Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 213
April 4, 2011
Writers Tip #56: Don't Repeat Yourself
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tip: Don't repeat yourself.
Or, put another way: Trust your audience. If you've written a compelling story, they will remember the details. When you repeat something, they'll be insulted you didn't trust them. That's a bad place to be with your audience.
Lots of novice authors feel they must repeat the most important plot details because they are critical to the story. Maybe it happened in the first twenty pages of the book and you're now on Page 333. Here's what I do: I say it a different way. Maybe I come at it from someone else's perspective–show how they see this tidbit as opposed to how my earlier character did. I might also add it to dialogue–a legitimate way to summarize a plot, remind the reader where we are in the story.
How do you accomplish this tricky piece of writing?
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Filed under: writers tips, writing Tagged: storytelling, writers tips, writing
April 1, 2011
Amy Tan Speaks at TED
March 31, 2011
Writers Need a Web Presence. Here's What That Means
Online is the world. Access it.
A web presence is your reach beyond the realtime world into cybersphere. Why is a web presence so important for today's writers?
If you have a contract with a publisher, s/he is too busy marketing books for popular, well-known authors to worry about you. That means sales and marketing is up to you. The worst situation I can imagine is after you give away the rights to your baby, the guy who bought them (the publisher) allows your story to languish selling a couple of books a month. That's not uncommon. The only way to fix that is marketing your own books.
If you're self-published, you are the go-to guy/gal for marketing your novel. You can attend conferences, give speeches, have book signings, but another tried-and-true method is the internet. More on that later.
If you're in between–sending queries out seeking an agent, trying to attract the attention of the person who will love your writing as you do–what better way than for them to see how well you write and how many people follow you. Today's agents want to see your web presence as a precursor to giving you a chance. It helps them decide how serious you are as a writer.
There are many ways to make your presence known on the internet:
A blog showcases your writing skills and allows you to interact with readers and potential readers. It gets them excited about your writing so they spread the word and you go viral.
A website on your book (or a page on your publisher's website) tells readers everything you want them to know about your book, including the location of your blog, twitter account, Facebook. The downside is it's static. Readers can't ask questions and you can't respond to a trend or personalize it to the uniqueness of individual readers.
A Twitter account gets you out there in real time, chatting with readers as well as other writers, spreading your good word in a personal, down-to-earth way that appeals to many. Each tweet is a quick insight to your readers, having a mandatory limit of 140 characters.
A Facebook account is similar, but has more depth. You can post pictures, blogs, other reader comments.
There are a few books to help you through the steps required to get live on the internet:
Red Hot Internet Publicity: An Insider's Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet!
The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't
We Are Not Alone: Writer's Guide to Social Media, by Kristen Lamb (review coming soon–so far it's great)
In my case, here's what I do on the web:
I host several blogs, this one on writing; one on my field of interest and a few more
I contribute weekly columns to ezines, e-newspapers, PLNs, Nings, to reach people my blogs don't
I have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a LinkedIn account (a discussion for a later post) and a few more personalized to my interests
I have seven marketing outlets for my books, most with their own 'about the author' page
I have a Goodreads account, highlighting my writing expertise
I've gone on a bit too long, but I want to motivate you to set up a web presence. Now get going!
Filed under: authors, business, communication, marketing, writers resources, writing Tagged: cybersphere, web presence, writers resources
March 29, 2011
The Tad Sirius Interview (He's a Dog)
Dog-lovers–you can't miss this. My Scribd friend, Barbara, posted this. Humor, intrigue, and dogs–what more can you ask?
Enjoy!
View this document on Scribd
Filed under: characters, dialogue, interview Tagged: dog interviews, dogs, interviews
March 28, 2011
Writers Tip #54: Do You Know Your Characters
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tip: Show (Not Tell) Your Characters
If you saw your main character walking down the street, could you tell it was him/her by the confidence in their stride, the tilt of their head, the way their eyes scan the crowd? Could you smell their unique after shave/perfume? Do they talk with their hands or clench their fists when they're angry?
A large percentage of real-life communication is nonverbal. Everyone has unique mannerisms that separate them from their peers. Don't depend upon dialogue tags to characterize your actors. Show me they're shrieking by their wide eyes, their flying hands, the way people around them pull back as though struck by the shrillness. If they're whining, show it by an ingratiating smile, in slumped shoulders. We should be able to identify who is talking without the tag.
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Filed under: characters, communication, writers resources, writers tips Tagged: characterization, characters, writers tips
March 23, 2011
Book Review: The Breakout Novelist
Recently, I was asked to review Donald Maass' new book, The Breakout Novelist: Craft and Strategies for Career Fiction
How to turn your passion for writing into a career
Writers (Writer's Digest, March 2011) by his publicist, FSB Associates. I jumped at the chance. I loved his last book, Writing the Breakout Novel, and the title of this new one intrigued me. How timely, with the empowerment of writers by self-publishing (more on Maass' thoughts on self-pubs later) and digital book sales blowing past traditional offerings. Data shows a slew of new authors emboldened by a successful novel (success being a relative word) who want a career in writing. I wanted Maass' thoughts on the viability of that as well as how to do it.
For those of you who don't know Donald Maass, he is a veteran agent, currently the head of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York which represents more than 150 novelists and sells more than 100 novels every year to publishers in America and overseas. By his own count, he receives annually about 7500 query letters, partial manuscripts, and completed novels–99.9% of which disappoint him. This amazing statistic must be the inspiration behind his new book. The authors, he declares, are not incompetent, merely not in command of their technique. This book provides the tools to change that.
It's organized into three parts:
Mastering Breakout Basics–how-to-write fundamentals, including exercises for the wanna-be breakout novelist. That's right, homework. There are no shortcuts, but there are quicker ways to do it and he shares those.
Achieving Breakout Greatness–factors that vault an author to success. This includes a singular voice, tension all the time, hyper-reality, scenes that can't be cut . If you think you know those concepts, you don't know. Maass even includes a section on how to write humor (Chapter 16), explaining how to ban banal with his 'methods of mirth'–like hyperbole, ironic juxtaposition, being extremely literal, and more.
Building a Breakout Career, which addresses the nuts of bolts of agents, contracts numbers, and career patterns that work. Most of this material I have not read before though I've read many how-to-write books. His chapter on Numbers, Numbers, Numbers is fundamental to moving beyond the one great novel we-all have inside of us to a successful career. He itemizes:
What Breaking Out means
When to write full time and how to do that
How to build an audience (word of mouth is prominent)
What distracts you from writing (lectures, short story anthologies–these he considers 'distractions' from the real work of writing a novel)
How to create your voice
The life cycle of a career writer
But don't skip the introduction. I know–we often do. Agents even recommend against prologues and introductions because so many readers skip them. Don't do it in this case. Here are some snippets:
I'm looking for writers who can write one great book after another. Commercial novelists frequently feel pressure to manage that feat of strength…
Intuitive novelists often have markers: moments and scenes that they know must be in the book.
…the three primary levels on which novels always must be working: plot, individual scene, and line-by-line–the level that I call micro-tension
The journey can be outward or inward and, in fact, is best when it is both.
…novel has a tension deficit disorder.
If your fiction is great, then your agent will return your calls.
Donald Maass admits parts of this book are taken from his earlier books–good writing skills don't change. These concepts are presented with passages from successful novels to show (not tell) the point. They cover every genre–memoir, literary fiction, thriller–with not just what's right, but how a good section can go wrong. Thanks to this book, I now have a massive list of new books I want to read.
Here are some of my favorite parts:
A breakout premise…must have the energy of a uranium isotope…
Formative reading experiences stay with us, like comfort food
No breakout novel leaves us feeling neutral
Every protagonist needs a torturous need, a consuming fear, an aching regret, a visible dream, a passionate longing, an inescapable ambition, an exquisite lust, an inner lack, a fatal weakness, an unavoidable obligation, an iron instinct, an irresistible plan, a noble idea, an undying hope…
If you truly wish to write the breakout novel, commit yourself to characters who are strong.
…as in the oft-attempted-but-rarely-successful 'comic relief sub-plot'…
Breakout novelists hold [backstory] back for just the right moment…
If your heroine and her sidekick are standing still, it ought to be because they disagree.
One problem that can keep a novel from breaking out is a failure to draw a clear line between good and bad.
There is also the decline of editing–fiercely denied by publishers,but widely reported by readers…
…many [authors] begin their climb with no support whatsoever from their publishers.
Two other factors can work against building an audience: jumping genres and changing publishers.
…chain stores today only sell 30 percent of trade titles. Online retailers now account for 20 percent of trade sales.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to authors who wish to make a career of writing, making money doing what they love. Isn't that the American Dream? As much as a chicken in every pot, don't we all want paying our bills and loving our job not to be an oxymoron? Donald Maass provides the toolkit. You must provide the energy.
I have only one point of disagreement, and it's the same one I had with his prior book, Writing the Breakout Novel, that (in his words) "the only plan that doesn't work that well for commercial fiction writers is self-publishing". I think that depends upon your definition of the words, 'work that well'.
How about 'works well enough'? I believe the e-revolution has empowered writers to take charge of their own careers, to be the captains of their own future. No matter that sales may be smaller than if an agent is involved, sales are there and that means bills are paid. Who out there earns hundreds of thousands of dollars? Most people are middle class. The publishing industry is as much about ebooks, digital readers, self-publishing, as the traditional path through an agent. Though one might question the quality of digital books, self-pub makes it possible for Everyman to write books from his soul, sell them to his niche, and make a living–or have a passionate hobby, not unlike skiing, acting or ballroom dancing. Donald Maass admits "the Kindle e-book reader has let loose pent-up frustrations across the spectrum. Authors see them as salvation. Publishers see them as a vein of ore."
What do you think?
Filed under: book reviews, writers, writers resources, writing Tagged: donald maass, FSB associates, writers resources, writers tools
March 22, 2011
What's an Amazon Vine Voice?
I post a lot of reviews to Amazon and often notice those names with that little 'Amazon Vine' by them, like they're special, or more
I'm a Vine Voice
authoritative. I know their reviews carry more weight than the average review, but I didn't know who they were or how they were selected–or pretty much anything about them.
Then Amazon made me a Vine Voice.
Here's what I found out:
What is Amazon Vine?
Launched in 2007 in an effort to encourage top-notch reviews, Amazon selects individuals with unbiased, well-written, balanced reviews to join a cadre of Amazon reviewers called Amazon Vine Voices. They are offered free products, then asked to review these for Amazon. There is no pay involved, just the free products like books, CD's, movies, computer products, food–anything that is sold on Amazon. Every time they review a product, be it from the list awarded by Amazon or one of their own selection, it carries the logo for 'Amazon Vine Voice'.
Here's what Amazon says about it:
Amazon Vine™ is a program that enables a select group of Amazon customers to post opinions about new and pre-release items to help their fellow customers make educated purchase decisions. Customers are invited to become Amazon Vine™ Voices based on the trust they have earned in the Amazon community for writing accurate and insightful reviews. Amazon provides Amazon Vine™ members with free copies of products that have been submitted to the program by vendors. Amazon does not influence the opinions of Amazon Vine™ members, nor do we modify or edit their reviews.
How do you join the Amazon Vine Program?
Amazon invites you to join. You can't request the position or fill out an application. One day, you'll be sitting at your computer, writing your next book, and an email will arrive asking if you'd like to become an Amazon Vine Voice. You, being a clever person, will immediately respond with a Yes.
Do Amazon Vine Voices Get Paid?
No. That would destroy the authenticity of the review. No one I've ever reviewed for has paid me. It's normal to receive the product for free, shipped to my house, but nothing else. In that way, I feel no pressure to post anything but the truth.
What's the Process Once You Become a Vine Voice?
Every month, there's an email in your e-mailbox. From that list, you select which products you are willing to review. Amazon takes care of shipping them to you. When your review is ready, you post it as you would any review.
Click for all of my Amazon reviews
Filed under: Amazon, Book contests, book reviews, writers, writers resources Tagged: Amazon, amazon vine, book reviews, vine voice
March 21, 2011
Writers Tip #55: Don't Lecture
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tip: Don't pontificate
This is a tip from Writer's Digest, one I agree with 100%:
Don't use your fiction story as a soap box for your beliefs. It won't work. Readers will get turned off. Worse, if they disagree with you, they'll leave nasty comments on Amazon and scare other readers away. Readers buy fiction to be entertained.
You don't have to lecture to get your ideas across. Think of your cross section of friends. Are they all like you–Republican or Democrat? Do they all believe/not believe in global warming? Do you still like them? Sure, because you probably avoid politics (and religion and money as mom recommended) and enjoy the person they are. Do that with your characters.
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Filed under: characters, writers resources, writers tips Tagged: creative writing, fiction, writers tips
March 18, 2011
Book Review: Elements of Style
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was originally published in the 1930′s and after 49 editions, is still one of the best selling books about writing. It covers all the basics in 95 concise pages, in a book small enough to fit in a pocket. Reviews say things like, "No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume." "…should be the daily companion of anyone who writes for a living and, for that matter, anyone who writes at all."
It has competitors. Consider:
Garner's Modern American Usage
Bernstein's The Careful Writer
Jack Hart's A Writers Coach
…but still, Strunk and White is the most famous, most oft-quoted, most consistently recommended of any. Amazon ranks it #1 in writing skills, #1 in grammar and #9 in reference. It's the 555th most popular book on the entire site.
Why is that?
Look at the Table of Contents:
Elementary Rules of Usage, which lists eleven rules–the eleven most relevant to writers
Elementary Principles of Composition–This includes eleven also, with items like use the active voice, put statements in positive form, omit needless words. Great suggestions. Often, these are the mistakes writers make
A Few Matters of Form, which includes colloquialisms, headings, hyphens, numbers
Words and Expressions Commonly Misused--twenty-seven pages of words like aggravate/irritate, among/between, farther/further
An Approach to Style With a List of Reminders–hints like Do not overwrite, avoid fancy words, don not affect a breezy manner, do not over-explain
Did you notice? Although these were considered important rules in the 1930′s and are the same issues faced by writers today. Maybe that's why it's still one of the best-selling, most popular books ever.
Filed under: book reviews, grammar and spelling, writers resources, writing Tagged: book report, elements of style, strunk
March 16, 2011
An Interview With Me
Just a quick note to let you know that I'm being interviewed on Pinnacle Writing, the blog of Thomas Drinkard, a former Special Forces (Green Beret) soldier; former teacher/writer in securities licensing preparation business and now full-time writer/part-time freelance editor.
Since my current WIP involves a former SEAL, I feel an affinity to Thomas Drinkard. My author friends understand. We not only write about our characters; we become them. That's right. There's a little bit of special forces in me now, too. My motto: When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.
Drop by his blog. Leave a comment. I'd love to have you visit.
Filed under: authors, blogs, marketing, writers Tagged: drinkard, interview, pinnacle writing
