Lorin Expounds on Scenes

Lorin Oberweger, Free Expressions founder, editor and award winning author, discussed scene structure with an attentive group at the August 13th meeting. Using an example opening scene, she covered the basic building blocks of a scene, including time and place, viewpoint character, and inciting incident. Her handouts included a scene synopsis card, which guides the writer in building a sound scene, and her own Scene Response Sheet, which gives the reader a group of criteria for rating the effectiveness of a scene on a gut level. This is helpful from a critique standpoint as well as a self-evaluation.

Ms. Oberweger's relaxed style and confident command of knowledge made her a big hit with the audience, and many told me afterward how grateful they were for her presentation. I look forward to her return in the future.

If anyone is interested in improving their writing skills through a workshop, which is highly recommended by many writers, editors and others in the business, Lorin hosts several excellent seminars, including those by Donald Maass. (Enthusiastic disclaimer: I attended his High Tension Workshop last year and it was incredible!)

'til next month,
John

45 Master Characters

Schmidt, Victoria Lynn. 45 Master Characters. Writer’s Digest Books, 2001.

The "Hero’s Journey" is a common archetype in storytelling. Mythologist Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces remains popular with fiction and screenwriters sixty years after its first publication, and classes and books on using the hero’s journey in fiction abound. Most of the time, treatment of the hero’s journey is limited to the masculine perspective, and the archetypal hero is of course only male. In 45 Master Characters, screenwriter Victoria Lynn Schmidt balances the situation by presenting both the feminine and masculine hero’s journey and character archetypes of both sexes.

Schmidt presents eight feminine and eight masculine character archetypes, drawn from Greco-Roman and Egyptian mythology. For each archetype, she first discusses the character’s positive, heroic form and then its negative, villainous form. For example, Aphrodite is shown in positive form as "The Seductive Muse;" her flip side is the "Femme Fatale."

For the heroic form of each archetype, Schmidt discusses:

• General character traits and appearance.
• What the character cares about.
• What the character fears.
• What motivates the character.
• How other characters see the character.
• Developing the character arc, including other archetypes that pair well with this one to spur the character’s growth.
• Summary of the character’s assets and flaws.

The negative form of each archetype is treated less thoroughly. Schmidt gives only a general description and a bullet-list summary of character traits for the negative archetypes.

Each section concludes with examples from TV, film, and then history and literature. Literary figures tend to be thinly represented vs. TV and film. Most of the "History and Literature" examples are historical rather than literary figures.

Sixteen archetypes with two forms of each makes 32 characters, but the title promises us 45. Those extra 13 characters are provided in a separate section on supporting character archetypes. Schmidt classifies supporting characters into three categories: Friends, Rivals, and Symbols. Each category is further divided into a number of types, covered in less depth (naturally) than the main character archetypes. Again, examples are drawn almost exclusively from films. Some of the distinctions in the types are thinly drawn: The rival types "Jester" and "Joker" are almost the same thing, as she admits, and the "Symbol" character archetype is oversimplified. However, that doesn’t mean that this section of the book isn’t valuable. Each of the thirteen supporting characters can be useful in fleshing out a story’s cast.

The last section presents an overview of the mythic journeys, both feminine and masculine. Of course, given the book’s focus, the journey as plot isn’t developed as thoroughly as the characters that go on the journey, but this section provides an acceptable introduction to the concept. There are plenty of books on the journey structure if you need more information than is provided here. Of course, if you’re writing the feminine journey, there is less material out there for you, so this might well be the best you can find. An appendix provides some helpful worksheets for constructing the journeys using the three-act structure.

The book has its flaws. Chief among them is the screenwriter’s perspective. Although lip service is paid to fiction, most of the examples are drawn from film and television rather than literature. Often, the film version of a story is privileged over the book. For example, Cora in The Postman Always Rings Twice is cited as an example of the Femme Fatale, but it’s the movie version of Cora, not the book, that Schmidt is talking about. The screenwriter’s perspective, with its emphasis of what can be shown on screen, is also evident in the section on "Working with an Archetypes." The first thing Schmidt suggests that you do when creating a character is to picture what the character looks like, including her body type and style of dress. The character’s personality and motivations are a runner-up.

The book is also plagued with numerous instances of awkward writing such as this one: "The male hero was just learning to descend on his inner journey, and it would take him much later to do it." The quality of writing is uneven throughout, and the book is also rife with clichés, like this one in the description of the Ares archetype: "He lives on eggshells, as if everyone were out to get him. He’s like a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off."

The book is not without strengths, or I wouldn’t have bothered to tell you about it. The information on each archetype is very valuable. Even if you’re not consciously using the mythic journey as a plot structure, thinking about your characters in terms of these archetypes can give you ideas you might not have thought of otherwise. And Schmidt provides plenty of good advice for thinking deeply about character motivation, fears, and concerns.

45 Master Characters isn’t a must-have book, but for the writer who is struggling to develop larger-than-life characters or wants an introduction to the hero’s journey that covers feminine and masculine archetypes, it is worth checking out.

Vicki Taylor talks dialogue

Vicki Taylor, one of FWA's founding members, presented a workshop on dialogue on July 9. (My deepest apologies for reviewing this so late! I will add a picture later.) Reading from several of her works, she demonstrated the use of dialogue in moving a story forward and adding tension. At the end of her presentation everyone was asked to write a piece of dialogue, and many shared what they had written. She offered 2 of her books as door prizes to conclude the evening.

John

Anhinga: It's a Wrap!

Wow, what an exciting final day! I spent 2 sessions with Victor Bockris, a very interesting character. His first session dealt with minimalist poetry, and I don't think anyone was successful in generating a poem he thought met the criteria. His later session involved human speech, and he recorded and played back our readings, which is something I'd recommend to everyone, to see how your work sounds. It's a step up from reading out loud, as you can listen after the fact to see how it really sounds!

Several panels filled out the day, another one with Anne Hawkins, the literary agent, and the author-agent relationship (Mary Anna Evans is one of her clients) with Mary Anna, also. Publishing contracts were reviewed in the other panel presented by the 3 ladies who make up the Anhinga Writers.

Hopefully we'll see some new faces in the coming months. I met several from St. Petersburg and hope they find time to join us for our meetings, and ultimately become members.

See you soon!
John

Anhinga: The Third Day

DO YOUR HOMEWORK! I can't tell you how many times I heard that remark during this workshop/conference. Anne Hawkins, (left) a literary agent, gave some excellent advice on finding an agent, querying an agent, and working with an agent. I'll be updating our web blog with more sections for publishing based on what I heard from Mary Anna Evans and Anne, and several others.

Peter Meinke is a gem! Our very own laureate had some great advice, which I've passed on periodically. Poetry can strengthen your prose. Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner all wrote poems, as have Oates and Updyke. Rhythm, imagery, and sound--elements of poetry, can help you in your writing. (It also works the other way, for those of you who are poets!)

Finally, returning to the publishing and marketing side, it's important to realize that the process should not be traveled in a serial fashion, performing one step at a time (book, synopsis, query letter, get agent, come up with marketing plan, etc.), but rather simultaneously. While you are writing you should be preparing your synopsis, a query letter, a marketing plan--I know, it seems overwhelming to me, too. But it makes sense, if you don't want the whole thing to stretch out for decades! (Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration.)

Another great day topped off by a dinner with new friends from Columbus Ohio, Ocala, Sarasota and High Springs. More great news to share at the next meeting!

Tomorrow's a wrap,
John

Anhinga: The Second Day

Great second day to the workshop. Listened to Rick Campbell, who heads up Anhinga Press, which publishes poetry, analyze some poems. He shied away from having us write anything, which disappointed me. But I learned a lot from what he showed us in his analysis (of his and others' poetry). Plus his sense of humor was fantastic.

I then attended Roxanne St. Claire's class on plotting and pacing. That was enjoyable and she brough along a 'plot board' to demonstrate how she works on her books. This reminded me of Julie Czerneda at Necronomicon last year, who uses a similar technique. She reviewed things that killed pacing, plus several standard plot outlines.

The big event for the day was the conversation with Charlaine Harris, which attracted a crowd of almost 200 (about double the number of workshop attendees). Once the fans started asking about their favorite characters I decided to leave, as I don't have cable tv and so am not familiar with her stories.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow and post them. I think this is more a conference than a workshop, unless you were in one specific fiction track, but I've learned a lot from some of the people here, and have met some good people, too. Peter Meinke, the poet laureate of St. Pete, is a warm and wonderful person. I'll hear more from him tomorrow, and am looking forward to that. The editors panel was insightful, even with some very rookie questions being thrown at the four editors/publishers on stage. Three of the four were literary; I'll bring back information on the fourth, a small independent publisher in High Springs who is expanding from Romance into all genres, and was publishing about 25 books a year but is hoping to double that this year (or go higher).

Later,
John

Anhinga: The First Day

Okay, here's an example of a new gadget I'm using that I hope will improve my 'saves' of workshop and conference information. It's called a digital notepad, and I can show it at the next meeting if anyone is interested. (Though not to interfere with the presenter.) I write the notes down and they are saved electronically, and I then upload them to my computer. Here's my first page from today, to give you an idea of what it looks like. (I can save in several formats, I chose jpeg for this one to be able to upload it here.) It's blurry here but in pdf and at larger size it's clearer.



A short day, starting with registration at 1pm or, for most people, pick up your packet time. I did stop by early and met April Fitzgerald, the FWA leader in Gainesville who is a fantastic person. I've seen several other FWA members here (from around Florida) in addition to April. Total attendance I would estimate at roughly 100.

The initial panel consisted of the three ladies in charge, and they spoke about how they lived the writing life. Very different styles from each of them, which should tell you that there's no one way to write, so be wary of those who want you to conform to one view of successful writing.

I'm attending mostly for the poetry, as I hope to have a collection published next year (I won't have finished the last poem probably until December). The 'name' that got me here is Peter Meinke, the poet laureate of St. Petersburg. My first workshop, however, was with Lola Haskins, who has 8 books on poetry published and teaches in a low residency MFA program and is also a writing coach. What I found interesting was the manner in which she built her poems, which she calls 'Streamlining,' and a technique she sometimes uses where she writes the poem out in a single line, finding that by the end of the line the ending will sometimes suggest itself.

Several attendees told me about Bev's workshop, which she'll be doing for us in November, and from the excitement they displayed I know it will be a good one.

There was a mixer in the evening which included the guest of honor, Charlaine Harris. Though I didn't get to talk with her, I did meet Roxanne St. Clair, a romance writer from Melbourne. Her 23rd and 24th books are coming out this year! Another great person, who was a bit chagrined that I wasn't attending any of her workshops, which she said were not just about romance, but writing in general. Okay, maybe I will jump tracks a bit here!

After the mixer we were treated to a ride to the historic district where restaurants awaited. I'm finding more people who have been here before, and I think that speaks to the quality of the workshop.

Looking forward to tomorrow,
John

Blogging from Anhinga Workshop - before the start

Hi all!

I'm going to blog from the Anhinga Writers Workshop this week, and hope you will follow along and ask any questions if you want me to find out more. Registration begins in about an hour and a half, but I've already met the 3 ladies who are running it, Bev Browning, (who visited us in May), Mary Anna Evans, and Diana Tonnessen. As I find at all these things, everyone is very nice and welcoming.

While I ate an early lunch, several people sitting nearby came up to introduce themselves. They are from Tennessee and are returning for the workshop a second time. (Maybe more, but they mentioned they were here last year, when it was under the Rawlings title.)

I'll set up the FWA room shortly and make sure all the supplies are there. I brought some extras in case of need or if something wasn't ready when Chrissy sent them.

I'm really excited about this, and can't stress enough how valuable it is to get to a workshop to help strengthen your writing skills and expand your contact list. I know it's difficult, especially during this economic downturn, but later I'll put together a list of the opportunities in our state, as that can reduce travel expenses. That's why the Margie Lawson workshop just prior to the state FWA conference in the fall is so valuable. It's short (1 day), cheap ($50 member price), and will be packed with great information. (Ask Sam - he can vouch for it!)

Okay, stay tuned, I'll begin posting in the evening after each day's work is complete.

Keep writing and dreaming!
John

Don't Murder Your Mystery, Don't Sabotage Your Submission

Roerden, Chris. Don’t Murder Your Mystery. Bella Rosa Books, 2006. Don’t Sabotage Your Submission. Bella Rosa Books, 2008.

This month, I look at two editions of the same book. Don’t Murder Your Mystery won the Agatha Award for best nonfiction book of 2006 and has been a finalist for the Macavity Award, the Anthony Award, and, under its new title, Don't Sabotage Your Submission was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year award. Writing professors use these books in their classrooms. Award-winning authors swear by Ms. Roerden’s advice. Best-seller Charlaine Harris recommends them. With credentials and kudos like those, I almost don’t need to write a review at all.

Why the two titles? Don’t Murder Your Mystery was written specifically for mystery authors, and its sample passages are drawn from mystery novels. Roerden broadened her focus when she updated the book; passages are now drawn from a variety of genres including mystery, romance, and thrillers. The changed focus demanded a new title. Because Sabotage is essentially a new edition of Murder, this review treats them as the same book.

The book is divided into ten “Parts," which are further divided into chapters. Part One covers the various players in the writing business—screeners (those who read your manuscript before it ever gets to an editor or agent), agents, publishers—and you, the writer. Roerden discusses motivations for each—what makes a screener stop reading, what forces drive the decisions of agents and editors, and why writers write. Part Two introduces the art of self-editing. The remaining eight Parts cover various categories of manuscript problems. Roerden explains how “First Offenders” like bad opening hooks and tension-killing prologues can strangle your story in it opening pages. “Killing Time” covers errors in pacing, and so on.

In each chapter, Roerden provides a diagnosis of a specific problem and suggestions for how to correct it. Over 200 examples from published novels illustrate effective use of the techniques she teaches. To make the examples clearer, she frequently takes a good passage and makes it bad, then discusses exactly why her version is worse than the original.

I found the book to be incredibly painful to read. Not because Roerden’s writing is anything but readable, not because the examples are anything but illuminating, but because as I read each chapter, I discovered new reasons why agents reject my manuscript after a partial read. With the exception of the chapter on Prologues and the one on shifting point of view, there wasn’t a mistake that I hadn’t made. The good news, of course, is that all of these mistakes can be corrected and thanks to Chris Roerden, now I know how to do it.

Whether you have written a mystery, a romance, or some other genre, or a literary novel, Chris Roerden’s book can help you improve a lackluster manuscript into something that will catch the eye of agents and editors.

Author Kathy Nappier talks Internet Publishing

Last week, as you may know, our leader John Rehg was not present at the beginning of the meeting. He was at his daughter’s wedding rehearsal, so I was delegated to lead the meeting. He did manage to come in at the end of the meeting. Just in time to take a few pictures for us. Thanks John!

I became a member in January and quickly recognized I wanted to be a part of this group. I asked John to allow me to help when needed and he has held up to this request.

Our speaker for the evening was Kathy Nappier and her topic for the evening was internet publishing aka epublishing or print on demand. Kathy has authored several books including Full Wolf Moon and Voyagers, and coming in fall 2009, Bitten.

E-publishing aka internet publishing is when an author uses a print on demand company, such as Lightning Source, Inc or CreateSpace to help produce the book.

Kathy talked about how there is a stigma on epublishing; however, the stigma does not have to stop you from using this form of publishing.

As many of you know, the publishing industry is dealing with layoffs and cut backs like many other industries. This does not have to deter your writing dreams. As Kathy mentioned, you may need to be more strategic in your marketing and promoting efforts.

The decision to go with print on demand or traditional publishing is one left to each individual. The more important part of publishing your book is to know your market and then promote your book.

By using internet publishing, you are able to bypass wondering if your book will get published because you are the one holding the reins on the publishing rope. Take your time and be sure your book sticks with high quality. Have your book edited and formatted properly. Some of the internet publishing companies offer these services for additional fees.

She went on to talk about a few places she frequents in order to keep an eye on the comings and goings in the writing and publishing industry; such as absolutewrite.com and preditors and editors.com . The links to these sites are located in the right sidebar.

Get acquainted with the local writing environment. You are a member of FWA and it provides opportunities; however, there are others too. Kathy mentioned the Locus List (resource link is below). Locus online provides listings of conventions for the year. Great resource for those looking for places to be seen with your books. Again, it is best to check out the pricing and pros and cons of each convention.

She talked about going to conferences such as Necronomicon and our own FWA conference as a great way to meet people in the industry and places to sell your book.

She also gave a few tips when going to conferences:

*Try to have a new release each time you go to a conference. Even a short story is better then nothing. You want to have something fresh to show fellow writers, agents and/or publishers to show you are actively writing.

*Try and find someone to “buddy” up with and share the costs of the display table, hotel and car rental.

There are online conferences and forums in which to participate to spread the word about your book. Here are a few she (and I) mentioned at the meeting:

The Muse Online Writers Conference (http://www.themuseonlinewriters.com)

Writers Mafia (http://www.linkedin.com/writersmafia)

Book Market (http://www.bookmarket.ning.com)

Scribophile (http://www.scribophile.com)

Locus Online (http://www.locusmag.com/Conventions.html)

Kathy also mentioned some of the other epublishers (or print on demand) such as:

Lulu (http://www.lulu.com)

Lightning Source (http://www.lightningsource.com)

Create Space (http://www.createspace.com)

Book Surge (http://www.booksurge.com)

Now with these print on demand companies there are different restrictions on layout, start up fees, copyright, and royalties. You need to be sure and do your research on each of them before using any of them for publishing your book.

Personal Note:

I truly enjoy coming to these meetings each month and plan on being a member of FWA for a long time. Thank you from me to you for welcoming me with open arms and warm hearts. I appreciate it.

Teresa

Tampa Writers Alliance 2009 Writing Contest Open

The Tampa Writers Alliance annual writing contest is now open (as of June 1) and closes on Oct 1. This is a great opportunity for any writer with unpublished work, as they award cash prizes! I've included a link on the right under Contests and Submissions.

I met Paul DuBose, their treasurer, at the April picnic in Largo, and he attended our June general meeting. Another one of the 3 major areas of writing (according to many) is making contacts. In addition to attending meetings and meeting people, entering local contests is another excellent way to get your name out there. Going to other groups' meetings is another way. TWA meets at the same location as the FWA Hillsborough group (Barnes and Noble in Carrollwood). I encourage all those who have the opportunity to stop in once in awhile at another meeting to get to know other writers in the area.

You never know who you'll meet!

John

Lessons for Success

Morrell, David. The Successful Novelist. Sourcebooks, Inc., 2008

A high-priority project at work leached time and energy from the rest of my life beginning in February. That included writing, which is why I haven’t posted a review in months. The project is over now, the product has been released, and the forecast for the rest of the year calls for less of that kind of madness. My goal for the rest of the year is to bring you a new review on the second Monday of every month. This month, it’s David Morrell’s The Successful Novelist, originally published as Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at his Craft.

Thriller writer David Morrell is the author of over two dozen books including a new novel, The Shimmer, that will be released in July. His novels have been the basis for feature films (the Rambo franchise was derived from his 1972 novel First Blood) and television (Brotherhood of the Rose, also being made into a feature film to be released next year). Morrell earned his Ph.D. in American Literature at Penn State and taught at the University of Iowa until 1986.

Morrell distills his experience as a best-selling novelist and a gifted teacher into The Successful Novelist, which reads like a Master’s degree program in writing popular fiction. That’s not to say that the book is dense or filled with the impenetrable jargon common to academic writing--far from it. It is very readable, almost conversational in tone. It’s the kind of book you can read straight through and then come back to focus on the specific area you want to study.

Morrell gives the book its graduate program feel by calling each chapter a "Lesson" and bracketing the lessons with the prologue "First Day of Class" and epilogue, "Last Day of Class." The lessons cover the topics you’d expect a book on writing to handle: plot, character, description, and dialog. But Morrell also shares his wisdom on research, dealing with writer’s block, the business of writing, and even dealing with Hollywood in "Lesson Fourteen: Rambo and the Movies."
You can’t help but come away from this book with a fresh understanding of the craft of writing and your own motivations in pursuing it. It’s one of the most helpful books on writing that I’ve come across.

James O'Neal Book Signing

Hi all!

Just a quick review of James O'Neal's book signing at Haslam's on Thursday. I went for two reasons. One, I was on vacation for my daughter's high school graduation, and she took an afternoon nap because she was exhausted from the excitement and early ceremony! So I had a window of time. Second, the author is more commonly known as James O. Born, mystery writer and one of the keynote speakers at our October conference. I wanted to meet him before the conference. Wait, there's a third reason. I haven't been to many book signings in the past. Actually probably none. So I wanted to see how it went. You know, for when I get to do one! (As most of us will, right? Right???)

Anyway, I also got to meet Ray, who I think is the owner of Haslam's. He's a really nice guy. His son was there, too, though I didn't personally meet him. But if you are going to sign books at a place, it helps to know the owner! (At least, I think it does.) Also, Haslam's is independent, and I like to support our independent booksellers.

I know what Jim will talk about at the FWA conference (sorry, can't reveal it!), and learned some interesting things about his work, his publishers, his agent. He's very friendly and I know that if you go to the conference in October, you're sure to enjoy his speech.

I also saw two other FWA members, one who has been out of town since, well, forever, to me. She was one of our winners in last year's RPLA contest, and it was great to meet her, too. Jackie Minniti is her name, and I'll be sending her some information for the newspaper she works for. The other, Vicki Morgan, (one of our newer members who has been writing for quite awhile and is also a member of PINAWOR), brought along a friend, Kathy, who does 'artistic expression' if I recall correctly. This involves writing, painting, music. They have a group that meets monthly and she mentioned there are several writers in it. I told her that might make a neat topic for one of our meetings, as it sounded like it could help stimulate creativity and imagination. I hope to hear from her soon.

Back to Ray, the Haslam's guy. He doesn't do presentations any more, but would be open to a Q&A session, informal. I then wondered, what if we had a panel of independent booksellers? Would you like to pepper them with questions? (I won't try to come up with a sentence with salt in it!) Might make another interesting topic for the future. Sometimes I wish we could meet more often, as there are so many interesting things to learn!

Speaking of learning, I picked up Kaplan's Revision. (A book on revising and editing, naturally.) I had heard it recommended, I believe by our August speaker, Lorin Oberweger (editor and sponsor of the Donald Maass workshops), or by Donald Maass himself, I don't remember. (But don't mind dropping names!!!) If you follow the link I put for the book, you'll find an opportunity to get published (no payment) in the short literary fiction and crime/noir genre. The editor includes brief reviews of five books on editing, including The First 5 Pages, which I have and is one of my favorites.

Happy writing!
John

Rick Wilber Elucidates Mystery Techniques

Dr. Rick Wilber, USF mass communications professor and author of several novels and numerous short stories, enlightened an audience of 28 at our new location on May 14, despite a passing, raucous thunderstorm. Rick covered topics that included building characters and being aware of the layers of meaning in text and subtext--the Iceberg principle where most meaning is hidden below the surface.

Dr. Wilber read from his forthcoming mystery novel, Rum Point, highlighting examples of choosing the important two percent of a character's description that should be included in the story. In detailing this specificity, two rules apply: 1) if it doesn't matter to the story, don't say it; and 2) it has to move either your character or your story forward.

He also mentioned that for new genre writers following the parameters of the genre are key to getting published, in addition to telling a story worth telling to someone else.

Rick kept everyone interested, laughing and questioning as he covered some of his own experiences in getting published.

Thank you to everyone who attended!

John

In 30 seconds

When you think about writing, do you smile from the inside out? Well, I do. As writers, I am sure the question gets a yes answer from you too.

However, do you have times when you think about writing and even though the idea makes you very happy, as soon as the thought enters your mind, a flood of "reasons" why you shouldn't enters too?

Think about why these reasons are coming up because in less than 30 seconds you could be allowing yourself to push away the one thing you really were put on this earth to do---write.

This happened to me this morning when I was thinking about the children's books my daughter and I want to write. I had started thinking about how the story could be arranged and BAM! within 30 seconds a flood of questions came in filling my mind, "Do you have time to really do this?", "Even if you get done, how are you going to get it published", "You will need to find an illustrator and that is going to cost money."

I started to think why bother---but then I stopped myself and said to myself, "Because I have wanted to be a writer for a very long time and every time I think about writing, it makes me really happy."

So I want to encourage my fellow writers to not listen to the 30 seconds of "reasons" not to write from stopping you from doing one of the things that makes you the most happy.

Continue writing. The other stuff will work itself out.

Your fellow writer,

Teresa Morrow

Diane Marcou Addresses Largest Crowd

Diane Marcou, ghostwriter, collaborator and memoirist enlightened the largest crowd of the year at Thursday’s general meeting on April 9^th. She handled questions during her presentation, covering fine points and her unique perspective on writing a memoir, and read from several books she has in print or in production. Diane covered the gamut of topics from her experiences in editing and working with others in producing a story that is both entertaining and personal.

Attendance reached 31, our highest total so far this year, at the last meeting at the Main library before it undergoes renovations. From May through August we will hold meetings at the North branch of the library. Details will follow shortly.

-- John

Got Stuck? Ideas to help get unstuck

Writing for me creates an escape. A kind of hide away where words dance joyfully in my head. I know it may sound a bit silly, but writing stimulates joy in me. Well, most of the time. Except when I get stuck and have trouble thinking of the next thing to write.

I am sure you have found yourself getting stuck and not knowing where the next scene is going or what your character may do next.

Here are a few things I thought may help the next time you get stuck:

Think about the reason why you started writing. Put yourself in the place of joy and happiness and start writing about how you are feeling. Pull in everything you are receiving from your senses and write it down.

Take time to refocus. You may be focusing on being stuck and not focusing on the possibilities of where your story can go to next. You can create a new story. Think about what you would be doing if you weren't stuck. Concentrate on the character's reaction to being in a hard position and how they would get out of it.

Move around. Change the scenery. Go for a walk. Put on some music and dance. Exercise. You could just be in the same place for too long and if you move and have new things to see, smell and interact with, it could possible allow you to move forward with your story.

I hope these help when you get stuck with your writing.

Do you have strategies, ideas or suggestions you have done when you have gotten stuck with your writing?
If so, please feel free to share them with us. Let's help each other keep writing.

New addition to site

Hi all!

We've added a new section to our blog called Getting Published Without Getting Taken. We will add to it as more links are received. Use this section to check out agents and publishers before making a deal that could cost you money. Personally, I write because I have to, to express what's inside. If I never get published, that wouldn't stop me from writing. However, the thrill of being in print motivates me to write the best I can, to be critiqued, to edit and revise, and to avoid the urge to just get something printed as fast as I can, no matter the cost. I'm sure you've read of all the rejections famous writers have received before their first publication. It will be a while before I give up and go the self-published route in the areas where that route is not the best (fiction, especially).

Let me know what you think of this section, what additional links we can post here, and what else you'd like to see on the blog. It's here for your benefit. Thanks for inspiring me to continue this journey.

John

Molli Marks Up the First Page

Publishing consultant Molli Nickell reviewed first pages, spoke on the state of the publishing industry and encouraged a captive audience to review their use of adjectives, adverbs and weak verbs in order to polish the first page (and others, as well) of their manuscript. She emphasized the need to grab attention, mentioning that most editors know within six or seven sentences if you are a writer. She also remarked that Times Roman is the new font standard, and cautioned against fudging on double-spacing to get more lines on the first page.

Though focused on fiction, Molli included advice for the non-fiction writer and reviewed several non-fiction works.

She concluded by mentioning four books that she has found very useful for the writer:
1. How to Write a Book Proposal - by Michael Larson (good for non-fiction, especially)
2. What's Your Story? - by Marion Dane Bauer (good overall plus for young writers - fiction)
3. Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook - by Donald Maass
4. The First Five Pages - by Noah Lukeman

You can read Sam's review of the third book, by Maass, on an earlier posting on this blog and I can second the motion that the fourth book is valuable, as I've read it and learned a lot.

UPDATE: Molli will return in October to review your synopsis!

On Conferences

I have returned from Sleuthfest 2009, tired but happy. I've already written about my experience at Sleuthfest on my personal blog. Short version: Wow. I met wonderful people ranging from beginners to best-selling authors. I attended fantastic panels and sessions where I picked up dozens of tips on craft. And I came back energized and encouraged, ready to write and now regretting that I must sleep--I'd rather be awake and writing.

Because I've been busy preparing for and then attending the conference, I don't have a book review for you this month. I do want to take this opportunity to plug not only Sleuthfest but conferences in general.

If you write genre fiction, a writer's conference for that genre is an excellent way to network with other writers in your field. From those who have only recently realized that they want to write on up to best-selling superstars, you'll make contacts who will help you--and be helped by you--throughout your writing career. Panels and lectures covering topics specific to your genre will provide you with information you didn't even realize you needed to know, and of course there will be craft-oriented sessions as well. In addition, most conferences off opportunities to meet directly with agents and editors.

If you don't write genre fiction, or write non-fiction, look for general writer's conferences. You'll get the same chances to pitch your work directly agents and editors, panels and lectures that will help you improve your craft, and the chance to network with other writers. There's nothing like spending several days among a crowd of people who value writing as much as you do. It will energize and inspire you.

Regardless of the path you plan to take in your writing career, attending a conference has benefits that far outweigh the costs. The FWA conference is scheduled for October 23-25 this year. Plan to attend. You won't regret it.