A guest post from Tim Baker

Author of “Living the Dream”
Now available at Amazon.com
www.blindoggbooks.com

Being a subscriber to your emails for quite some time now, I have followed the “debate” on pantsing vs. planning with keen interest.

Mainly because I don’t know into which category I fall.

Your articles have caused me to put a great deal of thought into my methods, which is, more than likely, your intent, so in that regard you have succeeded. However, I remain unable to place myself squarely on either side of the fence.

I know that I am most assuredly not a planner, because I simply don’t plan my stories out completely before I start writing; the operative word being “completely.” I do start off with a general plan, a core group of characters, their individual contributions and a quasi-firm ending. Other than that, there is very little conscious planning.

Then again, I don’t think I’m 100% pantser either, because, as I said, I always have a general idea of where the story is going as I am writing it. I know what the conflict is, how it will affect each character, what sub-plots and back stories need to be created and I usually have most of the key plot-points in mind. I always know each character’s role in the story and I usually have a fairly good idea of how the story will end.

I suppose one reason for my method, or lack thereof, is that I became a writer by accident. My true profession, since 1980, has been in the Architectural field, and your recent installment about pace struck a chord with me since you used Architecture as an analogy for planning (definitely not a stretch).

I’m one of those guys who has always had a love of “the story” and one day I got tired of reading them and decided to write some of my own.

If it’s possible, I may have picked up some “tips” on writing by osmosis from the authors I read, but I have never had any formal training in crafting a story (your articles notwithstanding).

That being said, I’ve written four novels and have two in progress. The first was released in July of 2009; the second will be released in October of this year. I may not be a household name, yet, but my first novel, “Living the Dream,” has been very well received and the beta-readers who have read my second book, “Water Hazard” have been very pleased with it.

Ironically, despite my life-long love of Architecture, which includes the meticulous planning and attention to detail, I don’t apply much of it to my writing.

At least not consciously.

I approach story writing as if it were a long road trip with a general destination and a semi-established route. Along the way there are stops to make, with various priority levels attached to each. If I happen to discover an alternate route that will be more enjoyable, I’ll take it. Most importantly, there is always the chance that the trip will not unfold the way I had envisioned it, in which case I may alter some or all of the stops or even the destination itself. Other times I may just turn around, go home and think about another trip altogether.

To hard-core planners this may seem like a waste of time and energy, but I can’t seem to get comfortable doing it any other way. I guess it doesn’t hurt that I enjoy the “re-write” process almost as much as I enjoy the initial writing.

Also ironic, is that I attribute my approach to writing directly to my Architectural training.

To make a long story short, I had a professor for “Architectural Detailing” in college by the name of Gordon Andersen.

Professor Andersen had a very difficult task. Teaching a bunch of “know-nothing” kids how to anticipate and resolve construction problems months before the first shovelful of dirt was even moved.

Suffice to say that he was greeted by many blank expressions – deer in headlights would be an understatement.

His advice; Draw something. After you draw it, take a look at it and see what’s wrong with it, because there will always be something wrong with it. Then figure out how to make it better. Then do it again.

This method got me through college and it worked for me in nearly thirty years of “real-world” application. It also seems to work for me in my writing.

So my point, should anybody care, is that I would like to suggest a third category of writer.

The “plantser.”

Part planner/part pantser.

It is where I fall, and I would hate to think that I am alone there. If I am, I’ll be establishing a copy-right and applying for a patent!

Guest Post: Pantsing the Planners or Planting the Pansies is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

If you read science fiction and fantasy, chances are you’ve heard of Kay Kenyon.  If you’re a writer on the lookout for great writing conferences, her name may ring familiar there, as well, since she runs one of the best around.

If not, you’ll probably remember her name (and hopefully check out her work — all ten novels) after reading this enlightening piece.  Twice.

You thought I was left-brained about the right-brained task of writing a novel?  Good to know there’s someone else out there with a story engineering hat on.   Enjoy.

How To Keep Track of a Novel

Or how I wrote an epic four-book sci-fantasy saga over five years and still had the brain power left to write grocery lists.

by Kay Kenyon

I admit it, I write complicated books.

I’m going to tell you how I keep from going crazy with all the details, and how I remember, in technical terms, what the hell is going on with my story. You may not need everything that I use, but if you are writing an ambitious book I highly recommend these methods (I’ve been using them for a decade.)

Here are my methods, the high and the low.

Project notebook.

Before I write even a page, I work in a large notebook to discover and develop my story. I muse on concepts, characters, armature (theme) and milieu. I take a stab at a trial plot chart with a three act structure.

I like a physical notebook because, unlike using a computer keyboard/screen, I do not feel strange doing nothing but thinking. I like the archeological benefit too: without a delete function I can–even months later–review how my planning evolved. Sometimes I go back to those early ideas. When I’m writing the novel, I use this notebook to storyboard the next scenes. (Tip: always date your entries. It will show you how long it took to write your novel, something you think you will never forget, but you will. After 5-10 novels, you will forget it all, trust me.)

If the scene is particularly difficult, I list the “beats” of the scene, casting on possible action segments. This is a magic technique that can get you through the most daunting scenes where a lot has to happen, clues given, character revealed and awesomeness created!

Your project notebook is something that future scholars of your work will fight over. (OK, let’s dream about it, anyway . . .) They will see the very moment when you discovered your true theme. There will be a great big STAR by it. Also several exclamation points!!!

Scene list.

At the end of the writing day I briefly summarize what happened in the scenes I completed: clues dropped, foreshadowing, new characters introduced and whether they are second cousins once removed. The scene list is my main method for keeping track of where I am; it also allows me to pencil in the margins — next to the right scenes – notes for changes that become necessary as the story evolves. (No, not a half brother, second cousin once removed!!)

If you are rereading and rereading your last few chapters to get a run-up on your next scene, stop this now. Rereading causes revision blindness later, since you will be too familiar with the material. Read your scene list instead. That tells you exactly what you wrote yesterday and the day before. Every now and then the scene list gets so messy that I edit it and print a fresh version to muck up. To be picky (let’s) — the scene blurb should state POV and page number.  Thus: p. 73 (POV Titus).

Style sheet.

Here is where I record every character name, place, piece of technology, special terms and odd spelling. For my series, this file is quite large. If you don’t begin files like the style sheet and scene list within the first few chapters of your manuscript you will hate yourself. Keep the style sheet file open and faithfully update it as you write. It is an ugly task to go back and create it when you are deep into your novel.

A great big box.

Seriously. All the loose leaf things like newspaper articles, notes from conferences, letters from experts, style sheet, project notebook, scene list, plot chart (always 17 inches long, so it doesn’t fit in the notebook), everything that I use everyday goes in the (specially purchased) box. (If you can keep all your planning materials in a manila file folder, you are a minimalist, and I think I envy you.) At the end of workday, I sweep everything into the box. Clean office! When transferring my work station outside, a full cup of coffee goes in as well.

For especially complicated projects like altnernate history or big milieu fantasy or science fiction…

 … use a three ring binder.

The binder should have tabs for culture, language (phrases, insults, sayings, oaths), history, religion, technology, flora/fauna, publications/books, politics, dress, military terms, and rules of magic or science research points.

Is it worth it?

If you feel a teensy bit daunted, I dont blame you.

It takes a bit of work to set up these tracking and organizational devices, but oh, the frustration saved! How is the pacing? Is enough happening? (Check out your scene list.) Where have I dropped clues on Meena’s true identity? (Scene list.) Where is Meena from? Islamabad. (Style sheet.) What again is my theme? (Notebook with big STAR by it.) How do you swear in Victorian England? (Three ring binder.) Where is my coffee cup? (Great big box.)

There you have it, your organizational tools for writing the novel. They will keep you on track, calm your nerves and save your ass. Now all you need to do is . . . listen to Larry Brooks. And write, write, write.

Kay Kenyon’s latest work is a science fiction series with a fantasy feel. The lead title, Bright of the Sky, was one of Publishers Weekly’s top books of 2007. The series has twice been shortlisted for the American Library Association Reading List awards. Rounding out the quartet are A World Too Near, City Without End and Prince of Storms. They are available in trade paper, Audible.com and Kindle editions. At her website, Writing the World, she regularly blogs on writing fiction.

A Guest Post by Kay Kenyon: How to Keep Track of a Novel is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

I’m happy to host Josh Hanagarne here on Storyfix, and not just because he posted a guest article from me earlier this week.  Frankly, mine was a fluff piece offered in good fun, while his is a gift of perspective we would all be wise to absorb.  This guy has it figured out — combine an expertise that he gives away freely, delivered with wit and personality, all the while extending those ridiculously long arms to the world for a big hug in the process.

Read and learn.

For me, By Me: The Secret To A Writing Success That Still Baffles Me Every Day And May Eventually Blow Up In My Face

By Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian

“Josh, I read every book review you write, even though I don’t like to read.  And I read all of your strength and fitness stuff too, although I hate to exercise and don’t have any plans on starting.  Keep it coming.”

This was an email I received, a comment on my blog when the little tyke was two months old.  I was pretty freaking flabbergasted, but intrigued enough to ask this person what they meant by that.

“Oh, I don’t read your stuff because of what it says, I read it because you write it.” 

Just so you know, this person was not my mother or wife, and I didn’t pay them to say it.  I’m decidedly unattractive and nobody had any reason to say this to gain my favor. But who cares? If you’re a writer, you probably enjoy compliments.  I certainly do. I pretend I don’t love it, but nobody knows the power of a little encouragement going a long way better than a writer or a wannabe writer. 

But I did want to investigate what was behind this person’s praise and not just let it carry me away to La La Land.  I can’t spend all of my time there.  

So here’s what I know.

Fact

I love to write. 

I love to write even when I hate it.  Even when it hurts.  Sometimes especially when it hurts.  Even when it feels like pulling teeth.  And if that’s too cliché for you, how about even when it hurts like pulling teeth out of my eyeballs? I sit here and I stare at this stupid blinking cursor and I start pounding away, just so it will disappear for a few seconds.  And then, once I get going, I love it again.

Fact

I love to read.  And there is nothing I love to read more than a book where I can tell the author had a blast writing it.  Read one paragraph of any Tom Robbins book.  Love it or hate it, I defy you to tell me that Tom did not enjoy writing that paragraph.  I can feel it in every page, sentence, word, and punctuation mark 

When I ask myself why someone would enjoy my writing, regardless of the content—and please, I am not comparing myself to Tom Robbins—that’s what I come up with: I love to write and I suspect that it shows.

Born to write?

Nope, not me. I always loved telling stories, but writing them down had very little appeal for me. That is, until I had to give up my voice for three years. As an experimental treatment for what was becoming an unholy, unmanageable case of Tourette’s Syndrome.  Long story short, I got botox injections in my vocal cords.  I could no longer scream, so I could be out in public again, but I couldn’t really talk either. I could whisper a bit, but not even loudly enough to talk on the phone.

Every five weeks for three years, I got those stupid injections. And it didn’t take long before my inability to tell stories began to eat at me. It was eroding something very fundamental to this big goofy person.

So I started to keep journals. I found that writing was not only a welcome distraction from my symptoms, but a medicine that no joyless doctor was ever going to scratch out onto a prescription pad. 

Once the tics were more manageable and I was able to quit getting the injections, I needed the writing for different reasons. It was a healthy process that could not be separated from the person that I had become.

And at the time, I didn’t care that nobody ever read a word I wrote.

Enter The Blog

I started writing World’s Strongest Librarian for fun in April of 2009.  For me, by me. Every day I just tried to write something that would make me smile.  Not make me money, but just make me smile. I figured nobody would ever find me. The web had other plans.  Traffic rolled in and never rolled back out. This has resulted in lots of attention, some money, lots of friends and business opportunities, and the most wonderful literary agent in the world. 

In short, for better or worse, I feel like everything good that is happening is happening because I am being myself. I also get a lot of hate mail, which also convinced me that I’m being myself. But most of the feedback is positive. This confuses, bemuses, and amuses me all at once. I do what I like and that won’t change. That other people enjoy it is a wonderful bi-product that is deliriously fun. But it’s never the focus.

For me, by me. I know myself well enough to know that if I didn’t keep my writing for, I wouldn’t keep it.

Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it. It’s too much work not to.

Get Stronger, Get Smarter, Live Better…Every Day

About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, kettlebells, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6’8”, old-time strongman training, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.

A Perspective on Why We Write… or Should Write: a Guest Post by The World’s Strongest Librarian is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

Now you’re confused. 

Cleavage is a great new website by Kelly Diels, a writer I recently mentioned as someone worth reading and getting to know.

Now you can.  What follows here is a guest blog from The One And Only Ms. Kelly Diels, one of the brightest new writers — she may argue how new she is, but she’s new to me — I’ve come across in a long time.  Check out Cleavage and see.

Quick note first: ARE YOU A ROMANCE WRITER?  I have an in-your-face guest blog up today on the Romance Writers of America: Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranomal Chapter website.

And now, enjoy Kelly Diels of Cleavage.

Voice.  The Beginning

by Kelly Diels

Voice. What else do you have?

Mechanics. Craft. Structure. Story. I’m not there yet.

But I do have a voice that gets attention. It might be a Jennifer Tilly voice – and oh, how I wish to identify with Jennifer Tilly - or the dulcet stammer of Elmer Fudd or the I-don’t-even-know-what-to-call it of Janice from Friends. Pray that it is not Janice from Friends.

How did I get that voice?

Online dating. You haven’t persuaded with hot copy until you’ve tried internet dating. I am the mistress of enchanting e-mails. It might be my super power but then you should see what I can do in a phone booth.

A few men into my online adventure, I thought: I better start a blog. This is too damn good to waste on these plentiful fish who are just gaping at my breasts, anyway. (No judgment. I’m pretty sure that’s why I’ve got ‘em.)

Even before the online baiting of wayward men, I understood voice. I roared out of bed and into English literature classes and proceeded to purr about Harlequin romances. If I was feeling particularly upscale, I’d quote a lil’ Margaret Atwood. Highbrow, I am not. Pop culture owns my ass.

So does poetry. Especially poetry that masquerades as prose. Even more so poetry that reaches into your chest to rake its dirty nails across your chalkboard heart and then stumbles off to bed for drunken sex with Japanese tourists.

I heart Charles Bukowski who proves that poetry will get an ugly guy laid. Well.

Historically, that’s why a lot of famous poets were men (that and institutionalized sexism). Ugly women can get sex any time (thanks, institutionalized sexism!) but unattractive men need to cultivate a talent or a bank account. (Replied the nymph to the shepherd.)

And then there’s Clark Blaise. I don’t know if he’s layable or not but his short stories screw with voice and point of view. His “Eyes” is disconcerting. You talk to your audience like this and as a reader you resist. You surrender. You become the story. Hello.

The second person is new but the convention itself is an old address. Think Clarissa. Jane Eyre. Dear Reader, I married him.

Possibly that’s the key to voice: you will only be heard if you talk to your people. Directly. If you talk at them, you’d better sing.

Chant like Muhammad Ali, who famously scatted ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’. Ali is an anomaly: he is so pretty that he didn’t need pretty words to be memorable.

And yet, here his words are, thirty years later. Serenading us.

That’s poetry. That’s voice. The sting, the slap, the sweet ‘n sour. The subway rumble disintegrating beneath a lingering high note.

Sometimes, when the fat lady sings, what you’re hearing is the beginning.

Cleavage: It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

Storyfix is proud to welcome Martha Alderson, a big-time plotting guru and legendary workshop facilitator.  Her book, Blockbuster Plots, is a must-read, and I’m happy to say, echos my own development model.  It’s amazing how so many of us are saying the same things but in different and empowering ways — you can never get enough solid mentoring on the fundmentals of storytelling.

Plotting Tips

by Martha Alderson

Most people consider plot as what happens in the story. But I take the definition two steps further. Plot is what happens to the character because of the dramatic action and what that means overall.

In other words, when the dramatic action changes the character at depth over time, the story becomes thematically significance. These three threads: Dramatic Action, Character Emotional Development and Thematic Significance, hold the core dynamic of plot.

Writers who are great at developing both the Character Emotional Development plotline and the Dramatic Action plotline are the lucky ones, because most writers are strong in one area or the other.

By filling in the Character Emotional Plot Profile, writers are able to quickly determine their strengths and weaknesses based on which areas they fill out in-depth and which ones are left sketchier.

Take the test for yourself.

Record your main character’s emotional developmental level on the Character Emotional Plot Profile below. Base your information on the emotional developmental level as the story begins – baseline data, if you will. (I also recommend that memoirists fill out the Character Emotional Development Profile indicating where you were it the beginning of your memoir and then again for where you were at the end of the memoir. This will give you a better understanding of what emotional elements you may want to track and plot throughout the duration of the memoir.)

The protagonist’s emotional development will deepen and expand in the middle of the project based on their reactions to the dramatic action. At the end of the story, the character’s emotional development will undergo actual changes as they struggle to emerge transformed at depth.

Also, the main character’s story goal may very likely change at the end of the beginning of the project, depending on what event catapults him or her into the heart of the story world (the middle portion of the project). But for our purposes here, just fill in the information as the character is at the beginning of the story.

Character Emotional Plot Profile

1) Protagonist’s overall story goal:

2) What stands in his/her way of achieving this goal:

3) What does he/she stand to lose, if not successful:

4) Flaw or greatest fault:

5) Greatest strength:

6) Hates:

7) Loves:

Fear:

9) Secret:

10) Dream

If you filled out 1-3 with ease, you likely are better at developing the Dramatic Action Plotline. If you filled in 4- 10 with ease, you likely are better at developing a Character Emotional Development plotline. If both the Dramatic Action and the Character Emotional Development plotlines come easy for you, again you are one of the lucky ones!

Without a firm understanding of points 1-3, you have no front story. The Dramatic Action plotline is what gets the reader turning the pages, without it there is no excitement on the page.

Without a firm understanding of points 4-10, you will be more likely to lose the readers interest, because readers read 70% for character.

Martha Alderson, M.A., is an international plot consultant to novelists, memoirists, and screenwriters, and the founder of the International Plot Writing Month, which is going on right now. Not too late to join in as we take a rough draft of your project and craft it into a satisfying story for readers and audiences.

Martha is the author of Blockbuster Plots – Pure & Simple and teaches plot workshops privately, at Learning Annex, and at writers’ conferences. She offers plot consultations to writers anywhere in the world. Writers receive a personalized Plot Planner for their individual project.

For more tips on scene and plot, please visit her website: www.blockbusterplots.com

blog: http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/plotwhisperer

To sign up for the free monthly eZine, Blockbuster Plots, full of plot tips, contests, resources and inspiration, go to: http://www.blockbusterplots.com/contact.html

Blockbuster Plots — A Guest Post by Martha Alderson is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

“What I Wish I Knew About Getting Published Before it Happened To Me.”

by Chelsea Cain

Author of the New York Times bestselling thrillers Heartsick, Sweetheart and Evil at Heart.

Travel with a corkscrew.  Otherwise you will end up having to buy one every time you want to take a bottle of wine back to the hotel room.

Never get photographed holding a glass of wine. The glass always looks askew, and you will look drunk.

When an agent/editor says they “don’t love it,” it means they hate it.

Every copy counts. You’d be amazed how few copies you have to sell to get on the bestseller list.

Don’t tell people you will read their manuscripts. You won’t, and then they’ll think you’re an asshole.

If there is a mistake in your book, readers will find it and they will mention it over and over again.

The Oregon State Bird is the Western Meadowlark.

Sometimes you will give readings, and no one will come. The resulting crushing despair will pass.

The best signing pen is the extra fine tip Sharpie. The regular tip Sharpie emits more fumes and will make you high after about a half hour.

Always ask people how they spell their names before you write an inscription, even if you are certain that there is only one way to spell “Pat.”

Protect your writing time at all costs. When you are published at a certain level, you will find that you have very little time to write, among all the events, social networking, interviews, book tours travel and endless online Q&As. Marketing is important, but only if you have a book to promote.

Get a really good accountant.

Make friends with booksellers, they are some of your most important allies.

No red wine before photo shoots – it stains your teeth.

Don’t put a heart on the cover of your book if you want lots of men to buy it.

On a related note, don’t put the word “heart” in the title of your book if you want lots of men to buy it.

If you have any say, go with trade paperback, as opposed to mass market.

When you start to panic because of a publishing issue, wait 24 hours before you send the frantic email to your agent/editor/publisher. This will save you having to write the second email where you apologize for the first.

People like it when you look like your author photo, so don’t go dying your hair platinum right after the book comes out.

Get a P.O. Box.

Few of your friends or family will ever truly understand exactly what you do. Tell people you are a nurse or a ballerina.

It is perfectly natural to hate your copy editor.

If you have to sign 1000 tip-in sheets, you probably want to do this over time rather than waiting until the night before.

Trust your translators. They are collaborators and they know their cultural markets way better than you do.

If you happen to know a language your book is translated into, never ever read it.
Some people like to see their names in books; some people do not.

Do not, under any circumstances, start checking your sales ranking on Amazon.
If you go to Book Expo America, wear really comfortable shoes. Even then, bring band-aids.

Sign stock anytime anyone asks you to.

Norwegians are awesome.

At some point you will be doing an event, and someone will bring you a used copy of your book to sign and you will open it only to find that you have already signed it to some dear friends who immediately unloaded it at the used books desk at Powell’s. Do not feed sad. It will make a funny story later.

To read reviews and buy Chelsea’s books, click on the titles shown on her by-line above.  You can access her website, http://www.chelseacain.com, here.

Guest Post: New York Times Bestselling Thriller Author Chelsea Cain is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

Putting the Tense in Narrative Tension

by Bill Johnson

Narrative tension is the inner tension characters in a novel feel about unresolved and unfulfilled events and needs. 

When characters in a story are blocked from gaining what they want, they experience narrative tension.  (Interesting to note, this is also the very essence of conflict in a story, which is what narrative tension is often called.)

When acting to gain something increases a character’s pain – because the story/storyteller increases the obstacles – a character in a story experiences increasing narrative tension.

And if done right, the reader experiences it, too.

In a nutshell, a storyteller creates a character that can’t refuse to act because of the cost of inaction (consequences of their decision, which drives plot, which ties back to character… thus demonstrating the full-circle linkage between all the key elements in a story), but there’s also a price to pay for taking action.

In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is a great example of narrative tension in play.  To act on his love for Juliet is to turn against his clan and family.  To not act on his feelings for Juliet is to violate his sense of what is important to him. But any action he takes increases his pain.

Notice how these consequences manifest within both an inner realm and the outer reality of his life.  Notice it carefully, because that’s what makes a character compelling and someone the reader can relate to.  Which is always a wonderful thing.

Romeo is a great character because he won’t allow even death to block him from being with Juliet.  As readers, we may not have ever felt that depth of love, but if we have a pulse, we’d like to.  Romeo delivers a vicarious emotional experience to the reader, and thus he’s an immortal character in literature.

A novel (or memoir) that lacks narrative tension fails to be compelling.  It can appear to be episodic; events happen, there’s an accumulation of details, but there’s no tension around to drive toward an outcome to these events. Characters act, but there’s no tension or drama generated around their actions.

If you’re looking for examples of this, that’s tough, because these stories don’t get published.

Merely suggesting tension for characters is only the first step in generating narrative tension.  The second step is to write about this tension in a way that it is transferred from a story’s characters to a story’s audience.

While a great plot can help hook an audience on finding out what will happen next, when an audience has internalized a story’s narrative tension, that audience needs to experience a story’s resolution and fulfillment for the relief of the tension created by the storyteller.

The greater the tension, the more compelling the novel.

Or put another, more experiential way… the greater that ultimate release of narrative tension, the more satisfying the story is to readers.

When I’ve worked with or talked with agents, a lack of narrative tension is their number one reason for rejecting novels.  Sometimes they call it by other names – shallow characters, weak story, etc. – but it always boils down to narrative tension.

If you can create a novel with a main character in a deep state of narrative tension, you’re on your way to creating a compelling story.  If you fail, you’re on your way to creating a dramatically inert account of someone’s life.  And, a rejection slip in your inbox.

For some new or struggling writers, learning the difference between these two paths often requires a conscious effort to understand the craft of storytelling. It means opening a book and perceiving how that author generates narrative tension from the opening lines.

That’s the challenge.  If it were easy, we’d all be publishing and going on book tours.  But it is a skill that, when understood and put into play in your stories, can take you to the next level.  And just maybe, that book tour.

It can be a difficult path, but it has the ultimate reward of turning ordinary writing into compelling, worthwhile and publishable storytelling.

Bill Johnson is a  writing instructor, mentor and coach, as well as a produced playwright, published essayist and has been a manuscript reader for literary agents.  His website and more about his book, A Story is a Promise , can be found at www.storyispromise.com.

You can order it from Amazon.com HERE.

He is also an active leader of the Willamette Writers, about which you can learn more HERE.

Next up — a guest post by New Times Bestselling thriller writer Chelsea Cain.

Guest Post: Writing Mentor and Character Champion Bill Johnson is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

Deb Caletti is a bestselling Young Adult novelist and National Book Award finalist for her 2004 novel, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart.  Her current book, The Secret Life of Prince Charming, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, one of several her work has received.  If you’d like to learn more about Deb (there’s much to learn, too), or if you’re just in the mood for a smile and an example of what positive energy looks like, go to her site, www.debcaletti.com.

When I first signed with my agent, I sat back and waited for the phone to ring. I was sure that the great news would come at any moment. (If you’re asking what great news, you’re definitely on the wrong site.) I thought the hard part was over. Four years and four more books later, I finally got that call. Now the hard part was really over, right?

What I wished I knew but didn’t then was that every part of this business is a long distance run. The writing of a book is, the selling of a book is, and the selling of another book is. Publishing isn’t a single destination you reach and once reached, where you get to stay. It’s not a royal post, with forever riches and glory and an embarrassing (but also sort of cool) velvet hat. It’s a job. Which means it is work. A lot of work. And it is an unstable job at that. Think less “royal” and more a retail job with bitchy customers where everyone’s always getting laid off. Or a day trader, at the complete financial and emotional mercy of your best guess at the whims of the market.

This is a tough business. I knew it was tough before I was published, but didn’t really know. I knew it the way you know an earthquake must be tough if you’ve only ever seen one on the news. In this business, you have to be very good, and you have to stay very good if you want to keep your job. It doesn’t let up unless you are Stephen King, and I’m quite sure “let up” is not even how he (one of the hardest working writers ever) would define his life. And “very good” is only part of the picture. You can mind that part of the store and still a hurricane can come, some plain bad luck that has nothing to do with your talent that wipes you out and sends you back to start. (Yes, I realize this is the second natural disaster mentioned in one paragraph.)

There are no magic keys that can make “it” happen or keep it happening. Knowing the right person will not, doing every P.R. stunt involving every technological device while wearing feathers and peddling a unicycle backwards will not. Your best bet is to remember your job, which is to write really good books and more really good books. This is very hard, and still no guarantee your next masterpiece sees print.

I usually try to tell the truth about all this – not to be discouraging, but so that writers can understand it all in a way that’s more honest than the “Ten Steps to Getting Published” and “P.R. Your Way to a Bestseller” articles of Writer’s Digest. (Not to knock Writer’s Digest. Just saying.) I think it’s important to know the truth and embrace it, if writing is who you are and what you have to do.

And if it’s who you are and what you have to do, all of this is just good information, anyway. It won’t deter you in the least. You’ll keep writing, even if it’s a constant uphill trek in the snow with a yak and all your worldly (or word-ly) possessions.

Visit Deb Caletti at her website, www.debcaletti.com.

A Guest Post From Deb Caletti: What I Wish I Knew About Getting Published Before It Happened To Me is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

April Henry is the author of eight mysteries for adults and teens, including the New York Times bestseller Face of Betrayal, co-written with Lis Wiehl.  Next year will see the release of her second in the series, Hand of Fate, as well as Girl, Stolen, a stand-alone teen thriller that will be the lead title from Henry Holt, the YA division of Macmillan.

April lives in Portland, Oregon and, in addition to workshop appearances, contributes articles to Writers Digest and other periodicals. 

Things You Should Do After You Sign the Contract – But Before Your Book Is Published

Contributed exclusively to Storyfix.com by April Henry

If you are being published by one of the bigger houses, you will probably get a publicist assigned to three months before the book comes out. This person will be 22 and sharing a two-bedroom apartment in Yonkers with five people because she makes close to minimum wage.  Your job will be to supplement what she does. Following are what I wish I had known when I was a first-time author.

• Register your domain name NOW. Five days before I tried, some other April Henry took .com, .net and .org. Even if you don’t have a web site for a while, you will have it registered for when you do put one up. (Mine is AprilHenryMysteries.com.)

• Don’t rely on your publisher to get you “blurbs” – nice quotes from published authors about the book. Find out the deadline for the catalog that goes to booksellers, and the later deadline for the jacket is. With my first thriller, I didn’t personally know any thriller authors to ask for blurbs. I e-mailed several at their Web sites. I kept my request light and funny. Six of the seven I contacted said I could at least send a manuscript, and three came through.

• Ask if you can proof the copy about your book in the bookseller’s catalog and the copy on the dust jacket. These are often written by someone fairly low on the totem pole, and it’s not unusual to find errors, spoilers, and odd turns of phrase.

• Ask if you can have extra galleys for your local bookstores. Then hand deliver them.

• Start keeping track of the book reviewers for papers in your area. Share their names and addresses with your publicist.

• Take your time to fill out the author’s questionnaire. With luck, they’ll really use it.  Point out if there are special interest groups who would have an interest in your book.  Does your book have a topical hook that will allow you to be an “expert” on something?

• Gather names and addresses of groups or publications that might be interested in your book, such as alumni or professional publications. I got a notice in my college alumni magazine. Submitted articles about myself – all ran – to three professional groups I’m a member of. Made sure I got written up by the writers’ group I belong to – they love success stories. Since my first series involved license plates, I pitched the idea of covering it to a national publication that goes out to all the state DMVs- and they bit.

• Your hometown paper may be interesting in doing a story on local girl makes good.

• It’s unusual for a first-time author to get a book tour. But you may be able to use your publisher’s travel agent – and their very substantial discounts – if you do strictly book-related travel.  Thanks to the HarperCollins travel department, I flew from Portland, Oregon, to Washington, DC, for the Malice Domestic conference for about one-half the price of the lowest listed fare.

• And after your book is out, send thank you letters. Bookstores tell me it’s rare that they get after a signing. For exceptional service, find out the name of the person’s boss and send the thank you to them. Not only is it right and polite to thank people – but it may well result in better service down the line.

Readings

• Start going to readings now. What makes each one succeed – or fail? What makes the audience laugh or ask questions? What makes people look at their watches?

• Choose a passage to read that can stand on its on, and can be read in 5 to 10 minutes. Oftn it’s the first chapter. Don’t do what one author did. When the bookstore told him he should allow about 45 minutes for his talk, he said, “Great! I have one passage that takes 45 minutes to read.” He ignored all hints that this was too long a stretch for even the most devoted audience.

• People who attend aren’t there solely to hear you read. They want to hear about how you came to write the book, and your experiences as a published author.

• A week before the event, call the bookstore to make sure it has your books on-hand. This is especially important if it is a chain or one that does a lot of signings.

• Bring treats to the bookstore – for the staff. Have a little note, “Compliments of So and So” so that they will think of you fondly in the break room.

• Even if your reading is sparsely attended, remember, you are there primarily to make friends with the booksellers. They will be there, recommending books to customers, long after your signing is over.

• To double your audience, think about teaming up with another author who writes in a similar vein.

To learn more about April Henry, visit her blog at http://aprilhenry.livejournal.com, or visit www.aprilhenrymysteries.com.

Introducing New York Times Bestselling Author April Henry is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

(NOTE: see the post that follows this one for a pre-release special offer on Larry’s new ebook, Story Structure – Demystified.)

And now, a special treat…

This is the first of a series of posts from published authors I’ve invited to contribute to Storyfix, on the subject of “what I wish I knew about getting published before it happened to me.” Coming soon are authors such as Phil Margolin, Lisa Jackson, Chelsea Cain, April Henry, Deb Caletti and others.

Jennie Shortridge …

… is the author of four delightful novels, including WHEN SHE FLEW, just published to glowing reviews.  She also teaches writing workshops and is pretty much the center of attention in whatever crowd surrounds her.  She was recently profiled by critic Jeff Baker in the Sunday Oregonian on the release of her new novel. 

Three Things I Wish I Knew About Getting Published Before it Happened To Me

By Jennie Shortridge

1. You aren’t just writing for yourself. When my first book came out I was surprised to find I actually had readers who didn’t know me. They invested time, money, and emotion in reading what I was writing. I realized I had a responsibility to those readers, to write the best damn book I could, to get the details right, to nail the emotional truth, to give them their money’s worth. I love writing for readers, now. It keeps me honest, it keeps me learning, and it keeps me humble and grateful.

2. Writing the book is just one part of the job. And it becomes a smaller and smaller part. If you want your book to succeed, you are its best advocate in the marketplace, and you must do all you can to get it in front of all those who will help you achieve your goals: your publisher’s sales force, booksellers, librarians, book groups, and most importantly, readers. Not just any readers, but your readers. Know who they are. Go to them, whether at tradeshows, book fairs, readings, or online. Make a positive impression and create relationships. Over and over again.

3. Getting a book published doesn’t change your life. Not the way you think it will, anyway. One might imagine that getting a book published would mean you’d finally made it, that the rest of your life would be a fairy tale of New York cocktail parties and people recognizing you in airports. So far—for me—not so much.

In reality, getting a book published means you must now worry that it will sell well enough that the publisher will publish book two, then three. It means you must now write book two and three in a much shorter time frame than you ever thought possible.

People who know you may be impressed, you may receive the external validation you crave, but you won’t feel satisfied. You will want to write an even better book, that sells better, gets better reviews, stays on the shelves longer than six weeks, has great numbers on Amazon, ad infinitum.

Achieving that first goal of publication simply leads to desiring a new set of things, and you will still be yourself, sitting where you’ve always sat to write, wondering if you’ll ever get another book published. Knowing why you want to write in the first place, however, helps then you can recognize when you achieve the small but important milestones: a fan letter, four copies of your book on the local indie’s shelf, a father who carries a review in his wallet so he can show everyone he knows.

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Jennie Shortridge’s fourth novel, When She Flew, was inspired by the true story of a war vet raising his young daughter in the Oregon woods. She lives and writes from the side of a steep hill in Seattle, where she is co-founder of the Seattle7Writers.org. Learn more about her books at http://jennieshortridge.com.

Noted Author Series: Jennie Shortridge is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com