Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors: September 2012

Writing is no longer a solitary business. We may have to do the writing itself within the cat-shared solitude of our imaginations, but if we hope to offer a professional product to the world, we’re eventually going to need help.

I’m frequently asked to recommend editors, proofreaders, and other industry professionals. Today, I’d like to present a list of my go-to people. Unless noted otherwise, these are all folks with whom I’ve worked personally and whose services I highly recommend. Whether you’re wanting to publish traditionally or independently, chances are these talented people will be able to help you achieve your goals.

Editing

Cathi-Lyn Dyck: Cat offers a number of editorial packages at fabulously reasonable prices. She’s professional, reliable, savvy, and funny. When I first started hunting for a professional editor, I knew I wanted someone who would be easy to work with and who could further my own education as a writer. Cat fits that bill to a T.

Linda Yezak: Linda has been my critique partner since before my second novel’s publication. I’m lucky enough to get to take advantage of her services for free (and in exchange for not administering my long-range shotgun whenever she gets on my case for overusing “that”), but she edits professionally, both for Port Yonder Press and as a freelancer. She’s as tough as they come, but also a constant source of encouragement.

E-Book Conversion

Paul Chernoch: Back in the day when we were both starting out, Paul offered to do a free e-book conversion of Behold the Dawn. He did such an amazing job on the book that I’ve never looked elsewhere for digital conversion. His skill, perfectionism, and friendliness make this potentially stressful process a joy. He offers competitive rates and a beautifully professional product. (He doesn’t currently have a website up and running, but if you’re interested in his services, email me, and I will forward your contact info to him.)

Book Cover Design

Dominick Finelle: Dominick, via The July Group, creates beautiful cover work, based on his own original photography. You’ll pay a pretty penny for his work, but this is high-end professionalism for one of the most important aspects of your marketing.

Damonza: I have not worked with this company personally, but it’s on my shortlist for future projects. In communicating with me, they have been prompt, helpful, and friendly. They offer a portfolio of superb work at extremely reasonable prices and with the promise of a fast turnaround. They’re quickly becoming an industry leader among e-book covers.

DogEared Design: I have yet to work with Kirk DouPonce, but I love his work. He’s a great guy, easy to converse with, and willing to negotiate with independent authors on price.

Book Trailer Design

Circle of Seven: Book trailers are still finding their stride as both an artform and a successful marketing tool. Circle of Seven offers a number of packages, not least among them their least expensive (but most impressive, in my opinion) Cover Story. Their services include writing the script, offering an appropriate music selection (with the option of an upgrade to a larger catalog), and selecting distribution options. They are professional and easy to work with.

Map Creation

Robert Altbauer: Robert does fast, spot-on work, and was willing to make minor corrections for me even after the project was completed. His work is beautiful, and he’s flexible in creating artistic flourishes to fit the book’s theme.

Joanna Coleman: Joanna did a fabulous job on the maps for Behold the Dawn and the extras in Dreamlander. Her work is lovely, extremely reasonably priced, and she’s a joy to work with.

I’ve been extremely happy with my interactions with all of these wonderful people. If you’re in the market for any of the services they provide, be sure to drop by their sites and look around.

Tell me your opinion: What professional resource are you currently hunting for?

Related Posts: My Favorite Internet Resources

How to Get Feedback on Your Writing (and the Sort the Good From the Bad)

Questions for Critique Partners

_________________

Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).

September 30, 2012
16 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in crit partners , Editing , Feature , Resources

This guest post is by Ken Myers.

As a writer you know you have the creative ability to write however you want. You are the artist. To challenge your writing and to keep your readers interested, there are five characters all writers should consider including in their stories.

The Protagonist

Just like you learned in grade school, every story needs a protagonist, a character who will go through something and then come out on top. Readers search for that hope in a character because it’s part of our human nature to want something good to happen to someone. Write your hero or heroine in a way the reader can relate to.

The Antagonist

For your book to gain depth, the protagonist must have someone against whom to struggle. The great thing about an antagonistic force is you can do anything with it. Make it one person or many, or not even in human form. Perhaps your character is faced with the struggle of cancer.

The Comic Relief

Every story, especially the more dramatic pieces, can benefit from a comic relief character. You can lose readers if you don’t give them something to chuckle about. Whether the character is slapstick or sarcastic, include him and have fun with him. The funny character is always best when given an unassuming appearance. For example, the old grandmother as the comic relief is a nice addition.

The Sage

Every reader wants to walk away from a book feeling a little bit more informed. Your main character has to have someone from whom they get their helpful advice and sage words. Typically this character is written as a teacher figure or older relative. Mix it up and write the wise one as a child.

The Love Interest

Humans have the natural need for love, and readers want to encounter characters who are like them. Whether it is in the form of a spouse or a simple crush, add the love. Everyone needs a little love in their life. Write it.

Writing colorful and unique characters will give your readers what they want: a good read. Use these five characters to create a well-rounded and interesting read.

About the Author: Ken Myers as an Expert Advisor on multiple household help issues to many Organizations and groups, and is a mentor for other “Mom-preneurs” seeking guidance. He is a regular contributor of GoNannies. You can get in touch with him here.

Tell me your opinion: What character “types” always show up in your fiction?

Related Posts: Three Character Archetypes in Fiction

5 Steps to Dazzling Minor Characters

The Benefits of a Clueless Character

September 28, 2012
10 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in antagonist , Characters , comedy , Feature , minor characters , protagonist , romance

This week’s video discusses the problem of POVs taking up too much space with too few plot points.

Video Transcript: I want to start this week’s video with a disclaimer. As you can tell from the title, this is going to be yet another two minutes of me harping on the dangers of multi-POV fiction. However, I want to make it clear that none of this is to say multi-POV fiction is inherently bad or wrong. I love multi-POV fiction. Every single one of my books has featured multiple POVs. So don’t take this to mean you should never write multiple POVs. Take it to mean multiple POVs should be approached with caution because they’re difficult. The more POV characters you have, the more you’ll have going on in your story, the more threads you’ll have to keep track of, and the more room you’ll have to make mistakes.

With that in mind, here’s yet another danger to beware of as you consider how many POVs to include in your story. Boiled down to its lowest common denominator, this pitfall has to do with the fact that POVs take up space. The more POVs you include, the longer your book is likely to be. Nothing wrong with this on the surface—except you can easily end up with a very long book in which not a whole lot happens. This is particularly possible when your POV characters are not interacting with each other. If you have what essentially amounts to half a dozen separate stories happening simultaneously, you’re likely to need a ridiculously large amount of space to allow enough stuff to happen within each POV.

So what do you do about this? First thing, of course, you’re going to want to analyze your POVs and make sure they’re all really necessary. Once you’ve determined they are necessary, your next step is to boil everything down to essentials. Figure out what events need to happen in each POV and focus on them first. What you want to avoid is stretching your plot so thin to keep track of all these POVs that readers get bored waiting for something to happen.

Tell me your opinion: What is the largest number of POV characters you have ever worked with in a single story?

Related Posts: How Many POVs Are Too Many?

Introduce Important POVs as Soon as Possible

The Biggest Danger of Multiple POVs

September 26, 2012
28 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in Feature , pov

The ending of your story is a loooong way away from the beginning. Three hundred pages or 100,000 words is an extraordinary journey. Contemplating the ending from the vantage point of the beginning is like looking up at the top of Mt. Everest and imagining yourself, in all your windblown, frostbitten glory, standing there with your hands on your hips and your foot propped on a rock. It’s all a bit hard to grasp.

And by the time you do make it to the top of the mountain, it’s going to be almost as difficult to peer down the rocky slopes and try to remember the base camp you left way back at the beginning of your trek.

This is a fact. But it’s also a fact that the only way to achieve a strong ending is to remember the beginning. “No need to watch where I’m going. Just need know where I’ve been.” So says Mater in Pixar’s Cars. Although writers need to pay as much attention to the road ahead as the road behind, there’s a lot we can learn from a good rearview mirror.

The beginning and the ending are two halves of the same whole. In some senses, they’re mirror images of one another. The beginning asks a question, and the ending answers it. This is the key. If the ending fails to answer the specific question set out in the beginning, the whole book will fail.

Your Story’s Beginning: Asking the Right Question

What is this question your beginning is supposed to ask? We’ve talked before about the necessity of hooking readers with an opening question. But this hook question may or may not be the question that is answered in the ending. The purpose of the hook question is to grab reader curiosity. Once it’s done that, its primary purpose is accomplished, and the question itself may be answered later in the same scene (so long as another question—and another reason to keep reading—is promptly raised in its stead).

The question that will be answered in the ending is your story question. This is the question that will fuel the entirety of your plot:

· Will the heroine find true love?

· Will the anti-hero be redeemed?

· Will the bad guys suffer justice?

Of course, your story’s own unique question will be even more specific:

· Will Margie stop her self-destructive lifestyle of drugs and liquor before she loses her soulmate Tom forever?

· Will mercenary Mike learn to fight for a cause more worthy than just money and power?

· Will the Mafia be taken down by the intrepid undercover work of FBI agent Neal?

Your story question might be a plot question or a theme question—or both. But it must be presented in the beginning of the story in order for the ending to resonate.

Your Story’s Ending: Answering the Right Question

Once you’ve set up a powerful question in your story’s opening, you have to follow through by deliberately answering it in the finale. Finding that answer in the story’s ending is the only way to create continuity and resonance.

If your story about Neal’s undercover work in the Mafia ends by answering a question about Neal’s marriage or his daughter’s autism or his newfound talent for breakdancing, it’s going to fail. These answers may tie up loose ends on subplots, but they ultimately don’t matter to the story arc unless the main story question is answered as well.

When you choose to answer the main story question is also important. The moment you answer this question, your story is going to be effectively over. Answer it too soon, and what’s left of your plot and your character’s arc will die a slow and lingering (and boring) death.

Figuring out how to properly link your beginning and ending takes a little forethought, but once you’ve identified your main story question, you’ll not only know what your story is about, you’ll also be able to strengthen your plot, your theme, and your character development all the way through the book.

Tell me your opinion: Will your story ending answer the question presented in its beginning?

Related Posts: 5 Elements of a Riveting Opening Line

5 Elements of a Resonant Closing Line

Why Opening With a Characteristic Moment Is So Important

_________________

Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).

September 23, 2012
19 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in beginnings , endings , Feature , SYN

This guest post, by Neal Abbot, offers a great counterpoint regarding the usefulness of adverbs.

The problem with modifiers in general, and adverbs in particular, is they are notorious tellers and a hindrance to good showing. Instead of telling us, “He stormed out of the room angrily,” show us by his actions how an angry man storms out of the room. Show us his clenched fists with white knuckles. Let us hear the boom of his stomping. Describe the sneer on his lip or the growl under his breath.

Adverbs as sound

However, there is a place for the adverb. Sometimes the adverb is useful if only for its sound. As writers, we cannot ignore the resonance of our texts. In these instances, the literary meaning isn’ as important as how the prose sounds – sort of an Ode to Joy-ish literary timbre. So I’d say it’s permissible to use an adverb if it’s there more for its beautiful sound than its sound logic.

Adverbs as symbolism

Adverbs may also carry a bit of symbolism in them, too. In my last novel Prince, I have a woman dying of pneumonia. Her son and her ex-husband are in the hospital room with her. The son notices in the corner a moth dancing “phantasically” on a lightbulb in a small lamp. The moth’s shadow cast upon the ceiling looks like an angel. Both the references to a ghosts and angels let you know that she is going to die. After she passes, the son realizes that the moth is gone.

How to choose correct adverbs

A rule I use to keep adverbs to a minimum is to ask, “How can (some antecedent) be (its modifier)?” My first creative writing professor always asked us to get rid of adverbs. For example, if someone wrote, “The ball rolled happily across the floor,” he’d ask, “How can a ball be happy?” If the student couldn’t answer, the adverb had to go. If by chance a student could explain how hissubject could act in a certain manner, then my professor would say, “Now you’re showing me.” Point made.

Let’s watch our adverbs. If they are examples of us telling and showing, they should go. But they can be used for the sound and the symbolism. When properly placed, a good adverb and enhance the quality of your writing.

About the Author: Neal Abbott is the author of three novels, Heirloom, Drover, and Prince. The first two are currently out of print, while Prince is scheduled for a November 6th release. He is now working on a non-fiction project regarding The Great Gatsby, particularly about Nick Carraway as narrator. He posts every Monday and Thursday on his blog, A Word Fitly Spoken.

Tell me your opinion: How do you decide when to maintain an adverb or delete it?

Related Posts: Active vs. Passive Voice

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4 Tricks for Picking the Perfect Word

September 21, 2012
6 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in Feature , Grammar , Modifiers , prose , style , symbolism

This week’s video points out three reasons writers need to be even more dedicated in stamping out the dreaded adverb.

Video Transcript: Perhaps the most famous condemnation of adverbs is Mark Twain’s, “If you see an adverb, kill it.” I’m going to take a wild guess and say that, right about now, you’re probably nodding your head in sage agreement. And, for the record, so am I. Off the record, I’m going to say ninety percent of authors would nod their heads. And yet, the adverb still lives!

I’m the first to admit the dreaded adverb still crops up in my work—both inadvertently and purposefully—just as I’m sure it shows up in yours. For that matter, it still makes frequent appearances even in the work of modern bestsellers. Most readers probably aren’t going to spot unnecessary adverbs and pick them out, but as authors, we get to be hyperaware of these things, for better or worse. For me today, it serves as a good opportunity for a reminder about just why it is Mark Twain has encouraged such hatred against the adverb.

Quickly, let’s just mention three reasons. 1) The unnecessary adverb is clunky. Saying a character spoke ponderously or slyly or hyperventilatingly is just awkward. It’s not the best way to use the language—particularly in association with dialogue, which should indicate these things within its own context. 2) The unnecessary adverb is deadweight. Every word counts. And adverbs can pile up fast. If a word doesn’t effectively advance the plot or increase reader understanding, it’s just going be a waste of space within the book. You’d be surprised how sleek and slim your manuscript can end up after cutting a couple thousand unneeded adverbs. And, finally, 3) the unnecessary adverb is a mistake just waiting to be pointed out by all those hordes of hyperaware fellow authors.

Tell me your opinion: Do think the adverb is rightly hated?

Related Posts: Kill the Big, Fat, Ugly Modifier!

Are You Benefiting From the Intimacy of Pronouns?

A Quick Ode Against “That”

September 19, 2012
27 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in Feature , Grammar , Modifiers , style

Conflict is the life’s blood of fiction. Conflict means something’s happening. Conflict brings change. And there’s also the little matter of human nature’s voyeuristic fascination with other people’s confrontations. “No conflict, no story” is a rule of fiction familiar to even the noobiest of noob writers. We’re told to pack in the conflict. Make sure there’s conflict on every page. When the story feels slow, just add a little more conflict. Conflict, conflict, conflict—it’s the fiction fix-all.

But is it?

Turns out conflict isn’t the wonder drug we may have thought. For example, let’s consider that last bit of advice: “When the story feels slow, just add a little more conflict.” On the surface, it’s pretty good advice. But, if we dig a little deeper, we’re going to find it’s also pretty problematic.

Your Story’s Conflict Is Broken

Why? Because conflict is only interesting or compelling within the context of the plot. In other words, conflict, just for the sake of conflict, is not only just as boring as zero conflict, it’s also much more difficult for readers to swallow whole. Dwight V. Swain, in his canonical Techniques of the Selling Writer, explains:

[Your reader] demands that your character’s efforts have meaning. They must be the consequences of prior development and the product of intelligence and direction. So, unless you’ve planted proper motivation, he’ll resent it if your boxer, for no apparent reason, slugs a cop or stomps the arena doorman. Nor will he be satisfied, for that matter, if a gang of young hoodlums chooses this particular moment to pelt your vanquished warrior with rotten eggs, not even knowing who he is.

So there goes that random argument about which of our characters was supposed to buy eggs. In the context of our save-the-world-from-a-nuclear-holocaust thriller, an argument about eggs is going to be pointless. Likely, we’re only sticking it in there because we don’t know what else to write. The story has stalled, and we don’t know what’s supposed to happen in the next scene. But something has to happen in this scene and it had better include conflict. Enter the eggs argument. Often, this is yet another symptom of the meandering or goal-less character.

Creating Meaningful Story Conflict

If some types of conflict don’t cut it, how do you know which types are acceptable? Generally, of course, you’re looking for conflict that makes sense within the scope of the plot. You’re looking for conflict that flows from the plot. But how do you know when conflict flows from the plot?

It all comes down to character. And not just character personality, but, much more specifically, character motivations, goals, and reactions. The kind of conflict that drives stories is that which arises from a direct opposition to the protagonist’s goals.

If the presence of eggs in the protagonist’s refrigerator has no effect on his story or scene goals, then the egg conflict has no place in the story. On the other hand, if the absence of those eggs is going to spell doom (or perhaps just delay) for his dreams, that’s the kind of conflict I want to read about.

Subtle or Sidelong Story Conflict

While we’re at it, let’s also note that this integral conflict we’re talking about doesn’t always have to be overt. It could be the eggs in the above argument won’t have any direct impact on the characters, but the argument about the eggs might be symbolic of a deeper, unstated conflict between the characters—one which will present inherent obstacles.

On its surface, conflict is a very uncomplicated mechanism (two people arguing—how complicated is that?). But we must always understand what’s driving the conflict in every scene. What’s causing it? What changes will it cause in future scenes? Answer just these two questions, and before you know it, you’ll have a cohesive and compelling plot on your hands.

Tell me your opinion: How does the conflict in your latest scene present an obstacle to your character’s goal?

Related Posts: The Necessity of Conflict

Is Nothin’ Happening in Your Scene?

When Arguments Are a Good Thing: Conflict in Dialogue

_________________

Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).

September 16, 2012
10 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in conflict , Feature , goals , reaction , SYN

This guest post was written by Nick Thacker.

When I posted here back in April (about writing a novel in two sentences), it got a great response. I wanted to follow that up with another post in the same vein, this time about creating “two-word” characters. Originally introduced to me through the great Dwight Swain, this is a wonderful method for drafting initial character concepts.

Every character has a goal, a mission. Sometimes the “goal” is to simply to serve as an extra—a body to be killed, a boy to be shunned, etc. Other times, their missions are as apparent as the back-cover text.

When you write a novel or an outline and place characters in it, it’s important to know them in and out—this is a truism that’s been rehashed by many writers. While true, it’s not always intuitively helpful for figuring out exactly how much detail you should include.

Some writers swear by including an entire dossier of informational material on each of their main characters—before starting the writing process.

Others choose to be “pantsers”—allowing the sparks of creativity to shape and mold their story people. All of these things can lead to setbacks, but if you focus on creating believable characters, it’ll make the rest of your job that much easier.

In Dwight Swain’s book, Creating Characters: Building Story People, he claims the art of character building can be reduced to a fundamental two-word level. This method won’t be perfect for everyone, but it can sure speed up your planning and outlining process !

The Two-Word Character

Before I get too far into this, I want to disclaim my beliefs on the subject. First, there are many, many ways to create art, and characters are no different. This method is just one of many. But it’s one that has truly helped shaped my characters, without causing me undue stress.

Second, your mileage may vary. As with my previous statement, there are many ways of reaching the same conclusion, and that’s mainly because different things work for different people. If you don’t like this method, don’t use it—but if you’ve never tried it, at least give it a shot!

The Two-Word Character method involves giving at least your main characters a two-word (didn’t see that coming, did you?) description. You’ll expound on these two words as you continue to write, ensuring your creativity, personal style, and overall flair is not stifled by a “formulaic” approach.

The two words we're looking for are:

1. A noun of vocation.

2. An adjective of manner.

The “noun of vocation” is simple—it’s what the character does. Either for a living (a job), as a retirement hobby, a lifeblood, or whatever. It’s the way you might describe someone at a party (or how you might describe yourself).

Your character can be a pilot, a seamstress, a prostitute, a carpenter, etc.

The “adjective of manner” will help further chisel out a nice-looking image in the readers’ mind of who your character is. As we all know, a pilot can be charismatic, mean-spirited, idiotic, charming, or anything else, and a prostitute can be gracious, exuberant, regretful, etc.

Overall, you want to capture the main essence of your character. What they’re like, boiled down into one single word that describes their mannerisms and their personality.

What to do with the Two Words

Once you’ve figured out the main line of vocation and a general word of description for each character, you can start to write. Sometimes you’ll want to work out a few more specific qualities or quirks for each of your main characters, but if you’re at all like me—you’ll just want to jump in to the story.

The first time I wrote a novel, I messed up big time when I tried to write a character into a scene that I’d never met before. I had no idea if he was young or old, patient or demanding, charismatic or short-tempered. I had to do a lot of extra, unnecessary editing before he really started to take shape in my mind.

My second mistake in character development was going the exact opposite route. I tried to plan in advance every single trait, characteristic, and historic feature of my characters before even typing a word. Of course, this led to thousands of unnecessary words, and while I knew my secondary villain’s nephew inside and out—my readers never needed to.

The Two-Word approach lets me hone in on the two most important, overarching qualities of my characters that will truly bring them to life for my readers. Two words don’t allow me to get into the nitty-gritty details of their childhoods, nor do they allow me to get hung up hair color, eye color, etc., when those things aren’t important to my story.

Using Two Words

Obviously, most of your characters will need many more than two words of description before they become living, breathing people, but the Two-Word Method is great for getting you into your story faster.

Let the story guide the rest of the details—how they talk, react, think, live. Let their two words become the memorable traits your readers will take with them, long after they’ve finished reading your novel.

About the Author: Nick Thacker writes about writing, blogging, and publishing, and you can check him out on his blog. Be sure to grab his new book, Welcome Home: The Author’s Guide to Building A Marketing Home Base, and grab the newsletter!

Tell me your opinion: Have you used a method like this before in your writing?

Related Posts: Interviewing Your Characters

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Describing Characters

September 14, 2012
11 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in Characters , Feature

This week’s video explores the pros and cons of using a cliffhanger to end books within a series.

Video Transcript: Writers are told all the time they need to end their scenes, chapters, and even books—if they’re part of a series—with cliffhangers that will force readers to choose between either reading on to find out what happens, or, alternatively, dying slowly and painfully of curiosity. But is this really good storytelling? When it comes to scenes and chapters, we can say that, generally speaking, cliffhangers are not a bad idea. In fact, they’re a very good idea when they keep readers racing through our pages. Really, the only the problem we need to be aware of here is making sure the cliffhangers don’t become monotonous.

On the other hand, a cliffhanger at the end of a book itself is an entirely different matter. The truth is most readers don’t really like cliffhangers at the end of a book. After investing hours in a book, with the goal of discovering whether or not the heroine survives her horrific kidnapping, only to find out they have to wait a whole year until the next book comes out, you really can’t blame readers for their frustration.

And yet authors keep slapping cliffhangers on the ends of books within a series. Why? Why do we do this? The answer, of course, is obvious. We want (scratch that, we desperately need) readers to buy the next book in the series. But the irony here is that ticking them off with a cliffhanger that leaves all the story questions unanswered is not the best way to endear them to us or our stories.

There are better ways to get readers to read on to the next book—not least among them strong plots, concepts, characters, and themes. If readers love what you’re doing, they’ll read on just to spend more time in your story world. When you’re writing a series, you’ll certainly have loose ends that will carry over from book to book. But there’s no reason each book can’t have a solid beginning, middle, and ending of its own.

Tell me your opinion: Do you like cliffhangers at the ends of books?

Related Posts: Are Happy Endings a Must?

Deus Ex Machina: Latin for Don’t Do This in Your Book

Do You Know the Two Ingredients in a Perfect Ending?

September 12, 2012
29 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in cliffhanger , endings , Feature , SYN

Writers are masters of excuses. We come up with all sorts of awesome reasons we should do be doing everything but writing. If most of us were half as good at writing as we are at excusing ourselves, the world be blessed with landslides of great literature. Today, let’s consider some of our most common writing excuses, when they’re true, when they’re not, and how to get past them.

1. I have no talent.

Is it true? Maybe so, maybe no. But the will to write is more important than any amount of talent. Commitment is more important than talent. Determination is more important than talent.

Smash it! Although it’s important to realistically assess your skill level, what’s more important is having the guts and grit to keep at it, keep learning, keep improving. Talent isn’t what ultimately matters in this game.

2. The odds of being published are too high.

Is it true? The odds are high these days. Traditional houses are hurting, and they’re taking fewer risks as a result. On the other hand, independent publishing gives any writer the opportunity of seeing his work in print, but seeing it sell and sell well is still a long shot.

Smash it! In the immortal words of Han Solo, “Never tell me the odds!” Agented writers are being signed to fat traditional contracts and indie authors are selling thousands of copies every single day. Yeah, the odds are high. But they’re only impossible if you never give the game a go.

3. I’m too exhausted/stressed/wired.

Is it true? Are you exhausted, stressed, wired, pained, or feeling less than physically perfect? Probably. Are you too exhausted, stressed, wired, or pained to write? Probably not.

Smash it! If you let your body or your emotional state rule your life, you’ll never get anything done. Writing ain’t for wimps. If you’re serious about writing, you have to buck up, sit down, and write on through your discomfort.

4. Taking time to write makes me feel guilty.

Is it true? Your feeling of guilt is undoubtedly real. But whether it’s justified is another question altogether.

Smash it! If you choose to make writing a priority, you will inevitably have to give up other things. Sometimes those things will be important. But once you’ve made the decision to devote a certain amount of your day to writing, don’t allow yourself to be guilted out of it. If you don’t treat your writing like a priority, it won’t be.

5. Fiction offers nothing of value to the world.

Is it true? Absolutely not. Art, in all its forms, is the expression of humanity. It is the record of our lives. It is the exploration of the deep and never-ending questions of our existence. It is our soul-deep communication with one another. Writing changes lives.

Smash it! Just because fiction is entertainment doesn’t mean it has to have an empty-calorie effect on the world. When you sit down at the computer and start typing, you’re wielding untold power. Use it responsibly, use it honestly—and never discount it.

6. People will ridicule my writing and me as a writer.

Is it true? Perhaps. Non-writers often have a difficult time understanding what we do and why. Some people will scorn your work for any number of reasons (which can include their own ignorance and insecurity).

Smash it! One of the chief requirements of surviving as a writer is a thick skin. If you’re worried about what people think, become a roofer. Hard knocks come with the business. Learn to smile and let the bitter words roll right off you.

7. Writing is too hard.

Is it true? Writing is hard, no question. Sometime it’s bone-bustingly, mind-numbingly, soul-wrenchingly hard.

Smash it! Watch out for that word “too.” Spelled backwards and spoken out of the side of your mouth, it means you’re giving up out of weakness and laziness. When the going gets tough, gird your loins and battle on through. It’s the only way to make it—in writing and in life.

8. My life is too boring to provide interesting material.

Is it true? Sitting at a computer eight hours out of the day doesn’t generally lend itself to wild life experiences. Not all writers can (or want to) live life on the edge.

Smash it! The tortured author stereotype is just that. You’re not limited to writing what you know, only what you can imagine—and that goes for life experiences as much as anything.

9. I need to learn more about how to write.

Is it true? Probably. There’s always more to learn. No one masters an art form. Even were you to prove prodigy enough to master all the variables of the craft, the very nature of art means it’s always evolving. Every book you write is going to be a new adventure, full of new trials.

Smash it! Although studying the craft is important, it’s no replacement for on-the-job experience. The best way to learn how to write a book is to write one. Keep reading those how-to books, but don’t let that keep you from hammering the keyboard.

10. There are too many distractions.

Is it true? Life is full of distractions. The dog needs to go outside. The kids need to be fed. The day job needs to be tended to. Sometimes it all gets to be so overwhelming, all you want to do is scream.

Smash it! Did you notice that “too” word again? Sometimes we can’t control the distractions in our lives. But we can control our responses to them. Set up personal boundaries, write schedules, or, better yet, learn to write right on through the distractions.

There are always going to be moments and circumstances that intrude on our writing with an inexorable force we can’t ignore. But, most of the time, the only thing keeping us from our writing is ourselves. Excuses are like termites. Give one or two the opportunity to thrive, and before you know it, they’ll have eaten through the very foundation of your determination and creativity. Grab the bug spray and the flyswatter, and start smashing!

Tell me your opinion: What is your most common excuse for not writing—and how do you smash it?

Related Posts: Making the Time to Write

The Good News? Writing Never Gets Any Easier

Maintaining Your Enthusiasm Until the Book Is Completed

_________________

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September 9, 2012
68 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in fear , Feature , Inspiration , procrastination , Writing Life

This week’s video describes a fabulously gripping scene break hook that actually does more harm than good.

Video Transcript: Any author worth his salt knows the scene break is dangerous ground. Any time you give readers an inkling of an excuse to set down your story, you’re in peril of losing them altogether. Who knows what fascinating stuff they may find to keep them from returning? Chocolate pudding? That latest rerun of I Love Lucy? A good ol’ snooze? Whatever the distraction, it’s your enemy. So you fight back by ending your scenes with killer hooks.

Instead of ending your scene with the mundane, “Eudora went into the kitchen to make an egg salad sandwich for lunch,” you’re going to want to go for something more along the lines of, “Jamie burst into the kitchen, grabbed Eudora by the shoulders, and yelled, ‘The cops have come for us!’” Exciting, right? Exciting enough to keep readers from dropping your book and heading to the fridge for that last cup of chocolate pudding, right? It’s all pretty darn good…. until your reader reads on to the next scene and discovers Eudora and Jamie weren’t ever in danger of being arrested. Rather, as it turns out, the cops want their help in an investigation.

There’s nothing wrong with this plot development. It offers all kinds of interesting possibilities. The problem is none of those possibilities fulfill the promise of the hook at the end of the previous scene. In other words, in order to get readers to read on to the help-the-cops scenes, you had to lie to them. You’ve faked them out by making them think something interesting was about to happen—when, really, it wasn’t.

By using a bait-and-switch technique of this sort, you may well get readers to jump that scene break and keep reading. But you’re also likely to subtly—if not overtly—undermine their confidence in your storytelling. As authors, we need to play it straight with our readers. If your next scene isn’t exciting enough to entice readers into reading it, you’d probably do better to rework it, rather than tricking readers into thinking it’s something it’s not.

Tell me your opinion: Do you think “lying” scene breaks are worth the risk?

Related Posts: Don ’t Tie off Your Scenes With a Ribbon

Are Your Scene Breaks Rude?

Hook the Reader With a Sneak Peek

September 5, 2012
24 Comments
K.M. Weiland
Posted in Feature , hook , scene breaks

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