Category Archives: Best Practices

Written by Lara | Category: Best Practices, Character DevelopmentNo comments

One of the best pieces of writing advice I ever got came in the form of an explanation for writer’s block.

“I kept trying to make my characters do things they didn’t want to do,” my writer friend said. “So my story was stuck.”

This idea was very recently on my mind when I was quagmired in a scene that just wouldn’t go anywhere. I had two “frienemies” who needed to communicate with one another, but the writing just wasn’t gelling.

And then I wondered if it was because I was forcing my characters to act in ways that just weren’t … them. My smart, cynical protagonist, for example, was too easily getting on the phone with her former bestie. Why would my protagonist pick up the phone and dial this girl who had hurt her so much? When I went back and gave the situation more thought, I realized I needed more urgency in the scene so there’s a reason for the protagonist to contact her ex pal. With that one small tweak, the scene started flowing more easily.

If you’re experiencing writer’s block, one reason may be because you’re strong-arming your characters into behaving in ways that aren’t compatible with their personalities. It’s worth going back to the scene that’s giving you trouble and making sure the character actions gel with the character traits.

[Image source: Russell Pollard]

 

The Practice Novel

15
Nov
2011
Written by Lara | Category: Best Practices, Don't Give UpOne comment

Before DONUT DAYS or any of my other novels, I’d penned a manuscript called THE DISAPPEARED. The premise is that a Brittney Spears-like protagonist decides to give up her in-the-spotlight life and fake her death, in order to “retire” to a desert island. There are loads of other “dead” celebrities on the same island as well — Kurt Cobain, Elvis, and even JFK.

The problem is, the island has a seedy underbelly and when the main character decides that maybe this isn’t the life for her, things turn dangerous. And if she dies on the island — well, how would anyone know she was murdered since she’s already dead? A decent setup to be sure, and in fact I think I’ve heard about a couple books and films with a similar premise. But — and this is a big but — the story just didn’t gel. My writing, plotting, and pacing weren’t bringing this potentially great tale to life. It would up being flat, without high enough stakes or a very likable main character.

I wound up shelving it. It’s in a box somewhere in a closet, collecting dust, which is exactly where it should be. That might sound a little nuts since — after all — I have an agent now and a plot like that could be re-worked and re-visited. Right?

Wrong. At least not in this case. THE DISAPPEARED was, for me, a practice novel. The book I needed to write so I could put it out there and get feedback about the fundamental ways in which my writing fell short. A lot of people read this book. And a lot of people had feedback, much of which was hard to hear. But after THE DISAPPEARED, I applied much of that feedback to writing DONUT DAYS. And that book got me an agent and a contract.

The moral of the story here is to not despair if you write a novel that just doesn’t quite … click. It doesn’t mean your effort was in vain. Most writers have a practice novel they can point to and say, “I had to write that so I could write the book that actually sold.” Successful writers often open themselves to feedback on their practice novels, then put all that they’ve learned into the next manuscript.

Do you agree? Do you have a practice novel, or do you believe in sticking with your first project until it sells?

[Image source: Ehow.com]

 

 

Written by Lara | Category: Best Practices, Don't Give Up4 comments

The other evening at dinner, a friend mentioned Roy Baumeister’s new book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. The premise of the book says that willpower is a finite resource: you can deplete it by over-using it, but you can also build it up through certain “exercises” as well as smart diet and plenty of sleep.

This notion that willpower is a finite resource got me thinking about writing, and how hard it is sometimes to overcome writer’s block. How some days, it’s all I can do to look at my laptop, much less open it up and keep pounding away at my manuscript.

Certainly writing takes willpower. And, yes, it takes creativity and smarts and a whole lot of other stuff too. But willpower wise, writing a book is up there. Finishing a novel is an exercise in discipline: sitting your butt in the chair over and over again, working away until you have a completed project — it’s not for the faint of heart. So when the going gets tough and the words just aren’t coming, it might help to think about where your willpower might have been depleted, thereby putting a strain on your prose.

Did you start a new diet? Are you exercising more than usual? Those are two things that require ample amounts of willpower!

How about you moms out there? I bet raising a family and making sure their needs are met — usually before yours are — drains your stores of willpower right quick.

For those of you who work a fulltime job, it can take bucketloads of willpower to keep your head in the game for eight hours every day, five days each week. It can be a true challenge to come home and write after that.

While I haven’t read Baumeister’s book, I know the premise says that willpower reserves can be built up, and that there are ways for conserving it in critical situations, too. Which is great. But even if you don’t read the book, just remember: If you feel too tired to write, or the words just aren’t coming, instead of beating yourself up about it, try instead to examine all the ways your willpower may have been depleted before you sat down to work on your novel. I’m sure many of you have added “write a book” to lives that are already overflowing with activities and goals. So if the process isn’t always a smooth one, that’s okay. It just means that you might write better on a day you didn’t run six miles and give a presentation at work.

[Image source: EurekaAlert.org; credit: Florida State University]

Written by Lara | Category: Best PracticesOne comment

Perhaps you’re an indie author looking for an amazing cover, or perhaps you’re a traditionally published writer who needs exactly the right image to explain something in your book. Whatever the situation, if you’re in need of an image to complement your prose, here are some strategies for acquiring the perfect pic:

Use a stock photo. Sites like Shutterstock and iStockphoto can give you access to a plethora of images for a reasonable price. Some sites like iStockphoto work on credit packages, so you may need to purchase credits to get your image. But don’t worry, they explain how to buy credits right on the site.

Put aside a little cash to get a truly great image. Between $50 and $100 is a standard stock photo price. Depending on your needs and if you’re working with a designer, you may need to purchase an image and then send it to a third party for them to design around/modify. Some places, though, will design a cover for you for a flat fee and you don’t have to go through the hassle of purchasing a stock photo. If you simply google “book cover designer,” myriad options will pop up.

Sometimes, you can get art or images for free. Here are the circumstances under which that might happen:

  • You know someone who has created / will create art for you for free. And you get their permission to use it.
  • You can create your own art for free.
  • You use an image that is in the public domain and you get permission to use it.

Just remember: Don’t expect to be able to take an image off the web and use it as a cover image or in your book as art. It might be free, but it’s doubtful it will be the right resolution, not to mention it’s someone else’s image and you’re not obtaining it correctly – i.e. without permission.

Disclaimer: Many of the pictures I use for my posts I grab off the web and credit to the site where I found it. This is not considered getting permission, and I do this knowing I may be asked to pull down a photo that I’ve used. This is a risk I undertake willingly. If you opt to do the same thing, fine, but just remember that it’s a lot harder to delete a book cover than it is a photo on a blog post.

[Image credit: MoistWorks.com]

Written by Lara | Category: Best Practices2 comments

I meet a lot of people who tell me they are writers. This is awesome!

Sometimes, said writers want to tell me their book ideas. In exhaustive detail. Which is slightly less awesome because it gets kind of … long winded. Okay, really long winded. Why? Because they don’t have a log line, a one-sentence synopsis of their work. Which means usually their book explanation goes something along the lines of this:

Author: My book is about a girl who hunts sharks. On a desert island. With one hand. It’s called One-handed Shark Hunter.

Lara: That sounds really exciting! [Turns to go get a coffee.]

Author: Except, there’s this part in the book where a plane-load of football players crashes on the island and they become wild really fast, and before shark girl knows it, she’s being hunted like a  boar through the underbrush by a really hungry Aaron Rodgers.

Lara: [Puts ideas of coffee on hold] Oh. Well. That certainly complicates things.

Author: Yes! And it only gets worse. You see, there’s this one place on the island where no one is supposed to go. Bodies were buried there thousands of years ago and it’s terribly haunted. But of course the one-handed shark hunter stumbles upon it when she’s running from Aaron Rodgers.

Lara: [Gazes longingly at espresso bar] This maybe sounds a little like Lost.

Author: Like what?

Lara: Nevermind. It’s great. I wish you all the best writing it. Thanks for sharing. [Starts out again for coffee]

Author: But I didn’t get to the part where the radioactive dynamite washes up on the shore and starts turning all the sting-rays into killer, man-eating, land-walking sting rays.

Lara: [Turns in disbelief] Land-walking sting rays?

Author: Yes. And it’s up to the one-handed shark hunter to save everyone because only SHE has the experience to do it.

Lara: But I thought she hunted sharks, not sting-rays?

Author: It’s a transferable skill.

Lara: Ah. I see. Well. Thank you for sharing. But I really should be going.

Author: Except, then —

Lara: Sorry. Must go. Bye. [Bolts for coffee. Does not look back.]

Don’t get me wrong. Sharing ideas is awesome. But condensing book ideas into a singe sentence?

That is priceless. And that’s also what’s called a log line.

For the Implosion of Aggie Winchester, I worked out my log line in a writers’ workshop. It wasn’t easy, but I came up with this:

In the Implosion of Aggie Winchester, a prom scandal forces a Goth girl to discover who she is underneath all the makeup.

This article from Daily Writing Tips has great insights on how to write a log line. In the article, they summarize Taxi Driver and Silence of the Lambs, which, while not books, are stories most of us are familiar with and consequently provide useful examples.

The super smart and insightful Donna Newton offers this post in which she explains the construction of a log line:

The format for a log line should be something close to this:

An ADJECTIVE NOUN (protagonist) must ACTIVE VERB the ANTAGONIST before  SOME REALLY HORRIBLE THING HAPPENS (stopping the protagonist from reaching her goal).

Log lines don’t have to follow that format exactly, but they do need to be punchy and engaging.

Got a log line? Share it in the comments, as I’d love to hear it!

Written by Lara | Category: Best PracticesNo comments

When I attended South by Southwest Interactive this year, one of the speakers I was most inspired by was Paul Rubens of Pee-wee fame. Paul talked at length about how, when he sat down to write the script for Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, he had no clue what he was doing. Writers block ensued. So he went out and bought the equivalent of the Idiot’s Guide to Screenwriting, and followed the step-by-step instructions for crafting what Joseph Campbell calls the hero’s journey. The essentials were:

- Script should be 90 pages.

- 30 pages in, hero loses something (in this case a bike)

- 60 pages in, hero finds what he/she has lost

- By page 90, hero realizes that what they sought isn’t entirely what they needed. Fin.

Paul said that because he stuck so closely to the prescribed formula, film schools actually teach Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in script-writing classes today. For the record, that little move grossed more than $40 million (in 1985!).

Formulas are formulas because they work. They can be repeated over and over with the same outcome. If you’re struggling with your writing, maybe try using a formula — you could also call it a template, I suppose — to see if it helps.

Formulas exist in romance, where the love interest is always introduced by page 5, and there’s always a crisis in the book where you think the two people who are destined to be together are star-crossed. There are formulas for mysteries, too, where clues have to be strategically dropped throughout the text, so the reader can have the “ah-ha!” moment right along with the character solving the case.

Formulas can provide a road map if you’re struggling with where your book should go — and how. You might not be writing a western or a romance or a mystery or even a movie script, but the basic plot and character arcs are outlined for those genres, and they might just give you insight on how to make your own manuscript work, too. I know I’ve used many of the rules for romance in my young-adult novels to help add tension and spice.

Also, if you aren’t familiar with Joseph Campbell’s hero insights, you can click on a summary here, though his book, Hero With a Thousand Faces, is well worth the investment.

Written by Lara | Category: Best Practices, Writing 1012 comments

Because the book market has tightened so much, book plots and characters have to stand out in fresh and new ways. If you want to be traditionally published, it’s not enough anymore to write about a clumsy girl who loves to shop. It’s not enough to write about a vampire that falls in love with a human. These stories need added depth and dimension. An additional layer, if you will. So, maybe the clumsy shopaholic is the vampire. (Then again, I see agents these days saying they’re automatically rejecting vampire or zombie manuscripts. In a word: overkill.)

On top of all that, you also need  to write the book you love and believe in, especially because it’s impossible to chase market trends. By the time you write that dystopian romance, the market will have moved on.

So how do you toe that fine line?

It’s critical that you conduct research and keep abreast of what’s taking place in the industry. Writers Digest is a great resource, both in its print form and with its various online classes and workshops. Publishers Marketplace showcases what’s being published and by whom. And remember to hit industry-insider blogs, like those of agent Kristen Nelson.

Be informed, but also remember to write the story you’re passionate about, too. It’s a delicate dance to be sure, but I believe it’s one that’s also absolutely doable.

Written by Lara | Category: Best Practices, Editing2 comments

If you’re anything like me, it’s probably hard for you to step away from your manuscript-in-progress. Hammering away at the problems in our books — from flat character arcs to plot holes to uneven pacing — is what we writers do. We can’t quit! We need to press on! Right?

Maybe not.

As writers, we need to give ourselves permission to step away from the creative process for a while. We need to relax and rejuvenate, and let our minds rest.

After all, just because you’re not actively working on a story doesn’t mean it’s not percolating away in your subconscious.

Think you need a break, but you still want to feel like you’re doing something to further your writing? Here are three activities to consider:

1.) Read. Pick up a book and dive into someone else’s story for a bit. It might give you inspiration for your own tale. It will hopefully be a model of good writing. Let someone else’s hard work get your own creative juices flowing again.

2.) Start writing something else entirely. No one’s saying you have to stop writing. Just stop writing the same thing. Start something else — a short story, a poem, or even a journal. Anything! But give your brain a break from the current manuscript.

3.) Watch TV. Oh my god, did I just say that? Look, it’s the golden age of television and there are shows out there that are exceptionally well-written. Mad Men, anyone? The Venture Brothers. The Wire. The first season of Veronica Mars. Battlestar Galactica. These are good, solid stories with fully fleshed-out characters and thoughtful plot arcs. Watch them, and learn. (If you have other shows you love and have inspired your writing, please leave them in the comments!)

We writers are a hard-working bunch of folk. But it’s okay to take a break. If you step back for a bit, you’ll see problems in your book anew and be able to solve them more effectively. And that’s a good thing indeed.

Written by Lara | Category: Best PracticesNo comments

You’re probably reading the title of this post and thinking, What? Every idea is NOT a good idea. Look at New Coke!

It’s true, New Coke was awful. So was The Last Airbender.

But that doesn’t mean Coke as a brand isn’t successful, or that M. Knight Shyamalan hasn’t kicked out a good film or two.

In terms of writing, not every book idea is going to be a winner. Last year, I pitched my agent at least two books that I pretty much had no business writing. She talked me out of them, thankfully, realizing they weren’t a good fit. But that doesn’t mean the creative exercise of thinking up book ideas, projects, and plots has to yield only successful outcomes. Not every idea will stick, but the bad ones might help pave the way for something that grabs on and doesn’t let go.

For example, Pixar comes up with countless movie ideas every year. Not every one will become Wall-E. So does that mean the stories that never made it out of the brainstorming room weren’t worthwhile? Nope. Just means they helped stimulate enough creativity so that the idea that was meant to be on the big screen could be realized.

The mere creative process of thinking up ideas — even bad ones — opens a person’s mind. I used to struggle generating book ideas. Now, I have a new one every day. What changed was my thinking. I opened myself up. I started seeing everything as a potential story, even if it wasn’t a fabulous one.

In the end, the mere act of generating and embracing a variety of concepts — good or bad, raw or polished — will yield more positive, creative results than trying to come up with one single, perfect idea.

Written by Lara | Category: Best Practices, Editing, Submissions4 comments

Rhonda Stapleton is the author of the Stupid Cupid trilogy and she also works as acquisitions editor for Carina Press. She sees lots of query letters and sample pages every week, and she has her finger on the pulse of what gets noticed in the industry, and why. Here, she gives us the inside scoop on what keeps many books buried in the slushpile, and how to avoid rookie mistakes.

Take it away, Rhonda!

Thanks for having me! I’ve got four tips for writers, which comprise the most common flubs I see in books, day in and day out. Correcting these things will go a long, long way to getting your story in front of editors and agents.

1.) Cliché characters. I see too many gay guys who are crazy flamboyant. I see too many crazy old ladies with cats. Writers need to think outside the box when they write their characters. It’s of course okay to have some stereotypical elements in your character, but go deeper. Look at their education, family, location, interests, careers. All these things will inform who your characters are. What’s more, writing cliche characters makes them unlikable in many instances. And we need to be able to relate to, and root for, the characters in a novel.

2.) Too much information all at once. We call this an “info drop” and it usually happens in the beginning of the novel. It’s way too much detail that we don’t need, and it succeeds in dragging the pacing and taking away all suspense. Writers forget that they don’t have to say everything at the outset. I trust you as the writer — and I believe you’ll drop in the pieces as I need them. You don’t have to front-load it all.

3.) Too many characters. Starting a story in the middle of exciting action is good, but it becomes an exercise in frustration if a.) I don’t quickly get a sense of what’s going on and b.) there are too many characters to keep track of. It’s great to have a large cast if that’s what the story calls for, but then the writer has to be extra careful to introduce them organically and at the right pace. Overwhelming the reader with people at the outset is never a good idea.

4.) Ho-hum voice. I see a lot of writing that’s clean and I suppose fine, but it’s not…enough. In order to grab me, the book needs to have an interesting voice, a character with flaws but also strengths. I need to see big stakes, something that really matters if the protagonist doesn’t succeed. People can and do over-edit their stories, taking out all the flair and all the exciting elements that keep us turning the pages.

Bonus tip! In your query, be sure to tell me why your story is different. How is your vampire different than all the other vampires? How is your romance different from every other love story on the shelves? Don’t bog the query down with extraneous information about people who aren’t the main character. Tell me about the conflict your protagonist will face, and how it’s different than everything else that’s out there.

Thanks, Rhonda! For more information about Rhonda, her books, and her thoughts about the world, check out her blog over here.

Subscribe to the Help for Writers Newsletter

Zero Spam Ever. Guaranteed.