Category: writer tip

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Start strong, finish strong, and don’t forget the middle!

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Wow I have been lax in my blogging, but this doesn’t mean that I have been doing the same for my writing—quite the opposite actually! Godsent has been going great. I should surpass 10,000 words this week.

Godsent has been great to write so far. I did a LOT of pre-planning on this book, perhaps more so than for The Seed of Hope and Of Worldly Deeds, and it is paying off well. I am already finding that the characters have their own personalities and their traits are coming through with every scene.

I learnt from my first two books that aside from doing the backstory on the plot, understanding characters motivations helps you write and describe their traits, their mannerisms etc. The extra effort up front certainly pays off during the writing.

The other aspect of Godsent I am really enjoying is the ‘whodunnit’ narrative. I have always enjoyed the whodunnit mysteries when they were set in a fantasy world, but for some reason I never really got into the whole typical murder-mystery (ah the irony of that statement now that I am writing one for myself—but it has my own twist to it!). The Talent Tree series is full of whodunnit’s, and Godsent is no different.

I have also been looking at a lot of agent advice recently too. One really good piece of advice I read was by Dawn Frederick of Red Sofa Literary. The blog post, titled Now that I’ve requested your chapters highlighted the importance of a good conclusion; not a oh-crap-i-need-to-wrap-this-up conclusion, but one that ties up the story, and leaves the reader eager for more, just like when they first started your story.

Finishing strong is a great piece of advice, but I also think a strong middle is important too. It is all too easy to fall into a trap of making the middle of your story just pages to fill between the exciting introduction and the stunning climax. Make your middle interesting. Go ahead and reveal a little of your plot. I know from the books I read that a little bit of a reveal in the middle of the book serves to prolong the excitement and anticipation even longer.

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Building your Writers Platform

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

One thing that seems to assault you everywhere is the notion that to be a successful writer you must build your platform. To a writer, your platform is your vehicle to reaching an audience for your books. To put it blunt, your platform should help answer the simple question of why should someone buy your books.

And if writing wasn’t hard enough!

I’m no expert about building my platform; I am still trying to learn the business, land an agent etc…. but I know the importance being known. I spend a lot of time on my website (although probably not enough!), on twitter following and chatting with other writers, agents, amazon writers blogs, facebook fan pages, goodreads, webook and on and on it goes. It is a lot of work, but important!

I recently came across a great blog post giving some tips on building your platform. It has helped me think about another few different strategies for building my platform. Hopefully it helps you too.

Now back to it.

 

 

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Plots, outlines and the right thread for a great novel

Monday, February 1st, 2010

I have been doing a lot of reading recently about plotting and scenes as I add more and more detail to my current project, Godsent. I like to have a number of different manuscripts going at once to ensure that whatever mood I am in for the day, at least one of my projects draws my attention. Godsent is one that I just cant stop thinking about.

During my reading I found a great post about outlines and plots which provided some interesting take on the different levels of plot a writer often uses. Although I often use a similar approach I have found writing a short synopsis works well. The synopsis, written in flowing sentences allows me to be drawn away with the story and let the ideas come together.

Similar to Brandson Sanderson’s approach to writing I don’t start with one spark and end there. Yes, most of my projects start with a simple idea and grow until I have added sufficient background material and plot threads that I can start to lay them out on the weave which eventually becomes  a good (well I hope great!) story.

Right now I have the first 2-3 page synopsis which is my plot, a first high level cut of scenes and some character descriptions. Over the next few weeks I am going to build out the rules and backstories for the world-building which is so important in a good fantasy novel. Once I am happy with the depth of material to draw from, only then do I hone in on which thread should I tug to make the story.

Godsent is one where I thought I knew which thread I wanted, but this evening while waiting for my daughter to finish orchestra, I had a great idea which may end up changing the plot of the book completely. And this is exactly why I love writing

 

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Writer’s block? Humbug! Start with a simple idea.

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

I regularly read authors complaining about Writer’s Block. Perhaps it is true, there are enough websites which go into incredible detail about. (Perhaps the antidote to overcoming Writer’s Block is to write an article about it!). I, unfortunately, appear to have the opposite problem — too many ideas.

Some problems, however, are good to have, especially if you are a writer and a story teller.

I have 3-4 major projects I am working on at any time with ideas ‘popping’ into my head all the time. I scribble, I transcribe, and I record them all, adding them to the bank of story and plot ideas waiting to be written.

I typically start with an idea, then work the plot backwards from there. Take for example, The Seed of Hope. The Seed of Hope started with a simple idea “what if magic grew on trees?” This idea alone had me thinking about all the what if’s that question raised: what if you one got one chance to take the magic? what if magic wasn’t always good? what if someone stole your magic? what if being entrusted with magic was a responsibility requiring some sort of sacrifice?

From those questions alone, I think I could write a dozen books.

This morning was no different. I was away with my family, the sun yet to rise over the redwoods of Russian River. I was lying in bed thinking about one of my current writing projects, The Pillars of Light. The Pillars has a fantastic world in which it is set, with some very unique concepts and magical systems, but I worried something was wrong.

One thing I don’t like doing is writing a ‘paint by numbers‘ book: protagonist has a destiny, grows in power, finds out their kin is the antagonist, and in the end everyone ends happy just as the author had discovered after the first 100 pages. That’s just not how I write. Somehow I could see that, if I didn’t take action to adjust my plot and story arcs, The Pillars could easily turn into that.

Then…..WHAM….another idea hit me (yes, sadly I am telling the truth, this is how ideas usually occur to me: flashes of inspiration that i can visualize in my head which will stick with me until I write them down).

I grabbed my IPhone and ducking under the bed covers, so as not to wake my wife. I frantically typed a paragraph of a great idea that started with a simple idea.

What is the idea? Well, for that you will have to wait :)

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YA vs. MG. What’s the difference?

Monday, January 18th, 2010

I recently started a new MG (Middle Grade) novel, tentatively titled A Box of Memories. This project will be my first MG novel, with my other works being YA (Young Adult) or pure Fantasy. Before I got started, however, I wanted to understand a bit more about the MG genre. The more I learn about the writing and publishing world, the more I realize that, as a writer, it is very easy to set yourself up for failure. It’s hard enough to get a publishing contract these days. Don’t get the Agent, or Publisher any reason to turn you down!

I had my facts straight about a YA novel: teen protagonist – check, length should be approx. 80,000 words – check, and the story may also be a Coming of Age novel where the protagonist is leaning to deal with new responsibilities, growing up etc. Check, check and double check — I got it.

But I had to admit, I knew little about what makes an MG novel.

Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. Debbie Ridpath Ohi, aka @inkyelbows put together a fantastic article on Migwriters.com which provided all the answers I was looking for, plus some I didn’t even know I should be asking. One of the most telling sections, which Ms. Ohi leverages from PimpMyNovel explains the plot differences between MG and YA:

“MG plots tend to center on the protagonist’s internal world, whereas YA plots are more complex and are more concerned with the protagonist’s effect on his or her external world.”

This extract, in particular, helped me conceptualize my plot and story much more succinctly. Now that I know how to sketch out the plot and draw the story-arcs, I am off and working. I had become so accustomed to working diligently on secondary creation at this point in the writing process, that it was a nice change of pace to focus more inwards for a while.

I completed the first two scenes today and should finish off a few more in the next day or so. Stay tuned for more extracts and information on A Box of Memories as I continue to try my hand at the MG genre.

 

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The Best Rejection Ever

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Being an aspiring author you get used to receiving rejection letters: it just comes with the job. I can not imagine being a Literary Agent is an easy job. It kind of reminds be of an endless bad American Idol audition reel where personal opinion mixed with experience and industry knowledge influence which manuscripts you say Yes or No to. The rewarding part of the job, I suspect, is finding that diamond in the rough you know with be a shining gem.

I am not sure if it is due to the Webook’s amazing Agentinbox, or the caliber of the Agent (I suspect it is both) but I submitted a query letter and sample pages expecting to wait the standard 4-6 weeks before receiving a response. Imagine my surprise when Agentinbox sends me an email indicating my submission has been updated.

I hurried to my computer, eagerly logged in and was met with a rejection letter from the Agent. Sure I was disappointed, no-one likes to receive a form-letter rejection. But like I said, it’s comes with the job. It’s nothing personal, the Agents are doing what they are paid to do.

Right about now, you may why am I writing a post about a rejection letter, and one I so boldly stated is the best rejection ever? Well, it wasn’t the response that made the rejection stand out, it was the speed of which I received it. I take care in whom I send my query letters too, and this particular agent certainly justified my choice.

So, unnamed agent, thank you for your prompt response and being such a professional that you took the time to respond quickly. To us authors, this type of professionalism speaks volumes about your character.

Next time, perhaps you will choose my manuscript. I can hope.

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The Best Rejection Ever

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Being an aspiring author you get used to receiving rejection letters: it just comes with the job. I can not imagine being a Literary Agent is an easy job. It kind of reminds be of an endless bad American Idol audition reel where personal opinion mixed with experience and industry knowledge influence which manuscripts you say Yes or No to. The rewarding part of the job, I suspect, is finding that diamond in the rough you know with be a shining gem.

I am not sure if it is due to the Webook’s amazing Agentinbox, or the caliber of the Agent (I suspect it is both) but I submitted a query letter and sample pages expecting to wait the standard 4-6 weeks before receiving a response. Imagine my surprise when Agentinbox sends me an email indicating my submission has been updated.

I hurried to my computer, eagerly logged in and was met with a rejection letter from the Agent. Sure I was disappointed, no-one likes to receive a form-letter rejection. But like I said, it’s comes with the job. It’s nothing personal, the Agents are doing what they are paid to do.

Right about now, you may why am I writing a post about a rejection letter, and one I so boldly stated is the best rejection ever? Well, it wasn’t the response that made the rejection stand out, it was the speed of which I received it. I take care in whom I send my query letters too, and this particular agent certainly justified my choice.

So, unnamed agent, thank you for your prompt response and being such a professional that you took the time to respond quickly. To us authors, this type of professionalism speaks volumes about your character.

Next time, perhaps you will choose my manuscript. I can hope.

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Foreshadowing vs. Telegraphing

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Rachael Gardner, one of my favorite Literary Agents, and avid bloggers recently posted a great blog entry on her website. I admit I read a lot of agent, and author blog posted (after all I believe that you need to be an avid reader first, before you can become a writer), but it just so happened that I was in the final few hours of finishing the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson (which I HIGHLY recommend btw), where a lot of Sanderson’s foreshadow started to be revealed.

I’m not going to add any spoilers here, but perhaps it was the just the serendipitous timing of Gardner’s advice, and Sanderson’s skill at the craft that really helped me realize how powerful foreshadowing, when done well, can be — I almost drove off the road (I typically listen to audiobooks) amidst a mental barrage of ‘oh my god, how could I have missed it; It was so obvious‘ memories.

Perhaps that’s the real skill in foreshadowing — putting something right out in plain sight that you are not hiding anything, but you leave it to circumstance in your writing (remember the odd adage of writing: show, don’t tell) where a particular scene unveils the connections for you like a mental flashback (think of The Sixth Sense, or The Usual Suspects if you need some movie examples too).

Telegraphing, on the other hand, doesn’t make the inferences subtle enough — you can reach out to the end of the book, and form that unveiling scene in your mind way before the author wants you to.

So, hats off to Rachael Gardner for a great, helpful blog entry, and extra big kudo’s to Brandon Sanderson for pulling of the difficult task of foreshadowing, and doing it so well.

Thanks!

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Write with feeling. Give your sentences a personality!

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

This week I started work on the first book of a projected 7 book series called The Pillars. One thing that I have learnt from my first two books: The Seed of Hope, and Of Worldly Deeds, is that it is always much better to show the reader something rather than describe it in infinite details.

What do I mean by this?

Take the following two sentences:

The air outside was bitterly cold. John wore a thick goose-down jacket to keep him protected from the howling winds.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence. It is grammatically well-formed and let’s us know the weather is very cold, and poor John is out in the midst of it. We may also get the sense that there is a storm raging, due to the howling winds.

What this sentence doesn’t give however, is a sense of emotion, or feeling about John. There is no personality to it. Now if we change the perspective to give John’s character some more emotion, we now have a sentence with a lot more dimension:

John’s throat burned. His breathing raged, the steam of his breath ripped away by the howling winds.

Now John is the one feeling the cold, and you the reader can much better relate yourself to John’s predicament.

I once wrote that believable characters come  from believable situations. Lovable characters from overcoming unbelievable situtations.  What I meant was that, as a writer you need to make your reader truly care about the characters. Drawing on your readers ability to relate (we can all relate to John’s situation of being cold), and the mental connections is creates in ones mind is what makes truly dimensional characters. Aurora and Dash in book 1, The Pillars of Life are just those type of characters!

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On Revisions

Monday, August 17th, 2009

I updated my progress meter today on book 2, Of Worldly Deeds, and was enthused to see I was at 95% of a targeted 80,000 words. I suspect the manuscript will end up closer to 90k, but still I am nearing the completion of the first draft.

This book took me approximately 6 months to write, as opposed to about a year for book 1, The Seed of Hope, and I have certainly matured in my writing process and style. I find myself letting the characters telling the story much more now, and limit the backstories as much as I can.

I have also been listening to Stephen King’s fantastic book, On Writing, which is a necessary read for any current, or aspiring writers. Considering my current state of completion on Of Worldly Deeds, I was especially interested in King’s thoughts around revisions; specifically, the idea of completing the first draft, and leaving in a drawer for a few weeks, to let it simmer.

On first read (well, actually listen — I’m an audiobook junkie) I wasn’t sure I agreed with King’s advice, but the more I digest the idea, the more it makes a lot of sense. I know that on a scene-by-scene basis, I do my best work when I go for a run: 6-8 miles along the Monterey trail. My mind is fresh, free from distractions apart from the beating of my feet on the pavement, and the smell of the ocean. This is where inspiration hits me.

Why would I expect the revision process to be any different?

I have had another concept for a story, or as King would put it, a situation, that has been scratching away at me, waiting to be let loose. Perhaps, in a few more weeks, when I key the final pages to my current project, I might take King’s advice, put the draft away, work on something different, and simmer over the theme of what Of Worldly Deeds should be. I can then come back, and approach the revisions with a clear picture in my minds-eye of why I wrote the thing in the first place.

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Death. Intrigue and Old Age. Everything being a God shouldn’t be.

Being a God isn't everything Satisfaction thought it would be. True, souls are immortal, but host bodies are not. When time is on your side, you can afford to make some changes.