Writers in the Storm

by K. Maze

Dear Writer Friends, it’s November. The time of holidays, deadlines and NaNoWriMo.

We have lives full of responsibilities, but we are also builders of amazing mind worlds, and if we don’t take care of ourselves, our stories suffer and so do we! How can we enter the season of celebration without wearing ourselves down to a nub?

This is my debut post at Writers in the Storm and I'm focusing on gratitude. To help you show your thankfulness for the gifts you have as writer, and to offer some advice on how to take care of those gifts. 

Take a minute to check in with your overall wellness.  

Writers get upper back cricks and lower back spasms.  We have underused legs from forcing ourselves to sit in the chair and write.  We deny ourselves the pleasures of spending time outdoors and write long after the rest of the household has gone to sleep, because most of us have another job to accomplish as well.  What is the price?  How do our bodies react? 

Behold, the Wellness Wheel.

The wellness wheel can keep us from spinning wildly out of control. “Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices a healthy and fulfilling life. Wellness is more than being free from illness, it is a dynamic process of change and growth,” according to researchers at UC Davis.

This goes beyond the yearly doctor’s visit to not just live, but to thrive.  Writers create life-giving prose. Can you imagine the energy we can enjoy when we take care of ourselves?

Some Wellness wheels contain 8 domains but more commonly the wheels use 7 to evaluate one’s overall well-being.

A Breakdown of Wellness Domains

Where you stand in each domain can vary.  If you are up on your word count and rocking the NaNoWriMo, you may be neglecting walking your pet, biking, or jogging.  Perhaps you are having a hard time meeting your deadlines because you are enjoying too many evenings in with friends or bingeing Netflix dramas. 

Try one of these assessments based on your personality.

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE ADULT COLORING BOOKS: 

This tool is useful for anyone trying to keep their life in balance.  Simply read the statements and color the wheel wedge to represent how you manifest this area of well-being. Examine your color-coded assessment and answer the reflection questions to take steps to a more satisfying life.  

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE SUDOKU:

This inventory developed by Princeton University can help one figure out their wellness numerically. Identify how often the statements are true about you.  Add up the totals for each section and notice any discrepancies.  These may be places to iterate your lifestyle.

FOR THOSE WHO WANT JUST THE FACTS, MAAM:

This article lists ways to identify wellness action you take in your life. Take a moment to reflect on which areas you could adjust your well-being.

Keeping your monster in check.

It benefits no one if the writer-in-residence is cranky or 'hangry.'  I have a routine that includes checking my energy levels to determine which activity I want to do most. A little self-examination can be a cathartic culling of activities that do not suit you. 

I’ve included my own routine to show a few ways I push myself.  This is not a rigid set of mandates since I found that depletes my energy.  Figure out what works for you.

My Wellness Wheel Balancing Act

#1 - Physical Exercise

I leave myself wiggle room for the ups and downs that drive us to write in the first place! Having choices allows me to adjust to my mood and fatigue level, and to accomplish the work or maintain my most important relationships.  I force myself to do half an hour of yoga in the morning and also at night.  I will skip the night yoga if I walk the dog for that amount of time instead.

Unexpected health benefits:

• My level of headaches decreased to almost zero.
• My energy to run after injuries increased. 

To keep myself motivated and to include my people, I signed the whole family up for a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.

#2 - Eat Well

I credit my daughter's immune disease for making large changes to our family eating patterns.  We try to eat clean and gluten free to accommodate her dietary needs.  The older two daughters have gone vegetarian as well. 

Fresh veggies, big box store meals in the freezer and healthy grab-n-go snacks help everyone stay on target with nutritious food within our budget.

#3 - Sleep

Wearing a health tracker has changed my views on sleep.  Regular rest has helped my energy level and stamina - both in exercise and writing!  Using a sleep mask and earplugs also made a difference in the quality of my sleep.  I rarely stay up past 11 and always get up during the same 1-hour window.  I allow myself to hit snooze on 'tired' days and I feel like I'm sleeping in. It works for me.

10 Hilarious Memes About Being Sleep Deprived from Reading

#4 - Professional reading and learning.

Writers have to exercise their brains. Even when I'm not taking classes, I have nonfiction and genre books around my nightstand.  I tend to read before I go to sleep (and avoid thrillers) so I can get tired after reading a few pages. It keeps me abreast of what is new and interesting in my field and my mind mulls it over as I fall asleep.  Win win.

#5 - Hobbies/ activities

I am a writer and spend time with writers and bloggers, which I find refreshing and fun. But my non-writer tribes keep me balanced as well.

One completely nonsense activity I relish is my neighborhood book club that opted *gasp* for movie versions instead.  My 'Cinema Sisters' take turns hosting a cheap, low prep, movie night at each other’s house.  We bring snacks and beverages to watch Hallmark movies or old throwbacks.  One lady held hers docked on her husband's fishing boat where we watched the original "Overboard."  Spending time with friends keeps the rest of the stressful things in perspective. 

To sum up...

My journey to wellness requires regular maintenance and micro adjustments. Keeping tabs on myself allows me to be my optimal self in all the important areas of my life: spouse, parent, friend, and writer.

Check in with your wellness wheel this November and remember to take time to refine the best character of all - your own.

What has improved your writing life? Comment below to share your tips. Or, just share your favorite beverage and give Kris a warm welcome!

About Kris

K. Maze first clutched a crayon to record how the bird escaped the wired cage in Kindergarten and has been spinning tales ever since.  Writing speculative stories stems from her reading classics by O Henry, Shirley Jackson, and Ray Bradbury. She's fascinated with strong female characters who tackle unbeatable odds. When Kris is not immersed in stories, she is outdoors hiking with her family and pets or pondering the wisdom of Bob Ross. You can follow her on her website: kmazeauthor.com.

References:

• Your Wellness Wheel: Why Balance is Key to a Healthy Lifestyle
• Assessing Your Life Balance
• What a Wellness Wheel Can Tell You About Your Health
• Princeton Wellness Assessment
• Sleep Deprived from Reading? (These memes are for you!)

by Barbara Linn Probst

I’m delighted to join WITS as a regular blogger! Thanks for having me.

We’ve all had that question put to us by friends, relatives, colleagues, and potential readers. It’s a reasonable question.

“It’s the story of a woman who …”

“It tells what happens when ...”

But that’s the setup. It’s not what the book is about.

Coined by R.A. Fairthorne in 1969, “aboutness” is a term used in linguistics, philosophy of language, and the informational sciences to convey both the subject and intention of a text. In other words: what is said, and why.

So what’s your book about?

The question can be surprisingly difficult to answer. That's because we aren't used to thinking conceptually about our writing. We’re taught how to create stakes, wounds, obstacles, turning points—but those are just landmarks, coordinates, strategies in the service of the book’s aboutness.

Pinning down your book’s aboutness is critical, however!  It will lead you to your “elevator pitch,” log line, and all the language you’ll need for talking about your book out there in the world.

We’ll explore three ways to think about this question—three perspectives, from concrete to abstract.

• First, there’s the story your protagonist or
  point-of-view character is enacting. It’s driven by her goal (inner or outer) and what she must do to achieve that
  goal. When she achieves that goal, the story is over.

• Next, there’s the story your reader is
  experiencing. It’s driven by the question the reader
  is yearning to resolve as she turns the pages. When she’s answered that
  question, the story is over.

• And finally, there’s the story that
  you, as author, are creating, driven by what you want
  to say about how life works or what it means to be human. When your premise has been fully illustrated, the story is over.

There are no rules for which comes first, but it can be helpful to begin by identifying your premise, since premise underlies both question and goal. A premise is like an aphorism, a concise generalization about the way life works. Forgiveness is always possible. Courage takes many forms. Be careful what you wish for.  

The story question—a question that’s large enough to span the entire narrative—asks whether the plot will demonstrate that the premise is true. If the book’s premise is that it’s never too late to change, then the story question is: “Will the outcome verify or disprove the assertion that it’s never too late to change?”  In spite of everything, will Lucy be able to let go of her anger toward her father?

The protagonist’s goal takes the story question and turns it back into a statement. Lucy’s goal is to let go of her anger and reunite with her father.

The premise doesn’t have to be stated overtly; often, it’s better if it’s not. But you, as author, need to know what it is! Without it, your book has no coherence.

In a “simple” story, the goal, question, and premise line up neatly. The protagonist’s goal is usually to find or acquire something; it might be something that’s been taken or lost, like a kidnapped child, or an achievement that represents recognition or healing of a prior wound. The reader’s question is whether the protagonist will reach her goal. The author’s premise is that the protagonist’s core feature (determination, resourcefulness, courage) will lead to success. For example, if the protagonist’s goal is to find her missing child, in a simple story their eventual reunion demonstrates the premise that parental love will overcome all obstacles.

There are many examples of stories in which the protagonist’s goal, the reader’s question, and the author’s premise align easily. In The Help by Kathryn Stockett, for example, Skeeter’s goal is to write a book about something that truly matters, and the question is whether she’ll be able to accomplish her aim. She does, thanks to the courage of the women who trust her with their stories. The book’s ending thus captures its premise: Courage and friendship will triumph over hate.

In my own novel Queen of the Owls, Elizabeth’s goal is to find her true self beneath the roles she tries so hard to fulfill, a more complete self that will unite body and mind.

The overall story question—whether she will be able to do that, and at what cost—is framed by a series of questions that emerge as the plot escalates and evolves. These questions (whether she will pose for Richard, what will happen as a result of the photographs he takes, and what she will do in response) are the steps that lead from the first intimation of the question all the way to its resolution. At the end of the book, the book’s premise is fulfilled: Embracing the parts of yourself that you’ve denied leads to wholeness.

In a more complex story—one based on irony or misdirection—the three elements don’t always line up so neatly. In Gone with the Wind, for example, Scarlett O’Hara’s goal is to marry Ashley Wilkes. The reader, however, wants to find out if Scarlett will come to her senses and realize that Rhett is the one she really wants; the reader doesn’t share Scarlett’s goal. This discrepancy (misalignment) adds to the book’s tension and points to its premise: Never give up.

Other stories are complex because the protagonist’s goal changes. Perhaps the first goal turns out to be false, a mask for the true goal, or perhaps circumstances require a new goal.

In Lisa Genova’s Every Note Played, Richard’s initial goal is to preserve as much of his identity as a musician as he can. As his disease progresses, however, he must abandon this goal in favor of a neglected desire—to connect with his family. In Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, Vianne’s initial goal is to protect her daughter. As the story develops, her goal shifts to the aim of saving as many Jewish children as possible —not a reversal of her earlier goal, as in Genova’s book, but an expansion.

Sometimes the protagonist’s failure to achieve her goal—or the reader’s realization that what seemed like the story question wasn’t, in fact, the right question to have been asking—is the way the book’s premise is ultimately demonstrated. E.g., the premise that the thing you’re seeking may have been right in front of you all along might not be apparent until the end of the book.

By “goal,” I mean the Big Goal, although the protagonist may have “smaller,” specific goals at various points in the story. For example, in the middle section of Queen of the Owls, Elizabeth believes that her goal is to destroy the photographs that are revealing her, publicly, in a way she didn’t intend. Later, she comes to understand that her true goal is exactly the opposite: she must embrace the photographs, claim what they portray.

In each of these examples, there’s a discernable relationship between goal, story question, and premise—a good thing!

Not so good when the elements have no intrinsic relationship or slip, inexplicably, out of alignment.

In Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, Anna’s goal is agency, the ability to make her own decisions about her body. She has a secondary goal to help her sister, whom she loves. The two goals appear incompatible, raising the story tension. The reader’s question is thus: “How can Anna achieve the agency she seeks without causing her sister’s death?”  Five-star stakes!  

But what’s the premise? The book’s unexpected ending seems to proclaim the goals are meaningless in a world governed by random events. It doesn’t fit with Anna’s goal. So what’s the book actually “about?”

Certainly, there are novels in which the story question is never fully answered, leaving the reader with a sense of open-ended possibility. In Chris Bohjalian’s The Law of Similars, for example, we want Leland and Carissa to reconnect, but Bohjalian’s ending is intentionally ambivalent. We don’t know if Leland achieves his goal, yet the book’s premise is intact: We must try our best and sustain hope.

[Note:  When I call a book like The Help “simple,” I don’t mean that it lacks complexity, nuance, or depth—only that goal, question, and premise are clearly aligned. It’s okay if they’re not—as long as you, as the author, know why you’ve chosen an intentional misalignment and why it is the most effective way to tell your story.]

Now think about your own book. Can you identify these three elements?  

Goal. It may be easiest to begin with the most concrete: the protagonist’s goal. Often, the overt or external goal (e.g., winning a trophy, thwarting a villain, solving a mystery) is a stand-in for a deeper goal (e.g., standing up for oneself, learning to be vulnerable, letting go of a grudge).

Question. Next, ask yourself: What is the reader dying to know?  Is there a central question strong enough to sustain a reader’s interest and concern?

Premise. And finally: What are you trying to express about what it means to be human? 

If the answers seem elusive, there might be a missing through-line, dangling subplots, or too many plot points that are sequential rather than consequential (that is, a lot of things “happen” but they lack necessity).  

If there seem to be multiple goals and premises, it might indicate that you’re trying to do too much and need to simplify—to save some material for your next book.

Considering these questions is time well-spent. Your book will be stronger—and more readable—if you know what it’s about.

About Barbara

Barbara Linn Probst is the author of Queen of the Owls, coming in April 2020 from the visionary, award-winning She Writes Press. Queen of the Owls has received stellar advance praise and will be the May 2020 selection of the Pulpwood Queens, a network of more than 780 book clubs throughout the U.S. To pre-order or learn more, please see http://www.barbaralinnprobst.com/

An earlier version of this article appeared on Live-Write-Thrive in July 2018.

by Melinda VanLone

I’ve posted several articles here at WITS covering the tone and type of image needed for different genres of book covers, but images are only part of the overall cover puzzle. There’s something else on the cover that’s pretty darn vital…the author name and the title.

Fitting text into an allotted space is both an art and a science, one I’ve spent a lifetime perfecting. That sounds daunting, doesn’t it?

So here’s the thing…it doesn’t matter as much as you think it does.

Don’t get me wrong, the topography needs to be good. Solid. Professional. What I’m saying is it’s easier to achieve professional looking text on a book cover than it might seem at first glance. Here are some basic guidelines:

Free fonts are free for a reason.

It’s easy to get lost down the rabbit hole of free fonts available on the internet. It’s fun when you first start to explore the possibilities, but over time it quickly becomes overwhelming. There are just so many! And a lot of them look great on the display, but then when you download it and try it out, they don’t look as good. If you don’t know the difference between kerning and leading, then choosing some of those freebies might send you into a disappointment spiral. Often they need a lot of work in InDesign or Photoshop to get them to look right. If you have access to Adobe TypeKit, that’s an excellent way of getting quality fonts for commercial use (and yes, you are commercial) without spending any additional money.

Speaking of Commercial...

Licensing is important. If you downloaded a font from a freebie website, be sure to read the fine print. Most often the license they “give” you is a personal one, meaning you’re free to use it at home on something like your child’s science fair project. If you intend to sell your book, you need a commercial license. Every foundry is different in how they license, and the last thing you want is to come up against a lawsuit because you made a lot of money using a font you didn’t pay for. If you buy a font from a professional foundry, be sure you purchased the right license for your needs. If you aren’t sure, ask them. Save the license you get with the font purchase for future reference, just in case.

Classic fonts are classic for a reason. 

One way to ease the stress of cover design is to realize that the subtle differences between different fonts are, well, subtle. Unless it’s a specialty display font, it’s a lot of tiny tweaks to a basic form. There’s no need to spend hours worrying about which is “just right.” At icon size, nobody will see those tiny differences.

When in doubt stick with classic, tried and true fonts and be more creative with their size/placement/treatment instead. You’ll look professional, and spend a lot less time in the font mines trying to choose. Here are some solid choices for book covers.

Less is more.

On a book cover, with such limited space, you really don’t need more than two fonts, no matter what genre you’re targeting. A good rule of thumb is one font for the title, and another for the author name (or the same font for both).

Use variations of either for any other text…subtitles, log lines, etc. If it’s a good font, and not a super freebie found somewhere in the murky depths of the internet, it will have multiple faces, from ultra fine to ultra black, for all your design needs.

Serifs are classy but pesky.

Serifs are those little bits that stick out from the main part of the letter, and they’re what makes a classy font look classy. Serif fonts are used for interior layouts of books because they are easier to read. But on a cover, with all the colors going on behind it, serifs can get lost, leaving weak text struggling to be seen. If you do go with a serif font, be sure to choose one with sturdy, solid flourishes rather than thin, reedy ones unless you’re making the text super sized.

San Serifs can be clunky.

San serif fonts lack those delicate little flourishes that serifs have so they stand up well on colorful or cluttered backgrounds, and are more legible at smaller sizes. They can, however, look a little less formal, and are surprisingly harder to read in long blocks of text.

Don’t be shy.

Since this is a marketing piece, you have to remember exactly what it is you’re selling. The book? Yes, but no. What you’re really selling is you. That means what you really want the customer (reader) to remember is not the title of your book…it’s your name!

There are varying genre conventions for the size of the author name but the general rule of thumb is, if it’s not a children’s book, then get that name on there big and proud. I always make sure I can read the author name at icon size. The more often customers see your name the more you seem familiar and the better that name recognition works on down the line.

Titles are nice, but…

It’s not nearly as important to be able to read the book title online as you might think. Every online vendor puts your cover image right next to the catalog book title and description. It’s almost never pictured alone. That means the customer glances at the image, then their eye flicks over to the text next to it. Meaning as long as you have an overall great hook, the actual legibility of the text is secondary. (I realize that typographers everywhere are probably throwing rotten fruit at me right now.)

Match your genre.

If you’re using a special display font for the title, be sure to choose one that more or less matches the genre of the book. It should work with the background image, not fight against it. A pretty handwriting font works great on romance covers, but looks horrible on thrillers. It can create a disconnect for the reader if the feel and tone of the font doesn’t match the tone of the image and the intent of the overall design.

When in doubt, stick with a classic font. They aren’t boring, they’re timeless. A classic font tells readers that the cover, and the story inside, are professional. That is the best hook.

Do you have a go-to font? What is it and where did you find it? Do you have any questions for Melinda?

About Melinda

Melinda VanLone writes urban fantasy, freelances as a graphic designer, and dabbles in photography. She currently lives in Florida with her husband and furbabies.

When she's not playing with her imaginary friends, you can find Melinda playing World of Warcraft, wandering aimlessly through the streets taking photos, or hovered over coffee in Starbucks.

Her elementary fantasy series, House of Xannon, begins with Stronger Than Magic. And for more information on covers, visit BookCoverCorner.com.

Top photo credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay