Writers in the Storm

By Susan Watts

Most writers work within rules they never consciously choose.

Some limits are obvious. Time. Energy. Life. Others slip in quietly and stay because they sound reasonable. After a while, they stop feeling like choices and start feeling like facts.

I think of these as assumed constraints. They’re limits we accept without checking whether they still apply.

There’s a familiar story about elephants that explains this better than any writing advice I’ve heard. When an elephant is young, it’s tied with a heavy chain it can’t break. After enough failed attempts, it stops trying. Years later, the chain is replaced with a thin rope. By then, the elephant doesn’t test it. It doesn’t need to. The belief does the work.

Writers do this all the time.

Something happens early on. A rejection. A comment. A rough experience. That moment turns into a rule. We get stronger, and the rule stays.

I’ve done this myself.

I’ve trained and taught martial arts for over forty years, and this shows up constantly. A student decides they’re not flexible or fast enough. Not because they’ve really tested that limit, but because something early convinced them it wasn’t worth trying. My job at that point is to help them push through that limiting belief. Training can be uncomfortable because it proves something earlier than you’re ready to accept. You’re often capable well before you feel confident about it.

For example, one of my students was small for his age and thought he couldn’t defeat the bigger kids.  But he was incredibly fast.  I worked with him on using that speed to his advantage, mainly improving his footwork.  At first, he felt awkward and often became frustrated. But eventually, the bigger kids couldn’t keep up with him, and he beat them.

Writing tends to follow the same pattern of assumed constraints.

One of the most common rules writers carry involves conditions. “I can’t write unless I have uninterrupted time.” Time helps. I won’t argue with that. But when it becomes a requirement, writing only happens when everything lines up. Which means it rarely happens at all.

This is where small tests matter. Not big, dramatic pushes. Just low-pressure ways to gather information. Writing for ten minutes and stopping. Writing one paragraph while distracted. Jotting down notes instead of waiting for the “real” session. These tests don’t ask you to perform. They just ask you to show up briefly and see what happens.

Another rule forms around voice or genre. We decide we’re not funny. Or we can’t write darker material. Or this is just how we sound. Most of the time, that decision traces back to one moment that landed harder than it should have.

Small tests here might look like rewriting a single scene with a slightly different tone. Pushing a paragraph quieter, sharper, or more playful than usual. Writing a page you never plan to keep. The point isn’t to prove you’ve suddenly changed. It’s seeing whether the rule really holds once you give yourself permission to try.

Productivity rules can be just as limiting. Some writers think speed proves they’re doing it right. Others believe moving slowly means they’re failing. I’ve believed both at different times. Writing doesn’t move at one pace. Drafting, revising, and thinking all ask for different speeds.

A small test might mean tracking time instead of word count for a week. Or working on a single beat and stopping before momentum turns into pressure. Or deliberately writing less and noticing whether the work actually suffers. Often, the fear of slowing down is louder than the consequences.

What makes small tests effective is that they don’t threaten your identity. You’re not declaring yourself a different kind of writer. You’re not committing to a new system. You’re just collecting evidence.

Not all constraints are bad. Some are useful.

Deadlines can help. Structure can help. A clear framework can keep a project from drifting. These limits guide the work without shutting it down.

The problem is the rules that stop you from starting. The ones that sound final. “I can’t.” “I’m not.” “That’s just how I work.” Those don’t shape the work. They fence it in. In my martial arts school (dojo), students are not allowed to use the word can’t. I teach them to say, “I may not be able to do (fill in the blank) right now, but I will if I keep training.”

When you challenge an assumed constraint, writing often gets uncomfortable. It might feel slower. Less certain. That doesn’t mean something’s wrong. In training, that’s usually a sign something is adapting. The body adjusts before the mind catches up. Writing does the same thing.

You don’t need to tear down every limit you have. Some of them exist for good reasons. But it’s worth checking which ones you’ve outgrown. Most change doesn’t come from breakthroughs. It comes from small tests that don’t carry pressure or expectation.

Over time, those tests do something important. They replace assumptions with experience. And once experience enters the picture, the rules start to loosen on their own.

A Short Exercise: Test One Rule

If you want to try this, keep it simple.

Write down one rule you believe about your writing.
Ask where it came from.
Choose a test so small it feels almost pointless.

That test might be:

• Writing for ten minutes and stopping
• Drafting one paragraph in a different tone
• Working without fixing anything
• Writing somewhere imperfect

Then, notice what actually happens. Not whether the work is good. Just whether the rule still holds.

You’re not proving anything. You’re just checking the result.

Because most of the time, the thing holding you in place isn’t lack of ability. It’s a rule you learned early and never thought to revisit.

What assumed constraint is holding you back?

About Susan

Under the pen name Michelle Allums, Susan Watts has authored a young adult urban fantasy titled, The Jade Amulet and is currently writing the sequel. Her short stories are also included in the anthologies Christmas Roses and Forever and Always.

Susan has dedicated over four decades to training in multiple martial arts styles and holds the impressive title of a five-time US Karate Alliance world black belt fighting grand champion. Through her karate school, she is able to impart martial arts and life skills. Susan also incorporates her martial arts knowledge into her writing.

An avid triathlete, she keeps in shape by running, biking, and swimming. She lives in the country with her husband, where they raise animals and enjoy being outdoors. Susan also has three grown children and numerous grandchildren. In addition, she is a CPA and VP of finance for a company in her hometown. 

You can connect with Susan on social media or her website.

Header image from Deposit Photo

By Angela Ackerman

Character tropes—familiar character ‘types’ used often in stories—are sometimes condemned as being cliché and something to avoid. And it’s true that in the wrong hands, tropes can lead to flat characters and stereotypes. But used skillfully, tropes accomplish a ton of things at once, including:

1. Giving writers a valuable starting point for character-building. Just as a blank page may intimidate, so can a lump of character clay. Kickstarting the process by choosing a special skeleton for someone is a great strategy to get things moving.
2. Being able to orient readers quickly. Tropes provide a snapshot of who someone is and their role, giving readers the context they need to feel anchored in the story.
3. Speeding up connection. Knowing fundamental details about a character makes it easier to empathize and relate to their struggles, needs, fears, and unspoken desires.
4. Satisfying a reader’s expectations. It’s rare to choose a book blindly—people usually go looking for a specific experience. The genre guides readers to the type of story and often features certain characters: Rebels, cowboys, monster hunters, bad boys, etc. Character tropes help us deliver a story cast readers want to engage with.
5. Subverting expectations! The best part of making readers happy by giving them the characters they crave is the ability to go off script just enough to provide a character who is fresh and new. This is the key to making tropes work, so let’s dive into that a bit more.

Breaking Away from Predictability

Characters feel hollow when they are reduced to something – a trope, stereotype, mental health condition, set of circumstances, etc. Rather than having  depth and complexity, they get labelled – the washed-up detective with a drinking problem or the aloof teen with dead parents. When it comes to important characters, these labels let readers down. They want depth, not cliff notes.  Unless a character has a walk-on part, we still have much work to do.

Breakout characters and showstopping stories rely on trading generic characters for those who fascinate. Here’s how to write a character who will transcend their trope.

1.    Know Their Why

To develop a character further, understand what shaped them in the first place: What past events led here and what pain do they carry? How did they succeed and fail in life? What experiences, caregivers (or detractors), and challenges nudged them to align with this trope?

The past influences the present, so dive into their backstory. Not only will you feel closer to them, but you’ll also be able to write their actions and choices with greater authority.

2. Go Deeper

After thinking about their past circumstances and experiences, turn to other pieces of their identity. Questions like these will help you:

1. What are their best qualities (traits, strengths, values, beliefs) and how do they display these to the world through their actions, relationships, and motivations?
2. What do they fear most, and why?
3. What do they need most but believe they are unworthy or incapable of having?
4. What flawed ideas, beliefs, and misconceptions are holding them back?
5. What dreams and goals do they keep to themselves, and why are they important to them?
6. What emotions are hard for them to experience, and why?

By answering these, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to elevate a trope into an individual, a character who feels human, true, and easy for readers to and relate to.

3. Steer Clear of Trope Danger Zones Like Cliches & Stereotypes

As you’re building out who your character is, take care to not repeat overdone aspects of a trope. For example, if your jock is the star quarterback, has great hair, a cheerleader girlfriend, and is a total jerk…yikes. A carbon copy is boring and flat, and readers deserve better.

4. Give Readers Something Different than They Expect

Readers love to be surprised, and tropes are a great opportunity to make this happen. When someone recognizes a type of character, they make assumptions: The protagonist is a starving artist! I bet he’s talented, misunderstood, and trying to break through a glass ceiling in his field. Look how excited he is over this latest piece! Someone needs to take a chance on him because he probably works a dead-end job to pay the bills, and his family harps on him for being a hopeless dreamer.

Readers love to feel like participants in a story, and tropes make them feel like story masterminds. With the first piece—a basic understanding of a character’s layer—they start forecasting what the problems will be, where the story will go, and what will need to happen for a protagonist to reach their goal.

When using a trope, readers should let some predictions land but subvert others in meaningful ways. Maybe the artist’s family is supportive, but the character doesn’t believe in themselves. Or the excitement over their latest work isn’t a sign that it will be their breakout piece, it’s the euphoria of knowing the cottage they’re painting belongs to someone they’ve decided to kill. Thinking outside the trope offers big rewards. Here are more ideas for twisting a trope.

5. Use an Arc to Elevate the Trope

Tropes work well on minor characters, helping readers see how their role or function fits within the bigger story. When a main character fits a trope, though, these characterizing details shouldn’t be window dressing, they should tie to their internal arc. For example, an Adrenaline Junkie heroine shouldn’t chase thrills ‘just because.’ Maybe for her it’s an escape mechanism, a way to avoid life’s painful moments. And, in her story, a difficult blow--her twin’s terminal diagnosis—shows her how she needs to step up in the moment rather than try to skydive away from it.

Tropes are excellent tools, but like anything else, should be used strategically and masterfully. If you’d like to browse a wide range of archetypes and tropes and learn how to write them into your story, check out One Stop for Writers’ Character Type and Trope Database.

Is there a character trope or archetype you love to see in stories?
 Let me know in the comments!

About Angela

Angela Ackerman is a story coach, international speaker, and co-author of the bestselling book, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, and its many sequels. Available in ten languages, her guides are sourced by US universities, recommended by agents and editors, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, and psychologists around the world. To date, this book collection has sold over 1.3 million copies.

Angela is also the co-founder of the popular site Writers Helping Writers®, as well as One Stop for Writers®, a portal to game-changing tools and resources that enable writers to craft powerful fiction. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Header Image from Deposit photo

by Ellen Buikema

The average number of pitches read by literary agents runs anywhere from 1000 to 5000 per year. Response rates are low with less than 4% receiving any response, including rejections. Having a well-written, to-the-point pitch is crucial to engage an agent or editor.

Whether pitching in-person at a conference or sending a written query letter, make certain to get straight to the point. Perusing pitches is what agents and editors do during downtime. Their days are busy.

Ways to work on the pitch via query letter and in-person follow:

A good example of a query letter that uses the Hook, Book, Cook method for their supernatural thriller can be found in Jane Friedman’s blog.

The Hook Book Cook formula

Hook – 

The hook is the first few sentences that grab the reader’s interest so they’ll keep reading. If you’ve previously met the person you’re pitching, say at a conference, mention this upfront. That will help your cause.

I once met an agent in person at a conference whom I had previously queried. After her presentation I stopped to thank her for the comments she sent me on my query. She seemed quite shocked to be thanked. After a short conversation she told me to send another query when I’m ready and remind her that we met.

The following hook is for a novel I’m almost finished revising, although the revisions seem unending.

I am seeking representation for my Young Adult historical fiction THE HOBO CODE (65,000 words) in which 14-year-old Jack conspires with his younger siblings to escape dire situations rather than risk being forever separated. Jack promised to get them to safety, and he always keeps his promises. No matter what.

Book – 

The book section is a short summary of your manuscript focusing on its selling points and should include the title of a book or two similar your work.

Example book section from The Hobo Code manuscript:

After the death of their mother in 1905 Wausau, Wisconsin, fourteen-year-old Jack and his two younger siblings are sent to an orphanage by their grief-stricken, alcohol-driven father. A dangerous encounter with orphanage staff forces Jack to flee with his younger siblings, sending them on a peril-filled journey across the country via freight trains.

Through their travels they encounter the underbelly of society where pleasure, delights, addiction, and violence weave a deadly tapestry. Together, the three children weather encounters with death, a pedophile, working girls, a psychopath, and are involved in a train robbery.

With the help of hobos and hope of finding family in Los Angeles, they traverse a hazardous path to find a new home.

A hero’s journey, THE HOBO CODE is a standalone story with series potential that shares elements from Markus Zusak’s THE BOOK THIEF.

Cook – 

The cook is your brief bio and writing credentials.

I’m a writer living with my family in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. I am a co-host of Writers in The Storm blog. I taught reading and writing as a Resource Specialist Teacher in several school districts and psychology as adjunct faculty at the College of Lake County in Illinois. My chapter books for children received 5-star awards from Readers’ Choice. THE HOBO CODE is my first novel. In my spare time, I love to read, listen to music, and make people laugh.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Each section of the query should cover what the reader needs in a concise manner, keeping in mind the limited time that the reader has available.

 
The Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a short description of an idea, in this case a book, that explains the concept in a persuading way within a short timeframe, 30 to 60 seconds, about the length of time you’re chatting with someone on an elevator.

An elevator pitch should include a quick summary of your manuscript, including the main character, central conflict, and the stakes. If there is time, mention any relevant comparisons (comps) to similar books.

Short Pitches

“A murder inside the Louvre, and clues in Da Vinci paintings, lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.” (IMDb) https://reedsy.com/blog/guide/book-hook/hook-examples/ The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown

“A scientist discovers a way for human consciousness to travel through time and relive moments of their life, but after one fateful experiment she returns to find her reality altered to a horrifying extent.” (Publishers Marketplace) https://reedsy.com The Third Rule of Time Travel, by Philip D. Fracassi

“The ultimate guide for crafting accurate drug scenes and avoiding common pitfalls, with tips, facts, and sample scenes to bring your writing to a new level.” The Grim Reader: A Pharmacist's Guide to Putting Your Characters in Peril, by Miffie Seideman

All-the-way-to-the-first-floor Pitches

Cold Karma, by Eldred Bird

“When writer James McCarthy turns to Deputy Sheriff Nestor Yazzi for spiritual guidance, he agrees to help ... for a price. In exchange, James must work to solve a cold case that has haunted his mentor for fourteen years. Nestor’s best friend disappeared into the mountains of central Arizona while prospecting, leaving nothing behind but a tractor and a few hand tools. Armed with little more than his wits and a box of old files and photos, can James succeed in bringing Nestor’s missing friend home, or will he fail to hold up his end of the bargain?” (From the author.)

Parallel Lives: The Paths Not Taken, by Kris Maze

“When Harriet discovers The Experience, she's skeptical of its promise to show her better versions of her life. But as this jaded insurance adjuster steps into the simulation chamber, she's thrust into vivid realities she could have lived. In one reality, she's saving lives in Honduran clinic. In another, she's creating art in the Arizona desert.

"Each simulation features a man whose path intertwines with hers across different timelines whose motives grow increasingly suspicious. Harriet begins to unravel the true nature of these experiences as the simulations become more intense. The man appears with a devastating warning and she faces a terrifying realization. What if these alternate realities are more than just simulations, and what happens when she follows the wrong one?” (From the author.)

Loglines

A logline condenses your story into a one-sentence (sometimes two) summary. It’s often used for screenplays but translates well to books. It includes:

• The Protagonist: The main character and their defining trait.
• Inciting Incident: Event that forces them into action.
• Goal/Objective: What the protagonist must achieve.
• Central Conflict/Antagonist: The main obstacle in their way.
• Stakes/Consequences: What happens if they fail?

The logline is designed for the reader to instantly have a good understanding of the story’s concept.

Examples:

“When monsoon rains uncover a body, a naïve writer is pulled deep into the foothills to aid in the investigation, putting friends, family, and his own life at risk.” Catching Karma, by Eldred Bird

“A revolutionary technology offers one woman an incredible opportunity: to see the lives she's never lived, but she faces a terrifying realization. What if these alternate realities are more than just simulations, and what happens when she chooses the wrong one?” Parallel Lives: the Paths Not Taken, by Kris Maze

Final Thoughts

Along with getting across the selling points of your work, the pitch also gives the reader an idea of your writing. I noticed when rereading this article that I subconsciously slipped in a bit of alliteration, which I use quite a bit in children’s stories.

Have a care with spelling and grammar. Have other people read your query, elevator pitch, and logline. Extra eyes-on is always a good thing. This is your chance to shine.

Even if you never plan to pitch an agent or editor in hopes to be traditionally published, writing your selling points using any of the methods mentioned will make talking about your work flow easily.

What is your elevator pitch? Have you written a logline? Share them with us!

* * * * * *

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 The Crystal Key, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi, a glaze of time travel.

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

Top image from freepic.com