Chris Eboch's Blog, page 39

How to Write Vivid Scenes part 3

To celebrate the release of my new book, Advanced Plotting, I'm posting one of the essays spread out over a few weeks. Here's part three of How to Write Vivid Scenes.
Cause and Effect
One of the ironies of writing fiction is that fiction has to be more realistic than real life. In real life, things often seem to happen for no reason. In fiction, that comes across as unbelievable. We expect stories to follow a logical pattern, where a clear action causes a reasonable reaction. In other words, cause and effect.
The late Jack M. Bickham explored this pattern in Scene & Structure, from Writer's Digest Books. He noted that every cause should have an effect, and vice versa. This goes beyond the major plot action and includes a character's internal reaction. When action is followed by action with no internal reaction, we don't understand the character's motives. At best, the action starts to feel flat and unimportant, because we are simply watching a character go through the motions without emotion. At worst, the character's actions are unbelievable or confusing.
In Manuscript Makeover (Perigee Books), Elizabeth Lyon suggests using this pattern: stimulus — reaction/emotion — thoughts — action.
Something happens to your main character (the stimulus); You show his emotional reaction, perhaps through dialog, an exclamation, gesture, expression, or physical sensation; He thinks about the situation and makes a decision on what to do next; Finally, he acts on that decision.
This lets us see clearly how and why a character is reacting. The sequence may take one sentence or several pages, so long as we see the character's emotional and intellectual reaction, leading to a decision.




Advanced Plotting is designed for the intermediate and advanced writer: you've finished a few stories, read books and articles on writing, taken some classes, attended conferences. But you still struggle with plot, or suspect that your plotting needs work. Advanced Plotting can help.

Bickham offered these suggestions for building strong scenes showing proper cause and effect:
The stimulus must be external — something that affects one of the five senses, such as action or dialog that could be seen or heard.
The response should also be partly external. In other words, after the character's emotional response, she should say or do something. (Even deciding to say nothing leads to a reaction we can see, as the character turns away or stares at the stimulus or whatever.)
The response should immediately follow the stimulus. Wait too long and the reader will lose track of the original stimulus, or else wonder why the character waited five minutes before reacting.
Be sure you word things in the proper order. If you show the reaction before the action, it's confusing: "Lisa hurried toward the door, hearing pounding." For a second or two, we don't know why she's hurrying toward the door. In fact, we get the impression that Lisa started for the door before she heard the pounding. Instead, place the stimulus first: "Pounding rattled the door. Lisa hurried toward it."
If the response is not obviously logical, you must explain it, usually with the responding character's feelings/thoughts placed between the stimulus and the response. Here's an example where the response is not immediately logical:
Knocking rattled the door. (Stimulus)Lisa waited, staring at the door. (Action)
Why is she waiting? Does she expect someone to just walk in, even though they are knocking? Is she afraid? Is this not her house? To clarify, include the reaction:
Knocking rattled the door. (Stimulus)Lisa jumped. (Physical Reaction) It was after midnight and she wasn't expecting anyone. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe they'd go away. (Thoughts)She waited, staring at the door. (Responsive Action)
In some cases the response may be logical and obvious without including thoughts and emotions in between. For example, if character A throws a ball and character B raises a hand to catch it, we don't need to hear character B thinking, "There's a ball coming at me. I had better catch it." But don't assume your audience can always read between the lines. Often as authors we know why our characters behave the way they do, so we assume others will understand and we don't put the reaction and thoughts on the page. This can lead to confusion.
In one manuscript I critiqued, the character heard mysterious voices. I assumed they were ghosts, but the narrator never identified them that way. Did he think they were something else? Did he think he was going crazy? Had he not yet decided? I couldn't tell. The author may have assumed the cause of the voices was obvious, so she didn't need to explain the character's reaction. But it just left me wondering if I was missing something — or if the character was. Err on the side of showing your character's thoughts.
Link your scenes together with scene questions and make sure you're including all four parts of the scene — stimulus, reaction/emotion, thoughts, and action — and you'll have vivid, believable scenes building a dramatic story.

Buy Advanced Plotting for $9.99 in paperback on Amazon. Through September 1, get Advanced Plotting as a $.99 e-book on Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.

Plot: Not Just Another Word for a Hole in a Graveyard

To celebrate the release of my new book, Advanced Plotting, here's one of the guest author essays.

Plot: Not Just Another Word for a Hole in a Graveyard by Jenny Milchman
We can bat about terms like "literary" versus "genre" fiction till people cease to die, but the truth is every body needs a grave, and every story needs a plot.I can already hear the opposing cries. "No, no," they say. "What every book needs is great characters."(And anyway, how about cremation?)Well, yes. I agree with you. But what are great characters supposed to do?Therein lies your plot.But how exactly do you construct a plot?Here's one method, with much of the credit going to that great genius of story, Robert McKee. His book — "Story" — is worth more than a look. For now I'm going to piece together McKee's wisdom with some of what I've learned myself, then challenge each of you to create the bare bones of a terrific new plot.Each story has to have a start, of course. The inciting incident kicks things off, just as the first kick of a football game sets the players on a course to win or lose. If you come up with a toothsome inciting incident, your plot will be off to a great start.Think of scenarios that intrigue you. Did you ever get stopped in traffic so thick you couldn't see its source — then start wondering about that source? A terrible accident maybe? A broken down bus? (There's just something inherently dramatic about a bus….) Or possibly a driver so sick of things he left behind his car? Or perhaps your telephone just rang late at night. Before you pick it up to learn that your daughter got scared at her sleepover and wants to come home, let your imagination run a little bit wild, let your heart start pounding. You will have the makings of an inciting incident.After the inciting incident is set up, and the characters needed to fulfill it are introduced, with its ramification played out a bit, you come to plot point 1. This occurs at roughly 1/3 of the way through your story. Plot point 1 takes what you have begun to create and sends it careening off in a new direction. Maybe the driver did leave behind his car — but now he comes back. Or perhaps when you get to the sleepover…nobody's home.About another third of the way through your story comes, what else? Plot point 2. Again, your story is going to be turned somehow, sent off in another direction. If you think about the story as a steadily rising arc, the plot points are forks along it. The action continues to rise, but it's not a straight progression.All the scenes and moments you have created so far call for an awakening at this point in the story. You don't want things to be linear — you want to introduce the unexpected. Think about the least likely thing that could happen. Then think about the most likely thing. Something somewhere in-between will be a great plot point. If all else fails, you can have someone knock on the door. Even if this plot point doesn't stand in the final version, it will get you moving towards something new.Plot point 2 leads into the climax of your story. This is where all the scenes, threads, and characters you have arrayed come together in one knotted ball of action, only to be swiftly unraveled during the denouement so the reader can have a moment of quietude and rest — just before dashing to his or her computer.Why will he or she dash there? Because your now loyal reader wants to see if you have any other books — trusting you completely to deliver a well-constructed, seamless plot.
Jenny Milchman is a suspense writer from New Jersey. She is founder of the series Writing Matters, which draws authors and publishing professionals from both coasts to standing-room-only events at a local bookstore. In 2010 she created Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, a holiday that went viral, enlisting booksellers in 30 states, two Canadian provinces, and England. Jenny is the author of the short story "The Very Old Man," an Amazon bestseller in mystery anthologies. Another short story will be published in 2012 in a book called Adirondack Mysteries II. Her novel, a literary thriller titled Cover of Snow, is forthcoming from Ballantine. http://www.jennymilchman.com



Buy Advanced Plotting for $9.99 in paperback on Amazon. Through September 1, get Advanced Plotting as a $.99 e-book on Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.

How to Write Vivid Scenes part 2

To celebrate the release of my new book, Advanced Plotting , I'm posting one of the essays spread out over a few weeks. Here's part two of How to Write Vivid Scenes.
Connecting Scenes
Each scene is a mini-story, with its own climax. Each scene should lead to the next and drive the story forward, so all scenes connect and ultimately drive toward the final story climax.
 A work of fiction has one big story question — essentially, will this main character achieve his or her goal? For example, in my children's historical fiction novel The Eyes of Pharaoh, the main character hunts for her missing friend. The story question is, "Will Seshta find Reya?" In The Well of Sacrifice, the story question is, "Will Eveningstar be able to save her city and herself from the evil high priest?"
In Rattled (written as Kris Bock), the big story question is, "Will Erin find the treasure before the bad guys do?" There may also be secondary questions, such as, "Will Erin find love with the sexy helicopter pilot?" but one main question drives the plot.
Throughout the work of fiction, the main character works toward that story goal during a series of scenes, each of which has a shorter-term scene goal. For example, in Erin's attempt to find the treasure, she and her best friend Camie must get out to the desert without the bad guys following; they must find a petroglyph map; and they must locate the cave.
You should be able to express each scene goal as a clear, specific question, such as, "Will Erin and Camie get out of town without being followed?" If you can't figure out your main character's goal in a scene, you may have an unnecessary scene or a character who is behaving in an unnatural way.






In Advanced Plotting, you'll get two dozen essays like this one on the craft of writing, plus a detailed explanation of the Plot Outline Exercise, a powerful tool to identify and fix plot weaknesses in your manuscripts.




Yes, No, Maybe
Scene questions can be answered in four ways: Yes, No, Yes but…, and No and furthermore…. 
If the answer is "Yes," then the character has achieved his or her scene goal and you have a happy character. That's fine if we already know that the character has more challenges ahead, but you should still end the chapter with the character looking toward the next goal, to maintain tension and reader interest. Truly happy scene endings usually don't have much conflict, so save that for the last scene.
If the answer to the scene question is "No," then the character has to try something else to achieve that goal. That provides conflict, but it's essentially the same conflict you already had. Too many examples of the character trying and failing to achieve the same goal, with no change, will get dull.
An answer of "Yes, but…" provides a twist to increase tension. Maybe a character can get what she wants, but with strings attached. This forces the character to choose between two things important to her or to make a moral choice, a great source of conflict. Or maybe she achieves her goal but it turns out to make things worse or add new complications. For example, in Rattled, the bad guys show up in the desert while Erin and Camie are looking for the lost treasure cave. The scene question becomes, "Will Erin escape?" This is answered with, "Yes, but they've captured Camie," which leads to a new set of problems.
"No, and furthermore…" is another strong option because it adds additional hurdles — time is running out or your character has a new obstacle. It makes the situation worse, which creates even greater conflict. In my current work in progress, tentatively titled Whispers in the Dark (written as Kris Bock), one scene question is, "Will Kylie be able to notify the police in time to stop the criminals from escaping?" When this is answered with, "No, and furthermore they come back and capture her," the stakes are increased dramatically.
One way or another, the scene should end with a clear answer to the original question. Ideally that answer makes things worse. The next scene should open with a new specific scene goal (or occasionally the same one repeated) and probably a review of the main story goal. Here's an example from The Eyes of Pharaoh:
     Scene question: "Will Seshta find Reya at the army barracks?"     Answer: "No, and furthermore, she thinks the general lied to her, so Reya may be in danger."     Next scene: "Can Seshta spy on the general to find out the truth, which may lead her to Reya?"
Over the course of a novel, each end-of-scene failure should get the main character into worse trouble, leading to a dramatic final struggle.
Next week: Using Cause and Effect
Buy Advanced Plotting for $9.99 in paperback on Amazon. Through September 1, get Advanced Plotting as a $.99 e-book on Amazon or Smashwords.

Tips on Plotting Your Novel

To celebrate the release of my new book, Advanced Plotting , here's an excerpt from one of the guest author essays.
Tips on Plotting Your Novelby Janice Hardy
Story ideas can come from anywhere, and those are the easy part of writing. It's figuring out what to do past that glimmer of an idea where it can get tricky. How do you get your protagonist from that opening scene to the end? How do you know what problems to throw in their way? Let's look at some common places ideas start and look for ways to find a workable plot from those sparks.
Event or SituationSometimes the idea is a situation or event: a sun going supernova; a threat to a place or person, like a kidnapped child or a terrorist attack; discovery of something profound, either personal or for the world. Something is happening or about to happen, and someone is going to have to deal with it in some way. Questions you might ask here are:
1. Who has the most to lose in this situation?2. Who has the most to gain in this situation?3. Who has the freedom to act, but is also restricted in some way?4. Who can be hurt the most from this situation?5. What must be done to resolve this situation?
Situation plots usually need the most work on the character goals and stakes, because we know the what, but not the who or why. It's easy to find surface goals and stakes (to save the word, to stop the bad guy, save a life), but you often find that those aren't deep enough to help you create the plot. You run out of problems for the protagonist to tackle pretty quickly. The trick is to find the personal stakes and then work from there to determine the goals. People act when they want to (something to gain) or have to (something to lose).
Personal JourneyJourneys are common in character-driven and literary novels, and even in fantasies. A woman tries to find herself after a failed marriage. A man takes to the sea to live the last months of his life after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. A group of adventurers goes on quest for an item of importance. The journey is what matters most, not what's found on the other side. Some things to think about here are:
1. What are the inherent dangers of this journey?2. What are the inherent joys of this journey?3. What resistance would someone get from friends regarding this journey?4. What fears would keep someone from attempting this journey?
Character growth is key in a story like this, as the journey is almost always what allows them to find what they're looking for. To grow, the protagonist needs to overcome personal issues that were holding them back. They need to learn ways to better themselves and put them to use. Goals are just as important as in any other story, but they'll often be more personal and internal rather than external. The external obstacles are the ways in which the lesson is learned.
In her essay for Advanced Plotting, Janice also discusses how to build plots from Setting, Premise or Idea, and Characters.
Janice Hardy offers more tips about writing on her blog, "The Other Side of the Story." She's also the author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, where she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include The Shifter, Blue Fire, and the upcoming Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. www.janicehardy.com; http://blog.janicehardy.com/

Buy Advanced Plotting for $9.99 in paperback on Amazon. Through September 1, get Advanced Plotting as a $.99 e-book on Amazon or Smashwords.

How to Write Vivid Scenes

In fiction writing, a scene is a single incident or event. However, a summary of the event is not a scene. Scenes are written out in detail, shown, not told, so we see, hear, and feel the action. They often have dialog, thoughts, feelings, and sensory description, as well as action.
A scene ends when that sequence of events is over. A story or novel is, almost always, built of multiple linked scenes. Usually the next scene jumps to a new time or place, and it may change the viewpoint character.
Think in terms of a play: The curtain rises on people in a specific situation. The action unfolds as characters move and speak. The curtain falls, usually at a dramatic moment. Repeat as necessary until you've told the whole story.
So how do you write a scene?
Place a character — usually your main character — in the scene. Give that character a problem.Add other characters to the scene as needed to create drama.Start when the action starts — don't warm up on the reader's time.What does your main character think, say, and do?What do the other characters do or say?How does your main character react?What happens next? Repeat the sequence of actions and reactions, escalating tension.Built to a dramatic climax.End the scene, ideally with conflict remaining. Give the reader some sense of what might happen next — the character's next goal or challenge — to drive the plot forward toward the next scene. Don't ramble on after the dramatic ending, and don't end in the middle of nothing happening.
Scene endings may or may not coincide with chapter endings. Some authors like to use cliffhanger chapter endings in the middle of a scene and finish the scene at the start of the next chapter. They then use written transitions (later that night, a few days later, when he had finished, etc.) or an extra blank line to indicate a break between scenes within a chapter.
A scene can do several things, among them:
Advance the plot.Advance subplots.Reveal characters (their personalities and/or their motives).Set the scene.Share important information.Explore the theme.



 Advanced Plotting is designed for the intermediate and advanced writer: you've finished a few stories, read books and articles on writing, taken some classes, attended conferences. But you still struggle with plot, or suspect that your plotting needs work. Advanced Plotting can help.


Ideally, a scene will do multiple things. It may not be able to do everything listed above, but it should do two or three of those things, if possible. It should always, always, advance the plot. Try to avoid having any scene that only reveals character, sets the scene, or explores the theme, unless it's a very short scene, less than a page. Find a way to do those things while also advancing the plot.
A scene often includes a range of emotions as a character works towards a goal, suffers setbacks, and ultimately succeeds or fails. But some scenes may have one mood predominate. In that case, try to follow with a scene that has a different mood. Follow an action scene with a romantic interlude, a happy scene with a sad or frightening one, a tense scene with a more relaxed one to give the reader a break.
Don't rush through a scene — use more description in scenes with the most drama, to increase tension by making the reader wait a bit to find out what happens. Important and dramatic events should be written out in detail, but occasionally you may want to briefly summarize in order to move the story forward. For example, if we already know what happened, we don't need to hear one character telling another what happened. Avoid that repetition by simply telling us that character A explained the situation to character B.
Avoid scenes that repeat previous scenes, showing another example of the same action or information. Your readers are smart enough to get things without being hit over the head with multiple examples. If you show one scene of a drunk threatening his wife, and you do it well, we'll get it. We don't need to see five examples of the same thing. Focus on writing one fantastic scene and trust your reader to understand the characters and their relationship. For every scene, ask: Is this vital for my plot or characters? How does it advance plot and reveal character? If I cut the scene, would I lose anything?
Next week: Connecting Scenes
Buy Advanced Plotting for $9.99 in paperback on Amazon. Through September 1, get Advanced Plotting as a $.99 e-book on Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.

The Challenges of Doing Your Own Layout

I've been trying to get my new writing craft book, Advanced Plotting, on the market. Yesterday I received the proof copy from CreateSpace. Had it been fine, I could have officially published the book. Unfortunately, I discovered a problem with my line spacing. The bottoms of hanging letters such as g and p were getting cut off. You couldn't tell in the Word document, but you could in the PDF I'd sent to Amazon for printing.
This is one of the challenges of self-publishing -- you're responsible for all the details. I thought that since I'd previously done the layout on two books, I could manage this one. In fact, I used a previous book as a template. But I had accidentally used the font from my chapter headings (Adobe Caslon Pro) with the line spacing from the body text (Georgia). The Georgia font is fine with a standard 13.3 line spacing, but Adobe Caslon Pro needs a minimum of 14.2. After I realized my mistake, I remembered that I had changed the font to Georgia for The Eyes of Pharaoh's body text because Adobe Caslon Pro needed so much extra space. (I've now made a note of it for future reference.)
I spent several hours reformatting the manuscript. It wasn't a simple matter of just changing the line spacing. I had over 30 sections, each with a different font and line spacing for the heading. If I'd changed the whole document at once, it would have messed up all the headings, plus the title pages. I had to deal with each section separately. As an additional complication, the line spacing meant each paragraph took up more space. But I didn't want to change the page numbers, because not only did I have the page number set in the table of contents, but within the text I reference different essays by page number. I had to make adjustments to make sure each section started on the same page as before.
I'm sharing this as an example of some of the specific challenges you face when publishing on your own. Of course you, you can hire somebody to do your interior layout. You may want to do that if you have enough money and don't have a graphic design background. Otherwise, be sure to plan enough time to get the proof copy of your book and study it carefully.

Does a Book Need a Hook?

An orphan explores his magical powers at a school for wizards. Twins discover they are really genies. Death narrates a World War II story. The young descendants of Sherlock Holmes tackle one of his unsolved cases. A boy discovers a world of monsters, where he has superpowers. Twins deal with pirates, some of them vampires.

A hook—in this case the "high concept" idea—can grab the reader's attention and make a book stand out. Here are the books with the above hooks.
        Harry Potter series, by J. K Rowling        Children of the Lamp series, by P. B. Kerr        The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.         The 100-Year-Old Secret, by Tracy Barrett        Billy Hooten, Owlboy, by Thomas E. Sniegoski        Vampirates, by Justin Somper 
Do you need a hook? Well, in today's competitive market, it sure doesn't hurt. It's a quick way to summarize your idea for an editor or agent, handy for writing conferences. So how do you figure out what yours is—or if you have one?
One option is comparisons—I So Don't Do Mysteries was described as Nancy Drew with a Devil Meets Prada makeover by the publisher sales team trying to sell the book to bookstores and libraries. After Die Hard, action movies were often described as "Die Hard on a plane" or "Die Hard on a boat."
On the jacket flap, books often used an "except" or "but" twist. The second part is the twist on a common plot. — A woman thinks her ex-husband is going to try to kill her, but he kidnaps her daughter instead.
If your book isn't trendy, don't despair. What hooks the reader is individual to that reader. Some may read any book set in a certain time or place, or love talking animals. Don't try to make your book sound like it fits some hot trend, if it doesn't. Instead try to hook your readers. Who are your target readers, and what will draw them to this book?
A good hook is simple and short—sometimes it's referred to as a one-sentence synopsis or an elevator pitch (from the idea that you might have 30 seconds in an elevator to grab an editor's attention). It's not long-winded, where you are trying to cram everything into one run-on sentence. The hook doesn't necessarily tell you the plot, but it gives you the flavor of the book and arouses interest. It may be simply the premise.
EXERCISE: For practice, name a favorite or recent book—how would you describe it to a friend? Would you pick it up if you heard that description?
EXCERCISE: Write a simple synopsis of your work. Don't worry about length or clarity. Jot down the who, what, when, where and why. Now you have some idea of the most interesting aspects of the work. Time to turn it into a one-sentence synopsis with your hook.
To start focusing on your hook, ask, What is the conflict, in terms of X versus Y?
        A girl in ancient Egypt battles a mysterious prince as she hunts for her missing friend (The Eyes of Pharaoh)        A Mayan girl challenges the high priest trying to take over her city (The Well of Sacrifice)        A shy historian races thieves for a long-lost treasure (Rattled)
Once you have your hook, you can expand upon that one-sentence synopsis for a query letter or longer conversation.

Connecting at Conferences 2

On Wednesday I talked about getting into the right mind frame for a writing conference. Armed with the proper attitude, you're sure to have a good time. Get even more out of the conference by planning ahead.

If you're new to the biz, read books to learn the basics—how the publishing industry works, standard submission guidelines, the genres—so you won't be confused when speakers throw around industry terms. You can also direct your questions better, to take advantage of a particular speaker's expertise.

Next, investigate the conference speakers. Review editors' submission guidelines and study the books they've edited. Read books by the other speakers. Be prepared to offer honest compliments of their work or to ask intelligent questions. Then you won't go blank when you're suddenly faced with your idol.

The web is a great place to find articles by or about the speakers. You may even find photographs of them. At one conference cocktail party, my friend Cora Goss-Grubbs looked at a man standing by himself and said, "That's Agent ___." Because she recognized him from his picture, we got in a nice long chat before anybody else realized who he was.

Prepare for such opportunities by practicing one-sentence synopses of your manuscripts. You don't want to ramble and stammer when someone—especially an agent or editor—asks what you're working on. If they don't ask, don't be pushy, but try asking them what they want. According to children's book author Shirley Raye Redmond, "I sold my very first juvenile novel (Grampa and the Ghost) by simply asking the editor what she was looking for. She told me and I said, 'I think I have something you might like.'"

When you meet someone, it's nice to have an official way to exchange information, so make business cards. I print color business cards on my home computer, with the cover of my novel on one side and contact information on the reverse. Even a simple card with just your name and e-mail is useful. When you exchange cards, jot notes about the giver on the ones you get. You might write something like, "2011 SCBWI LA. 40s, short brown hair. Writing sci-fi for teens." Then when you get back from the conference with a handful of cards, you'll find it much easier to remember who gave them to you.

Go!

You've studied the speakers and practiced your synopses. You have a notebook, a pen, and a pocketful of business cards. Arrive early and practice your networking—or friendship—skills. Smile, say hello, and ask a simple question. Take an interest in people. Ask what they write. Offer compliments, ask questions, and listen. When I'm feeling shy and alone, I find someone who looks even more shy and alone. I walk up to them, smile, and say, "How are you enjoying the conference?" They are always delighted to talk. 

It helps to pair up with a friend for the conference. When we met the agent, Cora told him about my published novel, The Well of Sacrifice. From me it would have been bragging, whereas she just sounded complimentary. At another conference party, I told an editor about my friend Molly's project. When I introduced her to Molly, the editor asked to see the manuscript. It's easier to rave about someone else's work than your own. But be careful not to spend your whole time with just one friend. After all, your goal is to make new connections, so work together to meet people.

Connecting at Conferences

In honor of the upcoming SCBWI conference in LA, here's an article I wrote for Writer's Digest a few years ago. I'll post the next section on Friday.

The big writing conference. Anticipation. Excitement. You'll dazzle an editor with your book pitch. She'll beg to see it right away ….

You arrive, one among the hordes. Old friends hug and chatter. The display table overflows with attendees' published books. The conference staff body-guard the editors like Secret Service agents around the President.

Anxiety. Insecurity. You are a stray cat among lions. Maybe you shouldn't have come ….

A conference can provide inspiration, camaraderie, and marketing opportunities. Or it can waste your money and shake your confidence. Make sure you make the most of it.

It's All in Your Head

Start by changing your attitude. When people hear the word "networking," most imagine trying to impress bigwigs who could help their career. But many writers don't feel comfortable selling themselves. If your goal at a conference is to grab an editor and convince her you're wonderful, you'll feel anxious. And if you fail to wow—or even meet—the editor, you may feel like a failure.

Instead, think of networking as making friends. During her first major conference, children's book writer Holly Cupala decided to "think about making connections with people who share a love of children's literature—future friends rather than future contacts." During the four-day conference, she talked with dozens of people, including many of the famous speakers. She says, "I chatted with people I never would have dreamed of walking up to if I was in 'networking' mode. I connected with people by being open and letting go of expectations."

Talk to everyone, from beginners to the pros. You never know who might be fascinating—or helpful in the future. Today's "nobody" may be tomorrow's success story, on a first-name basis with top editors and agents. A few years ago, I met a woman who had never published and who had no contacts in the writing world. Two years later, she ran a website organizing online chats between authors and schools. We exchange favors when we have a chance—not because we want something in return, but because we're friends.

Cherrye Vasquez and No Tildes on Tuesday

My guest today is Dr. Cherrye S. Vasquez, the author of No Tildes on Tuesday. Dr. Vasquez shares how she used educational material along with her fictional story to inspire children and make her book more useful in the classroom. No Tildes on Tuesday is about a girl who doesn't want to learn speak Spanish. But when her parents announce that they are moving the family to a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood, Isabella grudgingly agrees to start Spanish lessons with her abuela.    
The passion for writing my first book, No Tildes on Tuesday, stems from a desire to help students/children push forward as they become aware of their personal identities. Although this is indeed a journey, my platform centers around expressing to readers the complexities that may arise in children's lives when they are not introduced and taught to appreciate all of who they are, whether monoracial, biracial or multiracial. My plight is to share the message of teaching children early and often to embrace not only their heritage(s), culture(s) and ethnicit(ies), but the heritage(s), culture(s) and ethnicit(ies) of others including their school mates, neighbors and associates near and far.

All being said, even though my book is a children's chapter book, as a writer, I decided to add a worksheet at the end of it. I'm sure that this idea isn't unique however; I wanted to add depth to my book so that it would have additional use to teachers in the public school setting.

In addition, I am writing a sequel to No Tildes on Tuesday. I hope to title my second book, Dedicated Identity. Since there is a message of identity ownership, I am also writing in a helpful tips page entitled: Positive Approaches in Forming Healthy Identity in Biracial/Multiracial Children. On this page, I will begin with an Introduction followed by tips for parents, educators, and then the biracial/multiracial child. Finally, I have written a message specifically for the child which contains acknowledgement and affirmation statements.

By adding these writing features, I hope that my audience will more than likely find greater use for my books. Writers may want to use techniques such as these so that value is added to their books.

For example, teachers may not only select my book for classroom reading, but they may want to use questions from my worksheet as they allow students to dialogue among themselves about similarities and differences one to another. Too, teachers can encourage students to journal about their feelings using culturally proficient terminology. By doing so, students can express their feelings through writing. Writing can be a great "medicinal" tool for enhancing and building character, self worth as hearty and powerful individuals who possess strength and empowerment.

Once students have read my book, they can begin to have friendly discourse about the main character, Isabella, who happens to be biracial. Students can share how they believe Isabella felt as she journeyed through transitional stages in her life finding and learning about her heritages.

Teachers and parents can persuade students to use reflective ideas and thoughts of their own as they share about personal developments in their environments as relative to the story.

As writers, using creative ideas such as these can add magnitude to the worth of your books whereby the chances of your books becoming selected are greater.

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