I.      “How To” Book Approach

 

  1. Literary Approach
    1. Definition: Literary works are primarily distinguishable from other pieces of writing by their creative or artistic intent.  The ideal end of the piece of literature, whether it also imparts knowledge or not, is to yield aesthetic satisfaction by the manner of which it handles its theme.
    2. Emphasis: Focus on grammar, style, voice, and the art of language.
    3. Methods: Learning how to write a novel can be exceptionally hard. First, you have to learn the basics, and then you have to practice….and practice…and practice to refine your skill. When you have full command of the written word, you will be ready to begin what could be a successful novel.
  2. Story Construction Approach
    1. Definition: Writing popular fiction following a methodical and structured approach that breaks a novel, and the act of writing, into interconnected component parts.
    2. Focus on:

a.       Setting

b.      Characterization

c.       Dialogue

d.      Description

e.       Plot

f.        Point of View

g.       Scene

h.       Pace

    1. Methods: Step-by-step plans, including flexible time lines, chapter grids, storyboarding, and other techniques. Using voice and dialogue to carry forward plot and deepen the reader's understanding. How the narrative arc of the story unifies themes of change and growth. Mastering economy of words, authentic voice. Creating believable characters and settings, and a compelling confluence of plot, conflict, and dramatic climaxes resulting in a sense of unity and purpose.
  1. Story Telling (in the middle)
    1. Definition:  (Dictionary)

a.       An account or a recital of an event or a series of events, either true or fictitious.

b.      A usually fictional prose or verse narrative intended to interest or amuse the hearer or reader; a tale.

    1. Focus: On the story rather than novel structure and writing. As if you were preparing an oral story.
    2. Methods:

a.       Write one good sentence.

b.      Write another good sentence.

c.       Repeat #2 until you get to the end.

d.      Stop.

  1. Comparison
    1. One side – Literary & the dangling participle.
    2. Other side – Formulas about plot, POV, structure, scene.
    3. Middle and overlooked -How to tell a story.
    4. Compare Story vs. Book [Story or Book Handout]

 

II.      How to start: The “New Beginning” whether you have already started your novel or not.

 

A.     Why are you writing?

1.      Fun?

2.      Hobby?

3.      To get published?

B.     Let’s get published - Investigate

1.      Some typical publisher imprints

2.      Their typical book length

3.      Their typical chapter length

4.      Study and conclude: 90-100k words, chapters are about 6 pages long. Keep that in mind.

C.     Work on your idea.

1.      What is it?

2.      Is it new, fresh, and creative? How is it different? [“The Exam” Handout]

3.      How it will fit in with the other works of the places I’d like to sell it to.

D.    Begin writing now: An Overview. [A Routine to Learn & Grow Handout]

1.      Incorporate later all the “how to book” advice.

2.      Build characters and worlds as you go.

3.      Take a break at about chapter three.

III.      Topic List

 

  1. Starting with a story

1.      First come up with idea for the story.

2.      Instead of warming up and finding hook at chapter three, you can think about what would be an interesting way to start the book. What is it that would be really interesting? Don’t worry about righting it well, or if it’s a prologue, or first chapter. Too often you want to start at a spot, but decide you need to give background. That’s the same of saying I have five pages of boring stuff to stick in front. It’s still boring.

3.      Better chance of success starting with what’s interesting then tackle the problem of how to move to the next scene and beginning working in the other “stuff

4.      Also you have more questions about how to fit the rest around it, like who she is, how she got in this situation, etc. Think about it. That’s the kind of question your readers will have and the type that will keep their interest.

5.      Myth: You need a plan, an outline, character profiles, plot line all worked out.

6.      Think up an interesting scene to start with (5 page rule)

7.      Figure out how to fill the story in from that. Then start at the interesting point. It might not be the real start of the story, but needs to be a hook. Then go to a prologue, flashback or whatever to fill in what you need to build from. Rules are guides. Making an outline versus creating as you go.

8.      Like a road trip to California. If you map it out, you can’t take a detour to explore something interesting that you discover along the way. If you set 6 months as your goal and south as your route, you would have a lot of flexibility yet a general sense of time and direction.

  1. Challenge to be different.

1.      Bump head and wake up in another point in time, future or past

2.      If you do it, how are you different?

3.      Difference must be on the first page not page 5 or you get, “Oh. Another one of these.”

4.      Writing anything is better than not writing something perfect.

5.      How to tell a story is the key.

6.      The difference is in the method.

a.       Oral or written. Oral advantage = theatrics or personality or body language can set a mood

b.      You can hold interest by how you tell the story

c.       You can use physical props.

d.      You can adjust your “telling” to the audience reaction.

e.       Using written words, we need do to the same with text.

f.        The better the story the more forgiving the reader.

g.       The greater the appeal, the better the chance of being published

  1. Some Advice
    1. Keep descriptions brief
    2. Combine scenes. For example if a dinner and a fight make it a fight at dinner.
    3. Cut the fluff
    4. Leave out the parts that readers skip.
    5. If you hear (read) advice that says

a.       “This is what readers want or don’t want” – ignore it.

b.      This is what publishers want or don’t want – ignore it.

c.       Good stories have a life of their own. They don’t start that way but quickly take over.

    1. Write what you like.

 

  1. POV [Expression of Viewpoint Handout]
    1. Myths about point of view.
    2. First person or other POV advice – ignore
    3. Do consider hat POV makes a better story, a more interesting character, etc.
    4. Don’t pick a POV because an advice book told you to or because you think that’s what an editor or publisher wants.
    5. Do listen to reader suggestions and criticisms. If they suggest a POV change, maybe you should listen. It’s all about making the story more interesting or easier to get into or to read.
    6. Be a storyteller first and a writer second.
  2. Setting: Developing a setting.
    1. Like the stage and its props for a stage production.
    2. Flesh it out but don’t over do and make it a focus
    3. Incorporate it into the story, don’t “dump it.”
  3. World Building
    1. World building – plausibility. How far can a horse travel or a ship sail in a day
    2. Technology for the sake of technology. You do need to do research. Hay bales weren’t invented until?
    3. World building. Like going to Bayport, you know what to expect. Go to the Amazon and don’t research it first. Lots of emotion and excitement from the unknown. If you build it first you could have constraints. You’re in a desert. You need to move to a mountain in three days. But you build a desert, prairie and grassland an ocean and then the mountains. Don’t constrain yourself.
  4. Plot
    1. Writing chapters out of sequence. A nightmare when you try to piece it together. Follow a linear time line.
    2. If you aren’t offering a reader a lot of action you must offer him or her something else instead.
    3. Keep your characters ignorant. You know what or how a scene will end, but don’t let the character know as they are going through the scene.
    4. Page turners

a.       Memorable characters

b.      Raise the stakes

1)      Insurmountable odds

2)      Time deadline

3)      End chapters with a cliff hanger

c.       Crank up the tension in small ways. If a character is driving, make it in a blinding rainstorm, at night, on an isolated highway

    1. Watch for purple prose and mcguffins
  1. Hooks
    1. You must have a hook at the beginning of your story.
    2. Rule of 5: Five lines, five paragraphs, five pages, five chapters.
  2. Prologues
    1. Some reader like them, some don’t.
    2. If they are boring, no one reads them. If they are exciting, why not just make them chapter one.
    3. Consider working “back story” into the actual story.
  3. Character descriptions [Character Chart Handout]
    1. Character profiles. Start with those you need.
    2. If fully developed, don’t cast them in stone. They will change and grow in your story (or should).
    3. Think about who the main character is at the start and how they will change by the end.  For example gain confidence, get a conscience or find self esteem. Showing character through action.
    4. The importance of habits, gestures, posture.
    5. Revealing character through reactions of other characters.
    6. Differentiating your characters. Listen and look at how people talk. Not just the sound of their vice but the way they speak.
    7. Don’t have a generic voice. More real in your head, the easier it its to make real.
    8. If you use speech quirks, write them down or remember them to stay consistent.
    9. Blond hair that becomes brunette. Jimmy became Johnny. A found object that never gets used.
    10. An annoying speech pattern will annoy your readers as much as your characters.
  4. General description and setting
    1. Avoid info-dumps.
    2. Don’t us a paragraph to describe an old apartment, describing all the furniture, lamps, wallpaper, etc. Say it with pictures – It had the faded colors and smell of age and found in old apartments.” Let the reader’s imagination fill thing in. It will be more vivid, real and personal.
    3. Describing characters is a tough one. Don’t use big dumps. Don’t use mirror or running fingers through red hair. Sometimes general is better. She twisted sideways to fit through the door. Even then she had to hold in her breath. Dumps
    4. A long speech from character is not a way around a narrative dump. Don’t try it.
    5. Long winded characters. Don’t bore your characters listening to him and bore your readers in the same way.
    6. Use summary narration
    7. Setting dumps – use rule of three. If something is not part of the story, leave it out.
    8. One third of reviewers will say you have the  right amount of detail, one third will say you have too little and one third will say it’s just right
  5. The Literary Stuff
    1. An etymology dictionary, regular dictionary and thesaurus are great tools.
    2. Get rid of adjectives and adverbs. Picking the right word.
    3. Passive or active voice (be, was)
    4. Passive sentences (literary – the awards were given.)
    5. Tightening things up.

a.       Things in threes

b.      Should something be there or not

c.       The right word goes farther than several words.

  1. Showing versus telling
    1. Show what happens, don’t simply tell.
    2. Example: “Where have you been?” Mary asked with anger in her voice. “Where have you been?” Mary asked and slammed the book on the table.
  2. Narrative – half the balance
    1. Developing a strong style suitable for your story.
    2. Finding your own voice. The elements of style.
    3. Avoiding the phony archaic manner and other common pitfalls in fantastic writing.
    4. Writing clear, concise prose and powerful description
  3. Dialogue – the other half
    1. Visuals in dialogue.
    2. Body language.
    3. If you overhear a conversation in a coffee shop, you peek at the speakers.
    4. Use:

a.       “said” liberally

b.      stated” less often

c.       “shouted, agreed, etc., only when appropriate.

    1. … is to trail off
    2. is to interrupt.
  1. Dialect:
    1. Dialect should be easy on the eye
    2. Don’t use it just to be clever.
  2. Pace:
    1. Focus on the story and keep readers wondering what’s going to happen next.
    2. Story telling model. A good story teller knows when to slow down, speed up, when to talk loud and soft and varies the pace based on audience feedback to captivate.
    3. You must do it with words and sentence structure as a writer.
  3. Mood:
    1. Like sitting around a campfire.
    2. Create and change moods with your writing.
    3. For drama, moods can crash. The happy person who walks into a funeral.
  4. Style
    1. Style is simply the characteristics you use that make you different in your writing. Don’t worry about style any more than worrying about who you are. 

 

IV.      Reviewing and Editing [Self Edit Handout]

 

  1. You’ll never be satisfied.
  2. Let it sit.
  3. Get help with proofing.
  4. Copy editing versus story editing (Red pencil vs. blue).

 

 V.      Resources and Critique Groups

 

  1. General

1.      A review I received about a pre-gunpowder society and told the teens needed to be more irreverent and sassy.

2.      Rather have the opinion of one reader than 100 writers

3.      Grow a thick skin.

4.      “The Three Bears,” Too much, too little, just right.

  1. Critique Groups
  2. Self critique [Self Editing Handout]
  3. Workshops: OWW and Others, online or face-to-face.
  4. Other resources

  

VI.      Submissions [Submission Killers Handout]

 

  1. 195000 New titles in 2003
  2. Being Picky about the wrong things.

1.      Font choice: Don’t care as much what the font is as long as it’s readable. Won’t reject you for using the wrong font. Courier is still the best choice or Times New Roman. The reasons; I you have to read manuscripts all day, it’s hard on your eyes. Courier is eye-easy.

2.      Don’t get fancy with smiley faces or gimmicks. Be professional.

3.      Don’t use gimmicks. Would be like showing up for an interview in a clown suit.

4.      Don’t use clips staples, etc.

5.      Heavy paper is better, but never use anything but black text and white paper.

6.      Your two goals are to look professional and make the editor’s life easy.

7.      Use my rejection letter about getting a thesaurus

  1. Networking:

1.      Grow a thick skin

2.      Don’t carry your manuscript around with you to a conference

3.      Do have a pitch description

4.      Getting an invite or referral just moves you to the top of the slush pile

5.      Like a resume to get the interview, cover letter. Same thing to have them request a manuscript.

6.      Wouldn’t have typos in your resume, so not in your query or other submission items

7.      It really is like applying for a job because you want a job as a writer.

8.      Put your emphasis on a quality package and presentation.

  1. Writers Beware: Money flows to the author.
  2. What are they?

1.      Small press

2.      Vanity press

3.      POD

4.      self publish

5.      university

6.      local

7.      national

8.      regional

9.      imprint

  1. Tips:

1.      Being published as a short story writer doesn’t help you with novels and vice versa.

2.      Talk sales and marketing. How will you make money. Not – the greatest thing since sliced bread.

a.       How does it fit the market

b.      How it is different

c.       How you will promote it

d.      Your marketing plan

e.       It’s all about the marketing