Writers in the Storm

Our current brave world of publishing demands that an author "build a brand." What does that mean exactly? 

Simply put, your brand is the picture that pops into people’s mind when they hear your name. Your author brand is how your fans identify you.

How do you figure out what to talk about online? [I can hear all you introverts moaning already. Just go with me for a bit here.] How can you intentionally create a brand that makes you happy?

As long as you can engage the people who interact with you, via your books, your blog or social media, your topic doesn't really matter (though I warn you away from politics or religion unless that is your brand). What matters is that all your online efforts foster the picture you want to create in people's minds.

The most important thing to know: 

You can blog about anything as long as it's something entertaining or relatable about you or a character/motif from your books. In my early months of blogging I wrote Mad Love for My Zucchini and a post on Chocolate Philosophy. I routinely blog about underpants and we all laugh ourselves silly.

I'm not kidding about the "anything," y'all. A-ny-thing that interests you and helps create the picture you want in readers minds when they think of you.

For established authors, this picture is usually tied to one (or many) of your books. For the new or unpublished author, you need to get started on forming that picture in people's mind as soon as possible. Interacting via a blog or on social media is one of the easiest ways to quickly build a brand.

How do you distill the complexity that is you into a few words or topics?

In her book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World, social media Jedi, Kristen Lamb, recommends you free write 100 words about all the things that make up the complex story of YOU. Be prepared...This exercise will be harder than you expect it to be. (Platform building isn't for sissies, you know.)

I took Kristen Lamb's class several years ago and here's my final "100 word" cloud:

Wife, mother, sister, daughter, writer, blogger, teacher, blood clot sufferer, survivor, pregnancy fact-gatherer, loyal, software trainer, loves to dance, intravenous coffee, night owl, gardener, funny, books over TV, reading, wine, gluten free, beach, walking, barefoot, dance the night away, play, loathe sweating, love to talk, shower singer, wish for fitness-while-sleeping, I MISS sleeping, love my Little Bean, grade school is my friend, Pacific Northwest gives me Zen, travel, technology, fascinated with software, rarely bored, Disco makes me laugh, bars fascinate, romance, holding hands, sunshine, planner, organized computer, disorganized with paper, hate to file, love organized files, value friendships, miss my mom.

If the cloud idea doesn't work for you, try the 'ten phrases game.' (aka the "How many words does it take to get to the center of YOU" exercise.)

I will throw myself under the bus here so you have an example of what I mean. Here's Jenny in 10 Bullets or Less:

• Rejuvenated by creativity
• Nurtured by family and friends
• Love to give back
• Teaching lights my fire
• Growing things hits my Zen button
• Gluten-free eating changed my life
• Thankful to be alive
• My guilt muscle is strong, but my humor muscle is stronger
• I dream of being an organized person (and a good singer)
• Morning mantra: Give the scary lady some coffee

And I still left plenty out, and you will too when you try this for yourself. (This exercise is hard!!)

If you're coming up blank on how to convert these topic ideas into action, here are some tips to make the process easier:

•  Effective social media is a thousand drops of water sprinkled across months, not throwing a big bucket of updates out at once. High volume sharing tends to tire out most followers.
• Pick only one (or two) social platforms and really embrace them. You can do more if you have the time but DON'T do 5-6 different apps with no interaction. Pick the few you're most comfortable with and visit at least once a day for the first few months.
• Look up the people you already know and see what they're posting about. Jump into those conversations. If it's online, it is open to the public...just be polite about it.
• Find the hashtags for topics you know a lot about or have interest in.
• If you're just starting on a platform like Twitter or Instagram, go look at someone you admire and follow all the people on their list who look interesting. 
• Be sure to use the 12:1 rule by responding or retweeting twelve items/links/conversations from other people for every one of yours.

As marketing genius Seth Godin says, "The reason social media is so difficult for most organizations: It’s a process, not an event." More awesome Seth quotes can be found here.

How can you learn about "building a brand?"

For more detailed information on branding, here are some of the best blogs I’ve found on the subject from people who say it far better than I do.

• Jami Gold’s How Do You Decide On Your Author Brand? – Part 1 and Part 2
• Jami has another wonderful post on Branding 101 – Online Brand vs. Author Brand
• 6 Branding Tips for Writers by Nina Amir
• Video: Creating Your Author Brand by Joanna Penn
• Chuck Sambuchino's advice for How Successful Authors Use Social Media to Sell More Books

In my own experience on social media and my blogs, your online pals become your friends. We spend time with these people, whether it’s chatting on Facebook or sharing Sunday morning coffee. People are seeking authentic connections online and, by joining in, an author is opening themselves up for connecting. For introverts that can be a scary prospect. Just take your time and conserve your energy.

The best part of all this? Seemingly disparate people throughout the world are connecting through social media (and sometimes in real life!) and enjoying the hell out of each other. And if you create a brand that attracts readers, they might just be inclined to buy your book. Even if they don't,  you'll have made scores of new friends.  That's a beautiful thing.

Where do you commune with people online (and why do you like it)? Are there groups of writers that you recommend above all others? Finally, can YOU write your life story in 100 words? Take a shot down in the comments!

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About Jenny Hansen

By day, Jenny provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. By night she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction and short stories. After 18 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.

When she’s not at her personal blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or here at Writers In The Storm.

 

Aimie K. Runyan

I just started writing a new book—well, two of them, but that’s a story for another time. Yesterday I sat in front of my screen for hours and ended up with fewer than 600 words to show for it. It seemed like every bit of volunteer work, every mundane administrative task I had to do was calling my name. That’s not me. I’m the writer who can blissfully ignore e-mails and let the dishes pile up in the sink. My writing time is sacred.

But as I sat at the keyboard, frustrated beyond measure, I realized this phenomenon wasn’t new for me. When I began my last book, Daughters of the Night Sky, I experienced the same phenomenon. It took hours to eke out a few hundred words and I would end my writing session drained and cranky instead of the satisfying fatigue of having “left it all on the field” …or computer hard drive, I guess. With Night Sky, I actually slumped into a depression for a few weeks. I had attributed it to other stressors in my life, which were certainly part of it, but this time around it’s clear that the only thing dragging me down was starting a new project. I had thought I’d done everything I needed to do to be successful:

• I had clear goals for the scenes and the chapter
• I had a grasp on my themes, the voice I want to convey
• I know my main characters well enough to get in their heads
• There was enough left unknown for me to have the thrill of discovery.

For me, this should have been enough. Your mileage may vary, of course, but these are typically the only things I need to stave off writer’s block.

The problem? This wasn’t writer’s block. Not the kind I typically waltz around in the murky middle when I’m not sure if the project is living up to my expectations or I don’t know that my plan for the book is on course. This is full on failure to launch. And the good news, is that I had an epiphany. I have a really bad case of nerves when I start a project I care deeply about. It’s likely why it took me ten years to start writing my debut Promised to the Crown in earnest.

Starting a new book is like the first mile of a marathon or the first hundred feet when you’re climbing Everest. If you think about all the toil that lies ahead, it’s very hard to be excited about the journey ahead. Especially if you’ve written a novel before, you know that there are drafts and drafts in your future. Then edits. Then beta reads. Then more edits. All before your agent and editors get to look at it. But the key to all of this? That’s not the problem for today.

Today all you have to do is get words on the damn page. Shovel sand in the box so you can get to building your castles down the line. I realized that I was letting myself get overwhelmed by the prospect of the task ahead of me. What’s more I was putting sub-conscious pressure on myself to make the first draft of this book as good as the polished draft of my last. If I had a boss come up to me with those unreasonable expectations, I’d get HR to intervene. Since I’m self-employed, I have to do something even harder: learn to live with my own foibles.

But now I’m aware of my fault, and as the saying goes, knowledge is power. I’m taking some proactive steps to help get my WIP—and my head—into fighting shape.

1. I acknowledge that the blank page is daunting. By admitting this, and understanding this truth, I can move past it.
2. I spend extra time getting to know my characters. Sketching them out, studying their personalities and motivations, can help bring the words out onto the page.
3. Freewriting before a session helps gets the juices flowing. I set a timer for fifteen minutes and just write whatever comes into my head—generally pertaining to the characters or the story. It’s a great tool for opening the word gates because the pressure of making the words publication-worthy isn’t there.
4. I adjust expectations. It will take several sessions to be able to hit my usual productivity. If I don’t obsess over the word count for a few days, it will happen faster.
5. Just keep typing. Soon enough, I’ll get more invested in the story and it will all come together.

So far, it’s helping to get the words on the page and I’m sure I’ll add more tricks if future projects prove daunting (I take solace that this hasn’t been the case for every book!). 

What tips do you have for getting over the “New Book Blues”?

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About Aimie:

Aimie K. Runyan is s an author of historical fiction that celebrates history's unsung heroines. Her first two novels, PROMISED TO THE CROWN and DUTY TO THE CROWN (Kensington), explore the lives of the early female settlers in Louis XIVs Quebec. Her forthcoming novel. DAUGHTERS OF THE NIGHT SKY (Lake Union, November '17) follows the Night Witches, the fierce all-female regiment of combat pilots who flew for Russia in the Second World War. She is active as an educator and a speaker for the writing community and beyond. Aimie lives in Colorado with her wonderful husband and (usually) darling children. 

Lisa Cron

Great questions this month – so much to say, so let’s get started!

Laura Drake asks: I have a question – I’ve read (no, studied) the first half of Story Genius, and it’s changed the way I write. My weakness is plotting (I don’t). So the second half of the book is lost to me – putting together critical scenes, etc. Any suggestions for using Story Genius for pantsers who get hives at the mention of the ‘P’ word?

Here’s something that may come as a surprise: the second half of Story Genius isn’t about Plotting. It’s about exactly what you’re asking here: how to create critical scenes that move your story forward.

I firmly believe that Pansters can do this work, even if you don’t do it in exactly the way I lay out in Story Genius. I created Story Genius as a tool that writers can use to make every story better, with methods that are adaptable to one’s own familiar writing process. It’s not a formula, or a rigid set of rules you have to follow or else. My goal was to identify what it is that readers are actually responding to in every story they hear – to wit: how the protagonist navigates a hard-fought internal change the plot forces them to go through – and offer guidance on how to create that internal struggle, and then make sure it’s not only on the page, but driving the external action.

Here are 5 tips for Pansters that might come in handy to be sure that your story logic holds from the first page to the last:

1. Post a sticky with your story’s point, your protagonist’s overarching agenda, and her misbelief near where you write, and always look at it before you start writing. Use it as a yardstick for what she does, and why. Refer to it when you work — and keep referring to it. This might sound strange, but the physical act of looking at it – seeing it written out in black and white – can really help focus your mind on what matters most.
2. Since the plot revolves around one single external problem that grows, escalates and complicates from the first scene to the last, write your scenes in order -- even if at first blush they’re thin, skating along on the surface, or feel clunky. Resist the urge to skip ahead.
3. Once you’ve written a scene, stop. I know that this is the hard part for Pantsers, but it’s SO powerful! Pull out a Story Genius Scene Card and test it. That way you’ll discover:

• If the scene is, indeed, a critical part of the cause-and-effect trajectory.
• If every character in the scene is acting in accordance with their agenda.
• If the scene itself arcs – that is, if something changes externally.
• If everything in the scene matters to the protagonist, given her story-long agenda.
• If what happens in the scene causes your protagonist internal conflict, forcing her struggle internally with what action to take.
• If your protagonist has a small “realization” at the end of the scene that changes how she sees things, affecting her ongoing plan in some way.
• What must happen next in the story.

4. If, in creating your Scene Card, you discovered that there were still things that you need to know in order to really understand why your protagonist is doing what she does in this scene, let yourself dive into her past again to ferret out the info you’ve realized is missing. Resist the urge to race ahead. (Do you see a pattern here? I’m trying to get you to slow down just a tiny bit. Writing forward is fun; I get that. But writing 300 pages that go nowhere? Not so fun. Make sure your pages go somewhere.)
5. For every scene you write, allow yourself a few minutes to brainstorm worst case scenarios for your protagonist based on what she wants/fears and keep a running list of anything that leaps to mind – for the scene you’re working on, and for future scenes. Remember, though, that these worst-case-scenarios must be an organic part of the plot’s overarching cause-and-effect trajectory, rather than some random externally dramatic thing that happens. That’s what will make your novel an actual story rather than a bunch of things that happen.

I hope that helps and doesn’t result in another case of hives -- I’m itching to find out (sorry, couldn’t resist ;-). That said, perhaps you might want to keep a bottle of Calamine lotion at hand, just in case?

The next question allows me to address what some of you, whether Pantser or Plotter, may now be wondering: “Just why the heck is it so important to understand – in an in depth, story specific way – why my protagonist is doing what they do before I write it? Can’t I just figure it out later, in the next draft, maybe?” There are many answers to that question. The following is one of them.

LittleMissW asks:  I’ve just been told that my protagonist is unlikable at times. When he’s angry he can say very hurtful things to the people he loves. He can also think derogatory things about people (for example, he describes an over-weight woman as being big enough to have her own gravitational pull). For me, this is what makes him real. We all lash out when we’re hurt or angry. We all have the potential to be judgmental and catty. But the impression I get is that it’s not okay to be unlikable. When does a character cross the line between being realistic and being irredeemable?

I wrote about what “likeable” means right here a couple of months back, but this is such a great question that I want to answer it. If I can sum up, this what I hear you asking: How can you have a character say or do things that, on the surface, appear ugly or mean, without making the character unsympathetic -- which is why people would see him as unlikeable?

In a fabulous bit of synchronicity, the same day I was going to tackle this question, fate – in the form of an article by writer George Saunders in The Guardian  -- provided a spot on example of exactly how a writer can solve the problem you’re struggling with. Here’s Saunders laying out, step-by-step, how a writer can dive beneath the surface of an unlikable act, to discover the reason for it, so said act then telegraphs a very different meaning. In other words, here is how you allow a character to do something mean, and yet remain likeable:

“I write, “Bob was an asshole,” and then, feeling this perhaps somewhat lacking in specificity, revise it to read, “Bob snapped impatiently at the barista,” then ask myself, seeking yet more specificity, why Bob might have done that, and revise to, “Bob snapped impatiently at the young barista, who reminded him of his dead wife,” and then pause and add, “who he missed so much, especially now, at Christmas,” – I didn’t make that series of changes because I wanted the story to be more compassionate. I did it because I wanted it to be less lame.

But it is more compassionate. Bob has gone from “pure asshole” to “grieving widower, so overcome with grief that he has behaved ungraciously to a young person, to whom, normally, he would have been nice”. Bob has changed. He started out a cartoon, on which we could heap scorn, but now he is closer to “me, on a different day”.

How was this done? Via pursuit of specificity.”

The takeaway is this: we don’t come to story to find out what someone did – Bob snapping at the barista; your protagonist making fat jokes – we come to find out why they’re doing it. What drove them? What in their lives taught them that that was all right? What inner conflict drives their choices, their action? Give us that and we don’t need characters to be redeemable, or even likeable at all.

Which, of course, means that Saunders’ Bob didn’t have to have a bittersweet “likeable” reason to snap at the barista in order to rivet us, so long as he had a deliciously revealing one.

And now, I’m once again open for questions for my next column – leave them here in the comments, or shoot me an email at: lisa@wiredforstory

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Lisa Cron is the author of Wired for Story and Story Genius. Her video tutorial Writing Fundamentals: The Craft of Story can be found at Lynda.com, and her TEDx talk, Wired for Story, opened Furman University’s 2014 TEDx conference, Stories: The Common Thread of Our Humanity.

Lisa has worked in publishing at W.W. Norton, as an agent at the Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency, as a producer on shows for Showtime and Court TV, and as a story consultant for Warner Brothers and the William Morris Agency. Since 2006, she’s been an instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, and she is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts MFA program in Visual Narrative in New York City. In her work as a story coach, Lisa helps writers, nonprofits, educators, and journalists wrangle the story they’re telling onto the page. She can be reached at wiredforstory.com