Writers in the Storm

by John Peragine

In a recent blog post on Writer’s In the Storm, writers provided one word for other writers to contemplate for the New Year. The word I chose was Trust.

I am a ghostwriter by trade and have years of experience writing and publishing books. When people hire me, they do so because I have a sense of the process.

Often (too often) people hire me and stop listening. They don’t always trust what I am saying to them, even though they hired me for that very purpose. I don’t know all the answers to publishing and writing questions. Luckily, for those times I don’t know, I have built a team of other professionals I trust to provide me those answers.

I've been thinking about my writing journey and that of others I know, and trust is a powerful determiner for a book, from concept to publishing. Trust is not something given lightly, but at times, we have to take a risk and place trust outside ourselves to move a book from our heads to the page.  

It's not always easy to do. We must ask questions for clarity.

There are many pathways to writing and publishing. Whichever one we choose, we must see it through and trust those guiding the way. We must rely on our inner voice and the advice of others throughout the entire process of writing, but I believe that it can be a methodical process in which we can increase our chances of success.

Important questions:

• At what points do we rely on trust?
• How can we reduce the risks involved with trust?
• Is trust something blind, or is it strategic?

Christmas Morning Confession

My family would tell you that I have a serious holiday problem. I can’t wait to open presents until Christmas morning.

The anxiety overwhelms me on Christmas Eve. Every. Single. Year. My family rolls their eyes at me. But by 6 pm, it is imperative that I know what’s in the boxes, and I must see other people open the presents I got them.

I know, I’m incorrigible. But it boils down to this: I don’t like not knowing the outcome of things, and I don’t like taking unreasonable chances.

In book writing and publishing, I don’t take too many chances either. When I decide what to write, or how to publish a book or article, I remove any doubts I can. I decrease risk while increasing trust.

How do I do this?

I believe there are three levels of trust: trust others, trust a process, and trust myself.

Trust Others

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we decide to write and publish something. There is a process, and a method that can be followed that will lead to a successful venture.

There are many people to connect within the publishing business and I follow a process. This process also works with agents, publishers, or other writers.

1. A blank slate. When I meet someone new, I see them as a blank slate and trust what that person says and claims. I have no evidence to the contrary. I try to reserve judgment and keep their slate clean.
2. Trust but verify. If someone refers an editor to me, I ask the person making the referral what their experience was with the editor. But their positive experience does not guarantee I will have the same experience. Maybe they just clicked, or were friends. Perhaps there is a finder's fee for referring to the editor. There are many unknowns and I try not to let them positively or negatively affect my trust in that editor.

I begin with trust and build upon it based upon performance. Questions I ask myself include:

• Do I trust the person making the referral?
• Have they referred me to other professionals in the past?

I build trust by beginning small. I might have the editor do one or two pages of editing to see how they perform. I follow these considerations:

• Did they edit the way I asked them?
• Was it on time?
• Were they thorough?

I increase the size of the job, and with every success, my trust in them builds. Perhaps answer the following questions:

• Do they return calls and messages?
• Do they listen to me? Can they provide examples of past performance?
• Can they offer me references of others they worked with?

The process of writing is a solitary craft, but the process of publishing is a team effort.

You need to trust those you work with, and you must decide for yourself, based upon the data you collect, whether you can trust an individual. Choosing the wrong person can cost you time, money, and credibility as a writer.

Trust the Process

A question I hear a lot: How do we write a great book and have success selling it? I share my process, but people often stop listening.

There is the social proof disconnect. Writers listen to friends and family, who mostly have the best intentions, provide them with advice about book writing. My question is, “How many books have they written and sold?”

I provide people with the same process that helped me, and many others produce a successful book they are proud of that sells copies.

As a writer, we must trust others we are working with. If we believe they are an expert with valuable advice, then we must trust their process.

Trust Myself

In the creation of a book, there is an important word on the front cover. More important than the title, and that is the author’s name. It is you.

This is your book. Your project. You call the shots, and you should never give away total control of your book. Nor should you stop asking questions, because even if you trust someone, and trust the process, you must trust your gut because it is your name on the spine.

I recently presented a manuscript to a literary agent I trust. She has an excellent track record, and I would love to work with her. I gave her my first ten pages to review, and she was excited about the premise, the characters, and the pace of the story. She deemed it a Middle-Grade Fantasy and I trusted her assessment.

As part of the process of selling a book in this genre, she recommended that I shift the POV from third person limited to first-person.  I rewrote those pages in the first-person POV as she recommended. It wasn't a bad attempt, and she liked it, but then I considered the rest of the book.

Would shifting the rest of the book to first-person work?
Was my book truly Middle Grade or was it more YA?

I sent out two versions of my first ten pages to other experts for their opinion. I received mixed reviews on the POV but there was a strong opinion that the book is YA, not Middle Grade.

Ultimately, I must decide what the book is and will be. I have people I trust, and I trust the process, but at the end of the day, I must trust the guy whose name is on the spine of the book.

This is the hardest form of trust but a smart one to learn: listen to the inner voice advising us. 

Ask the right questions, do your due diligence, and write the best, most successful book you can. Trust in yourself -- you are an author. Whatever you decide, it will be the right decision.

How have you trusted your own intuition in terms of your writing? Do you have advice you didn't take, but wish you had?

About John

John Peragine has published 14 books and ghostwritten more than 100 others. He is a contributor for HuffPost, Reuters, and The Today Show. He covered the John Edwards trial exclusively for Bloomberg News and The New York Times. He has written for Wine Enthusiast, Grapevine Magazine, Realtor.com, WineMaker magazine, and Writer's Digest.

John began writing professionally in 2007, after working 13 years in social work and as the piccolo player for the Western Piedmont Symphony for over 25 years. Peragine is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. His newest book, The No Frills Guide to Book Marketing, will be released in Summer 2020.

Top photo credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

by Karen DeBonis

Writer karma. It’s one of the myriad phrases I’ve learned over the last three years since I emerged as a writer. Writer karma has led me, an emerging writer, to be here at Writers in the Storm as a new quarterly contributor. Hello!

A bit about me…

I didn’t discover writing as a creative outlet until I was almost forty, a year after my eleven year-old son Matthew was diagnosed with a brain tumor. As our family recovered from the trauma, an awareness grew in me that our story must be told.

My first draft was dreadful. Even my 20th draft was shitty. But that didn’t deter me, perhaps because I didn’t know how crappy it actually was.

Then, I quit.

My son’s recovery was slow. Painfully slow. I found it impossible to write the story as we lived it, without yet knowing the ending, so I packed writing away and left it to languish. In 2016, when I medically retired, a voice in my head said, “Finish your book.”

And my writing life re-emerged. It was time to put those early lessons to use, and to learn more.

One of early writing lessons was the importance of boosting other writers. Read, share, retweet, like, comment. It all comes around in the writing and reading community.

What you give, you shall receive.

Writers in the Storm, with its wealth of insightful and informative articles, was one of my regular stops, and I commented frequently. It never occurred to me that anyone other than the article author took note. Then, in November 2019, I got an email from Jenny Hansen, one of the founders here.

“I've been keeping an eye on you over at WITS for a while and I'm wondering if you'd like to take on a bigger role.”

And I thought, “Who, me?” But here I am, in all my newbie-ness.

Positive energy out, positive energy in.

I reached out to several more experienced writers in my quest to research writer karma.

Marion Roach

Memoir coach, teacher, and editor, with an entire curriculum of online classes. Marion is the author of four published books. She was the instructor for my first live writing class.

On writer’s karma, she said, “What I was taught is what I use to write and what I teach. Given to me, it must be moved along.” Her book The Memoir Project, A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text on Writing & Life—sits dog-eared on my shelf.

Susan Shapiro

An award-winning writing professor, and bestselling author/coauthor of twelve books, Susan has helped hundreds of students get bylines in the New York Times, Washington Post and other big-name publications. She shares her best practices in The Byline Bible, which also sits on my shelf, its pages thick with sticky notes.

When I asked Susan about writer karma, she wrote, “I think helping my students get published, returning the kindness my mentors showed me, is a way of paying it forward.” Susan believes the focus of an emerging writer’s promotion should be on non-famous writers, “especially debuts by women and marginalized authors from indie presses.”

What about other newbies, like me?

Ronni Robinson is working on a memoir about her recovery from over thirty years of compulsive overeating. She and I connected on social media and then exchanged emails.

When I wrote a Facebook post asking writers for their thoughts on karma, Ronni didn’t reply, which is unusual because she rarely misses an opportunity to comment or share fellow writers’ posts. When I emailed her, she replied: “It's funny, I saw your post about karma on FB and to be perfectly honest, it stumped me. I never heard of it, had no clue what it was, so I didn't comment.” Yet, Ronni shares more positive feedback than any other writer I know.

Back at ya’, Ronni—here’s a little karma for you.

Whether you call it karma or kindness or manners, writers helping other writers helps us all. Everyone decides how big a role engagement plays in those precious few writing hours (because there’s never enough writing time, is there?).

5 Tips To Spread the Writer Karma

1. Read essays and articles.

In the time it takes to read one book (and I read lots of those, too), I can read dozens of pieces by dozens of writers, giving me scores of opportunities to engage. Don’t know where to find writers? Subscribe to sites like WITS to get you started. (And check out the Resources tab!)

2.  If you read it, “like” it.

One “like” can silence the drone of a thousand post-publication crickets. Writers hate hearing crickets.

3. If you have time to comment, do.

Simple is fine: “Powerful.” “Thanks for sharing.” “This spoke to me.” “I enjoyed this.” If you have time for more, all the better. “I can relate to this because…”

4. If you love a piece with no like or comment option, track down that author and tell them!

Shortly after my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2018 (yes, two completely unrelated brain tumors in one family), I happened upon this Vogue essay on Twitter. Daphne Beal, a writer, had the same tumor as my sister—a meningioma—and was doing equally well. I found Daphne’s email address, wrote to tell her of our commonality and wish her continued good health. She was flattered.

Important note: If you reach out when there’s no direct link, be gracious: “Please forgive this personal email; I want to tell you how much your essay means to me.” Most authors will be thrilled that you took the time and energy to pay them a compliment. But, don’t be stalkerish! One email is enough. If you don’t get a reply, let it go.

5.  Comment in a way you’d like to read about your own writing.

You can share a negative opinion politely. Or just scroll on by. What you send out into the world will come back to you, remember?

Whether you believe in karma or positive energy or the power of kindness, I hope you will spread a little writer love in the world. The world can certainly use it.

Do you have an engagement practice or tip to share? Please let me know in the comments, and I promise to reply. I need all the good karma I can get.

About Karen

Karen began writing twenty years ago after her eleven-year-old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Those early pages are now a real-life medical mystery about a mother who must overcome her toxic agreeability if she's to save herself and her son. The manuscript is currently in submission for publication.

A happy empty-nester with her husband of thirty-seven years, Karen lives and writes in upstate New York. You can find out more about her journey  at www.KarenDeBonis.com.

Top photo credit: Pixabay

by Eldred "Bob" Bird

Recently, I received feedback on my manuscript, Cold Karma, from one of my beta readers and was pleasantly surprised. “I really like reading your books,” he said. “You don’t bog things down with a lot of unnecessary details. You let the characters tell the story.”

If I had been wearing a hat, it would have had popped off like a champagne cork due to my head swelling three sizes.

I’m used to getting comments on plot, characters and dialogue, but this wasn’t about those things. His comment was about my writing style—about me as an author. After my head shrunk back to normal size, I put on my analyst cap and thought about what he said.

“You let the characters tell the story.”

That was the key thing that set my work apart for him? But…HOW did I accomplish that?

I broke down my own writing style to analyze what my subconscious already knew.

Put the Characters in Charge

The first thing to jump out at me: my characters seemed to be driving the bus, rather than the narrator.

How did I accomplish this?

By limiting the amount of narration, I was able to push the characters front and center. Focusing on these areas helped:

Dialogue

Let the words come out of your characters’ mouths. Don’t let the narrator take center stage when you can have your characters communicate the information? Sounds easy, right? Not necessarily.

Avoid the data dumps. I try to let conversations between characters bring out details in a more natural way. And it’s a way that doesn’t drag down the pacing of your story. It also provides an opportunity to emphasize specific details through the character’s reaction to a statement.

Use internal dialogue wisely. If the character is alone, I use internal dialogue. We all note details and make comments inside our own brains. I let my characters do it as well.

Note: Beware the head-hop. Head-hopping within a scene can be confusing for the readers. Try to stick inside of a single head each scene, or even each chapter.

Give each character a unique voice. Voice doesn’t just communicate a character’s words, but also who they are as a person. By making your characters’ speech patterns match their personalities, you allow them to reveal little bits of themselves without being overt. Unique voices also allow the reader to know who is talking without using dialogue tags that clutter up a scene and slow the pacing of a conversation.

Action Tags

Action tags are a great place to include non-verbal cues like body language and facial expressions. Knowing who’s talking is important, but sometimes “he-said, she-said” can get monotonous. Instead I weave in what’s going on in the scene and how the characters are interacting physically.

Even something as simple as Joe took a drink and wiped his mouth with his sleeve might break up a long piece of dialogue, tell you who is talking, and show you a little about Joe’s lack of table manners.

Environmental Interaction

Showing a character’s interactions with their environment is a great way to immerse readers into the story. Engaging the senses also puts things in the character’s hands. Sight, smell, touch, taste and sound are all important to scene building, and Deep POV allows both the characters and the reader to experience them. The smell of bacon and fresh coffee wafting up the stairs, the soft feel of a worn suede jacket, the distant sound of children giggling as they play—all paint a powerful picture when experienced from the character’s point of view.

Strategic Point of View

Choosing the correct POV makes a difference in character participation. The closer we get to the character, the less we need to rely on narration to tell the story—unless your character is the narrator.

First-Person POV, be it past or present, puts the job of storytelling squarely on the shoulders of the main character. I use first person quite often in short stories as a way of making a quick connection between the reader and main character.

In novels, I prefer to use the Third-Person Limited POV.

The cast of characters is usually larger in a novel and it gives me a more flexibility. In third person limited, I’m only looking over the shoulder of one character, so we’re still close to them. In this POV, the narrator can only see into that one character’s head.

If my main character is in the scene, that’s who I follow, otherwise, it’s what ever character is the main person driving that particular scene. This keeps the story tight to the characters, as the reader only knows what that particular character knows.

So, Let’s Review

• Limiting narration and letting your characters do the talking will help show instead of tell.
• Unique character voices give each character a chance to reveal things about their personality, background, and emotional state.
• Action tags and the five senses weave in details naturally. (A great way to paint the scene without long descriptions.)
• Limited POVs keep your reader closer to the characters.

One Final Thought

The characters can’t always do the job by themselves. There are times when the narrator has to dip his or her paintbrush into the scene. I work hard to limit those times.

Most important…

Every writer develops their own voice. Mine probably developed this way because it’s the way I like to read but different methods work for different people.

In other words, don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re doing it wrong. The best way to tell a story is the way that works for you and your readers, and gets you to “The End.”

Do you have a favorite book where the characters do all the talking? Do you have a favorite point of view to write in? To read in? We want to hear about it down in the comments!

About Eldred

Eldred Bird writes contemporary fiction, short stories, and personal essays. He has spent a great deal of time exploring the deserts, forests, and deep canyons inside his home state of Arizona. His James McCarthy adventures, Killing Karma and Catching Karma, reflect this love of the Grand Canyon State even as his character solves mysteries amidst danger. Eldred explores the boundaries of short fiction in his stories, The Waking Room and Treble in Paradise: A tale of Sax and Violins.

When he’s not writing, Eldred spends time cycling, hiking and juggling (yes, juggling…bowling balls and 21 inch knives). His passion for photography allows him to record his travels. He can be found on Twitter or Facebook, or at his website: http://www.eldredbird.com/.