Write Me A World: writing advice

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Conference Insights and My Fave New Releases

Hello again, fellow interwebbers! Can you believe summer is here already? Well...sort of. What have you been up to in recent weeks?

My YA steampunk is coming along nicely, and I had a chance to attend the Milwaukee Writing Workshop with Chuck Sambuchino and a panel of fantastic agents. (You can see who here).

One of the most interesting segments was the first-page panel, where Chuck read aloud a variety of first pages from the crowd, and the eight agents then raised their hands at the moment they'd personally stop reading.

We got through about 35 first pages, from a variety of genres, and got an inside glimpse of an agent's thought process while reading queries, feedback and reasons for stopping. I was impressed with the panel's professionalism, business savvy, and love for stories!

Chuck's final piece of advice for the day? "Put down the remote!" The room chuckled, but it's sadly true. Butt-in-chair time works for a reason, folks.

The conference netted lots of great take-aways, on everything from platform to publishing options. I captured some of the highlights for you below.

New Releases that Deserve a Place on Your Shelves!

In the last week, two books launched that should be on your radar and your TBR.

LION HEART, by A.C. Gaughen

The conclusion of Gaughen's Robin Hood trilogy, told from the colorful and delightful viewpoint of Scarlet/Marian. And if that's not enough convincing, read my reviews of SCARLET and LADY THIEF.

FLINTLOCK, by Ashley Nixon

I was lucky enough to read this one prior to publication, and I'm so excited it's out in the world for all of you now! I loved Ashley Nixon’s pirate fantasy, CUTLASS, and said I couldn’t wait to see where she took the series. Well, with the release of FLINTLOCK, the answer is: bigger, broader and even more fun! Catch my full review here.

What's on your summer reading list?

Silly Things Writers Panic Over


Oooooh, what am I gonna do?!

That our query alone among hundreds is the one that the email system has somehow mysteriously failed to deliver and it is now lost to the ether forever

To email or not to email that agent who was supposed to receive the perhaps-vanished-forever query

To email or not email an agent who’s a day late in his or her estimated response times

That some readers might mistakenly pronounce a word we MADE UP

The fact that, technically speaking, the title of this post should be Silly Things Over Which Writers Panic

Amazon rankings. Did anyone buy our book in the last hour…minute…second?!?! WHY NOT? REFRESH!!

Reviews…any, all, number, substance, you name it

That we've run out of a) chocolate, b) coffee, c) tea, d) [fill in the blank!]

Did that last edit save? Let’s save again, to be sure. Oh my gosh, we might lose EVERYTHING!! We did save it, didn’t we? Okay, just once more.

That another book (movie, TV show, one-woman play) in a totally different genre (format, universe) used the SAME NAME as our character’s cat (horse, best friend). Clearly, it must be changed THIS INSTANT!

What if someone misinterprets our meaning in line 3 of the fourth paragraph on page 315?! (Seriously, these are the ones that keep me up at night!)

Any combination of: We’ll be perceived as writing on trend. We ARE writing on trend. We missed the trend!

That people will call our work dreck.

That people won’t say that last one out loud, but they’ll be thinking it.

That no one, anywhere, will ever want to read our words.

STOP. Scroll back up to the title of this post. Read it.

Now quit being silly and get back to writing, because I want to see ALL your stories some day!

© Editorial | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Writer's Workout

With New Year’s not too far gone in the rear-view mirror, we’re talking fitness! Writing fitness, that is. Just like any muscle, we've got to work our writing muscles to keep them in shape. Test them in different ways, strengthen them, make them lean and mean.

Here are some sample “workouts” to try next time you get some quality Butt-in-Chair time!

Speed: Word sprints

Want to write faster? Try this one. Give yourself a set time-frame and a set word count, then get ready to dash. Start with a goal of 500 words in 30 minutes, or whatever matches your baseline writing speed. You can even do mini-sprints, where you aim for 100 words in 5-10 minutes. Teamwork helps too - find a few friends to sprint with you! It forces you to get your ideas on paper and move the story forward with the understanding you’ll edit later.

Tighten: Reducing word counts

I like to use excerpts from familiar published novels for this exercise. Take a paragraph as is, grab its word count so you know your starting point, then try to whittle it down at different levels. 250 words. 100. 75. See how bare bones you can get it, and how the scene changes (sometimes for good, sometimes bad) as more words are cut. You’ll start to see similar cutting opportunities in your own work, and you’ll develop instincts about when to cut, and when you’re in danger of cutting too much.

I did a full example from The Hunger Games here.

Strengthen: Circle the verbs & be precise

Take a page in your current MS and highlight the verbs. Now brainstorm how you could make each one stronger. Is there a more compelling word choice? Punch it up! You might also find places to improve the pace using verbs with fewer syllables, but the same meaning.

Once you've action-packed your verbs, try doing the same thing with your descriptions or nouns. Use specifics and precision to make your world and characters come alive. Here’s a quick example of what to look for:

I heard a sound from the abandoned second level.
I heard running water from the abandoned second level.

There’s nothing wrong with the first version, but the second paints a stronger picture in readers’ minds because it’s more specific.

Go Deeper: Push your characters

Find places to push your characters to their limits – physically and emotionally. What would they never do? Make them do it, and give them a compelling reason why. What is the opposite of their natural personality? Write a scene that forces them to act that way. What’s the line you’re afraid to cross for them? Cross it.

Donald Maass has excellent exercises related to this in his “Writing the Breakout Novel” workbook. Even if you don’t use these scenes in your final MS, going through them will strengthen your characters AND your understanding of how they’ll react to different situations.

Reps

And, we’ve come full circle to Butt-in-Chair. Like all good exercises, practice makes perfect. So, keep at it and write, write, write!