Kristen Lamb's Blog, page 96

5 Common Writing Blunders that Can Annoy or Bore Our Readers

Mommy, let me help you with this. DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!

I generally like blogging about the larger issues, namely structure, because that is the killer. If the story’s plot is fatally flawed there’s little hope of connecting with a reader. If we need a Dungeon Master Guide, a GPS and a team of sherpas to navigate our story’s plot, then finding an agent is the least of our worries. So plot matters, but, to be blunt, there other rookie mistakes that can land us in a slush pile before an agent (or reader) even gets far enough to notice a problem with plot.

So today I am putting on my editor’s hat and going to give you a peek into what agents and editors (and even readers) see in those first 5-25 pages that can make us lose interest.

If Your Novel has More Characters than the Cast of Ben Hur, You Might Need Revision…

Whenever the author takes the time to name a character, that is a subtle clue to the reader that this is a major character and we need to pay attention. Think Hollywood and movies. If the credits roll and there is a named character in the credits, then we can rest assured this character had a speaking part. Many characters in our novels will be what NYTSBA Bob Mayer calls “spear carriers.” Spear carriers do not need names.

I did not know this, years ago, and I felt the need to name the pizza guy, the florist, the baker and the candlestick maker. Do NOT do this. When we name characters, it is telling our readers to care. Sort of like animals. Only name them if you plan on getting attached.

We do not have to know intimate life details about the waitress, the taxi driver or even the funeral director. Unless the character serves a role—protagonist, antagonist, allies, mentor, love interest, minions, etc.—you really don’t need to give them a name. They are props, not people.

And maybe your book has a large cast; that is okay. Don’t feel the need to introduce them all at once. If I have to keep up with 10 names on the first page, it’s confusing, ergo annoying. Readers (and agents) will feel the same way.

If Your Novel Dumps the Reader Right into Major Action, You Might Need Revision…

Oh, there is no newbie blunder I didn’t make.

Anastasia leaned out over the yawning chasm below, and yelled to Drake. She needed her glue-sticks and Bedazzler if she ever was going to diffuse the bomb in time. Blood ran down her face as she reached out for Dakota’s hand. They only had minutes before Xing Xio would be back and then it would all be over for Fifi, Gerturde and Muffin.

Okay, I just smashed two into one. Your first question might be, Who the hell are these people? And likely your second question is Why do I care?

Thing is, you don’t care. You aren’t the writer who knows these characters and is vested. We have discussed before how Normal World plays a vital role in narrative structure. As an editor, if I see the main character sobbing at a funeral or a hospital or hanging over a shark tank by page three, that is a big red flag the writer doesn’t understand narrative structure.

Thing is, maybe you do. But, if we are new and unknown and querying agents, these guys get a lot of submissions. And, if our first five pages shout that we don’t understand narrative structure, our pages are likely to end up in the slush pile.  Also, here is the thing about narrative structure. It is hardwired into our brains. Even three-year-olds “get” narrative structure. Don’t believe me? Try to skip part of Where the Wild Things Are and see what happens.

If three act structure is wired into the human brain, why mess with what works? Besides, when we are new, we get less leeway about trying to reinvent narrative structure, and the thing is—and I can’t emphasize this enough—three-act structure has worked since Aristotle came up with it. There are better uses of time than us trying to totally remake dramatic structure.

It’s like the wheel. Round. It rolls. The wheel works. Don’t mess with the wheel. Don’t mess with narrative structure.

Some other picky no-nos… .

Painful and Alien Movement of Body Parts…

Her eyes flew to the other end of the restaurant.

 His head followed her across the room.

All I have to say is… “Ouch.”

Make sure your character keeps all body parts attached. Her gaze can follow a person and so can her stare, but if her eyes follow? The carpet gets them fuzzy with dust bunnies and then they don’t slide back in her sockets as easily.

Too much Physiology…

Her heart pounded. Her heart hammered. Her pulse beat in her head. Her breath came in choking sobs.

After a page of this? I need a nap. After two pages? I need a drink. We can only take so much heart pounding, thrumming, hammering before we just get worn out.  That and I read a lot of entries where the character has her heart hammering so much, I am waiting for her to slip into cardiac arrest at any moment. Ease up on the physiology. Less is often more.

Again, I will recommend Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi’s Emotion Thesaurus. This is an inexpensive tool that will keep you from beating up the same words/descriptions. You can thank me later .

Info-Dump…

The beginning of the novel starts the reader off with lengthy history or world-building. The author pores on and on about details of a city or civilization or some alien history all to “set up” the story.

In my experience, this is often the hallmark of a writer who is weak when it comes to characters and even plotting. How can I tell? He begins with his strength—lots of intricate details about a painstakingly crafted world. Although not set in stone, generally, if the author dumps a huge chunk of information at the start of the book, then he is likely to use this tactic throughout.

This type of beginning tells me that author is not yet strong enough to blend information into the narrative in a way that it doesn’t disrupt the story. The narrative then becomes like riding in a car with someone who relies on hitting the brakes to modulate speed. The story likely will just get flowing…and then the writer will stop to give an information dump.

Also, readers read fiction for stories. We read Wikipedia for information. Information does not a plot make. Facts and details are to support the story that will be driven by characters with human wants and needs. 

Sci-fi/fantasy writers are some of the worst offenders. It is easy to fall in love with our world-building and forget we need a plot with players. Keep the priorities straight. In twenty years people won’t remember gizmos, they will remember people.

I will do more of these in the future, but the points I mentioned today are very common errors. Many editors and agents will look for these oopses to narrow down the stack of who to read. These are also habits that can frustrate readers should the book make it to publication. I know some of you are thinking of self-publishing and that is certainly a viable path these days. But, if we have 42 characters by page five? We are likely going to frustrate a reader.

Avoiding these pitfalls will make for far smoother, cleaner writing.

What are some troubles you guys have? Maybe some questions you want me to address? Throw them up here. Takes a load off my brain so I don’t have to think this stuff up all by myself. Any tips, suggestions, books you recommend we read? Did this blog help you? Confuse you?

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of July, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

***Changing the contest.

It is a lot of work to pick the winners each week. Not that you guys aren’t totally worth it, but with the launch of WANA International and WANATribe I need to streamline. So I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

And also, winners will now have one business week  (5 days) to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

I will announce the June winner on Friday. Need time to tally the names. THANK YOU.

At the end of July I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

4 Writing Crutches that Insult the Reader’s Intelligence

Prose so simple the cat gets it…um, no.

I would wager that most of us do not sit up all night thinking of ways to treat our readers like they’re stupid.  Yet, it is a common problem, especially with newer writers who are still learning the craft. All of us can slip into these nasty habits, if we aren’t mindful. It’s as if we get so wrapped up in our story that we mentally stumble in that brief span from synapse to keyboard, and inadvertently end up treating our readers like they need to ride the short bus. So today, I put together a list of bad habits to make it easier for you guys to spot when you are coaching the reader.

Offender #1—Adverb Abuse

One of the reasons I am such a Nazi when it comes to adverbs it that they are notorious culprits for stating the obvious. “She smiled happily.” Um, yeah. “He yelled loudly.” As opposed to yelling softly? To be blunt, most adverbs are superfluous and weaken the writing. Find the strongest verb and then leave it alone.

The ONLY time an adverb is acceptable is when it is there to denote some essence that is not inherent in the verb.

For example: She whispered quietly. Okay, as opposed to whispering loudly?

Quietly is implied in the verb choice. Ah, but what if you want her to whisper conspiratorially? Or whisper sensually? The adverbs conspiratorially or sensually tells us of a very specific types of whispers, and are not qualities automatically denoted in the verb.

Offender #2—Qualifiers

It is really unnecessary to qualify. We get it. Using qualifiers is similar to adding in needless adverbs. If we have just written a scene about a heated argument, trust me, our characters don’t need to “slam the door in frustration” (yep…got it) or “scowl with disapproval” (uh-huh) or “cry in bitter disappointment” (gimme a break).

The qualifiers add nothing but a cluster of extra words that bogs down the prose.  If someone slams the door right after a heated scene of arguing, the reader gets that the character is angry, frustrated, upset. We don’t need to spell it out.

Like adverbs, it is perfectly okay to use qualifiers, but it’s best to employ them very sparingly (and only ones that are super awesome). Allow your writing to carry the scene. Dialogue and narrative should be enough for the reader to ascertain if a character is angry, hurt, happy, etc. If it isn’t, then forget the qualifiers and work on the strength of the scene.

Offender #3—Punctuation & Font as Props

You are allowed three exclamation points every 50,000 words—just so your editor can cut them and then laugh at you for using exclamation points in the first place.  Hey, a little editor humor . 99% of the time exclamation points are not necessary if the prose is strong.

“Get the kids out of the house!” he yelled. (Yep)

I recently read a non-fiction book where the writer used an exclamation point on every single sentence. I felt like I was learning marketing from Billy Mays. At best, the guy was shouting at me for page after page. At worst, he was monotone, because when we emphasize everything, we emphasize nothing.

Ellipses do not make a scene more dramatic, just…make…the…writing…more…annoying. Ellipses can be used but, again, very sparingly.

In fiction, bold font and italics are almost never acceptable. Again, if the prose is well written, the reader will stress the word(s) in his head. Trust me. We don’t need to hold our reader’s hand, or brain, or whatever.

Is it ever okay to use bold font and italics? Sure, if you write non-fiction. In non-fiction we are teaching, so certain key words or points need to stand out.

In the world of fiction?

No bold font. That is the tool of an amateur. And italics? We can use it, just not very often or we run the risk of insulting our reader’s intelligence. If you come to a point where you believe it is absolutely necessary to use italics, I suggest trying to strengthen the scene first.

Offender #4—Telling Instead of Showing

Most of us have been beaten over the head with the saying, “Show. Don’t tell.” There is a good reason for that. Telling is a lazy method of characterization. Most readers are pretty sharp and like figuring things out on their own. Thus, if we spoon-feed information that should be given via the story, we risk turning off the reader.

New writers are almost always guilty of telling instead of showing. Why? Simple. They’re still learning techniques that are going to take time and practice to develop. Yet, all of us, regardless our skill level need to be wary of this narrative crutch. To be blunt, telling is far less taxing on the brain, so our lazy nature will try to take shortcuts if we aren’t careful.

Actions speak louder than words. Yeah, it is easy to just tell the reader our antagonist is a real jerk, but it is better to show our antagonist doing things that make the reader decide this for himself. We accomplish this by creating an antagonist who simply does things jerks do.

Good writers don’t tell readers a character is ticked off. Good writers show she is ticked off. Crossed arms. No eye contact. Clenched jaw. Slamming doors. Remember that over 95% of communication is non-verbal. Use this to your writing advantage. When creating characters, think about what actions will define your character’s nature or mood universally.

For a character’s nature: If you want to create a cad, think what actions cads do that would make everyone in a room label him the same way—checking out every woman who walks by, openly flirting with other women, using breath spray every 5 minutes, telling sexist jokes, etc.

For a character’s mood/mental state: Regardless of culture, we can tell if someone is mad, hurt, sad, or happy by body language. Make a list of all the body language cues for the mood you wish to create. A book on body language can be extremely helpful for the more subtle stuff. For instance, people who lie often rub a body part (wringing hands) or tap. Why? Unless people are sociopathic, it usually causes mental stress to lie, so the rubbing or tapping is a sign of energy displacement.  See, these are the sort of details that make good writing into much better writing.

I would also recommend picking up a copy of Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi’s The Emotion Thesaurus. This is a tool every writer needs to have handy.

What are your thoughts? Are there some other pet peeves you guys have that I missed? What makes you put down a book? What methods transport you? What makes you hurl the book across the room?

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of June, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

***Changing the contest.

It is a lot of work to pick the winners each week. Not that you guys aren’t totally worth it, but with the launch of WANA International and WANATribe I need to streamline. So I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

And also, winners will now have one business week  (5 days) to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

At the end of June I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

Maximizing Our Creativity–The Transformative Power of Q

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There is a really wonderful book out called Imagine by Jonah Lehrer. Lehrer explores exactly how creativity works. What colors spark imagination? What routines kill it? Can drugs make us more creative? Or do drugs do the opposite? Are we most creative when we are well-rested or sleep-deprived? Are there different forms of creativity and imagination? The answers will surprise you, and I strongly recommend this book.

I read Imagine back early in the spring, and there was a certain chapter that really stuck with me. This one particular section inspired the idea to build a new kind of social network just for creative professionals, WANATribe. WANATribe started with a seed named “Q.” We all need the perfect about of Q for creativity to thrive. But what is it?

Different Tools for a Different Age

Modern society is growing more complex, and so are the problems. All of the low-hanging fruit is gone. The age of the lone genius has passed, and, these days, most fields require that we get better at teamwork. Even the modern day author is required to do so much more in order to survive, let alone be successful. The largest mistake I see writers and people in publishing make, is they assign writers to do all of this work alone, which is a formula for stress and burnout and rarely yields much that is remarkable

This is one of the reasons the WANA methods work. WANA is founded upon working as a team, and being part of a team holds unique advantages, namely an increase in Q. What is Q?

Patience, Grasshopper. We’ll get there.

But what its the best way to work together?

Brian Uzzi, a sociologist at Northwestern University has spent his career wanting to understand the how groups function, and, better still, how they function optimally. Why do some groups seem to fizzle? Why do others take off and push all boundaries of imagination?

Uzzi decided that the best way to understand groups was to study Broadway musicals. Why? Well, no one can do a musical alone. Musicals require perfect creative collaboration and cooperation in order to be successful. Musicians, dancers, choreographers, etc. all working together. No easy task. Uzzi quickly discovered that, “people on Broadway were part of an extremely interconnected network; it didn’t take many links to get from the librettist of Guys and Dolls to the choreographer of Cats (Lehrer, pg.141)”.

Sound familiar? *cough* Writers. The world of publishing is a small one, which is why we must be kind and professional at all times (aside from it being the right thing to do). Publishing is a small world and we are all connected. Now, the density of the connection will all differ and this is known as Q.

Low Q? No one knows each other very well. High Q? We all know each other like we know ourselves. We might even finish each other’s sentences and we know all the little quirks and habits.

What Uzzi noticed was that, in the 1920s, there were all these collaborations from some of the greatest minds in the business, and yet they produced a string of tired, mediocre musicals. What happened?

Q

What Uzzi soon discovered was that, for maximum creativity, we needed to maintain Ideal Q. If the Q is too low? Everyone is afraid to talk to each other, there is little exchange of ideas and so nothing happens. Ah, but if the Q is too high, we get groupthink and there is no fresh innovation. I feel this has been one of the biggest problems in all the creative industries that have fallen under the tidal wave of digital.

The music business and the film business were stuffed full of people who had all worked in the same industry for years, with the same people, and so they couldn’t see the forest for the trees. The Big Six has yet to learn from music and film. Why? Because they have too high of Q. They have too many people who’ve been in the same industry with the same business model and they are suffering because of groupthink. To remain relevant, they will need to up their Q.

People will always want paper.

Yeah.

So what does this have to do with WANA?

WANATribe and Perfect Q

When I teach my blogging classes, I don’t teach writers how to blog and then throw them out in the digital ocean to sink or swim. I know that to survive in this Brave New World we must work together or fail alone. Yet, I watched this Q component time and time again. I would put together a blogging class into a private Facebook group where they could get to know one another, follow each other, and trade ideas, assistance and recipes for Kamakazis.

At first, there would be very little interaction and nothing would happen. *insert sound of crickets* Low Q. Ah, but then the Chatty Cathys would start getting people to talk, and then there would be this BOOM! of creativity. Some of the best ideas always came from this phase of Ideal Q.

But then what would happen?

The group would get comfortable in their tribe. They would hang out in the private Facebook group instead of getting out and mingling with new people, and this is when I would start seeing people hit a wall. The creativity would taper off and with it, the ideas and enthusiasm. This presented a challenge.

How could I create an environment where we could always maintain Ideal Q?

Then it hit me. We needed our own social network. So long as we were on Facebook or Twitter, it was too easy to just get comfortable with our own peeps. It wasn’t very easy to get out and meet people with enough in common to form instant rapport. Face it, when we sign up for Facebook what does it ask us to do? Invite existing friends. Import our e-mail addresses and invite people we already know.

But how do we meet the ones we don’t know? THAT has always been the problem.

Yet, in WANATribe, we are surrounded by people we might not know, but with whom we have common interests. We at WANATribe are working to perfect the group. We go beyond the group to the TRIBE—the original social network. Start a tribe, join a tribe or even drift between tribes.

Writers are more than all-writing-all-the-time, so there are even some tribes based off interest like Patrick Thunstrom’s WANA Nerdfighters. If you don’t see a tribe that suits your needs? Start one. Invite friends. Tribes change how we connect. It means we can get to know each other, but yet always have an infusion of fresh ideas, new people with new insight. Thus, the odds we will keep Ideal Q greatly improve.

“We need structure, or everything falls apart. But we also need spaces that surprise us. Because it is the exchanges we don’t expect, with the people we just met, that will change the way we think about everything.” Lehrer, Pg, 156.

WANATribe offers that environment that isn’t fully predictable nor fully chaotic, either. We strive to offer the structure, yet the space for surprise.

Write Woman’s Fiction? Pop into a Historical Fiction tribe. Write Historical Romance? Pop into the Paranormal Club. Get out of the comfort zone. Bring new ideas to them and gain new ideas and perspectives in return. Want to collaborate? Create a private tribe. The possibilities are endless. Now you don’t have to live in a major city to find the perfect writing group. Create one. Want to learn about the industry? Join an industry tribe. We have an Indie Tribe and a Self-Publishing Tribe. We have a Writing While Parenting Tribe. Or go mingle with other types of artists and join a Photography Tribe or a Cartooning Tribe.

WANATribe is one giant digital playground for creative people. Grab your Crayons and glue sticks. Bring your GI Joes and Barbies and we’ll all hang out until the streetlights come on. There is a good reason why children have such active imaginations. They play. They always meet new kids. So come on! What are you waiting for? I look forward to seeing all of you at WANATribe. Bring your peeps. The more the weirder…um, merrier. Come get your Q on! Here is an invitation.

So what are your thoughts? Do you find your trusted critique group gets in a rut? Do you find it is hard to meet new people? What have been your biggest challenges with staying creative? Do you find being around other creative people inspires you?

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of June, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

***Changing the contest.

It is a lot of work to pick the winners each week. Not that you guys aren’t totally worth it, but with the launch of WANA International and WANATribe I need to streamline. So I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

And also, winners will now have one business week  (5 days) to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

At the end of June I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

Making Heroes Heroic–Why Flaws are Important

What makes a hero or heroine? That is a question that has been wrestled for centuries, and the battle lives on. My POV? In good fiction there are two parallel arcs, the plot arc and the character arc. The protagonist, in the beginning, should possess some weakness or flaw that would make it impossible for him/her to solve the story problem and be triumphant if the Big Boss Battle happened right then. Often this weakness or flaw is one of character (protagonist is hot-headed) not logistics (I.e. protagonist is outnumbered by the enemy).

The protagonist might be a fraidy cat  who is spooked by her own shadow (Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone) or an impetuous spitfire looking for a fight who needs to learn control, self-discipline, and tangible fighting skills (Danny Larusso in Karate Kid).

The Flaw Makes the Characters Relatable

All of us struggle with something. Everyone’s strongest asset is also their greatest liability (blind spot). Tenacity is a wonderful characteristic that has the power to change the world, but persistence looks a lot like stupid if we are going the wrong direction and refuse to turn around.

I know my greatest strength is I can see the good in everybody. Want to know my greatest weakness? I see the good in everybody. I tend to be on the naive side and have been taken advantage of. We all have this shadow side. If we are ambitious, we also tend to walk over people and forget they have feelings. If we are sensitive and kind, we also risk being a doormat.

The Flaw Creates the Hook

I see a lot of new writers who start the book with the world’s perfect character, and that is a mistake. Why? Because we (the audience) can’t relate. Flaws are part of what bind us as humans, and that initial flaw is often responsible for the hook. We all hear how we need to hook readers early. Often “hooking the reader” has less to do with ninjas and terrorists and more to do with being able to make readers relate to the protagonist, step into his or her shoes and care. 

When Danny Larusso (Karate Kid) is beaten up by bullies, we relate. We know what it is like to be victimized, and so we become vested and we want to see his journey through to the end. We are…hooked.

The Flaw Creates the Tension 

Let’s talk a second about Romancing the Stone. If Joan Wilder had been more like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, would the story have been as interesting? We have no worries that zillionaire Lara Croft with her secret lab and arsenal and ninjitsu training can rescue her sister from thieves. But what about the timid romance author who talks to her cat?

When we meet Joan Wilder, we are all wondering the same thing. How the heck is she going to pull this off? With Lara Croft, we don’t worry, and I feel that is why movies based off video games are less satisfying as stories. We all want to see the CGI, perhaps, but the story is limited because the characters are “perfect.”

We can’t relate with being a zillionaire with a secret lab, but we can relate to being afraid and out of our depth. This is why Romancing the Stone will be a movie enjoyed by all generations, while Tomb Raider will look cheesy and dumb the second that the CGI improves.

We need real characters who make real decisions…most of them dumb. We all do dumb stuff and that is often when we have the most conflict, drama and tension in our lives. Characters with flaws will act out those flaws. It is the plot (story problem) and the other characters (mentor, allies, minions) who will hit these pain points and create change. Good fiction is birthed by poor choices and if all our characters are fully self-actualized and never do anything stupid, it makes for dull fiction.

Understand the Flaw and Understand the Plot and the Party

When we create our protagonist, we need to give them flaws and they need to be forgivable flaws. I think this was a HUGE mistake in the Star Wars prequels. The journey of Annakin Skywalker stopped when he became a little-kid-killer. After that point in the movie, I didn’t care what happened to him so long as it was extraordinarily painful. There was no redeeming a little-kid-killer.

So assuming we as writers can stay away from unforgivable flaws, these are the pain points for plotting. If our protagonist is a control freak, put her in situations where he has no control (M’Lynn, played by  Sally Fields in Steel Magnolias). If your protagonist is a free spirit clown used to no rules, put him somewhere with strict rules and regulations (John played by Bill Murray in Stripes).

This extends to allies as well. The best allies are going to help drive that character arc. Often they will represent that element that needs to change. This is why it will generate so much tension. The tension is from growing pains.

Think about the series Bones. Special Agent Booth is a reckless cowboy who charges in using gut instinct and intuition. He is paired with Dr. Temperance Brennan aka “Bones.” If she were any more analytical, she’d be a cyborg. She has a hard time connecting emotionally. Booth needs to learn to think and Bones needs to learn to feel. Each buttresses the other’s weaknesses and make each other grow in weak areas, thereby strengthening the partnership. Yet, at the same time, Booth and Bones continually clash, and it is this tension between personalities that drives much of the story tension.

Flaws Help Provide the Victory

How we can tell the protagonist has grown is, whatever stood in the protagonist’s path in the beginning of the adventure, he/she now overcomes willingly. This is the moment when the protagonist is promoted to the title of hero/heroine. The plot cannot be fully satisfied and the problem cannot be resolved until the protagonist faces his or her shadow side and chooses a different path. The reckless spitfire maintains his cool. The fraidy cat writer charges in after the thieves. The browbeaten housewife yells TOWANDA! and stands up for herself and we all cheer. The bigger the flaw, the sweeter the victory.

Plot is important. We should strive to create an interesting problem, but when we really understand character, this is when the most basal of problems can become intricate and brilliant. A so-so plot can become extraordinary with the right cast of characters. If you need a good reference book, I recommend Bob Mayer’s Novel Writer’s Toolkit and James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers. So what are your thoughts? What are some of your favorite character flaws? Do you find you gravitate to books and movies that have characters who are struggling with the same issues you do?

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of June, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

***Changing the contest.

It is a lot of work to pick the winners each week. Not that you guys aren’t totally worth it, but with the launch of WANA International and WANATribe I need to streamline. So I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

And also, winners will now have one business week  (5 days) to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

At the end of June I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

What the #@$% Do You Wear to a High School Reunion?

Kristen Lamb, Social Media Jedi, Age 18

Okay, so a couple weeks ago I was on the fence, trying to decide whether or not to go to my 20 year high school reunion. I’m lying. I was on the roof drinking straight from the margarita machine, and y’all were talking me down. Well, most of you. A handful called me a sissy and dared me to jump because you’re sick that way and it’s probably why we’re friends. Anyway, after much deliberation and candy bribes, I decided to go. What the hell? What’s the worst that can happen that I can’t blame half of you in my comments section for, right?

This is the kind of accountability America was founded on, people.

So to make matters even MORE WEIRD, because high school wasn’t freaking awkward enough, my husband has totally bailed on going with me. Something about the military arresting him if he chooses me over drill weekend with the Air Force. He can be a total baby like that. Can’t even spend a couple days in jail to be there with his wife at her high school reunion. I figure he just really wanted me to have the authentic high school experience where no one asked me to the dance, but since I already had tickets, I had to bribe some last-minute friend or random homeless person to go with me.

Ingrid decided to take a bullet for me go with me, because she is kind and sweet and it was either go to the high school reunion with me or smother me with a pillow to stop the whining. Ingrid isn’t into murder….yet. But I suspect I might have been pushing that boundary. She will probably do like my mother and come to a rolling stop and shove me out with my backpack and yell something about a neighbor taking me home.

Anyway, I am having a small panic attack because what the hell do you wear to a high school reunion? On the invite? No clues. No pictures and frankly, I only have the movies to go off of here.

Too Formal?

Too formal?

So I am guessing my wedding dress is a tad on the “too formal” side, but then I think all I have left is yoga pants and smart@$$ t-shirts. And yes, I am inserting my wedding pictures in here because I am going stag to my own reunion. Here is PROOF that Stockholm syndrome works and can land you a husband.

Only took 4 months of captivity for him to agree….

Yeah, so any of the high school people who don’t believe I really have a husband, here is proof that I am really married…or really good at Photoshop, which is probably more likely for them to believe.

Too Redneck?

Too Redneck?

For some reason this look could freak people out at the reunion, and that’s all I need is for security to get involved…again.

Too June Cleaver?

Wash off your dish, or I will hunt you like a dog….

Actually, the outfit above is likely the dressiest one I wear. My “dress apron,” reserved for special occasions like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, twice on Saturday, and Sunday. Okay, I seriously live in an apron.

I feel like the maid! Can’t this place stay clean for five SECONDS?

I have no idea what to wear since I live in Dr. Seuss pajama pants and a Batman shirt. I’m a writer! This is why I love my job! Anything I choose, frankly feels like a Lady Gaga meat dress. So I am opening up my comments for suggestions, and you know you’ve hit a special low-point in life when you are asking a bunch of writers for fashion advice, so if I attend wearing my favorite Sponge Bob t-shirt it’s just proof I am powerless in the face of peer pressure. But lay it on me! I don’t want to be too formal, but I don’t want to be too casual, either.

Help me Obi-Wan…you’re my only hope.

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of June, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

***Changing the contest.

It is a lot of work to pick the winners each week. Not that you guys aren’t totally worth it, but with the launch of WANA International and WANATribe I need to streamline. So I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

And also, winners will now have one business week  (5 days) to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

There are a couple people I found in the spam folder yesterday, so will be getting edits back to Patricia Morris, Rachel Sullivan, Pauline Jones, and Jennette Mbewe. You are not forgotten. Chad Carver? Send your pages to kristen @ wana intl dot com because I still can’t find your pages.

At the end of June I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

Frankenfriends & Zombie Tweets–Writers, Social Media and the Undead

Writers are funny when it comes to social media. Okay, we are funny when it comes to more than social media. Face it, if you had a normal childhood, you likely never grew up to become a writer. Likely you aren’t rich either, because then you could have afforded therapy.

So if you are a writer, you probably are at least tangentially insane and too cheap to pay for an fancy shrink. It is why we write, right? And this is all well and good, because I think sane people write lousy books anyway, but crazy has advantages and disadvantages. Crazy makes for killer books, but it tends to also lend itself to extreme thinking.

Writers are really bad about all or nothing, even in social media. Either we are on the verge of resorting to adult diapers because we can’t pry away from Twitter, or we hiss and scurry for safety in the shadows when anyone mentions social media.

Writing is a Killer

Writers who are successful have to learn two things. First, we need to learn balance. I still struggle with this. The writer who is going to be here for the long-haul to reap success is the one who gets sleep, exercises and eats more than Skittles chased with Red Bull. Yeah, learned that one the hard way. Also, we must learn to balance when to have that pit bull focus, and when to ease back on the throttle and remember we have other responsibilities…like basic hygeine and social media.

I would love to say that writers didn’t need to do social media, but I already lie about my height and my age and too many lies is just beggin’ for bad juju. So we know we need to participate in social media, and build a platform and write books and floss every day, and it gets overwhelming, and so we resort back to that all or nothing stuff, and disappear.

A Totally True Brief Story About Writers & the Undead

I get that writers already struggle with being mistaken for one of the undead (refer to picture above taken before Starbucks, as you can tell).  In fact, I believe we writers are the cause of all these stories. Seriously.

Werewolves

Legend has it that a monk (early writer) on deadline chained himself to a wall to finish his edits, because he was getting sidetracked with the new social craze…sending carrier pigeons (early version of Twitter). So he had this new chapter of the Bible due or he was totally going to burn for eternity (and you thought revisions were hard on YOU) and so yeah, he chained himself to the wall with nothing but a quill and paper.

When the other monks wanted to play beer pong (what else do you think they invented beer for?), they couldn’t find him. When they went to check on him, they saw he’d turned into this horrible beast with fangs, and there was this full moon. Naturally they thought the moon was turning him into this beast. Easy mistake. No one ever put two and two together that their buddy’s deadline always fell on the full moon.

It wasn’t the moon…it was last-minute revisions that turned him into this beast.

Vampire

Early writer in Transylvania, couldn’t quit his day job of selling…carrots. Stayed up all night writing and all the red ink from edits just, say…let to misunderstandings.

Frankenstein

Early experiments with energy drinks gone horribly wrong.

True stories I just made up. Okay, yes I have a point. I have to make this fun. How else am I going to teachwriters social media unless I coat it with vampires?

The Undead and Social Media

I get it. I understand you guys. I’m a writer first. Sometimes we have to stay up all night and we do seem to grow fangs, normally around the 65th time a family member has interrupted us, since we aren’t really working. I feel your pain. But we have to be really careful that we aren’t bringing undead habits into social media. No one likes to hang out with the undead. Frankenstein? Zero friends. Zombies? Again, zero friends. Vampires? A few friends, but all with serious trust issues.

Zombie Blog and Frankentweet

There are writers who I see all the time and I like their blog and then….GONE. Nowhere on Twitter. No longer commenting. No pulse. Then, just about the time I have mourned their loss and moved on to make new friends?

They come baaaack.

Three months or even six months later, their twitter handles or blogs rises from the dead and needs to feed. Now they are tweeting all the time and talking to people and likely telling everyone about the book they have coming out or just released. Only, if you pay close attention, you will see it is the same tweet trying to appear it’s alive when it isn’t (automated). It has no mind and just prowls for victims readers.

Instead of braaaaaiiiiiiins, it moans saaaaallllllleeeeeesssss, buuuuyyyyyyyy, freeeeeeeeeeee.

Don’t be a Frankenfriend

Remember that all-or-nothing thinking I mentioned at the beginning? That is what gets us in trouble and turns us into a Frankenfriend. If we make these unrealistic goals, or we don’t understand how to use social media effectively, we burn out, we go to extremes…and we don’t get the full benefits of having a social media platform.

Less is More

Social media takes less than 20 minutes a day (unless you add in a blog). Even with a blog? Not that much time. Get my books. We actually have far more impact if we aren’t posting a bunch of times a day. We just have to show up. Attendance counts. A handful of tweets or interactions a day.

Quality, not quantity.

And sure, if you are a Chatty Cathy like me, it is fine, but on those days, weeks when you can’t be chatty? Just pop in. Say “hi.” Give us proof of life. It’s all we ask.

Work in a Team 

Yes, writers need a social media platform, but no one ever said you had to do it all alone. Join up with the WANAs either on Twitter at #MyWANA, Facebook, or the WANA social site, WANATribe (here is an invitation). We work together. All easy-squeezy. Books are not so cost-prohibitive that we can’t support each other.

This is one of the benefits of being a WANA. We are not alone.

When we work as a team, we can pull weight for each other. If we have to do revisions, our pals can guest post for us. We have friends who can tweet about our book or blogs or even just RT the handful of things we post. All of us serve each other because we are totally paying it forward. We know we are going to have to ask for help one day, too.

So what are your thoughts? Are you a member of the Twitter undead? Did you see a light? How did you make it back? What are your stories of social media undead? Heck, let’s have some fun. Do you think writers are the source for all these stories of creatures roaming the night? What’s your version? Have writers been mistaken for any other creatures of the night? Mythical beasts? How do you balance your social media and writing? Are you a WANA and wana give your team a shout-out?

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of June, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

***Changing the contest.

It is a lot of work to pick the winners each week. Not that you guys aren’t totally worth it, but with the launch of WANA International and WANATribe I need to streamline. So I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

And also, winners will now have one business week  (5 days) to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

There are a couple people I found in the spam folder yesterday, so will be getting edits back to Patricia Morris, Rachel Sullivan, Pauline Jones, and Jennette Mbewe. You are not forgotten. Chad Carver? Send your pages to kristen @ wana intl dot com because I still can’t find your pages.

At the end of June I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

Spice Up Your Fiction–Simple Ways to Create Page-Turning Conflict

 Actual photo of me trapped in an elevator with a 2 year old with an injured hand. THAT is conflict.

One of the hardest concepts for new writers to understand is the antagonist. I have even gone through great lengths to teach about the antagonist and his/her many faces. We have what I call the BBT (Big Boss Troublemaker), the catalyst for the story. No Sauron and the Ring of Power is just jewelry. No Emperor and Luke can continue moisture farming on Tatooine. No Darla the Fish-Killer and Nemo would be safe at home with his neurotic father Marlin (neat post about What Finding Nemo Can Teach Us About Story Action).

Go to this post for more on the BBT.

So then there is the Big Boss Troublemaker and the BBT always has minions, extensions of the BBT’s agenda. Who cares about the Emperor without Darth Vader? Dath makes it all so much more interesting. Yet, peel back the starships, the intergalactic wars, the CGI and what do we have?

A redemption story. A story between a father and his son (children).

Family is a great place to birth drama, which brings me to my point for this blog. Close, intimate ties are the best place to harvest authentic conflict. Anyone who’s spent the holidays with more than the TV and a Chinese take-out menu knows that family is an excellent source of friction. So many personalities and individual agendas and beliefs…all…in…one…space.

BOOM!

In fact, in the above picture? It was Thanksgiving and we were on our way to meet the family at the ranch. The Spawn’s hand got pulled into the door when it prematurely opened. The door then jammed, trapping Hubby and I with a screaming toddler (who was scared and bruised, but okay) for almost an hour until the fire department could get us free. Talk about tension!

Pay Attention to the Obvious

What I find fascinating is that the best source of conflict is often the one overlooked by the new writer. Oh, I did it, too. I might have one finger pointed at you, but I have three pointing back at me to remind me that I am still learning, too. When I was a neophyte, I had the bomb about to detonate, the car chases, the thinking and brooding and more thinking.

Yeah.

Beware of Extremes

First of all, thinking is therapy, not conflict. Lots of new fiction begins with nothing happening. The protagonist is in her head and thinking, thinking, whining and more thinking. This is in the wrong spot. Any thinking should be part of what is known as a sequel. Problem is, sequels can only happen after a scene, and scenes are founded on action. Then after the action, the protagonist needs a moment to process what happened and make a course of action (sequel).

So some of you then might do what I did.

Oh, she can’t be thinking? Need action. Okay, how about a BOMB, with ninjas and a thermonuclear strike from SWITZERLAND.

No one ever suspects the Swiss.

Uh, yeah, no. We don’t need to be extreme to be interesting.

Bombs and car chases and super high-stakes on page one are what I like to call a Purple Tornado. Nothing wrong with any of these events, but they must be placed correctly in the narrative structure or it is just noise.

Building Tension

Since we are coming up on the Fourth of July, how many of you have ever been to a fireworks show that was paired with symphony music? Notice how it starts our small, subtle, but sparkly to get our attention. The show then builds, ebbs, builds some more, retreats but OH THEN even more fireworks, and the music rises until finally we get this grand crescendo and there are fireworks of all colors and WOW watch how they hold nothing back for the grand finale.

What if the fireworks show began with Flight of the Valkyries and every kind of firework they had? Pull out all the stops!

It would be too much too soon and anything after the first song would be…anticlimactic. To be blunt, it would ruin the show. No, instead the audience should be eased in gently, their attention piqued by soft music and something shiny.

Same in fiction.

Yes, there are genres that will allow for a short prologue. For instance, suspense novels will often begin in the murderer’s POV. Thrillers might begin with a ticking bomb placed in an unknown location. But note, these are not scenes that introduce the protagonist.

One of my favorite shows is Rizzoli & Isles (and I just love everything Tess Gerritson writes). But for those who follow the series, much of the conflict comes from close ties. Also, in almost every episode, when we first see the protagonist(s), they are engaged in some real-life activity which is then interrupted by the crime.

Bring it To the Reader’s Level

Often the conflict or tension that hooks us in as something we normal people can all relate to. Most of us cannot relate to examining a dead body at a crime scene, but we can relate to our mothers butting into our business or a sibling making poor choices that stress us out.

Some of the best conflict, the most authentic conflict, will come from your protagonist’s close circle of allies. Many times this is compounded by personality differences. Place a neat-freak with a clutter bug, a control-freak with a hippie, a go-getter with a playboy, an intellectual with a thrill-seeker and then watch the sparks fly.

This is why we should not only think about our BBT, but we should also put a lot of thought into the close allies. When I ran a critique group, we did detailed backgrounds on all main characters. When you construct your protagonist, a really great exercise is to think about what personality will drive your protagonist BONKERS. Usually what irritates the protagonist is where he or she needs to grow in order to be ready for the final battle, and we will talk about this more next week.

A great resource for you to explore is The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines–16 Master Archetypes by Tami D. Cowden, Caro LeFever, and Sue Viders. I also recommend NYTBSA Shirley Jump’s class, The Basics of Scene and Sequel. She is going to help you understand how to employ scene and sequel for max effect. Another class at WANA International that will also help is Getting to Know Your Characters by TV writer Donna Newton.

What are some characters you love? Who makes them crazy? How does it resonate? What are some resources you would recommend?

I love hearing from you!

I hope you will hop over to WANA International and sign up for a class. We offer training right in the comfort of your home or office from the best teachers in the industry.

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

Pina Colada Pedicures & Gunpowder Body Lotion–The Difference Between the Sexes

So this past weekend I finally carved out the time to go and get a pedicure, which I used to do once every week and a half, pre-marriage-baby-being-a-serious-writer. Serious as in I write every day, not serious as in I am above Star Wars references and quoting Monty Python.

What you guys likely don’t know is that I have like the World’s Skinniest Feet. I wear a 9.5 AAA, which means nothing comes in my size…ever. It also means that I am condemned to living in flip-flops all year, clogs for the handful of really cold days in Texas. This means my feet are almost a perpetual train wreck of callous, which used to not be too bad before I got married and started valuing sleep over having a flower painted on my big toe nail.

Thus, this past weekend I drew the line and decided it was time to get a pedicure, and I really felt sorry for…Tina, because she had her work cut out for her (I am an excellent tipper).

So Tina hands me this menu so I can pick out what “flavor” I want. Now I know there are words that are easy to confuse and lose in translation. I once asked a Swiss woman if she was cooking dog for dinner and then later announced at dinner that I was sexually aroused.

Ich bin heiss apparently means you’re feeling randy and it’s Ich habe heiss if you mean that you are feeling hot, not HOT. “I am hot,” not “I am HOT.”

…I’ll shut about that because you guys get the point.

Anyway on the pedicure “menu” I can choose such flavors as Chocolate Mint, Pina Colada, or Strawberry Margarita….like “dipping my toes in a margarita.”

WTH? I would honestly hope my husband loves me enough to cut me off before I stuck my feet in my cocktail.

But this made me think of an interesting point. Why do so many female products come in “flavors?” I can see how a foreigner could get confused when you see Strawberries and Cream Skintimate or chocolate body lotions or cucumber melon body scrub or cotton candy bubble bath.

Men don’t do this. Seriously…they don’t.

We don’t see body sprays that smell like barbecue or deodorants that smells like beer or a Philly cheese-steak. No bacon moisturizer or Cola Slurpee athlete’s foot powder.

Ew….might have gone too far with that last one.

Of course, after I noticed this, I had to mentally work out various hypotheses to explain this differences between the sexes.

And my third grade teacher said I didn’t use time wisely. *rolls eyes*

Theory #1

If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, are we just lathering ourselves with man-bait? Sort of like spraying on deer urine to attract a 12-point buck.

This seemed like the best explanation, but upon further rigors of the Scientific Method the hypothesis fell apart. I know! Seemed solid to me, too. Then, I realized that most of the “flavors” are foods women like. Chocolate aside, I will never get my husband to eat a cucumber unless I grind it into his burger, and the melon better be garnish on an ice cream cone. If we ever see a man order any drink that comes with an umbrella, he is likely batting for the other side and apparently using the wrong deer urine because coconut attracts chicks.

Theory #2

Girls buy products that smell like all the stuff we’d love to eat if we weren’t trying to fit into something other than pregnancy pants.

This theory held up a bit better, but the cucumber is still the weird outlier. Although, granted, if one happens to be a Hollywood starlet I guess that anything with more calories than air might be seen as “forbidden.” And again this doesn’t account for the lack of a Cheese Enchilada body lotion or Movie Popcorn with Extra Butter shaving cream.

Theory #3

Proctor & Gamble has not yet realized the “deer urine aspect” of their products.

I tell ya, make a perfume that smells exactly like brisket? You’d have a line. Just sayin’.

Theory #4

Girls don’t mind smelling like Peaches and Cream, but we draw the line at Fried Chicken.

Hmmm. Plausible. But, if they’re single gals who want a man, they might want to up their game with some Cheese Coney hand cream. It’s a thought!

Theory #5

We are not above smelling like bacon, but we might attract more than men…like feral cats, raccoons, neighborhood dogs or potheads with the munchies.

Could end badly.

A Glaring Hole in the Marketplace

Yet, the fact remains that there remains a wide-open gap in the marketplace. Clearly P&G could get some competition if an up-and-coming entrepreneur wished to exploit said weakness. While P&C focuses on making women smell like Berries & Cream, a start-up company could develop some body sprays and bath oils that might work better as man-bait. I found an image with some great suggestions. My favorites are Rattlesnake and Panther, though Freedom was a close third.

Photo via Manoverse.com

I now see why it took me to age 35 to find a husband (weirdness and possible insanity aside). We women have been doing this wrong. We didn’t need Raspberry body wash, we needed “Gun,” “Duct Tape” or “Shrapnel.”

So what are your thoughts? Any suggestions for manly fragrances? Any other hypotheses about the reason for this clear difference in the sexes and their toiletries? Or maybe my reasoning was flawed and you’d love to spend your precious time applying the Scientific Method to a random theory by a crazy blogger. If you are a writer, yes it counts as work.

I love hearing from you!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

Standing Out in an a World of Invisible—Does Advertising and Marketing Still Work?

Author Piper Bayard and I are “WINNING!” Foxy with Moxie at DFW Con 2012

Last week we talked about some changes with Facebook. Can they now hold our fan pages hostage? Now that the giant is a publicly traded company, we just should expect that they are going to look for ways to generate profits for shareholders. This doesn’t make Facebook evil. It isn’t personal. It’s just business.

I am very careful to not be too indignant, because what did I expect for free?

Last week, I mentioned how fan page holders could expect to show up in the feeds of only about 10-15% of their fans. But, Facebook is now offering a promotion service to make sure your posts show up in all our fans’ feeds. And, the price per post, from what I have seen, ain’t cheap. Some fan page owners were looking at $300 or even $500 per post.

Remember, Facebook is only sharing posts with fans who repeatedly return to your page, post on your page, comment on your page, or otherwise engage on your fan page.

I am hesitant to charge Facebook with doing anything nefarious. I watch how many fan page holders use their pages, and a 10-15% ROI is actually not bad. I know we would all love to believe that when people “Like” our page, that they are hanging off every word, every announcement, and every post. But, the sad truth is they likely aren’t.

A World of Invisible

We have created a world where mass marketing is powerless and most products are invisible. Technology has fragmented the marketplace, which means that modern consumers are inundated with choices.. We no longer live in a world with three major television networks who control the lion’s share of content.

We have hundreds of channels and Internet and blogs and You Tube and dozens of additional social sites to tickle our collective fancies. These days consumers can focus on what they want and then ignore the rest.

Exposure Doesn’t Mean What It Used To

I’m always seeing these marketing companies offering ways for authors to have some “exposure,” but in a world where most ads are invisible, what real use is this? I’m not saying exposure is worthless, but it certainly doesn’t have the impact it did in the Golden Age of Advertising.

The TV-industrial complex is hemorrhaging, and most marketers don’t have a clue what to do about it. Every day companies spend millions to recreate the glory days of the TV-industrial complex, and every day they fail.

         ~Seth Godin, Purple Cow–Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

Exposure used to be all we needed to catapult over the competition. We just needed the right ad in the right magazine. The right commercial at the right time on the right network.

Of course this was before the day of DVRs, The Power of the Four Arrows, and Sirius radio.

A Quick Survey

How many of you have ever clicked on an ad on Facebook or some other social site? Now, of those ads you clicked on, how many of those translated into a sale? When you look at your purchasing habits as a whole, what percentage has been influenced by interruption marketing? How many books have you bought from authors who tweet:

Title of MY Book. Rated best book of the year by ME and fans you’ve never heard of. Buy NOW! Only 99 cents #fiction #freebooks #Iamseriouslyannoying #Ilovespam #sales #memememememememememe #lookatme #allaboutme #buymystuff

Yeah, me neither.

Facebook is Feeding the Delusion

Facebook is charging to make sure our posts come up in the feeds of all of our followers. Okay. All this means is that Facebook, for a fee, will guarantee that all our fans will see what we post…not just the vested ones. But, in a world where most advertising is invisible, does this do us any good?

I think it might do some good for the large companies/brands like Coca Cola or Colgate. I mean, we need to give them a break. Newspapers are going under and most of us throw away our mailers before we ever take a look. We use the Power of the Four Arrows to zoom by their television ads.

Let’s face it, they are running out of places where they can tell us about their products. Yet, here is the deal, most of those products or companies who would find the new FB service helpful?

They are already brands. They aren’t going anywhere. They are using advertising merely to maintain their market supremacy, and they have multimillion dollar budgets to fuel this.

Millions of Americans are going to buy Tide and Kleenex whether we see an ad or not. Proctor and Gamble is not going anywhere. These guys entrenched themselves back in the Golden Age of Advertising, and start-ups would be INSANE to try and go against them on their own terms. When was the last time you saw a T.V. ad for a detergent that was totally new and NOT part of an established mega-brand like P&G?

You haven’t.

The big guys have the ground and they have the budget to use Facebook in ways the new and upcoming competition cannot. Facebook is a way of maintaining what they have in the market.

In fact, want a real dose of reality?

Interbrand values the top 100 brands in the world every year. When we look at the 2011 report of the top 100 global brands, most of them are brands that were relevant 30 years ago back when heavy TV ads and magazine campaigns worked. Of the top 100, maybe 25% were built by harnessing word of mouth and generating a grassroots campaign. (I learned about Interbrand via Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. Great book that I HIGHLY recommend).

Writers would be wise to pay attention.

Artists are Entrepreneurs

Here is the deal. Artists are entrepreneurs. Writers, especially self-published and indie published authors are small businesses. We can’t use the same tactics as Phillip Morris and have success. Frankly, we never could.

When we rely on paid advertising, we are hoping for an easy way out that takes away accountability for failure. It is easier to throw a couple thousand dollars at buying Facebook advertising than it is to get in the trenches and create relationships.

Is Facebook Really Up to No Good?

I don’t believe Facebook is hiding anyone’s feeds, but since I don’t work there, I can’t be sure. I know that some authors have been complaining that their posts seemed to be disappearing into the ether and that fans were having a hard time finding them. This very well could be the case.

Facebook could be manipulating the data and hoping we pay money to get back in front of our fans. Thing is, Facebook is free and they can do what they want, so it is difficult to complain. Even if they aren’t doing this now, we should anticipate and plan for a day that they will juke the stats to make a buck.

***Note: I might recommend that you sign up for WANATribe, the new social site for creative professionals. No ads, bots, spammers or friend limits. Also, you can customize your page to be as unique as you. We aren’t trying to be Facebook. We’re very niche. We want a fun place for creative people to hang out, network, make friends and build a community of like-minded professionals. We are not alone!

Tactics that Work in the Modern Age

My goal has always been to help creative professionals, primarily writers, understand that they cannot use the same tools as Proctor & Gamble. Mass advertising and relying on fan page ads works for Target, but not for us. There are many ways that we can build a thriving, vested community to support our goals and careers, but here are five of my favorites.

1. Be Remarkable with Your Product

This is one of the reasons I blog about craft. Good books generate buzz that can’t be bought. These days everyone can be published, so we need to be better than the competition.

At WANA International, we bring the top teachers in the industry to help you take your writing from good to outstanding. Invest in yourself, your business and your future. NY Times Best-Selling Author Shirley Jump is teaching The Basics of Scene & Sequel  and Plotting with Paper Bags this month for WANA. The author of the Digital Age has to write better, cleaner and faster. We offer classes to help you up your game.

2. Reach for Everyone and We Reach No One

Mass marketing doesn’t work, but these days it doesn’t have to. We don’t need to reach all the people, just the right people. A dedicated group of hardcore fans are worth more than all the advertising dollars in the world. In fact Kevin Kelly asserted that all an artist needed to make a good living was 1,000 True Fans.

WANA methods and a blog are the best ways to locate and nurture that critical 1000. In fact, this is one of the reasons I push authors learning how to blog. We have the power to create that base of 1,000 True Fans before our book is even ready for purchase.

3. Use a blog to build/fuel a grassroots movement for you as an author brand.

WANA methods have been responsible for launching authors from total obscurity to success. A fan page is powerful, but paired with a great blog? You won’t need to pay Facebook to put your posts in your fans’ feeds because your fans will be vested. They will come to you. And, if Facebook goes crazy and implodes? Your blog is yours and your fan base will remain in tact. Your 1,000 True Fans will follow wherever you go.

4. Be genuinely interested in service.

Serve first. Talk to people. Interact. Stop marketing and STOP SELLING. I love the #MyWANA group on Twitter. I love it when I see true WANAs talking and helping one another. I know those people will have all the help they need when it comes time to promote their books. The same goes for Facebook. Comment on other people’s pages. Be interested in other people.

I take regular breaks throughout the day and I scan down the home feed on Facebook and look for ways that I can interact, serve, compliment or encourage. Genuine kindness is so rare, and people are so hungry for it, that they remember it and look for ways to repay in kind.

5. Be different.

If everyone else is doing something, then it has already become invisible. One thing I teach in my classes is how to use our artist imagination to be remarkable even in our social media. My Blogging for Author Brand class will be starting tomorrow, so I hope to see you in class. You can sign up here.

If you want to know a little more before making a decision on what class is right for you, I am giving a free webinar tonight at 7:00 p.m. CST. Rise of the Machines–Human Authors in a Digital World. Sign up asap because slots are limited. I look forward to seeing you guys tonight.

Facebook has almost a billion members. They are valuable, but Facebook advertising (like all advertising) is virtually invisible to the modern consumer. When we understand that hard truth and focus, instead, on people, we have more impact and are far more resilient to change.

What are your thoughts? Is Facebook too big? What are your favorite parts of social media? What are your pet peeves?

I love hearing from you!

5 Ways to Get Out of the Comfort Zone and Become a Stronger Writer

Writing is like anything else. To really get better, we have to push ourselves. We need to constantly reevaluate what feels comfortable…and then take it to the next step. This is the only way to get better, faster, leaner, and tighter. As I always say, it is a wonderful time to be a writer, but it is also a terrifying time to be a writer.

Discoverability is a nightmare when we are competing against everyone with a computer and access to Smashwords. This is why it is so critical to have an on-line platform. But, it is also vital that we learn to write better than the competition and faster. To do this we must train.

To Grow, Do More

When I was in high school, I was on the swim team, and, when we were training for speed, the coach would make us wear a full sweatsuit to swim our laps. Cotton gets seriously heavy when wet. It felt like we were trying to swim laps pulling a tug boat, if we were actually wearing the tug boat. But, let me tell you, when we took the sweat suits off? We swam like greased lighting.

When I began my career as a writer, I thought a 1000 words a day was a really huge deal. Then I did Candy Haven’s Fast Draft (20 pages a day) and after that? 1000 words a day was a breeze. If you want to be able to up that daily word count, push yourself. Train. Amateurs play for fun, but professionals play for keeps.

Be Uncomfortable

If we are comfortable, we aren’t growing. We don’t always need to grow quantitatively. There probably is an upper word count limit per day. I know I cannot do more than 4,000 words a day. I get tendonitis every time. But, this doesn’t mean there aren’t other areas where I can still be pushing to make sure I am always bringing my best and making myself grow into a better writer.

Understand We Are Capable of More than We Believe

Most of us underestimate what we are capable of if pushed. Last summer, Ingrid told me about Bikram yoga. I thought she was a nutcase and a masochist.

Seriously? An hour and a half of yoga in a 111 degree room? Are you nuts?

But, I was all about at least trying new things so I went to a class (and thought I was going to die). Anyway, Bikram has a 60 day challenge, 60 sessions in 60 days. So 90 hours in 111 degree room bending in ways you didn’t know people could bend. I thought it was nuts, but I wanted to see what I could do. I figured I would be lucky to make it back for Day 2.

My first goal was just to do 5 days. If I could do 5 days, that was a HUGE deal. Well, 5 turned into 10 days straight. Well, hmmmm. I made it this far, lets try for two weeks. 10 days became 14. Well, why not see if I can make it to 20? I ended up doing the entire 60 days, and this was a person who had no idea how she’d make it through Day 1. But here is the thing. I didn’t believe I could do it in the beginning, but I challenged that belief and now I have a free t-shirt.

I am surprisingly motivated by happy face stickers and free t-shirts.

Face is still red from class, but I DID IT!

5 Ways to Push Your Comfort Zone

1. Increase word count—If you aren’t writing every day, start. I write 6 days a week. Start with 100 words. Once that feels comfortable, go to 200 and pretty soon you will be typing with the big kids. Most of us can’t start with a professional pace. We have to train for it.

2. Start a blog—Blogging has all kinds of benefits, but one of the largest benefits is it helps new writers train for a professional pace. Kill multiple birds with one stone. Sure a blog helps your author brand and platform. But a blog also will train you to make deadlines and up your daily word count. A blog will also help you write cleaner, tighter, faster and leaner.

3. Read a genre you don’t normally read—I can always tell writers who read only in their genre. Get out of the comfort zone and read another genre. It will help you fold new elements to your fiction that will help your work stand apart from the competition.

4. Enter a contest—Contests give us deadlines and also put our work out there for peer review.

5. Write in a genre you don’t normally write—Sometimes getting out of our own genre will help develop new muscles. We might even find out that the genre we originally chose isn’t the best fit. I originally wanted to be a thriller author. Blogging helped me discover that actually I excelled at humor writing. If I hadn’t dared to write non-fiction, I might have never discovered I could make people laugh.

What are some ways you get out of the comfort zone? How do you push yourself to the next level? What keeps you motivated? Do you struggle with being lazy? Have you ever attempted something you believed you could never do, and you actually did it? Tell us your story!

I love hearing from you!

I hope you will hop over to WANA International and sign up for a class. We offer affordable training right in the comfort of your home or office from the best teachers in the industry.

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.