Writers in the Storm

By Kris Maze

When a writer stops writing, maybe to retire or perhaps because they can no longer craft stories, where do their words go? What happens to the manuscripts, finished and incomplete, the notes, journals, social media accounts when a writer wants to or has to quit? How can a writer pass on their hard work and legacy to the right people?

When a writer ends their career by choice or by fate, there are many considerations. Before continuing, I want to disclaim that this post is mostly my reflections. My goal is to encourage others to think about their writing legacy and how to handle it with grace. This typically involves experts like lawyers and accountants, and if you want to get the best advice to match your specific needs, I suggest working with those experts.

In this post I will reference The Author Estate Handbook by Michael La Ronn. It is a good starting point for authors when they want to figure out how to handle and pass on their writing assets to others. Doing this with thought and planning can be satisfying and affirming for an author and their loved ones.

In part-1 of this 2-part series, we looked at reasons why someone would want to become a writer mid-career and why they may want to leave.  Sadly, we cannot always control when we need to write less.  Health reasons, memory loss, burnout and death could happen to any of us, being prepared can ensure that your work, its emotional significance, and potential income would go into proper hands. Keeping in mind that your copyrights extend generally 70 years past the life of the author, your work can benefit generations that follow you with planning. Take ideas from this post to plan for handing off your writing assets.

Today in part 2 we will explore ideas about how writers can tactfully hand off all their word-work to their significant others. Who are the best candidates to take your work? What are the assets and where do you keep them? What approaches can you use to communicate your wishes to others? These questions are the focus of planning for your estate.

Potential Candidates to step into your writerly shoes

Who you give your writing materials to takes careful thought. Consider these options.

• A family member who shares an interest in creative writing
• Critique partners who you know get you and the value of your work
• Younger writers in your genre with a similar style to your own
• An indie entrepreneur with an interest in story and savvy for small business

If you don’t have anyone in mind, there is another possibility…

Ask at a university, community college, place of worship, if they would appreciate the works.

Sometimes when a writer passes away, they don't leave any directives for what to do with their work.  When my grandfather had an aneurism decades ago, we found out he was a closet composer. In addition to his detailed work of fixing clocks of all complexity, he had also spent many quiet evenings planning extensive compositions for a big band he intended to reinvigorate.  My family found several filing cabinets full of scores, handwritten, with parts for individual instruments. Regretfully, the Eddie Shumway Orchestra never played a single note.

It overwhelmed my grandmother, who thought he was busy fixing clocks and didn’t know how many compositions he had created. She called around to local organizations who suggested reaching out to Universities in the region.  After a few phone calls, the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana decided his collection had encapsulated the Big Band Era. They accepted his works into their collection, honoring the work my grandfather had done. The solution made everyone happy and shared my grandfathers creative works with the world.

Take Inventory

Writers have many assets to consider.  How these are handled is important to carry on the work of the writer.  It is important to honor their work and to pass on their knowledge to others. Knowing what you have is a necessary step to solidify your wishes for your books once you pass on.

Questions to Consider

• Who in your world has access to these following items? 
• How would you feel it it was left in their care? 
• Who would you feel would handle it well?  Or poorly?

Writing materials

As a keeper of messy paper notes and rolled up scrolls, I wouldn’t want to subject someone faint-of-heart to my system of spontaneous notetaking, but it could happen. One illness, one accident, one family tragedy could derail the trail of research leading to my next-big-thing. It makes me want to organize these gems into something more manageable if I were to unexpected pass on.  

Consider what your next of kin or writer bestie would do with your precious notes and figure out what you would want to happen with them. Writing materials can be anything you use in your writing process, from your lucky troll doll ornament to your favorite stash of pens. Create a list of the items you value with a simple explanation that nonwriters would understand.

Social media accounts

This is a tricky one. Writers spend a tremendous amount of energy and resources to create a presence online building their brands.  We should include the access information in a place where your heirs could find it.

Your passwords

How do you store your passwords, usernames, and emails is only one part of this complex gift. In the world of increased security, many social media platforms require regular reauthentication.  Many now use two-factor authentication and if the person taking over your author business doesn’t have your email or phone number, they may never get access to your work.

Michael La Ronn, the author of The Author Estate Handbook suggests solving this problem with trying out various authenticator tools. Using a password keeper, or a protected spreadsheet, can also save these important keys to your work.  Also consider keeping your access information in a safe space and tell someone where to find it in an emergency.

Your systems and workflow

Writers use many tools that make the magic happen, but someone in your family may have no idea how to use all the digital pieces that go into the work of an author. Save them the trouble and find a way to communicate what you do, so that they too can keep your system going. Perhaps write out a list of your tools and describe their purpose in layman's terms. Draw or describe your process and keep it with your passwords information.

Here is a sample list of programs writers use to self-publish. Think of the tools that you use and pay for. I've created a spreadsheet and notes about my overall system in OneNote.  This information can keep the person taking over your author business sane and allow them to keep your books in front of readers even after you are no longer writing.

• Scrivener
• Email services like Mailchimp and Mailerlite
• Wordpress
• Webhosting services and all the smaller providers that keep it running smoothly and spam-free
• Post office box (key, number, receipts)
• Resources like One Stop for Authors access
• Plotrr (story lines and outlines)
• Vellum
• KDP for authors
• Vella
• Smashwords
• Ad services
• ARC delivery and Author Swaps, like Bookfunnel
• Microsoft 365
• Google Suite
• Programs for doing taxes and business related records

Connections to organizations

Your heirs may want to know which organizations you belonged to in order to get help regarding your works, especially if they’re not in a genre they are familiar with.  Keep a list of your organizations, passwords, roles you took on, contacts you worked with, and a general description of the group to gain access to their resources as needed.

If they decide they can't or don't want to spend their time churning out books, maybe they can find someone interested in your work in the writing groups. Another possibility is the support other writers could give the newbie taking over your work.

Manuscripts (finished and incomplete) digital and handwritten

Whether these documents are digital or in the back of a dusty closet, let your next writing partner know where to find these gems. Keep details on where you are with these with the other important pieces of your author business. They can use these to keep your publication going, even after you’re gone.

In OneNote, I have a page assigned to each project under which pen name it was written under.  The information includes meta data and cover material, blurbs and releases, and general ways I have promoted each story. These also include links to where the files are stored and where I keep backups in addition to the cloud.

If you have a process to keep track of the versions of you WIPs, write that down as well. Remind them where you keep your copies and how you track the process from rough draft to cleaned up after Beta Feedback. Letting your heirs know which books were edited and ready for publication can save sending the wrong copy into the world.

Annotated books, Journals, notes, personal processing on paper

I have several books that I have written in that helped me develop into a better writer.  What a gift this can be to someone trying to fill your shoes? Let them in to the secrets that helped you and give them tools and insights into improvement as a writer.

There are novels that my children have shared with their friends in which they write about how the book made them feel as they read. When the give the book to the next reader, they too write about their reading experience.  And as the book is passed between kindred readers, the book becomes more valuable as a record of their friendship. 

If there are books that are special to you for various reasons, it’s a good idea to leave a note in the cover explaining the significance. Share with your loved ones who you want those books to go to.

Writing craft books and inspirational resources for writers

Think of how you have worked on any of these following things.  How would you feel if someone carelessly tossed these into the trash?  Or simply could not access them online?  Or carefully handled and revitalized the works to connect with your readership if you could not. Who you leave your work is a critical decision and one that can leave you satisfied. There are 3 general methods one could take to pass on their work.

Final Thoughts

How to pass the writerly torch, 3 methods to consider

Dread Pirate Roberts

In the movie The Princess Bride, the Dread Pirate Roberts is a character that captures a simple farm boy Westley and forces him to work on his pirate ship. The Dread Pirate Roberts holds Westley hostage, threatens to kill him daily, but lets him live as they develop a friendship. He eventually retires and hands over the dark mask, chest-barring, puffy-sleeved black shirt, and cutlass to the former farm boy. Westly assumes the role of the feared head pirate, to make his own fortune and pass on the business to another unsuspecting soul.

This may not be the best way to hand over your writing business. *wink. We can surprise someone with our business, but it could be a resented gift, as it is full of expectations and responsibility. A person's experience level with technology and business and desire to write should be strongly considered. What was once a joy to you could become a burden to another. 

Perhaps build a relationship and teach the person who will take over for you is better. At a minimum, leave someone directions with instructions about what your wishes are. See the next example for ideas on how to compile your business for a nonwriter.

Keep a Secret Capsule

Keep all the passwords, instructions, lists, spreadsheets, and manuscripts in a safe place. Have a simple way someone can access it with minimum effort and a passcode or key.This method is a way to enable you to have access to your work in the worst case scenario.  Similar to the pirates booty above it provides the keys to the captain’s ship, but only when he or she is ready to retire.  In the case of death, the captain knows that his first mate will likely find the capsule and know what to do. 

Another benefit of this method is you can create it on your own schedule and little by little while you continue to write. If you have someone you can make into your first mate, someone who you believe would make a good replacement to keep the work going, this may be the method for you.

Michael La Ronn also has a companion book, The Author Heir Handbook to giver to an heir. He wrote it in a way that nonwriters can understand that is less overwhelming.

Bring someone on board and transition them slowly into your shoes

As a fan of transparency, this method is a strong one to consider if you want to know in advance whether your person is the right one to take over you works. Spend time with a young protégé and show them what you do. Take their input and suggestions and let them know you would like them to take ownership of your work someday. Teach them the tools and how to keep up with the ever-changing technology that runs our systems.

This method provides peace of mind to the writer because they know that they have chosen the person and trained them.  It also gives the new writer the tools necessary to make the transition a success, along with giving them a step up into the world of publication.  

You are writers.

You know the importance of a good ending.

Make yours the best it can be. Be thoughtful about the hard work you have invested in your authorship.

As you have done well this far, continue to influence others with your words. 

Pass on the pen the best way you can.

What advice do you have for other authors, including younger ones who may be starting out? Who do you have in your writer team that could take over for you?  What is your hope for what happens with your writing when you retire?

About Kris

Kris Maze is an author, writing coach, and teacher. She has worked in education for many years and writes for various publications, including Practical Advice for Teachers of Heritage Learners of Spanish and the award-winning blog Writers in the Storm where she is also a host. You can find her horror stories and young adult writing on her website. Keep up with future projects and events by subscribing to her newsletter.

A recovering grammarian and hopeless wanderer, Kris enjoys reading, playing violin and piano, and spending time outdoors.

And occasionally, she writes scary stuff at KrissyKnoxx.com.

All post photos from Canva Pro.

Sylvie's Summer of Scary Shi*t! A Campfire Ghost Story

This little scary project is now available at Amazon and at my website.

Being stuck in a dead-end town really wasn't teenaged Sylvie's worst nightmare.

When 8th grade Sylvie Morgan's parents travel to Africa to study insects, she is left with relatives in the Midwest for a summer of endless boredom and babysitting.

Sylvie's Uncle Toby tells a horrifying tale around a campfire of a destructive ghost that terrorizes Effingham County every 17 years, but she thinks it's not as terrible as not having phone service.

But an axe wielding neighbor and a polydactyl cat may soon make her a believer in this town's legendary ghost. The legend that now seeks her as she faces and fights the terror of the entire town.

by Ellen Buikema

The death of a popular character has caused more than one angry fan to send email to the author and unfavorable reviews to chat groups and review sites. So, when you absolutely must cause a character’s demise, how do you do that without enraging your readers?

When and how you choose to kill off a character can make or break a story. It’s quite difficult for authors. The characters are very real. Permanently dispatching them is a bit like purposefully ridding oneself of an ally.

Characters should be killed off when the purpose of their demise will be the most impactful. Death may occur near the story’s end such as in John Steinbeck’s Of  Mice and Men, once we really feel for the victim. Or, like in Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, where deaths frequently happen with no warning, establishing the theme that the characters are never safe.

Four Ways to Kill a Character

1. Make the Death Meaningful

Nothing aggravates a reader more than characters who die for no good reason. If you’ve built solid, relatable characters, then they deserve to die for a purpose.

For a death scene to be truly meaningful the other characters need to be invested in the outcome as well as the reader.

• Show how the death affects your characters
• Explore the repercussions of the death
• Look at the emotional impact on the characters

Hodor, one of the kindest characters in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice, sacrifices himself by holding a door shut with his body to block the attack of a horde of wights, allowing the family he served time to escape. He is torn apart, while he repeats his own name until it’s revealed that Hodor is really saying “hold the door,” a phrase that became the only thing he could say.

2. Foreshadow the Character’s Death

When done right, foreshadowing is a great way to create emotional tension for the reader. It can set up expectations of the characters’ behaviors and outcomes.

Here are some common examples of elements used as foreshadowing:

• Dialogue, like “I have a bad feeling about this”
• Active weather, such as storm clouds, wind, driving rain, clearing skies
• Omens, like a broken mirror or prophecies
• Symbols, such as blood, weapons, certain colors, types of birds, and physical/emotional symbolism like the pain of Harry’s scar in the Harry Potter series
• Settings, like a graveyard, battlefield, river, isolated path
• Characters’ reactions, such as secrecy, fear, apprehension, curiosity
• Time and/or season, such as midnight, dawn, twilight, fall, winter

If you end the life of an important character suddenly, readers are probably not going to react well. They anticipated spending quality time with this character. Ripping that character from them at the last-minute means sacrificing foreshadowing. And may get your book tossed across the room.

In John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, the reader knows early on that Owen is going to die. The narrator, who is retelling past events, tells us. Owen’s dreams provide clues to the manner of his death. When tragedy strikes, we are ready for it.

3. Avoid resurrections.

Unless you are writing a medical thriller with a plot that involves a miraculous drug that reverses death, or writing a fantasy that will allow a bit of wiggle room for returning from the dead, don’t be tempted to bring a main character back to life.

Another possibility is to have a “resurrecting” of a character who never actually died.

In Charles Dicken’s Our Mutual Friend, a young man named John Harmon pretends to have drowned in the Thames so that he can gather more information on his sudden inheritance and the man who accepts the money in his place —Mr. Boffins.

4. End on a Positive Note

Generally, people want satisfying, if not happy, endings. Even in the middle of a disaster, it’s important we find a ray of light. Sometimes, all you need to do is point out the good accomplished by the character’s death, like Owen Meany's, but at times little changes can give you a surprise happy ending.

Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife uses its time-traveling basis to allow the main characters to reunite, in the distant future, after the husband’s death. Their love and happiness alter its ending, easing the sadness.

If a death is needed in your story, then you can use these ways to satisfy your readers even in the middle of tragedy.

Have you ever killed a character? What do you think is the best way to kill a character and still keep the readers happy?

* * * * * *

About Ellen

Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written non-fiction for parents, and The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon chapter book series with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works In Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and Crystal Memories, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi.

Find her at https://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

by Shirley Jump

I once had a neighbor I barely knew show me her new boob job as I was walking by to get the mail. It was definitely more information than I wanted to have (and totally unsolicited), and coupled with some stories she told me the day we moved in, made me want to steer very, very, very far away from her and her husband. They invited us over dozens of times but I already knew way too much about them.

Avoid Too Much Information

You’re probably wondering how on earth that relates to writing fiction. It’s all about the TMI. If you give a reader Too Much Information too early on (AKA Backstory), they lose all interest in the character. There’s no intrigue left.

What you want to do is Show that your Character has something to hide, but not Tell what that something is. This is part of the complicated dance between advancing the Plot but not dumping too much Backstory on the page. You want to tease the information just enough to get the reader to keep turning the page.

Think about it like meeting a new neighbor. Jane Doe moves in next door, so you do the neighborly thing and pop over with a batch of cookies to welcome her to the ’hood.

If Jane opens her door and starts saying, “Oh, thank you for the cookies. You have no idea how much I needed them. I’ve been stress eating like crazy ever since I high-tailed it out of Michigan. The cops there were just hounding me and hounding me. They think I had something to do with my husband disappearing but you know, that wasn’t me, it was his best friend, Earl, who had one too many on a deer hunting trip and aimed for my husband instead of the ten-point buck. But then there was the whole thing with my Aunt Mary and…”

First, you’re thinking, Who is this crazy person? And then, you start thinking, How can I politely get the heck out of here and never, ever speak to this person again?

Watch for Stop Signs

Jane’s story was a whole lot of Telling and a whole lot of Backstory, which is like putting a stop sign in the middle of a paragraph. It bores the reader and creates an emotional disconnect.

Telling is dispassionate and flat. Showing, however, is connection. Showing delivers an emotional bond with the reader, the kind that makes them fall in love with your Characters, over and over again. Showing goes hand-in-hand with limiting Backstory so you can let details naturally unfurl.

Telling creates a disconnect with the reader. Showing creates a connection.

Imagine popping over to give Jane some store-bought sugar cookies (because, frankly, who has time to bake?) and when she peeks through a slim opening in the door, you see that she has a black eye and she’s disheveled and barely talks above a whisper. She says something vague about leaving Michigan in a hurry and then shuts the door. That would intrigue you. That would make you interested. That would create a connection of curiosity and empathy between you and this perfect stranger.

That is also exactly what you are trying to do on the page.

Your Characters are perfect strangers to your reader. You need to build a quick emotional bond with words, and the best way to do that is to drop in bits and pieces of Backstory and Show your Character instead of Telling everything about them.

For a year or so, I did online dating (and yes, it was as awful as people say but I also met my Mr. Right, who became my husband there, so it’s not all bad). The profiles that got me to click “like” were the ones with just enough information to make me want to know more. The ones that had no information or worse, just said hook-up now, were the ones I didn’t even bother with. I needed to know something—but not everything—if that makes sense.

No one wants to date the guy who spends the first thirty minutes of a phone conversation talking about himself. He’s dumping Backstory that you don’t even care about yet, because you don’t care about him yet (also, he may be a narcissist, so raise a red flag).

Backstory in novels usually takes the form of long, long, long paragraphs of introspection. Reading those is like watching someone think. That has to be the most boring thing in the world—like watching paint dry on someone’s face.

Let the Reader Wonder

The reader wants things to happen. The reader wants to feel compelled to turn the pages. And most of all, the reader really enjoys uncovering that mystery of what makes the Character tick.  Use these tips to avoid dumping a steaming pile of Backstory into the beginning of your novel:

1. Think of your novel like an onion:

Remember Donkey in “Shrek”? He talks about how donkeys are like parfaits…with layers. Your Characters are like parfaits (or onions) too. They have layers to their personalities, their histories, etc. You want to peel those layers back a little a time, not expose the whole onion (or parfait) in the beginning of the book.

2. Don’t be that crazy neighbor:

Don’t let your characters start rambling on about their personal life, either in their heads or in dialogue. Drop just enough into the story to make the reader wonder—and keep coming back so they can piece together more of the puzzle.

3. Every element must work with the Plot:

You’ve heard me say it before, but I’ll say it again—every word in your book, every Scene you choose, every line of Dialogue, every space you describe, must impact the Plot. You don’t need to talk about Jane’s phobia of dogs if there are zero dogs in your story. But if she has to work at an animal shelter, that dog phobia will be important information. Characters’ pasts do impact their present, so reveal only the details that impact them at that moment in the Plot (more on this in a second).

4. Characters don’t blather about themselves to themselves:

Chances are good that you are either writing your book in first or third person—either way, the reader is in your Characters’ heads throughout the story. Think of that as being in your own head. Do you sit there and think, “I should have been the middle child because then Mom would have loved me more and maybe Dad wouldn’t have run off with the maid. And I wouldn’t be working at this lousy job at McDonald’s.” Chances are you don’t. When you are in your Character’s head, limit their “me-me” thoughts to a minimum. You wouldn’t sit there and ruminate about yourself and your past, and neither would your Characters.

5. Is there a TRIGGER?

If you don’t read another paragraph in this article, that’s cool, because the only thing I really want you to learn about Backstory is that there has to be a trigger for it to be on the page.

You don’t tell the reader (or hint at) the Character’s childhood fear of dogs when they are about to get on a boat. The dogs have nothing to do with the boat (unless there’s a German Shepherd in the captain’s chair). Nor do you hint at or tell about the Character’s troubled past with her sister when the Character is about to enjoy an intimate moment with a love interest. It’s not the time or the place.

The Backstory info you choose to add to the book should be triggered by that moment and be an impact on that particular Scene. If you simply must drop that information in, add an item or setting that triggers their memory. In short: The Backstory has to have a purpose for being there.

6. Does this information add Tension to your story?

The key to good Backstory is using it to increase Tension. If your Character is about to walk into a den of wolves, it might be a good time to have them recall the time they were attacked by a wolf hybrid. If the Character is about to kiss their love interest, that’s the time to introduce her fear of having her heart broken after her fiancé ran away with the fry cook at McDonald’s.

Along with that, you want to only add enough information to increase Tension. You want to look at how many paragraphs of Backstory you add, because Backstory is, essentially, the Plot’s boat just sitting in the water, circling, circling, circling. It’s not moving forward; it’s not speeding the reader’s pulse. It’s stagnant.

7. Are you adding the Backstory at the right place in the action?

Think of a gunfight. When the Characters are shooting it out, bang, bang, bang, none of them are going to pause to think about the time they were caught stealing a root beer from the corner shop or the time their mother abandoned them to join the circus. This is a tense, fast-paced moment, and it needs to be treated as such. Later, when things calm down, is the time to add that bit of Backstory. But not too much—as long as there are guns out there, there is inherent Tension, and your Character should be feeling tense and aware, not drifting off into pages and pages of thoughts about the past.

8. Is the Backstory taking over your page?

Did you write too much? Have too many paragraphs in a row of it? Look at the balance of action and narrative. There’s a concept called white space in writing, which in short means how much white space do you see on the page? When a reader looks at pages and pages of dense verbiage, they close the book. It’s too much to concentrate on and absorb, especially in today’s hurry-up content world. Trim the Backstory and see how much faster and smoother the Scene runs. It’s like having too many shrubs in a garden—you miss the cooler parts of the landscaping if it’s overrun with greenery. It all becomes one big green blob.

9. But, but, but…:

I can hear your arguments already. But how will the reader get to know my Character if I don’t dump all that information in the beginning? How will they know that she’s a nice person? How will they know why he turned into a serial killer?

Because you are going to Show instead of Tell.

Actions speak a thousand times louder than words, so let your Character act instead of think. Acting scared around a puppy shows the reader a lot more than the Character standing against the wall thinking endlessly about her dog phobia. Showing a Character snooping around their brother’s house instead of having them think about how they don’t trust their brother is far more effective.

When you Show instead of Tell, you let the reader put the pieces together herself. And that intrigues her to read more, to figure out the entire story.

Three Keys to Effective Backstory

Remember this about Backstory: it needs to be relevant, impactful, and believable. If it fails that three-part test, then take it out. Work it into another place or leave it out altogether.

I don’t use all the Backstory I create for my Characters, just as no one person in anyone’s life knows their entire history, right down to their abject fear of the color taupe. Use the details that matter and let the rest go. The book will be better and stronger for it and the Backstory you do choose to put in will have lots more impact!

Which of theses techniques do you use, or will you try, to avoid oversharing your characters' backstory? Please share or ask questions down in the comments!

About Shirley

Shirley Jump, author of Writing Compelling Fiction, is an award-winning, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and USA Today bestselling author who has published more than 80 books in 24 countries. As the owner of JumpStart Creative Solutions, Shirley also does book building, content editing, ghostwriting, and author coaching. She has worked with celebrities from The Today Show, HGTV, White House advisors, and former NFL players to craft their stories in a unique and compelling way. She has spoken all over the world about the power of narrative and how to create compelling books. A former reporter and communications director for a marketing agency, she uses her diverse background to help clients create impactful content that opens up new revenue streams.

Shirley Jump, New York Times bestselling author and owner of JumpStart Creative Solutions. We do ghostwriting, book building, and strategic content creation. Feel free to reach out at: shirley@jumpstartcreativesolutions.com, on LinkedIn, or book a meeting at www.Calendly.com/jumpstart-01.

Image Credit:

Photo is by Arlene Toney at Captured by Arlene, BTW. CC BY-NC-ND