The Cuckleburr Times » writing tips

‘Choosing’ to be a writer

A Guest Article Writer — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:10:39 +0000

Some years ago when I decided to take the plunge and become self-employed I was offered the chance of a little financial help and support from a local small business start-up unit. I had reservations about taking up the offer because most institutions don’t see ‘Writer’ as a career, more as a sign of self-delusion and possible mental instability. The financial carrots being waved by local and national government were, however, substantial enough for me to go through the motions at least.

My fears were largely confirmed when I found myself sat alone in a room with a grey looking man in a suit, drinking cheap instant coffee out of a plastic cup. I don’t think he’d read through my details in advance because when I explained what my ‘business’ was, he jumped both visibly and nervously. I realised that there was a gulf in understanding opening up between us when he said that I’d certainly ‘chosen an industry that was hard to break into’. At least he showed the courtesy of calling it an industry. While he sifted through his paperwork I pondered the word ‘chosen’. I’ve never felt I had a choice when it came to being a writer.

The writer’s life

In the end the business support was of little help – although he did explain that I would have to pay my own tax, not exactly a revelation. Perhaps business advice shouldn’t be aimed at us sensitive, artistic types; at least that was the impression I got from the advisor. Writing is, I’ll admit, a difficult industry to break into, but in the case of nearly all writers I’ve met along the way, I never did get the impression that they ‘chose’ it. In some cases, like my own, many just ended up giving in to writing, instead of having proper jobs like normal people! But if you are facing the fact that you no longer have the strength to resist the call of the writer’s life, where on earth to start? There are plenty of claims on the internet that you can make a living as a writer, working from anywhere in the world. They offer seductive images of the possibilities, but what’s behind this and is any of it really true?

Bloody Revolutions

The internet revolution evolves each day – if not hourly – and as Charles Dickens once put it ‘it was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. Revolutions are like that. For writers, the internet revolution is exactly that, the best and worst of times. While the internet has created a massive market for content – written content still being the basis for this new media – it has also created a whole industry full of pitfalls. To those contemplating the move into full-time writing, understanding what the opportunities are, and why they exist, can be very useful indeed. Content writing or web copywriting is about selling stuff, simple as that really. However, there are a huge range of techniques used by online marketing professionals to do so.

Research subjects

The techniques are varied and change as the internet changes. For those looking to become online copywriters researching the opportunities and techniques below is worth a little time:

SEO Copywriting: This subject is so vast that it really defies a short summing up and the best thing you can do is a lot of your own research! In short this type of writing is designed to raise the profile of a piece of writing (and the site it appears on) amongst search engines. These little robots have some pretty high standards and they prefer quality and originality over something called ‘keyword stuffing’. Recent changes to the way the major search engines operate mean that originality and quality are more important than anything else – so if you can manage those your work is likely to be saleable.

Content Farms: I’ll avoid libel as best I can here. Content farms operate on different models, some generate titles based on the most popular search terms ‘du jour’ (literally) which they then pay writers to create. Pay is, in some cases, something of an imaginative leap as the rates are pretty poor. There are good and bad content farms out there; from the writers perspective they are all relatively lowly paid, but they offer the chance to learn the trade from the inside. They are also a good place to hone your skills and develop a portfolio.

Online copywriting agencies; there is a growth in online copywriting agencies – big and small. These offer some real opportunities to writers. Because the search engines are focussing on matters of quality and accuracy when it comes to web copy, this type of agency is in a strong position to build a ‘stable’ of good quality writers – and pay them well. Some are just one man/woman operations while others have a number of writers.

There are probably as many routes into online copywriting as there are individuals working in the industry. It’s fast paced and changes constantly. While some sites claim that anybody can be an online writer this claim may be a little enthusiastic. Good writers will find it more straightforward than bad! If you are prepared to study, learn and practice you will in time find that success is possible and the rewards are, believe me, well worth the effort.

Chris Hoole provides copywriting services and more for Apple Copywriting.com If you would like to find out more information about Apple Copywriting visit their website at www.applecopywriting.com. They offer a no obligation quote to any visitor interested in their services.

Effective Writing – Exorcise Your Grammar Demons

Scott Flood — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:48:59 +0000

If I could scrape up some spare time, I think I’d tackle a screenplay for a horror movie. My movie would feature an entity more terrifying than a chainsaw-wielding maniac. More dreadful than the living dead. More heart-stopping than a fire-breathing demon.

It would be an English teacher.

Okay, hold on. I really, really like English teachers. They are truly dedicated people whose bravery eclipses mine. Anyone who can interest seventh-graders in the poetry of e.e. cummings or bring Shakespeare to life for sophomores is genuinely inspiring.

But after dealing with hundreds of clients over the years, I’m convinced that what English teachers inspire more than anything else is sheer terror. I’ve reached that conclusion after watching the way people react to grammatical issues.

Sometimes, I see it when they are struggling with something they’ve written, wondering whether this phrase or that one is grammatically correct. At other times, it becomes apparent in their reaction to something I’ve written on their behalf. (“He started a sentence with a conjunction – doesn’t he know you can’t do that?”)

Once the discussion moves beyond opening arguments to testimony, they invariably cite the same source as the basis for their contention. “Well, when I had Mrs. Jones, she said …” “Now, Mr. Smith told us we should never use …” “If I turned in a paper with that sentence to Miss McGillicuddy …” And when I gently suggest that the English teacher who towers over their subconscious might be wrong in this instance, panic flickers in their eyes. It’s as if I’ve suggested that the North Pole is uninhabited.

How could that be? They wrote hundreds of themes in grade school, essays in high school and term papers in college, and those rules applied every single time. Don’t use contractions. You should never use the second person. Or fragments. And absolutely no sentences that begin with conjunctions.

Their teachers were absolutely right. When one is creating sentences and paragraphs for a formal document within an academic setting, it is critical to employ proper form, syntax and mechanics to ensure a favorable evaluation. Such are the rules of the academic world.

But once you’ve left the confines of school and find yourself communicating in a persuasive manner to prospects, customers, co-workers, and anyone else who falls under that “stakeholder” umbrella, grammar takes a backseat to something far more important. Whether you want to tell, sell, convince, entertain, emphasize, or even infuriate, you must connect with the reader and ensure that your message is clearly understood.

The most effective way to do that is to be individual and personal, and that calls for a conversational style. Conversation is far more informal than the academic writing style. When we speak, most of us don’t use textbook grammar. We start sentences with conjunctions, we end them with prepositions. We even use fragments. Those whose spoken grammar is letter-perfect come across as tedious snobs (think of TV’s Frasier).

Grammar is not a rigid set of rules. It’s a framework of structure and standards that varies by the type of writing and the audience – just as different types of buildings demand different degrees of engineering. It’s also important to remember that grammar isn’t timeless. If it were, we’d all write and speak in the style of the King James Version. Some rules that were considered inviolate just thirty years ago have already faded away.

When you write something other than a term paper, write to communicate. Don’t agonize over the grammatical correctness of your work. Match it to the situation and the audience. A memo about the company picnic doesn’t need to be as formal as a white paper directed to college professors. Focus on conveying the message, not on achieving grammatical perfection.

And don’t be afraid that your English teacher will come after you. If what you create is truly communicative and accomplishes the goal, he or she would actually be very proud.

Scott Flood creates effective copy for companies and other organizations. To learn more, visit http://www.sfwriting.com, or read his blog at http://sfwriting.com/wordpress/

What Makes a Book a Best-Seller?

Melinda Copp — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:45:36 +0000

Everyone has at least one book in them-I firmly believe that. But bookstore shelves are packed with titles, all competing for readers’ attention. So how can you tell if your book idea is ready for the competitive publishing business? The key is to target your market and zero in on an unfilled need. Because, yes, the shelves are packed with books-but trust me, there’s plenty of room for you and your book, as long as you can shape your idea into a winning concept. You can use the following strategies to help hone your book idea.

Define Your Book’s Purpose in One Concise Statement You’ve probably heard of an elevator speech-an intriguing statement about what you do that can be delivered in about a minute. Your book needs one of those, too-a brief, one-sentence statement of the book topic and big-picture benefit readers will gain from it.

Consider your book’s topic. What is your book really about? How will your book benefit your readers? What problems will it solve? If you want to write a creative work, what impact will your story have on your readers?

Be as specific as possible, such as, “My book will help people live within their means and eliminate credit card debt for good.” Distilling your book topic and benefits into one concise statement will give your book the direction it needs to stand out.

Define Your Target Audience As a writer, the most important person in your professional life is your reader. You have to know your audience, their concerns, their challenges, and their needs. So think about who you’re writing your book for. Who needs/wants the information in your book?

Keep in mind that you can’t be all things to all people, so “everyone” is not an appropriate audience. You need to target a specific market with a specific need that you know how to fill. Going back to the previous example, if you’re writing a book about how to live within your means, your audience is people who are carrying significant credit card or “bad” debt. This is still a huge audience, but it isn’t “everyone.”

Regardless of what topic you plan to write about, you should take time to get a sense of the market. Consider how well books on topics similar to yours have sold in the past, and talk to your clients about whether or not they would buy the book you’re thinking about writing. Writing according to market demands will only help your book sell.

Know Your Competition, and Say Something New If you know what’s been written about your topic, then you’ll know how to write it better. To find out what books yours will be competing with, go to Amazon.com and search your book topic. What titles come up? Have your read these titles? What will make your book different? How is your book better? What gives your book an edge over the others? Also consider reading a few of the titles-if not all-just to see how the other authors handled the material.

Melinda Copp helps aspiring self-help, business, and nonfiction authors write and publish books that establish expertise, attract clients and opportunities, and share their message in a compelling way. Visit http://www.writerssherpaprograms.com/writeabook.html for a free copy of her Write Your Book Quick-Start Mini E-course.

Writing a Publishable Novel – The Art of Tying up Story Threads

Robert L. Bacon — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:05:14 +0000

Story Threads can be a Huge Problem if Not Resolved, and even Some of the Most Respected Writers are Not Sacrosanct

A thread is a plot element, nothing more, nothing less, but a problem for authors if they do not reconcile their threads for the reader. The obvious rationale for an exception is to purposely leave the plot point unresolved to engender interest in reading a sequel to the story. But when the aforementioned is not relevant, the problem can be excruciating for the reader. And some of the most respected writers in literary history have been derelict by not tying up their threads acceptably.

One of the Most Flagrant Examples of Not Tying up a Thread is in INDEPENDENCE DAY

In Richard Ford’s INDEPENDENCE DAY, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996, he provides great detail in describing the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of a real estate agent. Then, later in the novel, he brings up her death once more, heightening the reader’s enthusiasm for an answer to who did it. But the thread is never developed and the culprit not identified. The murder therefore has no relevance to the story line, and by not providing a “reveal,” an awkward hole is left, although apparently not egregious enough for the Pulitzer committee to find fault.

WAR AND PEACE and THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE were also Not Immune to Dangling Threads

I call this lack of resolution a dangling thread, and a wonderful bad example (ugh, I know) can be read in the two novels cited in this subtitle.

Anatol is a profound early character in WAR AND PEACE (he’s the guy who ties Pierre to the bear, should anyone have forgotten). Tolstoy relates much later in the tale that Anatol lost a leg in battle, but there is not one single mention of him in any other section of the book.

In THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, Captain Vye is a fabulous character for which a rich fabric is knitted by Hardy. But after Eustacia meets her end, there is no further reference to Vye–and his feelings–thus leaving the story and the reader with a huge void.

Can there be a Happy Medium?

Perhaps an expedient way to view threads is via Dos Passos’ USA. Eventually he had to leave some threads to their own devices or he’d have been writing ad infinitum because of the type of historical chronicle the story happened to be. However, USA demonstrates in abundant terms how threads can be expanded to reach a satisfactory conclusion in the mind of the reader–yet sans “finality” in each and every scenario.

Shouldn’t the Writer be Cut some Slack

Some can argue, and most justifiably, that it’s not a literary transgression to defer providing a detailed chronology for the life of every character in a book the size of WAR AND PEACE. This is certainly not disputable, but it does beg reconciliation by the author when, in my opinion, a character is prominent enough to drive a significant segment of a story. This is my contention in the Tolstoy example, and for me it’s even more acute in Hardy’s work because the captain is such a viable character in so much of the narrative.

It could be nothing more than an issue of degree, but if readers were to parse stories they didn’t enjoy, there might be a legitimate question as to how often their disappointment was due to dangling threads.

Robert L. Bacon, Founder

The Perfect Write®

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Enjoy that? You can read more of Robert’s articles at The Cuckleburr Times right here.

How to Weave Factual Research Seamlessly into Your Fictional Storyline

A Be My Guest Author — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:02:08 +0000

Today’s Be My Guest Author is Mary Lydon Simonsen, Author of the newly released Searching for Pemberley. Don’t miss the book giveaway at the end.

Thank you for inviting me to write a guest blog for The Cuckleburr Times. I’ve been asked to write about weaving research seamlessly into a storyline.

This is one of those Catch 22 situations. You have to know the basic plot line of your story before you can begin the research, but you have to have the research in place so that you can have a foundation on which to build your story. Of course, the story is more important than the research, because if you don’t have a compelling tale to tell, no one is going to care about the factual details embedded in the novel.

Before I even type out the first word, I have been walking around with the plot line in my head for quite a while. I do some of my best thinking while I’m steam cleaning my tile floor because it’s a mindless task. Rather than risk being handed the steamer, everyone in my family stays away from me, so I have some quality “alone” time. After I have a solid beginning and end for the book, I start working out the details of the mushy middle.

I’m what people call a “history buff,” and I’ve been reading history and biographies since I was in fourth grade, way back in the 1960s, when I first learned about Concord and Lexington and “the shot heard around the world” of the American Revolution. Because of that, a lot of my research was already in my head, waiting to break out. That was the case with my new novel Searching for Pemberley. I had already read a great deal about the three distinct time periods which serve as a background for the story: the Regency Era and World Wars I and II. Because of my love of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I had read extensively about the Regency Era. Since I am a baby boomer, and because so many of the stories I heard when I was growing up involved what everyone did during World War II, I had read numerous books about that conflict, and because World War II was a direct result of the fallout from World War I, I had an interest in that war as well.

Once I have the plot line and the historical details necessary to fill in the background, I start writing my first draft—what I call my “brain dump.” Included in the first draft are historical references, but I do not make any attempt to weave in the research at that time. It would only slow down character and plot development. It’s probably not until the third draft that I start fleshing out the historical background, which is the part I really enjoy.

Searching for Pemberley is the story of a 22 year-old American, Maggie Joyce, who is living in post World War II England. She’s a fan of Jane Austen and her work, especially Pride and Prejudice. When she learns that the characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet might be based on real people, she goes to visit Montclair, a manor house in Derbyshire that may be Austen’s storied Pemberley, to find out.

For years after the end of World War II, the British experienced shortages and rationing, and my character sees all of this while living in London. Since Maggie is an employee of the Army Exchange Service, she has access to the commissary and things most Americans take for granted. When Maggie is befriended by Jack and Beth Crowell, who live in a village near Montclair and who know if the legend is true, she always brings food that is in short supply: white bread, sugar, potatoes, oranges. However, once Maggie crosses the threshold of Montclair, she is back in the Jane Austen’s Regency Era, and I am free to write about Robert Adam interiors and Georgian architecture and what Mr. and Mrs. Darcy would have worn to a ball.

I picture writing a story as something similar to building a house. The plot is the wood frame, and the research is the finish-out. Once I am satisfied with the story, I can go back and hang the historical details on the walls and move in the furniture. But the story comes first.

My writing style is very much a “which came first—the chicken or the egg” type of writing. Does the plot lead to the research, or does the research lead to the story line? I’m not really sure, but next time I steam clean my kitchen tile, I’ll have time to think about it.

About The Book
SEARCHING FOR PEMBERLEY—IN STORES DECEMBER 2009
Set against Regency England, World Wars I and II, and postwar England, three love stories intertwine in surprising and fateful ways

American Maggie Joyce, touring Derbyshire in 1947, visits, Montclair, an 18th century Georgian country house, that she is told was the model for Jane Austen’s Pemberley. More amazingly, the former residents of the mansion, William Lacey and Elizabeth Garrison, were the inspiration for the characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

Through letters, diary entries, and oral history, Beth and Jack Crowell, a couple who lives in the nearby village of Crofton, share stories of the people they say inspired Jane Austen. They also tell their own love story, made difficult by their vastly different backgrounds—she was one of the social elite while he was the son of a servant. When their son, Michael, travels home from his RAF station in Malta, Maggie may have just found her very own Mr. Darcy.

About the Author
Mary Simonsen grew up in North Jersey with the exciting venues of New York City easily accessible. She is especially interested in American and European history and 19th Century novels. In Searching for Pemberley she was able to combine her love of history (World War II and postwar England) with Austen’s characters, Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and being a romantic, the novel includes three love stories from three different time periods, all thanks to Jane Austen. She lives in Peoria, Arizona. For more information, please visit http://searchingforpemberley.weebly.com/

Thanks for writing this article especially for The Cuckleburr Times readers, Mary. We’re delighted! – Editor.

Book Giveaway!

Thanks to Mary’s publisher Sourcebooks, we have TWO free copies of the book Searching for Pemberley to give away! To enter, please add a comment on this article. For an additional entry sign up for our RSS feed and leave a comment saying you’ve done so here too. This gives two entries maximum per person. The book giveaway is free to enter.

Two winners will be selected at random to receive a copy. Please leave a valid email address when you comment or we cannot contact you to say you’ve won for your mailing address! If that happens, we’ll choose another winner. USA and Canada entries only please.

The closing date for the giveaway will be in one week’s time on Dec 15. Good luck! The two lucky winners will be announced after the draw on Dec 16.

5 Steps to Ignite Your Creativity and Keep it Burning!

Julia McCutchen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:01:52 +0000

Fresh from presenting a sell-out masterclass, I was looking forward to writing this article for my ezine and had it scheduled in my diary to do the following morning. My most creative and productive writing time is usually in the mornings so I always aim to organise my other business commitments around this fact. The title of the article popped into my mind as soon as I picked up my pen.

I wrote it down and then decided to deal first with a specific task which also needed to be done that day. It was a financial task which I thought would only take about 30 minutes. Over an hour later (do you recognise that one?!), the task was completed but it had involved some serious working out and concentration.

So although it felt good to have it done, the process had shifted me out of feeling like writing! Fortunately I have been working consciously with the creative process for quite a few years now so instead of feeling frustrated, I knew that I could turn the situation around. This did not involve pushing myself to write when I didn’t really feel ‘in the flow’ but instead came from accepting fully the way events had unfolded and finding a way to re-ignite my creative feelings.

So I had an early lunch and went for a walk up the track near the house. I stopped at the brow of the hill where a broken branch provides a welcome resting place to breathe in the magnificent view across the landscape…

Without consciously thinking it through, by the time I began my return journey, the outline of this article had already ‘arrived’ in its entirety. Once I was back, the words found their way freely onto the page and I felt energised by the whole process.

So here is my 5 step process to help ignite your creativity when you need it and to keep it burning day after day:

1. Write a list of activities which lift your spirits and inspire your soul.

If you’re not sure what to include, think of what you enjoyed as a child and then interpret the principle to suit you as an adult. For example, I used to enjoy being outside and making ‘dens’ in the small patch of woodland by our house. Today, I enjoy being outside & walking through trees, especially when the sun dapples through the branches …

2. Identify what’s stopping you from incorporating more of these creative triggers in your current rhythm of life.

Many people will have time and/or money on this list of factors which hold them back from incorporating more creative activities in their lives. If they are on your list, take this opportunity to review what is truly important to you, and if necessary, reframe your thinking around the value of your creativity?

3. Write a list of solutions which ideally includes asking a friend or colleague if they would become an active partner – or even simply a ‘sounding board’ – in support of your creativity.

Try shifting your focus away from how hard it is to find the time and/or money onto how much you get from feeling creatively inspired. This should make enough of a difference for you to incorporate more choices each and every day which bring you closer to your creative intentions.

4. Choose an activity from your list to engage in at least once a week and ideally 3 times a week, or even better, every single day!

These don’t all have to be large, time consuming activities. In fact many of them should be easily manageable alongside other commitments. I recommend having a mix of different ideas to suit different occasions, moods, time frames and feelings. Sometimes a 20 minute walk at lunchtime will do the trick. Other times, a longer session making a colourful vision board is just what you need to inspire you subsequently with the words on the page.

5. Share your choice with your creativity partner and then let them know how you get on!

Announcing your intention out loud to someone else is an excellent way of helping yourself to stick to it. The sense of accountability and support for staying on track can work both ways so offer this opportunity to your creativity partner too. He or she does not need to be a writer for this purpose. Anyone who values creative expression no matter what the form can be a good creativity partner. Once a month, catch up by email, on the phone or in person and exchange summaries of what you’ve enjoyed most from your creative focus that month.

Enjoy the journey!

Julia McCutchen opens the way for writers to find their true voice, discover themselves in the process, and write consciously, creatively, successfully and with soul. A former managing director and publisher with over 20 years’ publishing experience, Julia’s holistic approach includes coaching, mentoring and masterclasses for aspiring authors. To access free articles, audios and other resources for writers, visithttp://www.JuliaMcCutchen.com

Enjoy that? You can read more from Julia at The Cuckleburr Times here.

Researching The Setting For Your Novel

Thomas Ajava — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:01:27 +0000

Picking the setting of a novel is obviously a critical step. Writing a classic detective novel set in a tiny town in Siberia is going to be a struggle. That being said, picking the setting is only a small step. Next, you need to build story credibility by getting the setting right.

What is setting credibility? It is credibility derived from accuracy. Let’s say you are writing a story that is set in New York City. It’s our detective story. In the second chapter, you have the detective walk about the World Trade Center. Unless you’ve set the time of the story before 9/11, you’ve just described buildings that no longer exist. Not only is it bad taste, but the inaccuracy has shot a hole in the credibility of your story. So, how do you avoid this problem?

Many writers will only go with settings that they know. This approach has its benefit in the fact that your inherent knowledge of the area means mistakes should be easily avoided. There is, of course, a secondary benefit in that you really don’t have to do much research on the setting since you already know it. For us lazy writers [we know who we are!], this cannot be understated!

What about settings you don’t know? What if you’ve never been to New York City, but are ready to write the greatest detective novel ever? The simplest answer is to go to New York and spend a few months there to get familiar with your setting. The problem, of course, is few of us have the money or time to do this. Being a writer may be touted as glamorous, but it hardly pays well unless you are a big name.

This makes research the best approach for the majority of us. There are obviously many different ways to do research. The Internet is a great tool, but just make sure the information you have is both timely and accurate. Another great tool is, believe it or not, to rent travel documentaries on the location. You can get them through Netflix or your service of choice. Again, make sure you know when the film was shot.

To add extra credibility to your setting, try research unique characteristics about specific locations in your setting. Let’s say an important part of your story takes place in a hotel. Try to pull up pictures of the hotel online by searching the “images” function of any search engine and order brochures from the hotel. Once you have all the information, note as many unique, small details as you can about the hotel. Now write them into your story. Readers will note those details and your story will become far more credible. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

The setting of your story is incredibly important. Collecting the details surrounding it is not always the most glamorous task, but it is a critical one. Get it right and your story will benefit.

Author Bio
Thomas Ajava is with NomadJournals.com – makers of writing journals for writers and readers alike.

How to Format A Query Letter

M. Esther Sherman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:55:33 +0000

1. All paragraphs should be to the left and your letter should begin with, Dear Ms. or Mr. Agent. As often as is humanly possible, use the actual name of the agent/editor you would like to work with. Queries made out to “dear agent” are frequently thrown out without a second glance unless the agency specifies that they accept these sorts of queries.

2. The first line should draw in the attention of the reader as well as give the title and genre of the book (some agents and editors prefer the title and genre appear at the end of the query rather than the beginning).

3. The next paragraph should succinctly describe the book, plot, characters, and any other intriguing twists which would interest the reader in reading more. That is the goal of your description of the book, to get them to want more. However, you must be very careful to be clear. There is a thin line between intriguing and vague and your query letter is not an appropriate place to flirt with it.

4. The next paragraph should describe the marketing potential and target audience for the book. If you have done your research, here is where you share your secrets.

5. The next paragraph should give any credentials, awards, or previous publishing experience you have (limit publishing experience to traditional publishing companies…self publishing does not interest them unless you sold more than 5,000 copies).

6. The final line should thank the reader and invite them to read more upon their request. You may also mention how you heard about that particular agent/editor/agency and if you were referred.

7. Make sure you give all of your contact information at the end of the letter. Also, if you are mailing your letter, place the agent/editor’s address and company above the salutation and include the date on the right side of the page.

8. The most important thing in querying an agent/editor is to do your research. Make sure they accept your genre. Make sure they are accepting queries. Check their website for submission guidelines and see if they have a blog available to tell you a little more about their preferences. Researching your audience is crucial for the sale of any book and that goes for selling it to agents/editors as well.

Article by M. Esther Sherman. Please feel free to visit Esther’s website for more advice on preparing manuscripts, query letters, and general tips on getting a book published. Visit mesthersherman.com

The writing secrets of Ayn Rand

A Guest Article Writer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:16:17 +0000

Okay, the headline is a bit misleading. The five-step writing process Ayn Rand followed isn’t exactly a secret. Let’s remember that in addition to her legendary, mammoth novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, she wrote the non-fiction how-to books The Art of Fiction and The Art of Non-Fiction, which gave detailed accounts of her writing tactics and viewpoints. She was not a woman to keep her thinking to herself.

Rand obviously had something going for her. She didn’t lack for productive firepower. Her two best-known works, “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” weighed in at 750 pages and 1,200 pages, respectively. In total, she authored more than 15 books and many more were written by other authors about her enduring career. There is even an Irvine, Calif.-based Ayn Rand Institute founded in her honor.

But here we boil down Rand’s best practices to her five-step writing process. A short treatment to the hundreds of pages she produced in her books about fiction and non-fiction writing.

Step one: Limit your subject. This might sound elementary but it’s a common mistake writers make. Rand advised writers to ask three questions at the start of any project.

1. What will I write about? Define the topic and stick with that focus. And be sure that you can cover it adequately within the parameters of the project.
2. What do I want to say about this subject? Determine the theme of your project – the point of view that you want to communicate. There’s a lot of writing that takes up space and time but doesn’t really have a lucid point or destination.
3. Is what I have to say new? Am I adding something to the sum total of human thinking and creativity? If not, then don’t put pen to paper at all.

Step two: Judge the audience. Understand who that audience is. Most of us, and certainly all business writers, are writing to an audience. So, to write persuasively we need to identify the characteristics of our intended audience.

Step three: Create a plan of action. Like many experienced writers, Rand was a firm believer in the power of the outline and suggested two tests to measure an outline’s completeness. The first is the essence test. An outline is complete only when you can understand it as a unified whole. The second is the test of final causality. This test, which Rand adapted from Aristotelian philosophy, says that when your outline establishes and details a logical chain of cause-and-effect steps that lead to the established conclusion, it is complete. Many writers still refuse to do the upfront work involved in drafting the outline. Yet, a well-conceived outline can speed the writing process and make it sure-handed.

Step four: Draft from the subconscious mind. Rand suggests that you write without stopping and, to the greatest extent possible, without consciously thinking out each sentence. This technique sidelines the internal editor and allows the mind to roam freely and fully express its creativity.

Step five: Edit objectively. Rand proposed a three-level approach to editing.

1. Focus on the structure of the work. At this level, you need to ensure that it progresses logically – that scenes and ideas build on one another – and that it respects the reader’s intelligence.
2. Focus on clarity. Make sure the writing is communicating exactly what you intend it to. Rand said writing’s purpose is to communicate exactly what you intend it say. She warns writers to beware of “over-condensing” (cramming too much into a sentence or paragraph). Clarity is fundamental to writing but it’s often sacrificed for stylistic considerations.
3. Consider style. Her style tips include:

* Don’t complicate a simple thought
* The simpler the words the better
* Don’t use sarcasm, pejorative adjectives or inappropriate humor
* Don’t use bromides (i.e., trite sayings)
* Don’t use unnecessary synonyms

This approach certainly worked miracles for Ayn Rand. Though the Russian-American novelist, playwright and screenwriter passed from this world in 1982, her most popular books remain mainstays in bookstores across America. No bookstore of any size or seriousness would be without The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Her books, almost 30 years after her death, are expected to sell 2 million copies this year, up from an average of about 300,000 per year.

We would certainly do well to follow Ayn Rand’s writing techniques.

About the Author: Mike Consol is president of MikeConsol.com, which provides business writing seminars, Web 2.0 strategies and media training to midsize and large companies. Consol spent 17 years with American City Business Journals, the nation’s largest publisher of metropolitan business journals with 40 weekly newspapers across the United States.

Adding Character Depth Through Perception

Lee Masterson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:00:31 +0000

How do you describe your character’s physical appearance? It’s not always easy to describe your characters without resorting to the cliched “She looked in the mirror and saw…”

Likewise, setting the scene for each part of your story is an important element of building your fictional world. In fact, some authors go to great lengths to describe the weather patterns, the scenery and the passing traffic in detail so that the reader has a sense of the world around the characters.

This kind of descriptive narrative can sometimes be long and cumbersome. It can also bog down the pace of your story if not done right – especially when all the gurus are saying Show – don’t tell!

Many authors are careful to explain exactly what is going on in their fictional worlds. What people look like, what objects around them look like, what characters are thinking about, how the weather is behaving, the precise color of an object, what characters are seeing around them… This means the author is telling the reader what to see.

Not many authors actually take the time to write HOW their characters are seeing the things that are going on around them. This is where the author should be showing the reader what’s happening. Your own characters are a perfect tool to use when you need to show events or appearances or even moods.

Let me explain…

Every person on the planet sees life through their own personal perceptions. How they choose to interpret those perceptions is largely up to that person and can be affected by a multitude of factors.

These differing perceptions are what make us unique as human beings. What excites one person may repel another. What one person sees as attractive, another may find repulsive. What one character yearns for may send another character into panic attacks.

For example: A sunny day might brighten the mood of one character and seriously frighten a person with a phobia of skin cancer. The same sunny day would therefore have a completely different effect on the latter character and would skew many of his other perceptions, too.

The same is true for personal relationship preferences. Some people are attracted to curvaceous women, while others are repelled by them. Still others prefer the exotic features of Asian people while others veer toward the svelte, slinky blonde types and others still just love the creamy coffee colored skin tones and dark features of some Mediterranean people.

Because we all have such different tastes and opinions, these perceptions of what we find appealing and unappealing will color your descriptions of those things.

Remembering to use these differences in character perspective can add depth to your characters by showing your readers much about their personalities – all without actually using narrative to TELL your readers what’s going on.

Show, Don’t Tell

So how does a writer show things happening, or describe another character, without resorting to large chunks of descriptive narrative AND remember to add the unique perspective of the character at the same time?

The simple answer is: Dialogue.

When your characters talk to each other, you should be using the opportunity to express much more than simply words. Dialogue can propel your plotline, it can highlight the importance of conflicts, it can show character perspective and it can show the reader many other things – all at once.

“I hate this miserable rain. All I can do is sit around and mope in the house until it stops,” Fred said.

“If we run, we can get to the stream and catch some frogs. The rain always brings out the frogs!” Jack called.

In just two sentences within the dialogue tags, I have (hopefully) conveyed something about the weather, given a sense of the character’s mood, described what the character is doing, and given each character a unique perspective on what is happening.

Both characters are viewing the rain in a completely different way – and neither of the above examples required lengthy blocks of narrative to achieve the same effect.

Describing Physical Traits

“Jane tossed her long golden tresses over her shoulder to flow down her slender back. Running the tip of her tongue over wide, full lips, her emerald green eyes glinted with a hint of promise to come and she crossed her long, supple legs slowly.”

“John ran a perfectly manicured hand through his raven black hair, his sparkling blue eyes taking in every inch of her…”

Have you ever read a book in which the characters are described in unwieldy chunks of narrative as though they were no more than cardboard cut-outs of a Barbie and Ken promotional poster?

In over-exaggerated examples like the ones above, it is obvious that the ‘narrator’ has stopped the story and interrupted you – the reader! – to remind you how fabulous the author wants you to think these people look.

The problem with this approach is the author has forgotten that all readers have different opinions on what’s attractive. More importantly, her characters should be the ones voicing their thoughts and preferences.

So is it necessary to include these bland descriptions in your narrative at all?

Recently I read a lengthy book (1,050 pages). The book was very detailed, the scope was sweeping and the cast was huge. Yet nowhere in the entire book did the author mention what any of the characters looked like during his narrative. He only ever offered his character’s perceptions of other characters. I actually read the book twice to check how the author achieved this effect.

I found this method to be extremely effective. It showed me each character’s viewpoint as a distinct and separate perception. Each person saw different qualities in the people they interacted with, so the physical traits altered to suit those perceptions with each description. He did the same thing with certain furnishings, scenery, weather patterns and moods. Every description in the book came from another character commenting on it in some way that was relevant to the story.

Indirect Description

Several times throughout the book the author made references to certain features to identify who people were talking about. For example, the main character had a scar running along the left side of his face. The reader only knows this because we saw it through another character’s eyes during the dialogue – and not in a narrative description.

“…I tell you, Stan, when Alec glared at me with those dead eyes, I nearly passed out with fear. I knew he was angry when hideous scar started to twitch. When it does that, the whole left side of his face contorts and you just know he’s thinking he wants to cut your throat…”

And yet – a different character describes Alec this way:

“…Miranda sighed and let her chin rest in the cup of her hand. “He’s got those deep, dreamy blue eyes. The kind you just want to get lost in, I guess. And when he looks at me, his scar jumps – like he’s trying to hold back a smile.”

These two people are describing the same character – Alec. One perceives him as hard and violent. The other sees him as dreamy.

During the book a male character tried to tell Alec what a woman looked like (she was the target for an assassination).

“The target has the classic hooker look. Bleached blonde, cleavage on display for anyone to see and legs that go forever under a cheap leather mini. And a face that could break concrete. Hard as nails, she is.”

That was HIS perception of the person – not the actual physical traits of the woman in question. Alec found her sweet and attractive, but those were his perceptions of her, so of course they differed.

Nowhere in any of those descriptions did the author say “5 feet 10 inches, blonde, 98 pounds, blue eyes, full lips”. His descriptions only encompassed what the person doing the describing saw through his or her own perceptions.

Adding small differences in the way your characters view the objects around them will add a sense of realism to your work and bring depth to your characters.

Lee Masterson is a freelance writer from South Australia. She is also the editor of Fiction Factor – an online magazine for writers, offering tips and advice on getting published, articles to improve your writing skills, heaps of writer’s resources and much more.

How to Format a Fiction Manuscript

M. Esther Sherman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:52:22 +0000

You have completed your work of fiction. You have written the perfect query. You have even received the highly sought after positive response from an agent/editor and now an agent/editor is going to read your manuscript. But how do you format it? These are a few simple steps which will help you to identify yourself as someone who has a clue what they’re doing:

1. Everything must be double spaced. Though you may argue that this is a waste of paper/space/and anything else you choose to argue, the agent/editor wants it double spaced. They read too many pages of too many manuscripts and double spaced is easier to read; not to mention easier to make notes.

2. Use 12 point font. This too is non-negotiable. The agent/editor does not want to have to squint to read a manuscript and if they have to chances are they will already be annoyed at whoever wrote it.

3. Use Times New Roman or Courier Fonts. These are easy to read while giving the agent/editor an idea of how long your novel will be. Word count does part of this, but paragraph length can also impact the overall pages your novel will need.

4. There should only be one space at the beginning of each sentence. Paragraphs should be tabbed in or set to default at .5in. You should not ever space in your indents.

5. Make sure you have a header. The header should be format ted with your last name/first few words of title on the left and the page number on the far right (SAMPLE/BEST NOVEL 1)

6. Chapter headings should be in the center of the page, same font and size, in all caps. This is somewhat negotiable but is the most commonly accepted method of formatting.

7. You also need to include a title page. This is one of the most important pieces of the manuscript since this will be how they know to contact you in response. The title page should have the following information: Title of work, your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and/or website, and the total word count for the work. Formatting for title pages is somewhat negotiable as long as all of the information is present and the title appears in the center of the page (in normal font size, nothing fancy).

8. If printing your pages, make sure all pages are neat and clean. Do not send rejected pages to more than one agent. Make sure everything you send looks professional (pink paper is not professional).

9. If e-mailing, first make sure they will accept your document as an attachment. Second, name your file with your last name, part of the title, and, if it is a partial, the number of pages with the word “partial”. This will help to distinguish your document from the hundreds of others the agent/editor already has on their computer.

Please feel free to visit Esther’s website for more advice on preparing manuscripts, query letters, and general tips on getting a book published. Visit mesthersherman.com.

Writing Tip – Stopping Readers in Their Tracks

Laura Backes — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:01:25 +0000

If you love books, you can probably think of several occasions when you’ve been stopped in your tracks by a unique turn of phrase or a magical description. “How did the author do that?” you wonder. “It’s so simple, and yet so profound.”

Authors get involved in the big picture when creating a book, and rightly so. We need to think about aspects of character, plot, setting, conflict, development and resolution. We must view the overall structure to ensure that it’s sound. But once that story’s down on paper and we know it’s not going anywhere, we can start concentrating on the words. The forest is planted; now take a look at the trees.

Think again about those track-stopping experiences you’ve had when reading. What else do you remember about the book? If occasional groupings of words overshadowed the story, then the author was struggling to sound writerly at the expense of the plot. However, if individual words and phrases melded seamlessly together to create a satisfying experience from beginning to end, then the words and the story had equal weight.

As a children’s book writer, how do you entice readers with your words, the essential building blocks of any type of writing, without overshadowing the other elements that make up your book? The answer: Keep it simple.

Skilled authors use everyday language in new, exciting ways. One of my favorite picture book examples is from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Max is sailing across the ocean to meet the wild things for the first time. Instead of telling us the ocean is “very big” or Max travels for “a long time,” Sendak takes advantage of young children’s budding fascination with calendars:

...and he sailed off through night and day

and in and out of weeks

and almost over a year

to where the wild things are.

It’s a poetic description of time, and fits perfectly with the poetic tone of the rest of the text.

Memorable description happens when the writer pairs disparate images to create a new picture infused with emotion. The feelings make the place seem familiar to the reader. Here’s the opening paragraph from Paul Fleischman’s middle grade novel The Borning Room:

Four small walls, sheathed with pine, painted white. A window. A door onto the kitchen, for warmth. Two chairs. A bed, nearly filling up the room, like a bird held in cupped hands. Standing by the bed, squire beside his knight, a table bearing a Bible and a lamp. I’m certain you’ve stood in many such rooms.

Even if the reader has never stood in such a room, she can see it. The words Fleishman uses are accessible to every reader, and invite her in. The text is not complex–most second graders can read it easily–yet it is rich and interesting. The unadorned language reflects the straightforward nature of the narrator.

The Prologue of Natalie Babbitt’s novel Tuck Everlasting begins with a metaphor that sets the stage for the tale to follow. Babbitt likens the first week of August to the seat at the top of a Ferris wheel: …The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. She goes on to describe that time, her verbs building the tension: sunsets “smeared with too much color”; lightning that “quivers all alone.” And then the kicker: These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.

Surprising the reader is good, and Babbitt jolts the reader out of his dog-days reverie with that last sentence. Joyful images of Ferris wheels and hot summer days are abruptly replaced by the promise of a story about bad decisions. This, then, is what you want your reader to notice about your writing. Not the individual words, not the fancy descriptions, but the overall feeling of being taken for a ride through the story. So here’s my writing tip – Pay attention to your words, but don’t let them take control. The only way to keep the words from overpowering the story is to always keep it simple.

Ready to take it to the next level? Come join the Fightin’ Bookworms at the new community for children’s book writers, the CBI Clubhouse. We’ve got audio, video, insider writing tips and much more! http://cbiclubhouse.com

Enjoy that? Read more from the pen of Laura right here at The Cuckleburr Times.

Editing Secrets

Laura Backes — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:01:21 +0000

Once you’ve plotted out your book, developed the characters and written the last word of text, the real work begins. As busy editors are bombarded with hundreds or even thousands of submissions a year, it’s more important than ever that authors apply their own editing skills to their manuscripts before putting them in the mail. Checking your basic grammar and spelling are of course important, but authors need to go beyond surface editing if their work has a chance of catching an editor’s eye.

* Trim, tighten, hack away. First, second and even third drafts of manuscripts are almost always laden with extra words and scenes. Take a break from your book and then read it through with a fresh eye. Write down your theme in one sentence (what the book is about, such as working through shyness on the first day of school or showing how Thomas Edison’s childhood experiences influenced his adult life). The plot (or progression of facts and events in nonfiction) is your vehicle for conveying the theme to the reader. Ask yourself if each character and scene advance the plot toward communicating this theme. And decide at the beginning that you will give up your precious words and finely-crafted scenes for the betterment of the book. Pithy dialogue may be fun to read, but if it pushes your story off track, it’s just a literary dead end. Take the publishers’ suggested word limits seriously: no, you don’t really need 3000 words to tell your picture book story about Freddy the Frog’s adventures in the Big Pond.

* The elements of speech. Well-crafted dialogue can be a writer’s most important tool. Dialogue is not just there to break up the paragraphs or show that your characters know how to talk; ideally, it adds to character development, moves the plot along and replaces sections of narrative. Each character should sound like himself, with speech patterns and phrasing that are unique. This is especially true with talking animal books. I see many of these manuscripts where, if I took away the words that identify the speakers, each character would sound exactly the same. Don’t have dialogue repeat the narrative and vice versa; “Did you hear that? Someone’s at the door!” does not have to be preceded by “They heard a sound at the door”.

* Show don’t tell. How many times have you heard this? It’s still true. Comb through your manuscript for sentences that tell the reader how a character felt (Sara was sad) and replace with sensory descriptions (Hot tears sprang to Sara’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks.) Avoid telling the reader what to think about the story (Jason foolishly decided to trust Mike one more time.) Instead, present your character’s actions and decisions to the reader, and let the reader draw his or her own conclusions (incidentally, this is how you “teach” without preaching).

* Wipe out passive writing. Search for verbs preceded by “would” (would go, would sleep, would eat) replace with the past tense (went, slept, ate). Also look for actions that seem to happen out of thin air. “The door was opened” is passive, because the sentence lacks a “doer”. Remember, the reader needs to visualize what’s happening in the story. “The wind blew the door open” is better, because the action can be attributed to something, and it puts the most important element (strong wind) at the beginning of the sentence. Simply rearranging the words (“The door blew open from the wind”) puts emphasis on a door that won’t stay closed, making that the subject of the sentence.

* Be precise. One of the best ways to make your writing come alive for the reader is to use exact nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. One well-chosen word is always better than three vague ones. Adjectives like big, little, cold, hot, beautiful, scary and silly; adverbs such as quickly, slowly, loudly, and softly; and general verbs like walk, went, stayed and ate don’t draw a vivid picture for your reader. Of course, sometimes these words are appropriate, but try as a rule choosing words that describe specifically what you want to communicate. Words that sound and look interesting are also a plus. Tremendous, tiny, frigid, scorching, plodded, sauntered and gulped are more fun to read, and they each lend an emotional overtone to the sentence (if your character gulps his food, you don’t have to tell the reader he’s in a hurry).

And finally, make sure there’s a logical cause and effect relationship between the scenes of your book. Each event should build upon the ones that came before. The plot should spring intrinsically from your characters; nonfiction should unfold because of the nature of your subject and your slant on the material. It’s when everything comes seamlessly together that you have a winning book. Make it look easy, but don’t skimp on all the hard work it takes to get there.

Laura Backes is the publisher of Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers. For more information about writing children’s books, including free articles, market tips, insider secrets and much more, visit Children’s Book Insider’s home on the web at http://write4kids.com

Enjoy that? Read more from the pen of Laura right here at The Cuckleburr Times.

Writing Tips – Jumpstart Your Career As An Author by Asking “Why?

Laura Backes — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:56:57 +0000

When developing a story or article, aspiring authors often hear this writing tip: learn to incorporate the “who,” “when,” “where,” and “how.” But what often gets overlooked is the “why.” Without examining why a story takes place, or why an article would be of interest to the reader, the entire writing experience can be a fruitless exercise.

* Why this character?

At a writing conference I once critiqued a manuscript featuring a character in a situation where you wouldn’t normally expect to find him. When I wondered why he was there, the author answered, “He just is.” “But how did he get there?” I asked. “One of the other characters put him there,” the author stated. “Why?” I pushed. The author didn’t have an answer.

If you arbitrarily think it would be cute to have a monkey, a doll, or a policeman as your story’s protagonist, the reader’s not going to care unless it makes sense to have that character inhabit your particular plot. And if a monkey shows up where he shouldn’t be–at school, for instance–why he’s there has to be an integral part of the story. But more than that, the reader has to know why this monkey is suddenly sitting in a first grade classroom. What’s unique about the character that makes him the only monkey who could possibly appear in this book?

* Why this story?

Just as important as knowing why your character inhabits your book is understanding why this character experiences the conflict or problem that fuels the plot. Your readers have to believe this protagonist would encounter these obstacles, and not be able to resolve the problem in a few lines of text. Not every child is afraid of the dark, so if your character hides under the covers when the lights are out, plant something in her personality that causes this behavior.

How the plot conflict is resolved also harks back to “why.” Why does your character take these particular steps, instead of an easier or more obvious route, to reach his goal? What fears, hang-ups or quirks does the character have to overcome to get what he wants? Would a child understand and care about these traits? Have you laid the groundwork in the beginning of the story so the reader believes the character could not possibly act any other way, thus never forcing the reader to question you in the first place?

* Why this article?

Virtually any nonfiction topic can hold a child’s interest if it’s presented in the right way. Here’s an important writing tip: first ask yourself why you’re writing this article or book. Does it have a direct application to the experiences of your readers? Can it tie in with what they’re learning in school? Will it enrich their lives in some way? If your motivations are clear, then take a hard look at your audience. Why would kids this age be interested in this topic? How can you present the material in a way that’s entertaining as well as informative? If you find you’re working hard to shape the information to fit a specific audience or format, perhaps you need to rethink your approach. Maybe you’re trying to write too young, and the subject really requires an older reader. Or perhaps you assume middle graders will be fascinated with an animal alphabet book, but after researching other ABC books on the market, you learn they’re really targeted to much younger children.

Next, discover the secrets behind building a career as a successful children’s writer by visiting the CBI Clubhouse Children’s Writing Community at http://cbiclubhouse.com. You’ll find audio, video, writing tips, insider secrets and much more. Come hang with me and the rest of the Fightin’ Bookworms at the CBI Clubhouse!

Enjoy that? Read more from the pen of Laura right here at The Cuckleburr Times.

Get Out of Your Head

Dawn Goldberg — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:13:00 +0000

I find as I’m working with people on their writing projects that they have trouble with all the ideas tumbling around in their heads. “I have this idea up there, but it just doesn’t go anywhere!” they say, frustrated.

“Have you started jotting down ideas, planning the structure, the story arc?” I ask.

Blank look, then a start. “No, like I said, I can’t get it out of my head.”

See, that’s the problem. Our minds, while they’re wonderful things, can only get to a certain point before they hit a wall. It’s like trying to manage traffic control at an airport. You can only keep sight of so many planes yourself. At some point, you just can’t get any farther, and you have to depend upon radar. (Of course, it goes without saying that in real life – as opposed to Dawn’s writing metaphor – air traffic controllers start with, maintain, and end their days with radar. They don’t ever try to do their jobs with their eyes alone.)

But writers do. They think they’re going to noodle through their ideas in their head so that when they get to the paper or computer screen stage, they can start producing full text.

It doesn’t work like that. Again, our brains only take an idea so far. Once we get those ideas down on paper or on screen, our brains can go farther. This happened to me while I was trying to come up with a title for my in-person writing workshop. I had the beginnings of a title in my head, and I found myself going, “That’s terrible. That’s not very creative. Why can’t I come up with anything better?” And I’d go off and work on another part of the workshop (not the title), all the time in the background going, “What am I going to do about the title?”

Once I finished with the workshop planning, I turned my full attention to the title. I wrote down the really crappy title that had been floating around in my head all day. The minute I did that, though, I had a brainstorm. I wrote that down. Then another. And I wrote that one down. Within just a matter of minutes, I had a title I was happy with.

I’ve seen this happen in all aspects of creating and planning. I talked with an author who had her manuscript finished and was at a loss as to the next step. Based on her topic and the publishing house she wanted to target, she needed to do a book proposal. I sent her off with some suggestions, and she came back later to say that she had had a very productive week doing some research on agents, publishers, and book shepherds.

We got the issue out of her head and gave her some concrete tasks to work on. And off she went. Nothing is going to get done on your book or any other project if it stays in your head. And it isn’t going to come out of your head and be perfect. The work (writing, painting, drawing, formulating marketing strategy) doesn’t happen in your head (at least not for the majority of us). It’s actually work – the actual writing, painting, drawing, writing down strategies, objectives, actions.

Get out of your head and get to work. You can’t keep all those airplanes in your head.

Dawn Goldberg brings life to words and writing – and helps others through their writing and publishing journey. Sign up for Fuel For Your Writing Journey at Write Well U.

Writing Success – It’s Habit Forming

Evan Marshall — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:05:50 +0000

Psychologists say the best way to achieve success is to act like those who have already achieved it. The success soon follows.

As an editor and agent, I’ve noticed that the most successful authors are the ones who’ve always behaved like successful authors. They’ve developed habits that enable them to write their best and their most, and to live fulfilling, productive personal lives.

What are these habits for writing success? I’ve identified six of the biggies, and I’d like to share them with you.

Successful writers word hard, but they also play hard. They see writing as a job to be confined to more-or-less regular hours. In the remaining hours they concentrate on leading full personal lives and spending time with family, friends and, most important, themselves. They then return to their jobs refreshed and recharged. There’s no danger of burnout.

Successful writers take their commitments seriously. Whether it’s completing a novel by deadline, revising an article by a promised date, or getting an agent that first draft for discussion, the successful writer knows that honoring commitments demonstrates professionalism and thereby builds credibility. It is this credibility that wins respect-and priority treatment-from editors and agents every time.

Successful writers take their work-but not themselves-extremely seriously. They know that without humor they’re lost, especially in this chaos we call publishing. A sense of humor makes a writer a person as well, someone a colleague can connect with on an ultimately more important level. Life eventually seems too short for writers without that humanizing touch of humor.

Successful writers think constantly of their long-range goals. They know where they want to be in one, five, ten years, and they set up smaller “goal posts” along the way. Nothing is left to chance. Every project contributes in some way to completing the big picture. Editors, agents, publicists, and salespeople all become allies in making the writer’s dreams come true.

Successful writers are always writing. Sounds obvious, yet how many writers have we seen send a proposal or manuscript to an agent or editor and then sit back to wait and see what happens? Successful writers know how slowly the wheels of publishing turn, and that the answer they’re waiting for may be less than ideal. Better to have something new and exciting on the boards to soften the blow, not to mention to have used that waiting time productively. Other writers wait for inspiration, or for that joyous feeling, or for the house to be clean or the kids to be quiet or the bills to be paid-and they never write. Successful writers know that there will never be a perfect time, and so they just write. Always.

Successful writers hire the best professionals they can find, but they never take their eye off their business affairs. Though they’re careful to choose agents, lawyers, and accountants they can trust, they are also careful to educate themselves enough to be able to challenge that contract clause, that book jacket, that advertisement, that publicity campaign. They know the ultimate truth in “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

If you want to be a successful writer, act like one. Keep the above advice in mind. Before you know it, true success will be yours.

Evan Marshall, president of The Evan Marshall Agency, is a former book editor and packager. Recently he and coauthor Martha Jewett released The Marshall Plan® Novel Writing Software, based on his bestselling The Marshall Plan® writers’ guides. Evan is also the author a number of popular mystery novels; recently released are Death is Disposable and Evil Justice. Visit http://www.writeanovelfast.com and download Evan’s 77-page Fiction Makeover Guide with tips and ideas on writing a great novel.

Seven Ways to Write a Book Faster

Evan Marshall — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:01:54 +0000

Once you sell your first novel, chances are good your editor will want you to deliver at least one book a year. Some writers have no problem with this schedule, while others scramble to keep up. I used to find it difficult to deliver novels at this rate, since I needed at least six months to develop my plot outline and at least another six months to write the novel.

My current publisher wants me to deliver my novels nine months apart. This was a problem I’d always dreamed of having, but it was a problem nevertheless. So I had to come up with ways to speed up the writing processes. I’ll share my tips with you below.

Set quotas

Novels are built a page at a time. The bottom line is that you’ve got to produce those pages. If you don’t write enough pages a day, you won’t have your novel finished on time; it’s as simple as that. Here’s what I do. After my outline is written and approved by my publisher, I take the number of pages I need (around 350) and divide that number by the number of days I have until my deadline-less two weeks for editing and polishing. For the novel I’m currently writing, the magic number is 13 pages a day. That’s carved in stone. I am not allowed to leave my office until those pages are done. Quotas take the stress off because you know that when you’ve produced that number, you don’t have to feel guilty when you attend to other matters.

Don’t print out.

When I’m writing a novel, I don’t allow myself to print out a hard copy until the first draft is completely finished. Printing out-for me, at least-leads to all kinds of distractions that slow writing down. For example, I’m tempted to reread everything I’ve written, which can lead to changing my mind about story elements, which can lead to taking my book completely apart and virtually starting all over again. If you’re starting a writing session and need to reread some of what you’ve written in order to get back into the flow, reread the previous few scenes or chapter; you don’t need to reread the whole book.

Follow your outline.

Your outline should be detailed enough that it’s a reliable roadmap for the novel. When you’re writing the first draft, keep to this outline; don’t veer off in new directions. It slows things down.

Don’t over-research while you’re writing.

There will of course be times when you need to do some research to decide something major about how your story will go. But if you come to a place and need some details for “color,” just type TK (the old journalist’s abbreviation for “to come”) and deal with it when the novel is finished.

Make notes.

Similarly, if as you’re writing you think of things you want to go back and put in, make notes (right in the manuscript is fine) and deal with all of these later. Don’t go back and put them in now.

Paste liberally!

Let’s say I’m writing a scene set at the Wollman Skating Rink in New York City’s Central Park, and I need some details for authenticity. I Google the rink, find some photos, and paste them right into my manuscript so that I can look at them as I’m writing. When I’ve finished, I simply delete them. You can do this with text from other sources, links to Web pages, audio-anything. Gather up everything you need and paste it in. Just remember to remove it all when you’re finished.

Write directly on your outline.

Why have your outline at your elbow as you write your book? Simply turn the outline itself into your novel, developing it paragraph by paragraph.

Implement any of these tips and you’ll see your writing going faster. You’ll produce more, which will help build your career. You may come up with more techniques that work for you. With solid speed-writing tricks, you can be both fast and good.

Enjoy that? You can read more of Evan’s great writing right here at The Cuckleburr Times.

How to Write a Book That Children Will Love – And Children’s Book Publishers Will Love Too

Laura Backes — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:33:49 +0000

I recently opened up my email to find this message: “Can I get published as a children’s book author if I’m not a good writer?” I was taken aback at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated the question. The sender knows her limitations, but dreams of getting published anyway. She’s not suffering under the delusion that she’s the next Dr. Seuss, and I admire that. She’s going to look at her work with a critical eye, and search for ways to make it better. This is assuming that it’s possible to learn to write well. I believe that it is.

Very few writers have the innate ability to create vibrant, relevant, compelling stories right out of the gate. Most have to work at it. And those who see writing as a skill that is never quite mastered, requiring a lifelong devotion to the learning process, will be most successful. Where this gets tricky is that unlike other skills — such as baking a cake — there is no foolproof way to learn how to write. So while I can’t give you a one-size-fits-all method, I can give you some ideas on how you can find the path that works best for you.

Read, read, read. Why are editors always telling aspiring authors to read piles of children’s books? Because they give you a concrete representation of what works. Be sure you read good books (check reviews or ask a librarian or teacher for recommendations). By simply reading, you’ll learn about the ebb and flow of a story, how a character is introduced and developed, the types of conflicts appropriate for each age group, how to build tension in scenes and chapters, the relation of sub-plots to the main storyline, how dialogue moves the plot along, and much more. You’ll experience firsthand how a skilled author uses sensory images to immerse the reader completely in the story. By comparing several authors writing for the same age group, you’ll hear different literary voices.

I suggest reading books like those you wish to write, as well as books one level younger and one level older. So, if your goal is to write a middle grade mystery for ages 8-12, also read mysteries for ages 7-10 and 10-14. In this way, you’ll become educated about precisely what makes up a middle grade novel and how it’s different from fiction for older and younger readers. You might even learn that your story isn’t really for middle grades after all.

Another reason for reading a lot of quality books is that you need a yardstick against which to judge your own work. You’ll learn which “rules” can’t be broken and those that have more wiggle room. For example, you’ll be hardpressed to find a 60-page picture book in the stores, even by a wellknown author. If you picture book’s that long, you’ll have no choice but to rethink the story and fit it into 32 pages. However, you can experiment with unconventional characters and unexpected viewpoints. And the older the reader, the fewer rules apply. But no matter what you do with your plot, characters or writing style, make sure you know why you’re doing it. Don’t write the story in present tense unless it needs to unfold in real time for the reader. Don’t incorporate flashbacks unless they’re vital for understanding what’s going on in the story now.

Find a system that works for you. The first step toward learning how to write a book that engages readers is figuring out how you learn the best. Some authors I know are very left-brained; they love charts and graphs and lists. They thrive on tracking their scenes and plotting out their book on every level before they start to write. Those left-brainers will analyze published books and count the words per page, note which scene contains the plot’s catalyst, chart out where the tension rises and falls in each chapter. Others prefer to learn more intuitively. They read books, absorb the different writing styles, and maybe jot down a few notes with overall impressions or key points they want to remember. They have a general idea of where their own story is going, and aren’t afraid to experiment and take detours along the way.

If you don’t know where you fall on the spectrum, try different approaches and see what feels right. Remember that there is no one way of doing this, and every method has its pros and cons. Plotting out your story beforehand can prevent you from wandering off track, but the lists can become an evasive technique to keep you from actually writing the book. Letting the words spill onto the page with no grand plan feels very creative, but usually results in huge first drafts that have to be significantly trimmed and shaped. If you write long enough you’ll discover your weaknesses and devise ways to work around them. Maybe you outline first, then put it away while you write your first draft. Maybe you lay out your scenes on a plotline after each chapter, then revise as needed before moving on to the next chapter. If your dialogue tends to wander in circles before coming to the point, you’ll learn to get it on paper and then tighten it in the second draft.

Recognize your strengths. Some authors are brilliant nonfiction writers but can’t sell a fiction story. Others write wonderful picture books but are overwhelmed by all the layers to a novel. Instead of trying to force a style that isn’t you, start with what you’re naturally good at. You don’t have to publish fiction to be a successful author. You may dream of writing picture books, but if you have a knack for relating to teenagers, maybe young adult novels are your future.

Discovering your strengths involves experimenting with several writing styles and age groups. If you don’t know where to start, think about the kinds of children’s books you most like to read. Then play around with writing dialogue or scenes for the same age group. If you’re naturally drawn to nonfiction, make a list of topics that excite you. Start by writing about one of the subjects in the style of some of your favorite children’s magazines.

Practice. Over the years I’ve worked with writers who have gotten published through sheer force of will. They’ve gone over manuscripts again and again, taking them from mediocre to polished. They’ve put aside ideas that simply didn’t work and turned to something new. And they never submitted the first or second draft to an editor, because those manuscripts could always be improved. They weren’t very good writers when they began, but they learned. And you can too.

And my #1 tip? Learn how to become a successful children’s book author by hanging with the Fightin’ Bookworms at http://cbiclubhouse.com Whether is writing picture books, chapter books, young adult novels, finding children’s book publishers — or anything else — you’ll find all the answers at the CBI Clubhouse!

Writing Short Fiction For Anthologies

Lee Masterson — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:12:57 +0000

One of the best ways to get your creative ideas flowing is to search through calls for submissions into anthologies. Anthologies are generally collections of short stories based around a central theme.

While the pay rate for fiction published in anthologies is generally not high, there are many advantages to writing for these compilation markets.

1. You have a new published credit to add to your portfolio

2. You can stimulate your own creativity by reading through the submission guidelines of anthologies that interest you

3. You have the opportunity to break out of writer’s block by writing something short on a topic created by someone else

4. You can learn to hone your writing skills by mastering the short story

5. You are able to show a future novel editor that you’re able to write

6. You get that unique warm-fuzzy-proud feeling of being able to hold the completed book in your hand once it’s published

7. You might actually receive a check for a few extra dollars!

There are plenty more reasons why writing for anthologies can be hugely beneficial for all writers, but these are the main ones that came to mind. Now we’ve looked into why writing and submitting short fiction to these markets can be a good thing, what happens if the story you write isn’t accepted?

Potentially, any anthology editor is going to receive several hundred submissions for a book that can only hold 20 or 25 stories. How can you increase your chances of getting your story accepted?

Let’s look into some things you should remember when you’re dealing with anthology editors.

Theme

The object of most anthology collections is to compile several stories that revolve around a central theme or genre. Most editors are very thorough about telling writers exactly what kind of story they want to see. They usually make a huge mention of the things they don’t like or things they won’t accept too. Keep those limitations in mind when it comes time to write.

When you’re browsing through lists of anthology markets, try to stick to themes or genres that you enjoy or that you feel you could work for you.

Light a Spark

As you read through each set of guidelines, you’ll notice that some just won’t appeal to you, however there will be others that light a bit of a spark within the creative part of your mind. Write down the first idea that comes to you surrounding those particular guidelines and then see if there’s room to expand on that idea.

Think Outside the Box

Always keep in mind that the most obvious idea that pops into your head is very likely to be the similar to every other submission that editor will receive. Take a careful look at your original idea and see where you can add a unique twist or if you can approach the situation from a fresh angle.

The more unusual or unexpected your story line is, the more chance you have of making your tale stick in the editor’s mind.

Submit Early

Most anthology listings have a clear deadline by which your submission needs to reach the editor’s desk. Many writers tend to leave their submissions until the last possible moment. If you imagine several hundred submissions landing on that editor’s desk within a couple of days, how focused do you think that poor editor is going to be after reading through them all?

If you can get your story submitted early then you have a much bigger chance of the editor reading it with fresh eyes without the distraction of all those other submissions.

Submit!

It’s surprising how many writers create beautiful stories and then can’t find the courage to submit them to a market. Be brave and send your story out the door!

Finding Anthology Markets

There are plenty of sites offering anthology listings. One of the biggest genre anthology listings is www.ralan.com/antho/index.htm. Do a simple search on any search engine and you’ll be sure to find plenty of places offering submission guidelines for these under-rated markets.

Lee Masterson is a freelance writer from South Australia. She is also the editor of Fiction Factor (http://www.fictionfactor.com)- an online magazine for writers, offering tips and advice on getting published, articles to improve your writing skills, heaps of writer’s resources and much more.

Writing Ads and Brochures – Are Questions Inherently Bad?

Scott Flood — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:01:22 +0000

Do you think it’s wrong to ask questions in the headlines of your ads and other marketing materials? I once had a boss who loathed questions. Bring him an ad headline with a question, and he’d reject it instantly, sputtering, “But what if the reader says no?”

Many others believe that using questions in marketing materials is a sure-fire recipe for failure. While I don’t subscribe to hard-and-fast rules, I’ll tell you that those people are nearly always wrong. A reader who responds “no” really isn’t a prospect, and therefore isn’t worth your time or trouble. Not everyone who sees your ad or reads your brochure is going to do business with you, and the most decisively declarative headline won’t change that.

But there’s an even more important reason to reject the idea that questions are inherently flawed. Questions prompt involvement, and involvement is the most effective way to get someone to pay attention. Do you prefer steak or chicken? You may not care about that question, and you may wonder about my sanity in introducing it here, but you know what? You answered it. As soon as you saw it, you answered it mentally – and you continued to read out of curiosity as to why I’d ask such a question or how it might be germane.

Are your investments performing as well as they should? Gotcha again. I have no intention of talking about your investments, but I’ve introduced a little wiggle of doubt that your mind can’t ignore. Right now, your mind is wondering whether you made the right choice in going heavy into the financial services sector. Questions provoke immediate mental responses that are more honest and pure than verbal or written responses. You don’t have to share mental responses, but when you provide a verbal or written response, you’ll craft it to make sure it isn’t going to embarrass you or sound awkward.

Questions are almost impossible to ignore. That’s why polls are so appealing. When you see poll data in the media, you glance at the possible answers, and your mind locks in your choice. Questions are most effective when the potential response falls into one of two classes. The first is when you have a clear reply and course of action to follow. That’s the “steak or chicken” question.

The second is when you intend to provoke doubt and insecurity. Here’s where questions are at their most effective. Asking whether your investments are performing as well as they should doesn’t imply that they aren’t – but that’s how your mind reads it. A financial planner who asks that type of question opens the way for a very client-oriented sales pitch. A dentist who wonders whether you’re happy with the appearance of your teeth is letting you set yourself up for additional services – and doing it without giving you a sales pitch.

So should you be asking more questions in your headlines and marketing materials?