works on Amazon’s Kindle, using the converter tool listed below.

iBooks Author may be leading the way in interactive and fixed-layout ebooks. And even though you can use it to create books with swipe-friendly photo galleries, widgets, videos, animations, and other interactive features—it also makes gorgeous text-only fiction books.

Kindle Kids’ Book Creator is another fabulous, free design tool for fixed-layout books. Since it’s made by Amazon, using this tool to create your book means you’re less likely to have issues running it on Amazon’s platform or devices. And don’t let the name fool you. It’s not just for kids’ books. You can create any fixed-layout book using this software (like those textbooks, manuals, cookbooks, and graphic novels you can create using InDesign above).

Unsplash is a great place to get gorgeous, free, and copyright-free stock photos for your book’s cover or interior pages. Don’t be afraid to use stock photos. Yes, it means your readers may have seen the same image in other places before. But it’s more important your images look professional than unique, especially when it comes to the image on your books cover.

Canva offers a number of attractive, professional-looking book cover templates to choose from. You can use them as-is, or edit them for a unique look. Canva also makes it easy to edit stock photos. Cropping can make stock photos look more unique, and using the same filter for all your photos gives your book a consistent look.

JPEGmini shrinks bloated image file sizes that can quickly inflate your book’s overall size (and cut into your Amazon royalties!). This is especially important for image-heavy books. But even one oversized image or graphic can slow your book’s load time. So shrink those images!

CreateSpace is your go-to book designer if you plan to offer printed copies of your self-published book.

Kindle Direct Publishing is where you go to upload, sell, and manage your self-published book on Amazon.

Kindle Previewer 3 converts ePub files into Amazon’s Mobi, so you can spot flaws that didn’t convert well in your design. Fair warning, this is only to check design issues. It can’t guarantee the preview file will actually function on a Kindle. So test those files on your target device!

Calibre says it’s an e-book manager, but it’s really so much more. Use it to convert the ePub files you create using InDesign, iBooks Author, Google Docs, or Mac Pages above into Mobi files for Amazon and vice versa.

Free Tools for Fiction Writers offers its own list of free tools for the writing stage of your self-publishing journey—things like free writing course listings, character development tools, historical language trends tracker, a writing consistency trainer, editing tools, and more.

With this set of tips and tools, your book will be on digital shelves sooner than you thought possible. Happy writing!

Questions about these resources? What other helpful self-publishing tools do you use? List them in the comments so we can all check them out!

[image error]Mandy Wallace is a writing coach who shares tips and free tools with new writers. Her blog has been named one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers three years in a row, and several of her posts have clocked over 50k social shares each. Pick up a free copy of her Free Tools for Fiction Writers. Because the writing life should be easy (and fun!).

Find Mandy on Twitter and Pinterest where she’s sharing more great links and advice.

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Essential Marketing Tactics For Children’s Authors

When we aren’t working on thesaurus books, Becca and I write for children and young adults. This means we know that one of the biggest challenges for Kid-lit & YA authors in is marketing. In most cases, the book buyers are not our actual readers and many of the traditional ways of reaching an audience don’t always work. This is why I am thrilled to have Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur.com with us who has some great marketing advice for Kid-lit and YA authors to try!

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Have you found that a lot of book marketing advice isn’t directly relevant to children’s book authors?

[image error]While the most fundamental principles of book marketing remain the same for both adult and youth books, the specific ideas and tactics are a little different. While parents may well sign up for your mailing list or see your social media ads, your young readers will not.

So how can children’s authors market in a way which is most effective for their young audience?

Seek Out Local And Offline Opportunities

One of the main differences between marketing books for children and adults is the relative importance of offline marketing.

While there are some offline book marketing opportunities for adults, such as book groups, there are many more for kids. After all, every school places an importance on reading, not to mention public libraries and activity groups.

It’s important to seek out opportunities where you can introduce kids to your stories and characters and show your personality as an author.

So how can children’s authors make the most of offline marketing opportunities?

Seek out existing events. If you spend some time browsing the websites of libraries, schools, and community groups, you’ll get a feel for what is available in your area. Often, you will be able to tell how popular an event is by its longevity, reputation or the reaction it receives on social media
Don’t be afraid to cold contact relevant institutions. As long as you aren’t pushy or spammy, introducing yourself as an author and offering to lead a reading or writing event is a valid way to promote your book
Focus on the impression you make. Offline, face to face marketing is about appearing likeable and positive as a person, in order to reflect your book in the best light

Align Your Book With A Cause

There are no shortage of children’s books. Often, aligning your book with a message or social cause is a good way to stand out from the crowd.

This is also a way of adding extra value to your children’s book. As well as entertaining kids and providing them with a memorable reading experience, you are also offering insight into the issues that really matter.

[image error]If you think aligning your book with a cause could help your marketing efforts, consider the following ideas:

Which causes do you genuinely care about or have a connection with? Aligning your book with a cause is only a good idea if it’s done authentically.
What unique angle or insight can you offer? Spend some time seeing how other children’s books have addressed causes you care about. What’s missing? Is there anything you can add?
Are there any charitable organizations that may be interested in partnering with your book? You may be able to provide a percentage of proceeds to them in exchange for some marketing access, for example.

If you’re able to authentically match your children’s book with a social cause, you have not only a marketing advantage, but the chance to make a positive impact at the same time.

Consider A Suitable Award

Just as a social cause can help your children’s book stand out from the crowd, so can an award.

People are less and less trusting of online reviews and the hype that can be generated through social media manipulation. Almost everyone can claim to be an obscure bestseller in this day and age. If your book has won a reputable award, however, it shows a deep level of quality.

Some example awards for children’s books include:

Michael L. Printz Award – An award for teenage literature. The prize is given purely on the basis of literary merit.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal – An award for informational books aimed at a young audience.

Coretta Scott King Award – An award for youth books focusing on the African American experience.

If you are considering a children’s book award as part of your marketing approach, keep the following in mind:

You want to make sure the award is reputable. Be careful of scam or vanity awards intended to take advantage of children’s book writers.
Is your book a genuinely good fit for an award? Consider the criteria and past winners to get a feel for this.
Winning the most prestigious awards is a lofty goal for most authors. However, you might be able to find more niche or local awards you stand a better chance of winning.

A children’s book award should never be the basis of your marketing approach. However, it can be a very valuable, high-quality finishing touch which helps your book stand out from the crowd.

[image error]WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Personal Trainer

Jobs are as important for our characters as they are for real people. A character’s career might be their dream job or one they’ve chosen due to necessity. In your story, they might be trying to get that job or are already working in the field. Whatever the situation, as with any defining aspect for your character, you’ll need to do the proper research to be able to write that career knowledgeably.

Enter the Occupation Thesaurus. Here, you’ll find important background information on a variety of career options for your character. In addition to the basics, we’ll also be covering related info that relates to character arc and story planning, such as sources of conflict (internal and external) and how the job might impact basic human needs, thereby affecting the character’s goals. It’s our hope that this thesaurus will share some of your research burden while also giving you ideas about your character’s occupation that you might not have considered before.

[image error]Occupation: Personal Trainer

Overview: A personal trainer works one-on-one and with small groups of clients to help them achieve their physical fitness goals. This usually involves leading them in an exercise regimen meant to help them reach their goals and advising them in regard to nutrition. Trainers may specialize in certain areas, such as yoga, aerobics, or strength training. While they typically work in public venues, many large-scale organizations now have their own fitness centers and personal trainers for their employees to utilize. Wealthier clients may pay for a trainer to come to their home.

Necessary Training: While there is no secondary education required for most personal training jobs, some employers would rather hire someone with a degree in the the fitness or health fields. It also helps to achieve certifications in the areas one would like to specialize in. And some additional training, such as in basic CPR and first aid, is required. The one universal requirement for this career is that the person be personally fit themselves.

Useful Skills, Talents, or Abilities: Basic first aid, high pain tolerance, parkour, strong breath control, super strength

Helpful Character Traits: Bold, confident, cooperative, courteous, disciplined, empathetic, enthusiastic, inspirational, observant, optimistic, persistent, persuasive, supportive

Sources of Friction: A client being hurt during one’s session, being unable to afford the necessary equipment or materials, wanting to strike out on one’s own but being stuck working for someone else, obtaining an injury or developing an illness that makes it difficult for one to stay physically fit, being unable to help a client achieve their goals, dishonest clients who make it difficult for them to achieve their fitness goals, becoming romantically attracted to a client, unhealthy competition with other trainers at one’s workplace, sexual harassment, being accused of maintaining one’s physique through unethical means (doping, abusing diuretics, getting surgical implants, etc.), having no time to pursue one’s true passions (becoming a professional bodybuilder or weight lifter, etc.)

People They Might Interact With: clients, gym rats, other personal trainers, gym managers and owners, administrative personnel, people they would run into during their own personal fitness training (spin class attendees, a yoga instructor, runners at the local track, etc.)

How This Occupation Might Impact One’s Basic Needs:

Self-Actualization: People in this field are enthusiastic about fitness and very often have their own fitness goals. Someone many have taken this job as a way to finance their own fitness goal of becoming a competitive athlete. If the job becomes too time-consuming, the character’s need to pursue their passion might cause a void in this area.
Esteem and Recognition: It’s natural for people in this field to notice peoples’ bodies; if in comparing themselves to others they find themselves lacking, this can lead to a self-esteem problem.
Love and Belonging: A person in this field might struggle making true connections with others if they feel that potential romantic partners are only interested in them for their looks, or their interest will only remain as long as they maintain a certain physique.
Physiological Needs: As with any healthy desire, wanting to be physically fit can be taken to an unhealthy extreme—even to the point of a character’s health or very life being threatened.

Common Work-Related Settings: Backyard, fitness center, gymnasium, mansion, rec center, spa

Twisting the Stereotype: The hard-nosed, borderline-abusive personal trainer yelling and spitting into the client’s face has been done to death. Likewise, the sex kitten bombshell female trainer. Consider a different angle.

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Dive Deep with Emotion

Hi all! One of my favorite people is here today: Christina Delay of Cruising Writers. She’s got a great post on how to write deep emotion, so please read on!

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Don’t you just love feedback from beta-readers or your critique partners that goes something like this:

“I think you feel the emotion here, but the reader? Not so much.”

Or maybe, you get the dreaded, “Meh. Cliché.”

[image error]Today, we’re going to strap on our scuba set and dive deep into our stories with emotion, giving our characters oxygen with fresh viscerals and appropriate emotional levels.

How to Write Fresh Viscerals

Everyone has their own tried-and- true process for writing. However, writing fresh viscerals—involuntary physiological responses to external factors (like bad news)—requires a whole other skill set. It’s not one I’ve seen taught very often (Margie Lawson has some great courses and an Immersion cruise with Cruising Writers this December on viscerals), but I believe this particular skill set at the heart of every tip or strategy I’ve come across on ‘how to’ write emotion.

Vulnerability.

Yup. I went there.

Brené Brown talks in great depth about this subject and if you’ve never searched her out, I’d start with her fabulous TED Talk on the subject.

As authors, to access deep emotion and be able to write it in an authentic way that connects with our readers, we must become vulnerable.

Vulnerability means accessing your own pain or joy, and at times reliving those crucial turning points in your own life. But not just the facts. You’ve got to pull on those emotions…and what your body was doing at the time.

I can recall in great clarity the moment I got the phone call that my best friend had died. I was sitting on the second step of the stairs in my childhood home. My dad was in his study, and my friend was on the phone telling me the news. And I remember going numb. I remember my dad’s words about the news and how foggy they sounded, and at the same time became so clear that they’ll stick with me for the rest of my life. But most of all, I remember how loud my heart got. It drowned out everything else, and the beats were slow, and hard, and vibrated my bones.

When my character is facing a death or a moment of tragedy, I have to go back to that moment or moments like that. I have to allow myself to sink back into that pain. Or a moment of joy, depending on the scene. And then, I have to put it on the page.

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Instead of telling your reader that your character felt the pain like the edge of a knife, go deeper. Get personal by being vulnerable. What would that pain feel like to you? Does it feel like the edge of a knife, or is it more of a gut pain, or a chest pain? Where would you feel that pain? What does your body do?

Then expand that. If you feel stress in your chest, chest tightening, heart racing, is that where your character experiences stress? Maybe your character’s thighs clench whenever her mother barrels through the door like a whirlwind of anxiety. Or maybe her fingertips tingle. The Emotion Thesaurus and One Stop For Writers are great resources for drilling down to various emotional responses.

Another great tool is a cliché twist. This is my favorite tool to use to write fresh emotion. It goes something like this:

Jane’s heart thundered.

Heart. Heart beat? Beat and thundered. That’s rather cliché. We’ve read it a bunch of times. But beat and thundered—those sounds are closely related. What can you do with those?

Jane’s heart sounded like the beat of a drum, thundering through the jungle in a slow, ancient tribal rhythm. Ba-da-dum, dum, dum, ba-da-dum.

Using vulnerability to access a deeper level of emotion, then using twists on old clichés, can help you get to fresh emotion that not only connects with your reader, but adds a layer of emotional depth to your characters.

How to Stay at the Appropriate Emotional Depth

[image error]However, you can go too deep. Depending on the level of emotion and action in the scene, the example above could be too much.

If Jane is getting news that her kid didn’t make it into the gifted program, she wouldn’t experience the same emotional depth as she would if she got a phone call saying her kid had been in an accident.

You can even set up your own scoring system. Kid not making it into the gifted program gets a score of 5 on an emotional intensity scale. Kid being in an accident gets a score of 10.

So, let’s stick with the original emotion example, in the context of Jane getting the news that her kid didn’t make it into the gifted program at school.

Jane’s heart thundered.

Yes, she could still have a heart reaction to this news, but it wouldn’t be so drawn out. An emotional intensity level of 5 would be more thoughtful and less of the base physical response of a 10.

Using the same thought process: Heart? Heart beat? What else makes a beat sound? Drum. Like a kick drum. Relates to music.

Jane’s heart kicked up in her chest, timing the beats to the worry wheel spinning in her head. How was she going to break the news? Ba-dum. Sally would be so disappointed—not even ice cream could fix this. Ba-dum. How would she keep Sally’s self-confidence up, after she’d tried so hard…and failed? Ba-dum.

Recognizing the emotional intensity of a scene and writing an appropriate level of emotional response can save you from overwriting, and also save your scenes from falling flat.

Do you love to write emotion or is it a struggle for you? What tips and tricks do you have for writing authentic, fresh emotion?

About Christina

[image error]Christina Delay is the hostess of Cruising Writers and an award-winning author represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency. When she’s not cruising the Caribbean, she’s dreaming up new writing retreats to take talented authors on or writing the stories of the imaginary people that live in her heart.

[image error]Cruising Writers brings writers together with bestselling authors, an agent, an editor, and a world-renowned writing craft instructor writing retreats around the world.

Cruise with us to Grand Cayman this October with Kristen Lamb (Bestselling Author and Marketing Jedi), Rachel Caine (Bestselling Author of 50+ books), Deidre Knight (The Knight Agency), and Alex Sehulster (St. Martin’s Press).

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Or get ready to Dive Deep and join us on a 7-day Immersion Cruise with Margie Lawson this December to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel!

The post Dive Deep with Emotion appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

How To Keep Writing When That Critical Inner Voice Won’t Shut Up

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You know the feeling. You went to bed last night floating on air and wondering whether it really is too early to begin writing that acceptance speech for when you win the Pulitzer. But this morning when you reread your WIP, well, either monkeys got into your laptop while you were sleeping, or, let’s face it, you’ve been deluding yourself.

Now you’re sure that the only prize you’ll ever win is as the worst writer who ever lived. Suddenly you’re positive that your prose is stiff, your premise mundane, trite even, and who the hell wants to read yet another love story anyway?

Cue the mean voice in your head – the one that sounds suspiciously like your second grade teacher – that asks what made you think you could be a successful writer in the first place.

It’s at a moment like that when 97 out of 100 writers give up. Yep, studies show that only 3 out of 100 writers ever finish so much as their first draft.

Are those successful three the writers who never once doubted themselves or their story? Hell no! In fact, writers who never doubt themselves or their work are the very writers who should. Because writing a novel is hard. It takes time. And you have to do it all by your lonesome. Truth is, every writer worth their salt eventually faces that dark night of the soul, and for some writers, that night is every night. It can be oddly comforting to know that it’s a club the vast majority of us belong to.

The question is: Since those doubts aren’t going to disappear, how do you keep going, especially when the mean voice in your head gets really loud? What will give you the strength to soldier on day after day, and the courage to dig ever deeper in the face of that nagging doubt?

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The good news is that there are two questions you can ask yourself that will give you the ammunition to fight back. What’s more, the answers to these questions will help keep your novel on track. They’ll not only help you become one of the three out of a hundred writers who finish a first draft, they’ll also help insure that that draft really has the power to rivet readers.

The questions are:

What is my story’s point?
Why is telling this story, making this point, deeply important to me?

Let’s dive in and find out why.

What is my story’s point?

Turns out this is a question you need to ask regardless, because all stories make a point beginning in the very first sentence. What kind of point? A point about human nature, about what makes people tick and, most importantly, why.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to step out and tell the reader what that point is. In fact, that’s the last thing you want to do. Rather, this is the point your story will be building toward from the first page to the last. Which is why you need to know what it is before you begin writing, otherwise, how can you build a story that gets there?

When you first begin to zero in on your point, it can sound shockingly simple. Cliché even. Like: It’s what’s inside that counts. Or, diving a bit deeper: Even though it’s terrifying to show people who you really are, it’s only by being vulnerable, thus authentic, that you can be loved for your true self. Or, given our scary world: Technology is a double-edged sword, don’t trust it to have your best interest at heart. Yes, Alexa, I’m talking about you. Stop laughing.

Ask yourself: What inside intel am I giving my reader about how to best navigate this mortal coil? How do you want to change the way people see the world, and how they treat each other? Because make no mistake: as a writer you are one of the most powerful people on the planet, and your novel will have the ability to shift your reader’s worldview. Not by telling them what to do, but by allowing them to experience the plot induced scene-by-scene evolution of your protagonist’s worldview.

Once you’ve nailed your point, we can ask the second question. It’s the answer to this question that will keep you writing, even when the going gets super tough.

Why is making this point so important to me?

This is a far more revealing question than it sounds at first blush. Because the answer isn’t a simple, declarative sentence, like: My point is that no child should ever go hungry and it matters to me because, hey, I just told you, no child should ever go hungry. Very true. But not the answer. Why? Because it’s surface. Impersonal. Generic. And let’s face it, a tad self-congratulatory.

What you’re looking for is something much deeper, and closer to home. Something that costs you something. Perhaps the reason your story matters to you is because of something that happened in your past that you’re still grappling with. Almost always there’s a deeply personal reason. That’s gold.

Ask yourself: What, specifically, happened in my life that made this important to me? This will probably make you feel vulnerable. It may hurt. That’s what tells you you’re getting close. You might also find yourself angry. Perhaps it was an unfairness that you experienced. Or a deep inner fear. Or it might be something that happened to someone you love. And sometimes the reason you’re writing your novel is to keep you from doing something that might get you in trouble. Like Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Millhone mysteries, as reported in the Los Angeles Times in 1990:

“Sue Grafton’s homicidal urges surfaced in the middle of a bitter, six-year custody battle with an ex-husband. “I was so furious at him that I lay awake at night fantasizing how I could finish him off,” she recalls.

“Then I had the brilliant idea of using oleander as a poison . . . So I concocted the perfect murder plot. I imagined making copies of my children’s keys to their father’s house–we had joint custody at the time–so that I could sneak in and put powdered oleander in his allergy capsules. The next hay fever attack–no more ex-husband.”

But in the clear light of morning, Grafton came to her senses. “Of course, I knew I’d never get away with it,” she says with a laugh. “And since I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in a shapeless prison dress, I decided to turn my homicidal fantasy into a mystery novel.”

So, yes, sometimes the reason it matters to you is because it’s what’s going to keep you out of jail. If that isn’t a powerful motivator, I don’t know what is.

The point is, knowing why you’re writing your novel is what will give you the courage to face down that mean doubting voice when it pipes up and tells you you’re bound for failure. It’s what allows you to turn around and say to it, “Maybe so, but I’m on a mission to change things, and to make the world a better place. So if my novel fails, it won’t be because I didn’t give it everything I had and then some.”

That knowledge is what will keep you writing. Whether it’s that you want to save yourself, like Sue Grafton, or save the world, or both. It’s what gives fuel to the grit it takes to write through those dark nights of the soul. Once you know why writing your novel is deeply important to you, those dark nights aren’t quite so dark. There’s a surprising – and liberating — feeling of power that comes from the knowledge you have the moxie to keep on going. And that, too, is worth its weight in gold.

[image error]Lisa Cron is the author of Wired for Story and Story Genius. Her 6-hour video course Wired for Story: How to Become a Story Genius can be found at CreativeLive.com, and her TEDx talk, Wired for Story, opened Furman University’s 2014 TEDx conference, Stories: The Common Thread of Our Humanity.

In her work as a private story coach, Lisa helps writers of all ilk wrangle the story they’re telling onto the page. For a library of her free myth-busting writing tips, and information on how to work with her one-on-one, you can find her at: wiredforstory.com

 

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Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Outdoor Guide

Jobs are as important for our characters as they are for real people. A character’s career might be their dream job or one they’ve chosen due to necessity. In your story, they might be trying to get that job or are already working in the field. Whatever the situation, as with any defining aspect for your character, you’ll need to do the proper research to be able to write that career knowledgeably.

Enter the Occupation Thesaurus. Here, you’ll find important background information on a variety of career options for your character. In addition to the basics, we’ll also be covering related info that relates to character arc and story planning, such as sources of conflict (internal and external) and how the job might impact basic human needs, thereby affecting the character’s goals. It’s our hope that this thesaurus will share some of your research burden while also giving you ideas about your character’s occupation that you might not have considered before.

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Angela & her psycho horse Mate, with Nick, her trail guide

Occupation: OUTDOOR  GUIDE

Overview: An outdoor guide is someone who leads excursions into the natural areas. These excursions may be anywhere from a few hours, to days or weeks. An outdoor guide uses their skills and vast knowledge of the area to give clients an experience that only a seasoned outdoors enthusiast might otherwise have. Guides may take groups into natural areas to view scenery and animal activity using land and water transport, usually going by foot, horseback, boat, or other means. This allows clients to safely explore harder-to-reach natural areas, or in the case of mountaineering, summit a peak.

Guiding is done year round in many areas. In places where snow is common, transport might be by skis, snowshoes, Ski-doos or even dog sled teams. Guides are responsible for the safety and welfare of their clients and oversee camp preparations (setting up, getting firewood, filtering water if needed, and meal preparations) on longer excursions. 

Necessary Training: Not a lot of formal training is required to start as a guide, just a huge passion for the outdoors. A guide must be a people person also so they can effectively entertain, manage a variety of personalities within one’s group, and encourage travelers who grow exhausted or are pushed to their physical limits during the excursion.

Guides will require previous field experience or be given on the job training in whatever type of guiding they specialize in, both for knowledge of the terrain and in different modes of transport. If for example, the guiding is primarily by horseback, guides will require additional education regarding the handling and caring for horses, including any emergency situations that could crop up away from civilization. Guides may or may not have firearms training and carry a rifle as they are responsible for those in their charge. They will also have taken courses in first aid and possibly be a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR)or a suitable equivalent.

Useful Skills, Talents, or Abilities: A knack for languages, archery, a way with animals, baking, basic first aid, charm, exceptional memory, fishing, foraging, gaining the trust of others, good listening skills, high pain tolerance, hospitality, making people laugh, multitasking, predicting the weather, reading people, sharpshooting, strategic thinking, super strength, survival skills, wilderness navigation

Helpful Character Traits: Adventurous, alert, calm, cautious, centered, charming, confident, courteous, curious, decisive, diplomatic, disciplined, easygoing, efficient, enthusiastic, extroverted, friendly, funny, hospitable, independent, mature, nature-focused, observant, optimistic, organized, persuasive, professional, protective, resourceful, responsible, sensible, simple, wholesome, wise, witty

Sources of Friction: difficult or whiny clients who underestimate “roughing it,” bad weather making the trip miserable and impacting what can be seen and experienced, equipment malfunctions, injuries (both people and animals if used), dangerous wildlife wandering close to camp, clients who try to get too close to wild animals, personality conflicts between clients, unwanted advances, clients who are poor tippers, clients who are not at the fitness level the excursion requires, a horse throwing a client, encountering a bear with cubs, a client wandering away from the group and getting lost

People They Might Interact With: Outfitters, tourists and locals, ranch hands, fish and wildlife officers, photographers, outdoor enthusiasts

How This Occupation Might Impact One’s Basic Needs:

Self-Actualization: while a guide might choose this occupation to be closer to nature and find their fit in the world, the day to day grind of dealing with entitled, rude, or overbearing clients on the trail may sour the character’s love of the wilds, leaving them unsatisfied with the mismatch of expectation and reality.


Esteem and Recognition: Because guiding can seem like choosing self-isolation, other people can make assumptions about a character with this career, assuming they are loners and somehow unfit for ‘the real world,’ which may impact the character’s self-esteem.


Love and Belonging: Because a character is often away for days at a time and on constant rotation during tourist season, it cane be difficult to create and nurture long-term relationships.


Safety and Security: Out in the wilds the character may encounter dangerous animals or navigate difficult situations due to the lack of experience of their clientele. In this case, the guide is responsible for the welfare of their customers, meaning they must take all the risks if something dangerous happens during the trip.

Common Work-Related Settings: arctic tundra, badlands, barn, campsite, canyon, cave, country road, creek, fishing boat, forest, grotto, hiking trail, hot springs, hunting cabin, lake, marina, marsh, meadow, moors, mountains, ocean, pasture, pond, rainforest, ranch, river, swamp, waterfall

View other occupations in this thesaurus HERE.

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How NOT To Mess Up Your Book Series

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Writing one book is hard. Writing an entire series of books, with their interconnecting subplots, arcs, and golden threads, weaving first book to last, is even harder. It’s like doing a puzzle with no opposable thumbs and a blindfold wedged over your eyes. But there are things you can do, to help you progress through your series.

Create a Book Bible

The most useful lesson I ever picked up from writing a series is to create a book bible. This is a document containing all the most important information about your plot, characters and world without including the actual 100,000-word plot!

Why have a book bible? Unless you’re Einstein, I doubt you can remember every detail, character, timeline and subplot. Having a reference guide helps prevent you from turning a thin character into a podgy one or a science tech into a teacher. It can also be handy for other people working on your  novel, like editors and beta readers.

What should you include? The list below is long (and not exhaustive), but only use what’s relevant to you and your series. My book bible started with just a few lines of notes; it’s taken three books to record all of the below.

Timelines—for each book, the series as a whole, and even events that happened before the story started, if relevant
Brief description of EVERY character—including distinguishing features and any key plot information where they change events or create action/tension
Key characters’ ‘wants’ and motivations
The character’s relationship to the protagonist or other key characters (where it’s relevant to a plot or subplot)
Family trees
Spelling of names, locations or special words—including relevant capitalization of words and made-up words
A map or list of key locations–for example, the fact that your character always takes piano lessons on the 5th floor of a building
Glossary
World building laws—e.g., rules of magic, both how it can and cannot be used
Societal structures—government, judicial, royal, military hierarchies, etc.

[image error]Understand Entry Points

Most readers have to start a series at book one (an entry point). But that creates reader drop-offs because not everyone will read to the end of a long series. It also makes selling the final book in your series, decidedly harder than selling the first. And that gives you a giant marketing problem. But there are ways to get creative with the series and provide multiple entry points for your readers.

Bella Forrest does this beautifully with her multi-million-selling A Shade of Vampire series. It has seven “seasons,” each told from a different family’s viewpoint and containing around eight books. This gives Forrest’s whopping 50-plus book series seven entry points and lots of opportunity to read across the seasons.

When you’re planning your series, consider whether or not you could add one or more of the following:

A prequel
A novella slotted between two planned books
A spin-off series based on other characters

Decide on a Series-Long Character Arc

One of the first lessons we learn as writers is to ensure our protagonist has a character arc – that they change and develop past their flaws into a fully-fledged hero at the end of your book. But what happens if you’re writing a series? Ensuring your characters are engaging for the entire series requires a little more thought. Here are some popular types of arcs you can use over a series:

Groundhog Day Arcs – These characters never change, no matter how many books you run them through (such as James Bond or Sherlock Holmes.)

Same Old Arcs – Characters in this model take an entire series to grow through their flaw—like Harry Potter, who works on leadership and confidence until he’s strong enough to defeat Voldemort.

New Story, New Problem – These characters have to overcome a new flaw or problem in each book. Or they have a different ‘thing’ to get over in each story arc. For example, Woody from Toy Story has to get over his jealousy of Buzz (film one), move past his ego in favor of his heart (film two), and let go of the past (film three.)

Line Up the Villains

Much as it pains me to say it (because I love a good villain), most villains have a three-ish book lifespan before your audience needs closure or you lose the believability of your hero and the credibility of your villain. If your character is chasing the same villain for ten books without any resolution, the audience is going to get tired. And yes, before you mention Harry Potter, I know he chased Voldemort for seven books.

Except, did he? Each Harry Potter book had a different villain or ‘antagonist’ that needed defeating, whether it was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher or an ethereal form of Voldemort. But technically Voldemort himself didn’t ‘come back to life’ until the end of book four. Meaning each book had a separate villain or conflict, and Voldemort was the overarching series villain.

How do you keep th villain from getting stale over the course of your series? Here are some suggestions:

Have two villains, one for the first half of the series and another for the second half
Have a minor and a major villain—for example, a physical villain and a more societal or intangible villain that’s not embodied in a person. Like President Snow and The Capitol in the Hunger Games
Have a different villain for each book

A Word On Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers are like Marmite: some readers love them, others hate them. But they’re mighty useful for keeping your audience ploughing through a series. If you include cliffhangers at the end of each book consider the following:

You need to make absolutely sure you round off every other subplot and story arc in your book.
Readers prefer faster releases in the series if there are cliffhanger endings.

Series are hard to write, but there are lots of things you can do to make yours the best it can be. Think about your individual book arcs as well as a series arc, consider how many villains you need to keep the story flowing, and finally, remember that more entry points equals more readers and more sales.

[image error]Sacha Black is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy, and her first series, Keepers, is due out in November 2017.

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram |  Goodreads.

 

The post How NOT To Mess Up Your Book Series appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Teacher

Jobs are as important for our characters as they are for real people. A character’s career might be their dream job or one they’ve chosen due to necessity. In your story, they might be trying to get that job or are already working in the field. Whatever the situation, as with any defining aspect for your character, you’ll need to do the proper research to be able to write that career knowledgeably.

Enter the Occupation Thesaurus. Here, you’ll find important background information on a variety of career options for your character. In addition to the basics, we’ll also be covering related info that relates to character arc and story planning, such as sources of conflict (internal and external) and how the job might impact basic human needs, thereby affecting the character’s goals. It’s our hope that this thesaurus will share some of your research burden while also giving you ideas about your character’s occupation that you might not have considered before.

[image error]Occupation: Teacher

Overview: There’s a wide range of jobs available to those interested in education. Teachers work at various levels, from pre-kindergarden through the collegiate level. Public schools are fairly standard, with the teacher’s requirements being dictated at the county, state, and national levels. Private schools are more varied; they may follow the traditional public school model, espouse a certain educational method (Montessori, etc.), or be affiliated with a religious organization.

Teacher’s duties and education requirements vary depending on their area of focus. Through the elementary level, most teachers are responsible for a small group of students for the entire year, instructing them in the core education areas (math, language arts, science, and social studies). Special-area teachers focus on a specialized area of instruction, such as physical education, art, music, band, computer skills, etc. This model continues into middle and high school, where teachers are certified in a certain subject area and teach that subject throughout the day to a wide range of students. Professors do the same at the college level.

Teachers’ duties include preparing lesson plans based on established curriculum standards, teaching lessons to accommodate the needs and ability levels of many different students, assessing students, attending faculty meetings, conferencing with parents, and participating in workshops and other ongoing education opportunities. Some teachers may have additional duties as well, such monitoring students at lunchtime or recess, coaching a sports team, leading a student club or organization, and other before- and after-school responsibilities.

Necessary Training: Teaching certifications depend upon a number of criteria. In the US, many pre-k programs require no formal education for their teachers. Elementary and secondary teachers need a four-year degree, though they can go on to get their masters or doctorate degrees for better pay and the opportunity to move into an administrative capacity. Unaccredited private schools may have more lenient requirements. Professors are usually required to have a masters or doctorate.

Useful Skills, Talents, or Abilities: Empathy, enhanced hearing, gaining the trust of others, good listening skills, hospitality, multitasking

Helpful Character Traits: Adaptable, affectionate, alert, calm, cooperative, decisive, diplomatic, disciplined, discreet, enthusiastic, gentle, honorable, industrious, inspirational, intelligent, nurturing, objective, observant, optimistic, organized, passionate, patient,  protective, resourceful, responsible, studious, tolerant, wise

Sources of Friction: Unreasonable administrative expectations, frequently changing curriculums and teaching methods, being unable to adequately teach the basics because of the pressures to teach to a certain test, co-teaching with a teacher whose methods or philosophies are different than one’s own, limited funding that requires one to supplement supplies, conflict with parents (who don’t support the teacher when they should, whose absentee parenting makes their child’s success difficult, who want preferential treatment, etc.), seeing a student fail despite one’s best efforts to help him or her, conflict among students, being accused of inappropriateness by a student, suspecting that a student might be a victim of abuse, being unable to connect with a student and gain their trust, suspecting that a student is being bullied but being unable to catch the offender

People They Might Interact With: Administrators, students, parents, other teachers, classroom aides, mentors,

How This Occupation Might Impact One’s Basic Needs:

Self-Actualization: As with so many occupations, the dream doesn’t always match the reality. Teachers spend a large portion of their time doing things other than teaching. They can easily find themselves doing very little of what they love, making them dissatisfied with their chosen profession.
Esteem and Recognition: While teachers are slowly gaining the respect they reserve, there are still people who would rather their loved ones choose occupations that pay higher wages or garner more prestige. A teacher with a parent, spouse, or other influential person putting pressure on them to find new employment may take a hit in the esteem department. This could also occur if the educator has to find a second job in order to support themselves and their family.
Physiological Needs: The rise of school violence has made this scenario a sadly believable one that could threaten a teacher’s survival, along with their need for safety and security.

Common Work-Related Settings: Boarding school, custodial supply room, dorm room, elementary school classroom, high school cafeteria, high school hallway, juvenile detention center, parking lot, performing arts theater, preschool, principal’s office, prom, public restroom, school bus, school locker room, science lab, teacher’s lounge, university lecture hall, university quad

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