Writing for Life

Mondays

Is the Publishing Game Really “Still a Lot Like It Was”?

chess pieces

An article by Bob Minzesheimer in a January issue of USA Today brought out some statistics about some of the novels on USA Today‘s Best-Selling Books list, which tracks combined sales of eBook and print editions. The latest list, based on sales data from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, shows a huge increase of digital book sales after e-readers were unwrapped as gifts: for 42 of the top 50 titles, the eBook editions were the most popular format. The previous high, in July, was 25 of the top 50. In the article Michael Norris, an analyst with Simba Information, a market research firm, is quoted as estimating that one in five US adults are reading eBooks on a variety of devices, from dedicated e-readers to tablets (like the Kindle Fire) that can be used to download movies, music, video games and more. Continue Reading…

The Heart of Your Story

Wednesdays

Endings That Spark Beginnings

sparks

I covered scene beginnings and middles over the last few weeks, so let’s look at endings. Just like beginnings, endings carry a special burden. The reader must be left with a feeling, like an aftertaste. So you need to stop and think. Just what feeling do you want the reader to have? Shock, sadness, warmth, confusion, curiosity? You want to keep in mind that the basic storytelling structure for a novel is action—reaction—action—reaction. Too many scenes end with a character experiencing something and then . . . it ends. We need to see how the character reacts to what has just happened. You don’t have to do this every time, and in some genres where plot is king (suspense/thrillers), you may often end with the building exploding and you have no idea if your character just died. But as a general rule, you want to be with your character and see their reaction, feeling, or response—even if just told in one line—to what has just happened. Continue Reading…

Say What?

Fridays

One Thing Leads to Another

saywhat2

One thing I see a lot in manuscripts is two sequential events happening simultaneously. Authors often construct sentences like this:

• Turning the doorknob, she ran over and grabbed him and pushed him away.

• She stirred the cereal on the stove, sitting down with a sigh.

• Opening the car door, he turned on the ignition and started the car.

• He poured a cup of water, setting it down on the night stand.

Certain things have to occur in sequence. You first turn the doorknob, then open the door, then grab the guy. You stir the cereal, then sit down and sigh (maybe you are sick of eating cereal?). After the man opens the car door, he then turns on the ignition and starts the car. Don’t be afraid to use then. It’s a useful word:

I wrote this sentence, then went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee—not: I wrote this sentence, heading into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Well, maybe if I balanced my laptop with one hand and typed with the other, I could manage to accomplish that feat.

Recent Posts

Don’t Dangle

Don't Dangle

May 11th, 2012

I see a lot of dangling participles. Okay, you are probably wondering just what the darn things are (so you can avoid them)! Here are some examples. • While writing the memo, the phone rang [the phone is writing the memo] • Having been told she was always late, an alarm clock[...]

Muddle the Middle of Your Scenes

Muddle the Middle of Your Scenes

May 9th, 2012

I went into detail about scene beginnings last week, and I’ll be spending a bit more time on scene structure since it’s so crucial and so often ignored. I talked about how scenes are mini novels and must have a beginning, middle, and end, and how each scene is like[...]

Is the Drive for Success Stealing Your Joy?

Is the Drive for Success Stealing Your Joy?

May 7th, 2012

To continue with the exploration of success and motivation, I've asked a therapist to share some thoughts on this topic. Today's guest post is from my author friend and client Rita Shulte. Rita is a therapist who has some great insights about success and finding joy in our vocations. I[...]

Are You Coordinating?

Are You Coordinating?

May 4th, 2012

I think one of the more subtle problems in punctuation is understanding a coordinate adjective and when to use a comma. It’s up to you to determine if the adjectives describing a noun are coordinate or “equal” in their description. If so, you need a comma. A trick to figuring[...]

Don’t Go Nowhere Fast

Don't Go Nowhere Fast

May 2nd, 2012

Scenes must have a point to them or they shouldn’t be in your novel. I’ll repeat that. Scenes must have a point to them or they shouldn’t be in your novel. I discussed in last week’s post the need to find your “moment” and build to it, and the first[...]