Meredith Bond's Blog, page 24

Stimulus and Response

“…in humans, [stimulus and response is] the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience. … Among the theoretical models developed to describe the nature of social behaviour, the stimulus–response model (in which every social act is seen as a response to the preceding act of another individual) has been generally found helpful….”

I was preparing to teach my story structure class last week when I came across the words “stimulus and response” in my notes. I always start the class by asking my students what a plot is. They all just shrug and say, “It’s what happens in the book or movie. It’s the story.” Yes. But it’s more than that. It’s an action and a reaction. A stimulus and a response. My typical example is my silly story: I get a headache (stimulus), so I go looking for some aspirin (response). The bottle in the cabinet is empty (stimulus), so I get my purse and shoes and prepare to go to the drug store (response). It’s a really exciting story – more happens, but I won’t bore you with the spaceship and what-not. The point is, there are stimuli and responses throughout my story. It’s what makes up the very simple story, and, it’s what makes up our really complicated stories as well – our novels.

I set out last week to write a short story to be a prequel to Magic In The Storm. Readers wanted to know why Morgan’s mother rejected him so strongly, and I wanted to write about how she and Vallentyne got together in the first place, so I sat down to figure it out all – to plot my story (I’m really a very left-brained writer – I plot out the whole story and do detailed character analysis, etc. before I start write). After a fruitless day in which I figured out a number of different scenarios (some more trite than others), I put away my writing and started to prepare for my class which I had to teach the following evening. Stimulus and response.

What was the stimulus and what was the response in the story I was trying to write? Well, I knew what the response was – Tatiana (Morgan’s mother) is so furious that he’s male when he’s born, that she wants to kill the infant immediately. That’s a pretty strong response! With the response in mind, I tried to figure out what the stimulus might be. I can tell you, it took me the better part of the week to come up with a good plot, and then, as always, after I had figured it all out, my husband emailed me (he’s away on business, but, bless the man, is still thinking about me  and my story) and came up with something even better. So I had to trash all that I had done (luckily, I’d only written the first two scenes). So now I’ve got an even better stimulus and I just have to work out the details of Tatiana’s response to get to the end result (her hatred of her son).

But it still boils down to the basic question – what is the stimulus (In Magic In The Storm, it is that Morgan has less than one month to figure out how to develop his full powers before he turns 21, otherwise there will be dire consequences) and what is my protagonist’s response (Morgan tries to figure out how his powers are increasing, whether they will continue to do so and how to make them do so faster – in time for his birthday).

Try this – figure out what the stimulus and response are for the story that you’re writing (or reading). Define them in a simplified way and see where that gets you. Does it make the story easier to understand? Does it help you to figure out what your characters need to do and where they need to go? Does it help you figure out that tangled web of ribbons that is your plot? It should. Tell me how it goes for you.

Extra! Extra!

What do you think about extras in ebooks? I’m trying to decide if they’re good or not. I love the concept of having an enhanced book with links to websites (even just Wikipedia) with more information on historical figures or whatever is appropriate to the book. But aren’t they distracting?

The whole point of reading, to me, is to get lost in the book. To lose yourself as you read. But if, as you’re reading along and thoroughly enjoying the story, you come across a link, wouldn’t that distract you? Wouldn’t it just throw you right out of the story? It would throw me out. I’d be curious and click on the link and then I’d be reading about Lord Byron or the history of London when I should be and wanted to be reading about Byron’s grand entrance into a ballroom in London. By putting in a link, the author (or publisher) is directing the reader away from book. What’s the point of that?

Yes, it’s wonderful to find out more about the real historical figures or cities mentioned in the book, but I should do that some other time, not while I’m reading the book. When I first started reading Sherrilyn Kenyon’s fabulous Dark Hunter series, she so intrigued me with the gods she mentioned in her books, after I was done reading, I spent some time reading up on the Greek and Roman gods. After I was done reading the book. I did not put down her book to go and do the research, I was enjoying her story too much to do that and I didn’t want to leave the wonderful world she created for me.

So, if I don’t want to direct my readers away from my story, but I want to enhance my book, make it a more fun (?), more interesting experience — if I want to take advantage of the technology that is at my fingertips, what should I do?

I have to say, I thought about this for a while. I thought of all the wonderful things I could add to my book to enhance it without taking my reader away from actually reading my book. And I wished with all my might that I could paint watercolors, or knew someone who could, so that I could recreate the paintings I have my heroine create in the story. Unfortunately, that ain’t happening. I’m a writer, not an artist.

I did think of one small thing which I could do. I added in a link to some webpages which have extra “world” information on them. I don’t know if anyone has clicked on those links, but they’re there. If someone wants to know more about my world, which I spent quite a bit of time creating (even more than what’s in the book), the information is there and accessible to anyone who has a copy of the book. But is this enough?

I’d love to have your thoughts.

Is it me?

Branding is tricky. Advertising specialists spend months, if not years, testing out different logos, tag lines, colors, and fonts on focus groups and company executives. My son came up with the new colors I’m using for my website in about five minutes. All right, maybe ten. With me standing over his shoulder saying, “hmmm, maybe a touch darker? No, lighter.” He fiddles with the slider testing out variations of the shade, fools with the placement of the little dot, nudging toward the bluer end of purple, slipping the pink closer to purple. And voila! I’ve got new colors. Colors that were made just for me.  We quickly jot down the exact red/green/blue numbers so that they are not lost forever.

I disappear back to my work, while he (home from college with little to do until he can find a summer job) fools around some more, finding the right picture, putting it at just the right angle with the right cropping, before calling me back up to his bedroom to pick among a few fonts that he’s chosen. Within an hour of proposing that my son might be able to help me design a new banner for my website, I’ve got colors and a logo, which I may live with for the next few years of my professional life, if not longer. It goes not only on my website banner, but on Facebook, my stationary and business cards. Now a purple quill pen in a square pot of ink will say to people Meredith Bond.

Is this me? I guess so. I’ve asked a few friends and my discerning husband. They all love it. I haven’t decided if I love it. I certainly like it. I love quill pens, both aesthetically, and, oddly enough, to write with. I love fountain pens better, but the quill is graceful and elegant. It says old world. It says classic. And it has a touch of magic to it as well. So, yeah, maybe it is me. I certainly like the messages it sends.

What do you think? Is it me?

Before I let you go, I would be seriously falling down on the job if I didn’t remind you all that this coming Wednesday through Friday is the Beach Book Blast where you can get the books of fifteen authors (!!!) for free (like mine) or for a reduced price. You have got to check this out, it’s a great way to load up on your summer reading for very little money! You can like us on Facebook (click here) or check out our website (click here) and register to win a Kindle Fire!!! How cool is that?

Is it bad to be free?

When you go to the supermarket, do you shop the sales, or do you buy by brand? If you need a shirt, do you first look to see if it’s on sale somewhere, or do you just go out to your favorite store and buy what you need regardless of the price? If you’re like me, and I imagine, a lot of people are, you first check for sales.

If this is the case, why would anyone ever spend money buying ebooks? There are so many free ones out there in probably the exact genre that you want to read, so why buy a Sherrilyn Kenyon for $7.99 when you can get another paranormal romance from a new author for free? Ok, maybe you love the world Kenyon has created and are dying to find out what happened to Nick, that’s valid. But while you’re at Amazon shelling out all that money for the Kenyon, why not also download a few other books for free? Maybe you’ll discover a new author.

But would you spend money — anywhere from .99 to $2.99 or higher — on an unknown indie author? Maybe not. Millions of people don’t anymore. They don’t have to. Those authors are giving away their books for free. What does that do to all those indie authors who want to get paid for their hard work? Are they going to be able to sell their books if so many other authors are giving their work away?

I certainly can’t take the high road here — I gave away over 1800 copies of Magic In The Storm this past weekend and I’m going to be giving away (hopefully) a lot more on the 23rd and 24th of May. Why? Why am I willing to give away my work and potentially make it so that another author may not sell her book?

I do so with the hope that a number of people who downloaded my book will a) write great reviews about it on Amazon so that others do buy it and b) so that when I come out with my next book, they’ll remember my name and make it an automatic buy.

Is this a bad thing for the market? Maybe. Am I, therefore, not going to do it? No.

I am going to offer my book for free because the reason why I write is to add joy to their lives. Yes, I want to get paid for my work, but even more importantly, I want to transport people into this world that I’ve worked very hard to create, and I want them to dwell there, happily, for a few hours. That’s why I write.

I have no desire to take away another author’s sale, or even my own. But I do want to establish my brand. I do want people to associate my name with good writing and a good read. If I have to give away my work for a few days to achieve that, then I’m going to do it.

What do you think? Are we killing our own market by giving away our work or are we being good business people?

Something Amazing!

It astounds me how wonderful people can be — and how supportive.

I joined a group of writers called the Writer’s Guide to E-Publishing (WG2E) Street Team a little while ago. These people (none of whom have I ever met in person) are the most supportive group of writers I’ve met outside of the Washington Romance Writers.

I’ve been told that the WRW is unusually supportive, but I’m beginning to think that maybe they’re not. That maybe writers are just fabulous people who are out there to support one-another. Am I naïve? I hope not.

The WG2E Street team is always tweeting and posting on Facebook to promote each other’s work. We give encouragement when it’s needed and lots of kudos on successes. We help each other out on everything from beta reading (it’s where I found my fabulous beta reader) to social networking (how to tweet and use twitter to your advantage).

And now, a bunch of us from the WG2E Street Team are getting together to hold a really fun “event” — we’re calling it “Beach Book Blast”. Eight of us are going to be offering our books free or at a greatly reduced price May 23rd through 25th (Magic In The Storm will be free on the 23rd and 24th because I’m also going to make it free on May 11th and 12th to celebrate my birthday ).  We’ve put together a website (click here) to give anyone interested more information and we’ve got a Facebook page (click here).

Eight books and short stories. All different genres from paranormal romance to inspirational mysteries! You have got to check this out — as I said, it’s Amazing!

Zzzzzz… huh? Yes, another great retreat!

Wow, another fabulous WRW retreat is over. Just like that, in the blink of an….zzzzzzzz….. ok, well, maybe my eyes didn’t stay closed for long enough this past weekend, but I sure did have a great time.

Somehow, this year I didn’t hear as many terrific talks as I usually do — I think I was pitching my work and then talking with Joyce Lamb through one of the talks I had wanted to attend. The good part is that I have been given the opportunity to send my work to an agent (always a Good Thing), and Joyce has promised to interview me for her amazing blog, Happily Ever After, at USA Today, (I’m so psyched!!!).  I did, however, attend a few wonderful talks.

Kathy Gilles Seidel always gives a thoughtful talk at the retreat, and this year she was joined by Pam Regis, author of “A Natural History of the Romance Novel.” The talk was about the ritual death, aka black moment, in the romance novel, but I don’t see why what they said can’t be applied to any genre fiction. What they said really got me thinking, not actually so much about the black moment of my books, but about what they called the “markers” of ritual death — the foreshadowing of the ritual death, the lead up to the ritual death and the imagery that is used in these markers as well as in the black moment itself. This can be imagery of winter, of falling, darkness, being restrained, sadness or even depression. Using these words and imagery — and repeatedly, for we all know that you need to use something like this a number of times to really make it smack the reader upside their head — to build up to the ritual death andmake that moment in the book all the more powerful. So you know what I’m going to be working on this week in my WIP!

I also attended a very good talk by Jill Marsal of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, who spoke on the state of the publishing market right now — tons of great information I can’t wait to share with my next publishing class!  Although I still find it amusing that all of the agents and editors at the retreat said over and over again, “Don’t follow the trends! Write a book you are passionate about. Write a book that will blow me away and I’ll buy it (from the editors)/sell it (from the agents) no matter what genre it is. But, these are the trends we are seeing currently….” and then they’d tell us. Why tell us if it doesn’t matter? Aren’t they just perpetuating the idea that we should write to these trends? It leaves me kind of scratching my head.

And, finally, there was Robyn Carr who gave the key note speech on Saturday night that literally had some people in tears — good tears! Tears of agreement. Tears saying yes, we know it’s hard; yes, this business sucks and if we could stop writing we would, but we can’t — we just can’t stop the voices, stop the characters who need their stories told, stop their nagging. Personally, it’s not the voices that are nagging at me, but the ideas. I have so many ideas for stories that sometimes I think I’m just going to explode if I don’t write them down. So, I write, which leads to too many other things which just reinforces what a dreadful, difficult business publishing is. As Robyn said, she wrote some of her best books after she quit. Well, naturally, she may have quit, and I think she said she did so a number of times, but you know she always came back — she had to.

However, Robyn did leave us with some inspiring thoughts, with which I will leave you this week:

“Ninety percent of being successful is working hard, showing up on time, and being nice to others.”

She told us to “write earnestly, honestly and fearlessly every single day.” And that, I think is the best advice I’ve heard in a long time.

Now, finally to sleep, for tomorrow I get back work, back to getting out that story that must be told and making it the best damn story I can write.

No, Seriously

[image error]

This is going to be great. Honestly. And I am going to write that World Building blog as I promised yesterday. I’m just a little snowed under right now. But I’m digging, people, I’m digging.

Thanks, again, for your patience

Getting There

     We’re getting there!! Slowly, but surely. 

Notice anything strange here?

Yup, I’ve lost about two months worth of blogs! It’s all my fault, I tried to do some fancy coding and messed it up. I’ll get them put back up (happily, I keep copies of all my blogs on my computer).

I’m also working today with my fabulous friend who is going to help me make this look great. So, keep watching!   An update will be posted tonight (tomorrow morning at the latest!).

Thanks for your patience!

Merry

We Have the Power

I’ve been asked a number of times this week why I don’t separate the publishing course I teach into one on how to get traditionally published and one on how to get self-published.  There’s a very simple answer to that — I don’t believe we should completely dismiss the traditional publishing market. Yes, we live in quickly changing times, where writers have so many more possibilities. There is this wonderful new kind of magic with which we can publish our own work, but as with any magic, there is a price that must be paid in order to use it.

Traditional publishers are still the only game for millions of readers — readers who want to feel a physical book in their hands; readers who enjoy the sound of a page turning and who don’t want to lose that special relationship that we have with a physical book. They want to walk into a book store, browse and walk out with something they can’t wait to delve into. And they’re not interested in downloading it to their Kindle, Nook or iPad, because many of them don’t own one. These readers should not be dismissed or forgotten about, which is exactly what writers who completely ignore traditional publishing without even giving it a try are doing.

The people I teach are not only writers, they are brand-spanking-new writers. Some of them who take my course haven’t even finished their books yet. Heck, some of them haven’t even begun. They’re taking the course because they want to see what is ahead of them at the end of that long road of writing. So, should I tell them that it’s ok to write their book and slap it up on Amazon and see what happens? No, a hundred times no.

I have no idea if their book is going to be any good and neither do they. It is the people who write whatever and throw it out there that muddy up the marketplace for the rest of us who work ourselves to the bone — working on craft, editing, rewriting, editing again and again and again and then sending our work out not only to editors, but beta readers as well. We who take our work seriously, who call ourselves professional writers and take pride in our work.

Now, I’m not saying that there may not be a gem among those who haven’t even written page one of their books. They may have that innate talent that put the rest of us to shame. But they may not, and it doesn’t help the rest of us when they put their garbage up for sale next to our slogged over manuscripts.

So, I tell my students and the administrators that if they want to be a professional writer, they have to try the professional route first. Write the book. Edit it and make it as perfect as they can get it. Then, write the synopsis and a fabulous query letter and send it to 15, 25 or 50 agents and editors. At the very least, they will get feedback telling them what they need to work on to make their book publishable. And in the best case scenario, they’ll get a publishing contract. Then, I tell them, if all else fails, self-publish and be proud of what you’ve produced. Be proud to put your hard work out there to be judged by readers who have embraced this new technology and who can’t live without their e-readers. Pay the price for the magic, and you will be given all the power you so richly deserve.

Where Do You Do It?

Where does the magic happen? Where do you write?

I've been asked to put together a course for very beginning writers to teach them how to get started writing and how to organize themselves. I thought of a four class course: Day 1) Organize your space and time; Day 2) Organize your thoughts on paper; Day 3) Organize your thoughts virtually; Day 4) Organize your writing.

So, on the first day of the course, I want to discuss where people write, and how they find the time to fit writing into an already busy life. This is my desk:

As you can see, it's not very organized. I've got a pile of stuff on my left (all related to my writing), I've got a pile of folders behind that (all related to my teaching), and I've got a pile of stuff on my right (all related to my household expenses and miscellaneous stuff). This is organized, but not the uncluttered space that you would expect to be needed for creativity. And yet, it works for me. I've got my computer at eye level and my keyboard on a keyboard drawer at just the right height, so I'm completely ergonomic. And my desk is in our home office, which is only used by me for most of the day (when my children are home, they're hidden away, upstairs in their rooms at the opposite end of the house where I don't hear them).

So, where do write? Do you have a desk? Do you sit in a comfy chair? Do you use a laptop or do you write on paper? I would love to know so that I can give my students options. There isn't one right way to do it. What works best for you?