Writers in the Storm

by Margie Lawson

This combo-list of not absurd writing tips includes four points from me, and three each from Francine Prose and Barbara Kingsolver. I’ll share the list of ten, then chat about each writing tip.

Writing Tips from Francine Prose

1. Your first sentence (or paragraph) makes a promise that the rest of the story (or novel) will keep.

2. Give your reader a reason to turn every page.

3. Keep a very large trash can beside your desk.

Writing Tips from Barbara Kingsolver

4. Show, don't tell. Everybody knows this rule, and most of us still break it in every first draft. Be ruthless. Throw out the interior monologue.

5. Be relentlessly descriptive. Use details from every sense you own.

6. Don't wait for the muse. She has a lousy work ethic. Writers just write.

Writing Tips from Margie Lawson

7. Make multiple Deep Editing passes.

8. Write fresh!

9. Honor your Controlling Premise.

10. Cadence. Cadence. Cadence.

More About These 10 Tips

Tips from Francine Prose

1. Your first sentence (or paragraph) makes a promise that the rest of the story (or novel) will keep.

Margie’s Ideas: 

I recommend sharing at least a hint about your Story Promise in your opening. Ideally, in your first few paragraphs. That’s the first point in my 20 Point Checklist for Openings in my online course: A Deep Editing Guide to Make Your Openings Pop!

If you follow this rule, your readers will know where your compelling story is going, and they’ll be hooked. They’ll have to keep reading.

Check out a few first lines and paragraphs from Dana Marton.

Deathwatch, Dana Marton, Virtual Immersion Grad, RITA Winner, NYT Bestseller

Kate Bridges thought attending her own funeral would be the hardest part.

Broslin Bride, Dana Marton, Virtual Immersion Grad, RITA Winner, NYT Bestseller

Luanne Mayfair might have killed her boss a little. Fine, a lot. Pretty much all the way. God, that sounded bad. But he was a sleazebag. Honest. The maids at the Mushroom Mile Motel that Earl Cosgrove managed often prayed for lightning to strike the lecherous bastard. Alas, God had seen fit to send Luanne instead.          

Deathblow, Dana Marton, Virtual Immersion Grad, RITA Winner, NYT Bestseller

The worst time for a police cruiser to fly off a bridge was when you were handcuffed in the back. Joe Kessler braced as the Hummer crashed into the cruiser from behind for the final time and sent the brand-new Crown Victoria over the railing.

Two Openings from Harlan Coben

Gone for Good, Harlan Coben

Three days before her death, my mother told me—these weren’t her last words, but they were pretty close—that my brother was still alive.

Shelter, Young Adult, Harlan Coben

I was walking to school, lost in feeling sorry for myself—my dad was dead, my mom in rehab, my girlfriend missing—when I saw the Bat Lady for the first time.

An Opening from Jaye Wells

Red-Headed Stepchild, Jaye Wells, USA Today Bestseller, 2-time Immersion Grad, Cruise Grad

Digging graves is hell on a manicure, but I was taught good vampires clean up after every meal. So I ignored the chipped onyx polish. I ignored the dirt caked under my nails. I ignored my palms, rubbed raw and blistering. And when a snapping twig announced David’s arrival, I ignored him too.

An Opening from C.J. Box

Savage Run, C.J. Box, NYT Bestseller

On the third day of their honeymoon, infamous environmental activist Stewie Woods and his new bride, Annabel Bellotti, were spiking trees in the forest when a cow exploded and blew them up. Until then, their marriage had been happy.

The backstory on that opening sentence of Savage Run: Chuck had an idea about starting a book with an exploding cow. He didn’t want to lose it, so he named two characters and wrote that first sentence. He wrote the rest of the story three years later.

Review those openings.

Read them OUT LOUD. Hear the cadence-driven power?

See how the authors were strategic with style and structure?

          Power words. Backloading. Rhetorical devices. Run-on-ish sentences.

Humor hits. Details that deepen characterization for a character you’re just meeting.

Make a list of what the reader learns.

Okay. Finish reading the blog, then come back and analyze those openings.

Deal?

You’ll really do it. Right?

2. Give your reader a reason to turn every page.

Margie’s Ideas: 

I want to believe that every writer strives to write by this rule. But I’ve read plenty of first pages of books that did not give me a reason to turn more pages.

I’ll share one of the ways I developed to help writers check for pacing and power:

Create a bullet-point list of what the reader learns on every page. If it’s printed, write what they learned at the bottom of the page. If the reader doesn’t learn an important point or two or three on a page, it would be smart to tighten that page.

Making that list at the bottom of a page works. Try it!

3. Keep a very large trash can beside your desk.

Margie’s Ideas: 

Be willing to kill, mutilate, morph, and tweak your darlings. It may take you two or three passes before you realize you can sacrifice a favorite line or paragraph or passage. Trust me. You’ll make your scene stronger.

Tips from Barbara Kingsolver

4. Show, don't tell. Everybody knows this rule, and most of us still break it in every first draft. Be ruthless. Throw out the interior monologue.

Margie’s Ideas: 

We all know the show-don’t-tell rule. But it’s not really accurate. Sometimes you just tell. Sometimes you just show. Sometimes you show and tell.

Look what Barbara Kingsolver slipped in at the end. Throw out the interior monologue. I’ve read some of BK’s books, and I know she isn’t suggesting that all thoughts and all internalizations should be nixed. She’s saying, MAKE THEM COUNT!

In my scene analysis EDITS System, thoughts (internalizations) are highlighted YELLOW. I differentiate between YAMMERING YELLOW and POWER YELLOW. YAMMERING YELLOW is nixed or turned into POWER YELLOW. Then you know those thoughts are keepers.

5. Be relentlessly descriptive. Use details from every sense you own.

Margie’s Ideas: 

Another not absurd tip we all know. It’s a good reminder to share details, as long as they add something meaningful.

6. Don't wait for the muse. She has a lousy work ethic. Writers just write.

Margie’s Ideas: 

So true. Make a schedule that works for you—and write.

Having trouble with procrastination or other self-defeating behaviors that plague writers? Consider my online course, Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors. I’m teaching it in January.

Don’t want to wait that long? Grab the lecture packet for DSDB. It’s always available.

Tips from Margie Lawson

7. Make multiple Deep Edit passes.

It takes multiple passes to turn your writing from throw-your-story-on-the-screen to hook-every-reader stellar.

If you’ve taken some of my editing-focused on-line courses or reviewed the Lecture Packets, you know I’m the Queen of Deep Editing.

What is DEEP EDITING?

It’s what’s in those hundreds of pages of lectures in my Big Three courses. It’s what’s in my advanced writing craft courses too. I teach writers how to add psychologically-based power to create a page-turning read.

8. Write fresh!

Avoid clichés. Avoid overused word pairings. Give the reader fresh writing, but not so fresh that the reader trips. Write like I’m sitting next to you. And give the reader a boost with phrases and sentences they’ve never read before.

9. Honor your Controlling Premise.

A CONTROLLING PREMISE is a three to five sentence who’s-doing-what-to-whom and-why-the-reader-cares story summary.

I recommend writing your Controlling Premise and pasting it at the beginning of each chapter. It will keep you focused on your big black story thread.

10. Cadence. Cadence. Cadence.

It’s smart, smart, smart to make your writing cadence driven. Read your work out loud, and keep tweaking each sentence and paragraph until the cadence drives you from the first word to the last.

Wrapping Up

I have a couple dozen more writing rules. I bet you do too.

What not absurd writing tips do you live by? Please click in and say Hi! Or comment on this list. Or share your favorite not absurd writing tip. Post a comment and you could WIN a lecture packet from me! (Including the packet for A Deep Edit Guide to Make Your Openings Pop!)

Note: This new lecture packet is loaded with ideas for how you can make the opening of every scene and every chapter stronger.

We’ll have TWO WINNERS! I’ll draw the TWO WINNERS at 8:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Sunday, August 1st. I’ll post their names on the blog about 8:30 p.m. Mountain Time.

Thanks for dropping by the blog.  Please chime in, so I’ll know you’re here!

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 days long—and as always, writers get one-on-one deep editing with Margie.

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

Ready for an in-person Immersion Master Class?

They’ll kick back in early in 2022. Want me to come to your town?

Want to build your own Immersion Master Class?

Invite six writing friends. Coordinate dates. We’ll make it happen!

Interested in Immersion Master Classes across the world?

Scotland? London? Melbourne? The Gold Coast? Perth?

Depending on international COVID quarantines, I’ll be there. I have hosts waiting to set dates.

Check out my Dig Deep Webinars!

August Webinar: Game-Changing Power:  Sharing Impact on the POV Character

Lawson Writer’s Academy courses for August

You’ll find courses on action scenes, conspiracy theories, sizzling synopses, social media, essentials of writing, advanced craft, YA characters, and foundational fantasy.

So many ways to strengthen your writing and your writing career. (Link)

My next ‘Get Happy with Margie’ Open House is August 17^th. It’s 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time. The link is on my website - just click on the Happy Hour graphic.

Top Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

by Lisa Hall Wilson

I’m constantly looking for a way to break things down, create an actionable process, so I can understand things. Deep point of view makes sense to me by writing in emotional layers. Every action (or in the case of fiction, every thought) has an equal and opposite reaction.

Deep point of view lets your readers experience story through a virtual reality headset. Readers want to take an emotional journey alongside the main character in every scene. This style puts readers IN the story as much as possible.

To achieve this, writers have to avoid summarizing or telling how a character feels. Instead, they must present evidence to the reader about how the character feels. Not enough evidence and the reader is lost, too much and the reader is bored.

To effectively write in deep point of view, the author must know the WHY in every scene. Why did your point of view character (POVC) say that, do that, hide that, run away or stand and fight?

What are the layers of deep POV?

Layer 1: Primary or Basic Emotions

These are the unthinking instinctive emotions. Some examples would be: attraction, lust, disgust, joy, fear, excitement, sadness, surprise, etc. Most often, we show readers primary emotions through body language and physiology—what’s going on inside: heart rate, skin prickles, sweating, etc.

Layer 2: Emotional Triggers

Sometimes, a situation or scenario can catapult a character straight to layer 4. These emotional triggers make them unable to articulate the primary emotions involved because this particular mix is their unique brand of poison. This is most often shown to readers through internal dialogue.

Layer 3: Secondary Emotions

Secondary emotions (such as anger, shame, anxiety, and love) are reactions to primary emotions. For example, a person may feel ashamed as a result of becoming anxious or sad. In this case, anxiety would be the primary emotion while shame would be the secondary emotion. Secondary emotions demand the character DO SOMETHING because these emotions are intense and uncomfortable and feel out of control.

Layer 4: Behavior

This is the observable part of primary and secondary emotions. This is where the fight, flight or freeze instinct would come in. Fear and surprise force a character to run away or fight back. Love forces them to hug or kiss.

How characters experience these layers

In any given scene, your POVC could experience one or all of these emotional layers. Each layer may only be a couple of words – a sentence fragment. Just a word. (Example: "Run!") But readers will be pulled deeper into the story this way and take their own emotional journey—it may not be the same emotional journey as your POVC, but that’s OK. Your goal is to make the reader feel.

That’s a whirlwind summary of the emotional layers theory. A common misunderstanding for newer writers is that these layers overlap and interconnect in deep point of view. These emotions and actions are not felt in isolation from one another. It’s like a spider’s web. Every intersection of the web is influenced by every other intersection. A tremor in a far corner of the web is felt throughout, right?

You Must Know The Why

So, getting back to the original question—the WHY. Why your character does things is what pulls the reader in. Readers don’t have to agree with your POVCs feelings or decisions, but they do have to understand them. In deep point of view, your POVC can’t keep secrets from the reader.

“Let go of me,” I say. I hear ringing in my ears. My voice sounds clear and stern—not what I expected to hear. I feel like it doesn’t belong to me.

I am ready. I know what to do. I picture myself bringing my elbow back and hitting him. I see the bag of apples flying away from me. I hear my running footsteps. I am prepared to act.”

- Veronica Roth, Divergent

In this example, you can follow Tris’ thoughts to understand why her voice is clear when she should be scared. The reader understands why she feels the way she does, and in the next sentence we learn why she doesn’t give in to this impulse. She’s been raised to completely deny self, but in this moment of fear and surprise her ability to remain calm and have an action plan, instead of just submitting to the abuse, is a self-revelation and helps her make a decision.

There are plenty of readers who likely would never have this reaction to a homeless man grabbing them, but they cheer for Tris because they know this small tug is going to cause major reverb across the story web.

Do you have questions about these four layers? Are there other layers you would add? What other questions do you have about deep point of view? Please share them with us down in the comments section!

*  *  *  *  *  *

About Lisa

Lisa Hall-Wilson is a writing teacher and award-winning writer and author. She’s the author of Method Acting For Writers: Learn Deep Point Of View Using Emotional Layers. Her blog Beyond Basics For Writers explores all facets of the popular writing style deep point of view and offers practical tips for writers. 

She runs the free Facebook group Going Deeper With Emotions where she shares tips and videos on writing in deep point of view. 

Top Photo by Jeremy Zero on Unsplash

By Kris Maze

It’s summertime in the U.S., but it wouldn’t be the same without 2 great traditions: Barbeque and Baseball. When I think of summer, I have a longing for picnics: the smells of the grill sizzling meats and veggies while a watermelon slice drips down my wrist, laughing together while the radio plays our favorite team in the background. The last thing I want at that moment is to have a nagging feeling that I haven’t finished my writing goals.

In today’s post, we will examine how I used time management to create a schedule for my productivity goals and lifestyle. If you want to read about how I used a refocusing strategy to declutter my tasks and to prioritize my writing projects, you can find that WITS post here.

Many writers say that if they could have one change in their writing life, it would be to have more time.  These 3 Steps may not only help you find more time to write, but also make your time more productive.  Sound interesting?  Let’s get you back to your summer fun by carefully crafting your Writing to-do list.

Not convinced? 

Other reasons to dive into your Time Management Process:

1. Accountability – When you commit to a schedule, you become accountable to your dreams. And you are more likely to accomplish them.
2. Get Unstuck – Keeping a routine will help a writer skip through the natural bumps and bruises one gets on their fingers and motivation.  Plan your time and stay involved in your own writing life.
3. You’re a busy person!  Save your mental stress for the creative process and get your writing schedule under control.
4. Tiny Vampires – Tiny Time Vampires. If you don’t take stock in your most precious resource, other priorities and distractions will.
5. Be Mindful – Get more satisfaction from your writing, by being purposeful in your author journey.

In my last post, we set preposterous author goals, categorized them, and evaluated each project on our list.  We used a Gut Check to identify how we felt about finishing them and a Reality Check by figuring out which projects would be the easiest to complete.

Now that we have figured out our goals and prioritized which ones were the easiest to finish, it is time to reflect on what worked.  After a couple weeks, here are a few reflections about what I accomplished:

• My work has become more streamlined. I waste less time and batch similar tasks together.
• My stress level has decreased, and I am more satisfied with my completed work.
• My energy level is increased, and it is easier to produce better writing with a smoother editing process.
• I am checking off items and accomplishing my goals.

In success, showing up is sometimes the hardest battle or in baseball terms – you have to step up to bat to get a hit. 

Time in baseball is relative as it is in writing. A game should last nine innings, but some have a longer duration.  The longest game in professional baseball history lasted 33 innings, with 8 hours and 25 minutes of playing time! A half-inning is determined by 3 outs which can occur in mere minutes, or after the entire team rotation bats.  The slow build of the game also makes it unpredictable.

Like baseball, writing sessions and tasks can vary based on many factors, but we can manage our writing time and enjoy it.

3 Steps to Better Time Management

Step 1: Review Calendar

The first step is to look at what worked and to examine the priorities set in the last planning session.

For my scheduling, I use a horizontal planner with weekly entries.  On each week, I draw a line vertically down the center of each page.  This gives me a space on each day for what I planned to do on the left side and to write what I actually did on the right.  On the reflection side, I write the tasks I completed along with the time it took and the word count.

This took about 10 minutes.  Some of the planned tasks were too ambitious for my lifestyle and didn’t happen at all.  I took this into account in the next planning session as I used this information to better iterate my schedule.

Don’t forget to celebrate the success you had!  Any goal accomplished deserves a little self-love.

Step 2: Reassess each Task.

As I reflected on the progress of each task, I found the pieces that worked for me and added those into the next planning session. I adjusted the times and the order of tasks to better suit my goals. 

Another result of this reflection was that repeating an task makes it faster to complete. For example, many writers start a session with editing the page from the previous day.  One of my goals was to keep my writing fresh, so I began with the final editing run through before starting a new session each day.

I made notes on my calendar to help in the next step of the planning process.

Step 3: Reschedule Tasks.

With the new information, I decided which tasks would get me to my writing goals. 

This step started with figuring out which potential times I had available. I tried to be more realistic about when my productive writing happened. I also took into consideration other daily commitments along with necessary downtime.

• Early Mornings 1 hour max
• Lunch 30 minutes
• After Work 1-2 hours
• Evenings 2-3 hours

I blocked off the times I would devote to writing on my planner with colorful pens and highlighters.

When I was intentional about scheduling, I had to be honest with myself in order to make this process work.  After seeing that only one morning session resulted in a decent word count, I realized those times were not really an option.  Even though early mornings are better times for me creatively, I only attempt them on days I won’t need extra sleep.

Another example is that I can write non-fiction, like blog posts and educational materials, at night. I can also edit efficiently at night with others around me. So I would match up the tasks to the times that would set me up for success.

Now it’s time to play ball!  Relax knowing that your to-do list’s covered, and you planned times to accomplish the goals you set. Enjoy your summer, recharge your creative batteries, and finish your writing!

It’s your turn – How do you plan your writing work?  What techniques do you suggest to other writers?  What tips work for you? Please share them with us down in the comments!

About Kris

Kris Maze is an author, freelance writer, and teacher. She enjoys writing twisty, speculative fiction with character-driven plots. After years of reading classic literature, mysteries, and thrillers, she wrote and publish her own books. She also writes for various publications including a regular post at the award-winning Writers in the Storm Blog. 

When she isn’t spending time with her favorite people and pets, Kris Maze is taking pictures, hiking, or pondering the wisdom of Bob Ross. You can follow her author journey at her website at KrisMazeAuthor.com.

Look for her episodic YA dystopian fiction, Aurora and Watertown scheduled to release on Vella this summer!

Top Photo by Aron Visuals at Unsplash