Writers in the Storm

by Shirley Jump

Feeling stuck in your book? Bogged down in the middle? Wandering around aimlessly without an ending? Chances are good you have a plot problem. When clients come to me with books for content editing and tell me they’re stuck on Chapter Three or Chapter Thirty, 99% of the time it’s the plot that’s the problem.

Quick Chat About Plot

The plot is the framework for your book, like the framework for a house. If you build it with cheap, flimsy materials, the house will fall down. If you forget to put a few pieces in place, the walls will crumble. If you build it with solid, strong beams and posts, atop a smooth, concrete foundation, the house will stand the test of time. Plots work exactly the same way.

Taking that house analogy one step further—if you’re buying a fixer-upper, one of the first things you look at is the structure of the home. Sometimes, you can tell it’s in trouble because you see cracks in the foundation or sagging floors. Other times, it’s not until you buy it and start working on it that you realize there is something wrong.

We once had a house with a kitchen floor that bowed in the center. My ex-husband was not exactly Bob Vila, so it took a while to figure out what the problem was. We eventually realized that the joists were weakening, and so my ex crawled into the crawl space and installed some floor jacks. We had to fiddle with them a few times until we got the floor level. He had to, essentially, reverse engineer the problem.

That’s what you’re going to do with your plot—reverse engineer your problem. Here are ten things to look for:

1. Do You Have a COMPELLING and BOOK-LENGTH goal for your protagonist(s) and antagonist?

Too often, I see books that don’t have good external goals for the characters. The goals need to be

a.) big enough to carry an entire book and

b.) important enough for the reader to give a crap.

If the reader doesn’t care, she won’t keep reading. Analyze books that keep you hooked and movies that you stay with until the very end.

• What was the external goal of the main characters?
• Why did it matter to the character?
• Why did it matter to you, the reader or viewer?

It has to be something more than just buying a car—it has to be a goal that takes an entire book for the character to accomplish, and—this is key—important enough that the character will go through hell, and grow and change, to achieve that goal.

2. Does EVERY Scene Have a Goal, and a Sequel?

 Does your main character in each scene have something he/she wants to accomplish during the course of the scene? A scene that feeds into the overall book-length goal (because it has to!)?

Every single scene has to have an external and internal GMC (Goal, Motivation, and Conflict). Every single scene. If you have a scene that just seems to be sitting there, with no real purpose, then nine times out of ten, the lack of a goal is the problem. Or, it doesn’t feed into the main plot and it’s just extra (like an outtake!). Each of the scene goals should feed into the main book goal, and should raise the stakes and the tension. The minute you lose your tension, you’re at the end of your book, because the characters have achieved their goals.

Ask yourself at the beginning of every scene: What is my point of view character’s goal for this scene? Does it feed into the book-length goal?

3. Do Things Keep Getting Worse?

Things need to keep getting worse, both externally and emotionally, for the characters. They need to have tension in their scenes and in their lives. Conflict and tension are two different but related things. Tension isn’t roadblocks (those are conflict); tension is that pit-of-your-stomach worry that things will go horribly awry for the characters the reader has grown to love.

Every action, every interaction, should have an impact, one that creates tension in their guts—and in the reader’s as she’s turning the pages. If they achieve what they want, the book is essentially over. Scene and sequel are all about two possible outcomes—the character either gets or doesn’t get what he wants and regardless, things get worse (and there is a price to pay). Donald Maass’s The Fire in Fiction is a great book for more tips on creating tension.

4. Are the Characters ACTING or Watching?

Passive plots drive me crazy. This is when characters sit around and watch things happen, or moan and groan because things keep happening to them. Think about your “victim” friends. Do you get annoyed with them because they never act on the misfortunes in their lives? Then think about how a reader will feel about a fictional character who does the same thing. Ask yourself: How can my character act upon his/her goal in this scene?

5. Is EVERY Action and Reaction Properly Motivated?

You can make pretty much anything in a book believable if characters are properly motivated. They need to have believable, strong motivations that have the reader rooting for them to achieve their goals. That goes for overarching book goals and scene goals, as well as the internal plot.

There have to be compelling reasons for your characters to act and change. Make the stakes matter. Motivation should be deep and driven by the character’s pasts. If you don’t know your character well or what traumas shaped him into who he is, then you will struggle with motivation. Past traumas drive our motivations and actions.

6. Internal is Just as Important.

Lots of writers are great at external plot, but completely forget the internal plot. Your characters need an internal goal, motivation and conflict—both a book-length one and scene ones that feed into the book-length GMC.

These internal plots always stem from your characters’ past wounds and issues. These are their deepest fears, their most horrible emotional wounds, and the things that they are most afraid of facing (but eventually will because the stakes are high enough). Let your characters have emotional goals, and emotional ramifications.

A note: if you’re writing romance, remember the romance is never the goal. It is a conflict for the external and internal plots.

7. Does Their Past Impact EVERY Scene?

As I said a second ago, your characters didn’t grow up in a vacuum. They have had moments that shaped their lives and their characters. The hero whose father was hard on him will have residual scars from that. The heroine who was abandoned will have trouble trusting people. These past events should impact how they see the world.

If you’re having trouble seeing how that works, take a character who has been scarred—say, Michael Ohr from The Blind Side.  How did his past make him see the family who helped him? See a bedroom? See a shirt? See a meal? Everything he saw, every experience he had was filtered through his past. Too often, writers forget this important part of character development. This will impact their GMC and their reactions to other characters and events.

8. Where’s the Conflict?

Undoubtedly, one of the things that reduces tension and drags down your pacing (and thus, kills your plot), is a lack of conflict. Characters who solve their internal and external obstacles too early end the book too soon. Be sure there is some “but” still getting in the character’s way, forcing them to continue on their emotional (and physical, if you have one) journey before you get to the final concluding scene.

Conflicts are the roadblocks that get in their way—and there should always be one until they reach the end of the book.

9. Do You Have the Right Balance of Narrative and Dialogue?

Do you have too much of one or the other? Too little in one area? Do you have long passages between spurts of conversation, which make for unnatural pauses? It really helps to read aloud at this point to make sure the dialogue holds together naturally. If necessary, act it out to really see the places where your narrative is too long.

Dialogue is a plot tool. It’s used to further the plot and show character, rather than just sitting there, filling up space. It should be unique to that character, and when the character speaks, it should be for a reason.

10. Did You Dump Backstory and Create a Landfill?

Lots of writers feel like they have to explain the character’s past early on so readers will “understand” their characters. Think back to the last date you had where the person you just met droned on for an hour about their past. Did you stop listening at minute three? Yeah, me too. Your reader will do the same.

Backstory should be sprinkled in just enough to intrigue the reader to want to know more. In addition, it should only be brought up if it is intrinsic to that moment. Michael Ohr doesn’t think about the fact that he’s never had a bedroom of his own—until he is given a bedroom of his own. The moment triggers the backstory.

EVERY single word in your book should move the plot forward. Every. Single. Word. If you add in descriptions or scenes that aren’t moving the plot forward, then you are wasting your reader’s precious time. Don’t do that. It’s not cool. Reverse engineer your plot and make it more powerful!

Which of the ten plot points is the most challenging for you? Do you have any questions or tips you want to share? Please join us down in the comments to welcome Shirley to WITS!

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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. Her most recent books hit #1 in two categories on Amazon, and her Christmas novella hit the USA Today list in November. Her books have received multiple awards and kudos from authors such as Jayne Ann Krentz, who called her books “real romance,” Virginia Kantra, who said, “Shirley Jump packs lots of sweet and plenty of heat in this heartwarming first book of her promising new series,” and Jill Shalvis, who called The Sweetheart Bargain “a fun, heartwarming small town romance that you'll fall in love with."

As the owner of JumpStart Creative Solutions, Shirley also does book building, content editing, ghostwriting, and author coaching. She has spoken all over the world about the power of narrative and how to create compelling books. A former reporter, she has a background in all aspects of writing, from hard news to publicity to fiction. Visit her website at www.ShirleyJump.com or see her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn @ShirleyJump.

Top Image from Creative Commons

By Miffie Seideman

Writers need a lot of persistence. “Work-life” balance? As a writer I’ve never managed it. Oh, I try. It just never seems to happen. There’s always something else to do: chores, work, cook, write, edit, chores, edit…maybe some sleep. Without persistence (and a hefty dose of caffeine), I’d fall behind on everything in life!

Writers also need a lot of endurance—specifically, emotional endurance. Dr. Spencer from Triathlete Magazine defines emotional endurance as “how clear someone’s mind is and how much space they have for physiologic stressors.” In other words, mental and emotional stressors can impact how much you can physically do.

Hitting the Wall

In endurance sports, when your emotional tank is empty, whatever internal drive you have left to cross the finish line can suddenly run dry. What happens next? Athletes slow to a stop. In triathlon, we call this “hitting the wall.”

Even a professional athlete with an empty emotional tank can find the day ending early, as we saw with Simone Biles' unexpected early departure from the Tokyo Olympics. Clearly, she was physically ready to compete. Emotionally, her tank was running on empty.  

Many endurance athletes take their tank to near empty before their races, a culmination of hours away from family, squeezing in ridiculous amounts of training around work and life, life events themselves, and fighting periodic setbacks from injury.

Stepping up to that starting line, whatever emotional reserve is left can make or break the day. I saw this firsthand at a recent Ironman triathlon. After the 2.4-mile swim, eager athletes headed out on the 112-mile bike course. But hours of exhaustive headwinds left many athletes on the side of the road crying, leaning over their bikes in defeat, unable to finish the race.

Hitting the Writing Wall

Personally, I think this quote sums up endurance training best:

“You’re training to get to that point of depletion and breaking, then finding a way to operate in that space for as long as you possibly can until you either pass out or get across the finish line.”

(Dr. Spencer, Triathlete Magazine)

Notice I didn’t say it sums up endurance sport training the best. This quote also sums up the endurance lifestyle of working parents, full-time entrepreneurs, and yes…writers.

We often fit writing around already full lives, pushing to finish that screenplay or manuscript, despite the multitude of commitments that can’t wait. This can leave us emotionally fatigued, just when we need to push through those final edits, hit submit on that query, or handle critiques on our precious work.

We can hit the proverbial wall, with writer’s block, ambivalence toward our story, self-doubt, depression.

(Re)Filling Your Emotional Fuel Tank

The best time to deal with your emotional endurance is before you get close to hitting that wall. But if you’re reading this today and had an “ah ha!” moment that your own tank is already running dangerously low, it’s not too late to dig in and start refilling the tank.

With a few assessments and targeted behavioral changes, you can be on your way to not only a bigger emotional reserve, but a more fulfilling lifestyle. Keep in mind, change takes practice, so allow yourself some time to improve and don’t expect perfection.

7 Steps to (Re)fueling  

1. Be Honest

The best way to gauge your emotional endurance reserve is to check your current fuel tank level. Only you know how many competing obligations you have or how little sleep you’re getting. And don’t forget the emotional impact of losses, whether a loved one, a job, or another query rejection.

To do: Determine your emotional reserve tank level. This is not an exact science, but will get you started.

• Full tank: You wake rested, raring to go, excited to dig into projects, and laughing off the little unexpected setbacks.
• Half-full tank: You wake a bit tired, but fair well during the day. You have begun to notice a little fraying at the emotional edges, when handling stressful situations.
• Needle on or near empty: You oversleep your alarm, feel overwhelmed by your lists and deadlines, snap or tear up easily.

  Where does your fuel gauge sit?

2. Depressurize

Take a load off your emotions by making choices to de-stress your lifestyle. Actively take control of your obligations, instead of just making your way through the never-ending list.

• Prioritize- Quit feeling like you absolutely must do everything. Learn to make lists of obligations and find a system to identify those that absolutely must be done today, tomorrow, etc. Be prepared to move some items to the “sometime later” or the “trash” bin. Be honest here.

To do:

Need help prioritizing? There are many resources on effective time management. To get you started, check out this quick read from Psychology Today or this course on the famous Dale Carnegie Method.  

Assembly line-Look for repetitive tasks that can be grouped or pre-done for time efficiency.

• For example, if you cook a dinner every day, buy that time back by making Sunday evening your cook-ahead day.

• Make several dinners ahead and reheat them in the evenings.

• Let Tupperware be your friend! Meal prepping doesn’t have to be time consuming or hard.

• I turn on the music and start cooking.

• I find slow cookers, pressure cookers, and 3-4 ingredient meals to be the most time friendly.

• Check out some tips here.

3. Just Say No

You just can’t do it all. Keep from overfilling your commitments so the ones you do are still enjoyable.

To do: Either learn to say no to some tasks or learn to ask for help. Reaching out to let someone else help can be a huge stress reducer. For help, try this quick read.

4. Learn Coping Skills

Yes, this can take a little time, but the rewards you reap will help refill that tank. Think you don’t have time for this one? Go back to Depressurize or Just Say No (above) to carve out time in your life for you.

To do:

Find something that helps you defuse or relax. You may need to try a couple of different things until you find what works.

• For example, commit to taking one yoga class a week or learn meditation for 10 minutes a day.
• It's also important to gain the tools to cope when under duress. To do this, consider listening to a podcast or read a book about stress reduction and coping skills.

5. Develop Support Networks

Getting to know other writers can help you refill that tank. When you’re struggling, dealing with life challenges, or just needing some direction on next steps, writing groups can be there for you.

Years ago at a Writer’s Digest Conference, I got connected with several writers from across the US. We still meet weekly online. We each bring different experiences to share about getting through this thing we call writing. And some days, we just chat about life—having teens, places we’ve visited, instruments we play.

We learn we aren’t alone in a writing silo of stress, and we have people to reach out to when life gets tough. 

To do: Find a social networking group (online or in person).

• Groups like Facebook and Meet Up can be great for finding local groups that have similar interests.
• Contact your local library—many have writer’s groups lead by the librarian.

6. Change Your Inner Dialogue

Self-talk is a powerful tool—it can build you up or weigh you down. The Power of Positive thought can’t be understated: if you think good thoughts, you're more likely to have positive feelings and handle difficult moments with a bit more grace.

Walking around with negative thoughts can have the opposite effect. Negative self-talk is also a habit that grows unless it's tamed. It can be the lens through which you begin to see the world.

To do: Spend a day listening to your inner thoughts (or what you say out loud to other drivers!).

• Do you use negative, derogatory, or angry words (that was stupid, I’ll never get this manuscript done, my writing really stinks)?
• Or do you use more positive words (you know, those edits were hard, but I got them done)?

No, you don’t have to pretend to be fake-happy. But learning to restructure negative thoughts into positive views can keep the stresses from further weighing you down. For more information, see here.

Final To Do: Re-Check the Tank

Like a follow-up visit to the doctor, take the time to periodically reassess your emotional endurance tank.

• Decide if you want to give yourself two weeks or a month before checking back.
• Set a reminder.
• When the day comes, look at your tank. Has the needle on the tank moved? More importantly, has it moved in the right direction?
• Assess what you’ve improved and what still needs work.
• Decide what has helped and what hasn't.
• Use that information to revise your approach, then dive back in for another few weeks.

Final Thought

If you haven’t made a lot of progress, don’t get frustrated. Behavioral change takes time. So, be patient while you work on your emotional reserve. After all, it probably didn’t get empty overnight! And be prepared to periodically need a refill, even after you’ve filled the tank, because life happens.

Have you worked on your emotional endurance? What coping mechanisms have you found that help? We’d love for you to share your ideas in the comments.

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About Miffie

Miffie Seideman has been a pharmacist for over 30 years, with a passion for helping others. Her research articles have appeared in several professional pharmacy journals. When not training for a race, her writing projects include a (soon to be announced) writer’s handbook and a fantasy adventure that started as “What if Romeo and Juliet didn’t live happily ever after?” An avid triathlete, she spends countless hours training in the arid deserts of Arizona, devising new plots. Miffie can be found hanging around her website https://miffieseideman.com/ examining the intersection of triathlon and writing and on Twitter @MiffieSeideman…you know…tweeting.

Top Image by kinkate from Pixabay

By Margie Lawson

Titles may make books bestsellers or doom them to be shelf-dwellers.

Aack! Feeling the pressure to create a winning title?

I’m here to help. I’ll cover:

• What Could Sabotage Your Title?
• Titles and Traditional Publishing
• The Evolution of a Title
• Margie’s Top Six Tips for a Selling Title
• Two Stories of Before and After Titles
• The Challenge of One-Word Titles
• The Power of Linking Series Titles

What Could Sabotage Your Title? The Great Oz Effect

I deal with this effect when I’m deep editing with authors on Zoom. It’s that all-too-common dynamic of a writer having a tough time separating all they know about their story from what little the reader knows. Sometimes motivations and explanations are missing.

You know evvv-ry-thing about your book. You may think your working title is OMG perfect. And it is, for you.

You’re the Great Oz, an omniscient Oz for your book, and your title may elicit amazing associations for you related to your story.

Critique buddies may love the title. They’re godparents for your book. They know too much too.

But for readers who don’t know the story, the title just sits there like a bullfrog on a stack of pancakes. Not enticing.

How’s that for a clear visual?

Titles and Traditional Publishing

If you’re pursuing traditional publishing, you know the publisher chooses your title. But if you give them a great one, or several strong options, a title you created may stick.

Plus – If you’re pitching to an agent or editor, you want to wow them with everything they read. Right? Give them an amazing title. If they keep it, fabulous. If not, you’ve still impressed them.

The Evolution of a Title

I asked Jenny Hansen what title she came up with for her book about a nun whose sister ran a medical clinic for sex workers. Here’s what she sent me.

We were all in Immersion up on your mountain and I mentioned that I usually just called it The Nun Book in my head because titles give me the hives. I had A Sister in Need in the wings, but I didn't really love it. We'd already critiqued my work and the consensus was that the madcap funny-factor wasn't in evidence with the current title, and my Immersion sisters started throwing things out while I scribbled as fast as I could.

We wanted four words and we wanted to show the funny. And when we started throwing out the weirdness, that's when this one came up, about 15 titles in: Rosaries Make Bad Thongs. I can't remember if it was Tiffany, or me, or someone else, but I remember saying, "It's too bad we can't use that one," because I LOVED it.

Fast-forward a few years of having used A Sister in Need and I was still haunted by it, so I recently decided to change it. I like that the nun’s book could be Rosaries Make Bad Thongs and Thea's story could be Mamas Make Bad Matchmakers.

The first working title, A Sister in Need, could be a sweet story about a woman who helped her sister get through cancer. Rosaries Make Bad Thongs sounds in-your-face funny with a wacky Catholic twist.

Margie’s Top Six Tips for a Selling Title

This isn’t a check-every-item list. If your title hits several of these points, you’re good.

That said, I think every title needs to include the first three: Captures Attention, Shares a Truth, Carries a Compelling Cadence.

1. Captures Attention

How? Any way that makes sense for you. Unique. Power words. Play on words. Humor hits. A rhetorical device. A spoof. Cliché twist. Incongruous. Other ideas.

Jenny Hansen’s working title -- Rosaries Make Bad Thongs – captures attention, has power words, slams you with humor, carries a compelling cadence, and it’s incongruous. And it shares a truth too, in a makes-you-snicker way.

Here are some titles that captured my attention lately.

• I Speak Boy
• The Evaporation of Sofie Snow
• A Madness So Discreet
• The Sometimes of Second Chances

On the funny, punny side:

• The Five Grannies Go to the Ball
• The Day the Roomba Died
• The Fetch Connection
• To Have and to Howl
• The Rogue Not Taken
• Still Knife Painting
• Live and Let Chai
• A Scot in the Dark
• Tequila Mockingbird

2. Shares a Truth

These titles by Immersion Grads share a truth about the book.

• The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin
• Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce
• The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle
• Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle
• Island Queen by Vanessa Riley
• This Heart of Mine by C.C. Hunter
• Lovers & Monsters by Lashell Collins
• The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn
• Days Made of Glass, Laura Drake
• The Road to Me, Laura Drake
• The Devil Pulls the Strings by J. W. Zarek
• Off Planet, Aileen Erin

3. Carries a Compelling Cadence

Most titles have a nice cadence. Titles that have a compelling cadence are stronger.

I’ve been addressing book titles. But titles for blogs and webinars and everything social-media driven need to be super strong too.

Let’s look at the title of this blog:  Tips to Create a Bestselling Title

My first title: Create a Bestselling Title

Second title: Creating a Bestselling Title

Final title: Tips to Create a Bestselling Title

Read them out loud. You’ll hear the difference.

The cadence for the second one was better, but not nearly as compelling as the final version.

I’ll share a few of the titles from my monthly Digging Deep Webinar Series. They carry a compelling cadence.

• Expand Time, Intensify Power
• Touché Cliché and Cliché Play
• Game-Changing Power: Sharing Impact on the POV Character

(If that last title ended with POV, the cadence would be off.)

• The Power of Touch:  From Benevolent to Malevolent
• Power Words, Backloading, and Words that Steal Your Power
• Making Silence Boom!  -- Happening this month!

I’ll play with cadence again in the section on Shares a Hint About the Genre.

4. Not Too Long

You want a title that’s not too long. Shorter titles are easy to remember and easily fit on the cover and spine of your book.

But sometimes a long title is memorable, hooky. Like the title for the recently released miniseries: The Woman in the House across the Street from the Girl in the Window.

5. May Include a Rhetorical Device

Alliteration is a frequent flyer in titles.

Excuse the cliché, but I couldn’t resist the alliteration. And it’s true.

Alliteration – Words that start with the same letter in the same sentence.  

Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt

Dervishes Don’t Dance, Kim McDougall

The Sometimes of Second Chances, Erin Parisien

Look at these alliterative titles by Janet Evanovich:

1. Sizzling Sixteen
2. Smokin’ Seventeen
3. Explosive Eighteen
4. Notorious Nineteen

Assonance -- Rhyming vowel sounds

Rhyming titles are just as memorable.

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Marry, Elizabeth Essex

A Good Day for Chardonnay, Darynda Jones

Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich

6. Shares a Hint About the Genre

It’s smart to have your title indicate the genre. Readers know if it’s historical or paranormal, women’s fiction or magical realism, young adult or erotica, inspirational or thriller.

I think the next title nails the genre.

The Second Virginity of Suzy Green by Sara Hantz.

Did that title grab you? Did it make you want to read the blurb? Did you guess Young Adult?

I read that title in 2008 when I was researching books by authors attending my full day master class in New Zealand. And I’ve remembered that title for fourteen years.

I’ll never forget it.

Why?

It’s fresh. It’s incongruous. It’s funny. It’s hooky!

About Compelling Cadence…

The Second Virginity of Suzy Green -- has a compelling cadence.

The Second Virginity of Sue Green -- does not.

The Second Virginity of Adriana – still sounds like it’s missing some beats, it needs another word at the end. The Second Virginity of Adriana Woods – sounds good.

The Second Virginity of Suzy Green – sounds just right.

Does the name Jack Reacher grab you? Have you seen any episodes of the Jack Reacher series on Netflix or Amazon Prime?

They’re based on thrillers by Lee Child. Check out his suspense-themed titles. I’ll share 5 of the 27 titles in the Jack Reacher series.

1. Killing Floor
2. Die Trying
3. Persuader
4. The Enemy
5. One Shot

Two Stories of Before and After Titles

Emily Giffin

NYT Bestseller Emily Giffin’s debut novel was originally titled Rolling the Dice. But before it was published, St. Martin’s changed it to Something Borrowed. It became a bestselling novel.

Rolling the Dice sounds edgy.

Something Borrowed sounds sweet.

Smart St. Martin’s.

Something Borrowed was followed by Something Blue. The title of her third novel?

Baby Proof.

Emily Giffin’s life influenced that book and title. When she was writing Baby Proof her twins turned one.

Kimberly Belle

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of Kimberly Belle’s fourth book with a big sticker of the new title stuck on the cover.

The original title was on the spine, Little Boy Lost.

The title on the sticker, Three Days Missing.

And under that new title were these words:

Stunning, dazzling, restyled cover coming very soon.

Compare Little Boy Lost to Three Days Missing.

Sheesh! They’re a galaxy apart. Smart to change the title for this thriller.

The Challenge of One Word Titles

One-word titles don’t share much, but they work well for mega-successful authors.

Truth? Their readers will buy their books with any title. The author’s name sells the book.

The book with the grabbiest one-word title for me is by Stephen King. Misery

The story, the characters, the title. All unforgettable.

Some One-Word Titles from Dean Koontz, International Bestseller:

1. Breathless
2. Velocity
3. Watchers
4. Strangers
5. Phantoms
6. Devoted

The Power of Linking Series Titles

Linking titles in a series is smart. Sell-more-books smart. Give-your-career-a-big-boost smart.

You’re probably familiar with Janet Evanovich’s numbers series featuring Stefanie Plum.

The first four books are: One for the Money , Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly, Four to Score . Notice the play on cliches in books two, three, and four.

Sue Grafton claimed her fame for her Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series. I’ll share the first five titles.

1. "A" is for Alibi
2. "B" is for Burglar
3. "C" is for Corpse
4. "D" is for Deadbeat
5. "E" is for Evidence

Elizabeth Essex, Multi-Immersion Grad, Scandal Series

1. Almost a Scandal
2. A Breath of Scandal
3. After the Scandal
4. A Scandal to Remember

Diana Munoz Stewart, Multi-Immersion Grad, Black Ops Confidential Series

1. I Am Justice 
2. The Price of Grace
3. The Cost of Honor

Abbie Roads, Multi-Immersion Grad, Fatal Dreams Series

1. Race the Darkness
2. Hunt the Dawn
3. Never Let Me Fall

Darynda Jones, Multi-Immersion Grad, NYT Bestseller, Grave Series

I’ll share the first five titles of her 13-book series.

1. First Grave on the Right
2. Second Grave on the Left
3. Third Grave Dead Ahead
4. Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet
5. Fifth Grave Past the Light

Jenn Windrow, Multi-Immersion Grad, Alexis Black Series

1. Evil’s Unlikely Assassin
2. Evil’s Ultimate Huntress
3. Evil’s Avenging Angel
4. Evil’s Deadly Divide

If you’re writing a series, link your titles!

I hope these tips will help you write titles that are bestseller strong!

Please, please, please share some of your favorite titles in a comment.

And if you’ve taken a class from me, or from Lawson Writer’s Academy, chime in!

Let me know which class and how you’re doing.

I’d love to hear from you!

Can you tell I love teaching?

If you’d like to learn more about what I teach and Lawson Writer’s Academy, drop by my website, www.margielawson.com .

Here’s what’s coming up soon:

My next webinar:  Making Silence Boom!

Each of my webinars are offered twice:

Feb 17^th, 12:00 p.m. Mountain Time

Feb 18^th, 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time

Can’t make those times? Register and catch the recording later.

The March Line-Up of Classes from Lawson Writer’s Academy

1. Empowering Characters’ Emotions
2. Fairies: The Old Gods
3. Killing People and Other Writerly Pursuits
4. Submissions That Sell
5. Dazzling Developmental Edits
6. Crazy-Easy Social Media for Authors
7. How to Write Believable Alternate History Fiction
8. Mentorship with Rhay Christou
9. How to Speak Legalese: Deciphering Literary Contracts
10. Fab 30: Advanced Deep Editing, A Master Class

I’m teaching the last one, Fab 30. It’s 3 months of dig deep fun.

Can’t wait to see the titles you share!

If you have questions, ask!

ONE MORE THING:  My next GET HAPPY Virtual Open House is March 8^th!

Mark your calendar! Drop by my website between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8^th.

Click on the GET HAPPY meme, and you’ll be in my Zoom room.

It’s a chance to hang out with writers. No agenda. Just chatting and laughing and getting to know each other. Hope to see you there!

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About Margie

Margie Lawson left a career in psychology to focus on another passion—helping writers make their stories, characters, and words strong. Using a psychologically based, deep-editing approach, Margie teaches writers how to bring emotion to the page. Emotion equals power. Power grabs readers and holds onto them until the end. Hundreds of Margie grads have gone on to win awards, find agents, sign with publishers, and hit bestseller lists.     

An international presenter, Margie has taught over 150 full day master classes in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and France, as well as multi-day intensives on cruise ships in the Caribbean. Pre-COVID, she taught 5-day Immersion Master Classes across the U.S. and Canada and in seven cities in Australia too. 

COVID Update: Immersion Master Classes are now virtual, taught through Zoom. Virtual Immersion classes are limited to six writers. They're two full days or four half-days—and as always, writers get one-on-one deep editing with Margie. 

She also founded Lawson Writer's Academy, where you’ll find over 30 instructors teaching online courses through her website. To learn more, and sign up for Margie’s newsletter, visit www.margielawson.com.

Top Image by Peter Olexa from Pixabay