Writers in the Storm

Becca Puglisi

As authors, we all know the importance of engaging our audience within a book’s first few pages. It’s called grabbing the reader: captivating them in a way that makes them want to stick with the story to its end.

Michael Hauge prefers the term seducing:

“Everybody likes to be seduced; it’s a gradual, enjoyable, and emotionally involving experience that thoroughly captures our attention.” (Writing Screenplays That Sell)

Whatever your terminology, drawing in readers is a vitally important process that needs to happen at the beginning of your story. Also called the set-up, it’s everything that occurs before the all-important catalyst that propels your character out of his regular world into a new one. According to Blake Snyder (Save the Cat), the set-up should consist of roughly the first 12% of your story. This is a guideline that you can set in stone or take with a grain of salt, depending on your plotting/pantsing style. But 12% is a good rule of thumb because it’s enough real estate to set the stage and draw readers in without it dragging on and putting them to sleep.

Unfortunately, we can get the length of the set-up right and still not achieve the goal of pulling readers in. To do this, we have to tap into their emotions. If we don’t make them feel, they won’t be invested in the character; if they’re not invested in the character, they won’t care what happens to him and won’t keep reading to see if he succeeds. So it’s incredibly important that the set-up elicit emotion from the reader. There are a few things you can include in your opening pages that will help accomplish this.

Character Empathy

Readers start reading a book for a variety of reasons: they liked the premise, it was a recommended by a friend, they’re a fan of the author. Readers keep reading because they connect with the characters. We have a very small window—that first 12%—to achieve the reader-character connection, and eliciting empathy is a great way to make it happen. Here are a few ways to encourage that special something between the reader and your protagonist.

• Universal Needs. Readers like characters they can relate to in some way. One way to bond your audience of unique individuals to the protagonist is to remove one of her basic human needs, such as belonging or surviving. Because everyone understands these needs, taking one of them away from your hero can endear readers to her. This is one reason Katniss Everdeen was such a successful protagonist. Most readers couldn’t relate to her circumstances of having to kill others to survive, but they could understand needing to protect a vulnerable loved one or providing for one’s family. If you want to increase your reader’s empathy for the hero, try taking away a universal need, and the reader will stay tuned to see if she can get it back.
• Admirability. People are drawn to those they admire, so it’s a good idea to give your hero some qualities that readers will appreciate or aspire to themselves. Intelligence, a sense of humor, kindness, generosity, honor—these are attributes people long for. Seeing them personified in the hero opens us up to them, making us want them to do well. Notice that I didn’t say a protagonist must be likable (though that works, too). As a selfish and manipulative character, Scarlett O’Hara isn’t exactly a glowing role model, but people relate to her because of her shrewdness, tenacity, and confidence. It’s her admirable qualities that win readers over.
• Uniqueness. Readers, along with editors, agents, and publishers, are tired of seeing new versions of the same old characters. We want someone who surprises us with something new. A janitor who anonymously and effortlessly solves impossible math theorems at M.I.T. (Good Will Hunting). An art student in Prague who collects teeth for the demons who raised her (Daughter of Smoke and Bone). When you’re creating your protagonist, see what you can do to make him or her stand out from the crowd and be remembered.
• Remarkability. Few people truly excel in any area, but most would like to. Characters who are remarkable in some way speak to our need for esteem and recognition, whether it’s because they’re intelligent, incredibly talented, or have an unusual ability. Make your character extraordinary and readers will often respond.

Conflict

Well-written conflict inherently elicits emotion—anticipation, yes, as the reader worries about the protagonist’s well being, but it also can generate feelings like nervousness, frustration, or fear. Create a situation many readers have experienced or can imagine going through, and you’ve added relateabilty, too.

This conflict can be overt and obvious, such as a fistfight, terrorist attack, or someone fleeing for his life. But this doesn’t always work in the set-up because the reader hasn’t had enough time to get to know the protagonist and care about what happens to him. Conflict at this stage is often more effective when it’s hinted at or implied. In Stephen King’s Under the Dome, we first see Dale Barbara as he’s leaving town after “taking a pretty good beating at The Mill.” That’s the only reference to his altercation, but it’s enough to tweak the reader’s empathy meter and pique interest. Why’d he get beaten up? Who did it? If he’s innocent, why is he leaving town?

Conflict can also be internal rather than external. A character struggling with an important decision, questioning himself, or denying a wounding event from the past can be just as compelling as a five-care pileup. However it manifests, be sure to include some conflict in your set-up; done well, not only will it tug the reader’s heartstrings but it will keep up the pace, too.

The Need For Change

Most people—readers included—want to improve and grow, to be better tomorrow than they were yesterday. They understand that change, though difficult and sometimes painful, is needed in order to achieve growth. This is why, at their most basic level, stories are about necessary change. Sometimes this change is internal, played out through the character’s arc as he works to overcome fears or wounding events and embrace the fullest version of himself. Sometimes it’s external—something within the world itself that needs fixing, such as the existence of the one ring in Tolkien’s Middle Earth. The most compelling stories often contain elements of change that are both internal and external.

The set-up is the perfect place to show what needs to be changed for your character; it allows you to hint at what has to happen for the character to be fulfilled by the story’s end. Sometimes this means showing the character’s biggest flaw, the one she thinks is a strength but is really crippling her. In other cases, it might require showing an inequality or injustice in the character’s world that the character must alter in order to pursue her dreams. What has to change before your character can achieve his or her overall goal? Reference this in your opening pages and you’ll clue readers in to what has to happen for your hero to emerge victorious.

Story set-ups are tricky; we always want to include more information than they need. To stay on the straight and narrow, remember the two-fold purpose of the set-up: introduce the character in his world so it makes sense for readers, and draw readers in by activating their emotions. (The Story Maps tool at One Stop For Writers can help you organize your set-up and other important turning points while keeping them in proper proportion.) Remain focused on these outcomes, and you’re on your way toward drafting a story start that will keep readers engaged well beyond the opening pages.

Do you struggle with the set-up? Do you love the set-up? What tips do you have for creating a reader-grabber set-up? 

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About Becca

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling. You can find Becca online at both of these spots, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

When I sat down to write this post I intended to write about writing. It's what I love doing, and why folks tend to invite me to guest post on their blogs (which I appreciate). But this came at a time when I'm feeling reflective and optimistically hopeful about the new year after a rough 2016.

For me, it was a year of always being behind (raise your hand if you were here with me). No matter what I tried to do, something came along and knocked my schedule off track and prevented me from getting  much done. Ever worse, when I did have time to work, I was unable to write anything decent--if at all. I let the bad times bother me way more than they should have, which only exacerbated the problem.

Because the trap here is...

When we're stressed, we often gravitate toward the easy tasks that make us feel productive, when the opposite is usually true.

I've caught myself spending time doing smaller, easy tasks that didn't need to be done right away because doing them made me feel like I was accomplishing something--look, I crossed three things off my To-Do List! I was effective today! Problem was, none of those tasks needed to be done right away. I might have felt as though I was accomplishing something, but I was just getting more behind.

What I learned from this: When life spins out of control, prioritizing my day helps reel it in. Taking some time to determine what I need to do and what I can realistically get done that day lets me ignore the things that distracted me with a false sense accomplishment. Because just like our characters...

Sometimes, we have to let go to move forward.

There was a point late in 2016 when my To-Do List was rivaling my WIP in size. Just looking at the dang thing every morning made me feel helpless. There was no way I was going to catch up, especially with the holidays bearing down on me. I had to make a choice--keep struggling with an impossible task, or accept that my year was over and I'd gotten done pretty much everything I was going to manage until January.

What I learned from this: There's no shame in saying, "I took on too much, I need to cut back." It's okay to wipe the slate clean and start over at a time when I'm more capable of handling things. Time away also creates necessary distance so I can better identify what's a critical task and what's just something that needs to be completed "at some point." Because no matter how much we may want to...

We can't do it all.

I know this, I've told myself this year after year, but I still keep trying. I was better in 2016 with letting things go and accepting my limitations, but I haven't quite broken the habit of expecting more than I can reasonably do. But I have gotten better and using those high goals to motivate myself, and understanding that not meeting those goals doesn't equal failure. Reaching for the stars and landing on the moon is still pretty darn good.

What I learned from this: That I still have a lot to learn here about saying, "no." It's not something I do once and move past, it's a daily battle to not take on more than I can handle. Just because I want to say yes, doesn't mean I have the ability to say yes. Which can be hard because someone gushing, "thanks so much, you're the best for doing this," takes some of the sting out of feeling like a failure. Because...

It's easy to feel like a failure when we have too-high expectations.

Even though we should never compare ourselves to other writers, let's face it, we do anyway. I stopped logging into Facebook for months during a particularly rough time last year, because seeing my fellow writers announce new books or great writing news made me feel like I was failing--even though I had new books and good things going on as well. I was happy for them, but also envious that they were doing what I was "failing" to do--meet those too-high expectations I'd set for myself. I also ignored the fact that dealing with personal difficulties (family deaths and illnesses) took a lot of my time and energy, and it was unrealistic to expect to be productive under those conditions.

What I learned from this: As the cliché goes, s*#t happens, and rolling with it is far easier than letting it sidetrack me. When life is demanding more time and my writing needs to take a back seat, I can't beat myself up over it. All that does is make me feel worse and keeps me from getting anything done when I do get time. It's okay to cut myself some slack when I need it. I can only do what I can do, and trying to match someone else is a waste of time and energy I should be using to write.

Three Things You Can Do to Make a Fresh Start

A new year means a new start, but any day can be the first day of a new routine (I like using Mondays). I'm starting 2017 with fresh goals and a new schedule to help me keep those (hopefully) realistic goals. If a fresh start will help you, here are some things to try:

1. Make a work schedule you can live with.

Figure out what you need to do, where your priorities lie, what tasks run you off track, and plan accordingly. For example, Writing is my main priority, so that comes first (which is when I'm most creative, but if you're creative at night, adjust your schedule to suit your needs). Checking and answering email is a major distraction for me, so my schedule includes time chunks to focus on email. I don't check it outside of those times.

If you're unsure where all your time goes, spend a week tracking what you do all day and how much time you spend on those tasks. Create a schedule that allows for the actual things you do all day, not what you think you do.

2. Prioritize your goals in smaller time chunks.

Looking at the entire year makes me feel like I need to fill that year with projects, so this year, I'm focusing on three-month chunks. My goal of, "send my WIP to my agent by March 1, and have the next project ready to begin" is less daunting than a list of four books I want to write in 2017. It's easier to see what I need to do and how much time it'll actually take than a lofty goal.

3. Keep a running list of tasks that need doing, but aren't priorities.

I've added "free time" in my schedule to handle the unexpected. I know there will be days when I finish a task and have time to work on other things. It's easy to go back to, say, my main writing project, but extra time on my WIP doesn't help me re-organize my blog or line up those guest posts I want to do. A free hour is time I can use to knock one or two smaller "get to it someday" tasks off my list.

For this list to be effective, be as specific as you can about the tasks. For example, "redesign the website" is a huge project that can't be done in a free hour. But "research web templates" is. Break the tasks down into manageable bites so you know exactly what needs to be done and can jump on it quickly. You can even organize these tasks by size, grouping all the quick tasks that might take 15 minutes together, followed by 30-minute tasks, then hour-long tasks. Pick a task that fits the free time you have.

A new year is an opportunity to reevaluate our lives and how we work. It's filled with the promise and possibility that this year we can achieve our dreams. Take advantage of this opportunity to cast off old doubt and frustrations and embrace a fresh start toward your dreams.

 Are you making a fresh start this year? How do you plan to work toward your dreams?

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About Janice

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of The Healing Wars trilogy, including The Shifter (2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and The Truman Award), Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. She's also the founder of Fiction University, a site dedicated to helping writers improve their craft, and the author of multiple books on writing, including the bestselling, Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It).

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We're at the beginning of another year. On Monday, we posted our annual "Word of the Year" blog. My main word is focus, but that's not my only word. I have seven more that are going to help me make major gains in my writing skill and my writing career. I hope they can help you to get where you want to be by the end of 2017.

1. Discipline: Move toward my goals every day.  

Whether that means writing every day or not, I'm going engage in some activity that will advance my writing career. If you haven't finished your first book yet, make a weekly word count goal that is reasonable for you, and keep your fingers on the keyboard until you've achieved that word count every week. If you've finished a book, revise it. Revise it some more. Make it the best dang book you can. Send out queries, if you're looking for a traditional publishing path. Learn about self-publishing, if you're thinking about an indie path. If you haven't yet, develop your social media platform. Build a website. Every night when I go to bed, I'm going to say at least one thing I've done that day to advance my writing career.

2.  Attitude: Clear my mind of can't. Use my attitude as a positive force.

     I've done a little research into the power positive thinking has on everything in our lives. The Science of Positive Thinking: How Positive Thoughts Build Your Skills, Boost Your Health, and Improve Your Work published in The Huffington Post compares what negative thoughts do to your brain versus what positive thoughts can do. This article from Johns Hopkins Medicine shares ways to build "positivity" in your life. It turns out, Pollyanna was right, begins an article in the NY Times. Reasonable optimism can pay big dividends for you this year. 

3.  Adaptability equals survivability: Stay flexible to deal with unexpected challenges.

     The publishing industry has been reshaping itself faster than a Rubic's cube in the hands of a pre-teen. As authors we, too, must accept that the old normal is gone forever. Many multi-published authors from years past are no longer on the shelves. Were they unable to weather the changes not only to publishing, but to the current necessity of author marketing? Building flexibility into my schedule will allow me to deal with life's curve balls while remaining professional and meeting my professional and personal deadlines. I'm going to use what I have at hand to conquer my challenges.

       4.  Knowledge: Stay humble and listen.

            Last week I read an interesting quote about how you can close your mouth, but you can't close your ears. The Dalai Lama says you can't learn if you don't listen. I'm working to improve my craft by reading books on writing and reading writing blogs. I've taken classes-in person and online, practiced new writing techniques, and read in my genre and outside of it. I critique with trusted writers and listen to suggestions. I've changed scenes, heck-chapters, that I loved. Knowledge is power. Powerful writing is writing that empowers my readers to use their imaginations, to consider new ideas, to continue reading when they should be doing something else. 

       5.  Excellence: Never lower my personal and professional standards.

            We've all read a book that we suspect was hastily finished on deadline. It wasn't up to the author's usual punch. The expected biting humor fell flat. The ending, well, it just ended. When my expectations aren't met, I consider before buying that author's next book. 

             As writers, we make a commitment to our readers to deliver our best with every word. Readers don't know about the flu I had for three weeks before a deadline. I sure am not going to put a disclaimer on my book saying, "Warning, author's brain was fried by fever during the final edit." I'm taking the time necessary to make that book as good as I can. Luckily I built time into the production schedule for crisis management. And I've decided that perhaps I may have to release one less book this year. 

        6. Perseverance:  My key to overcoming adversity.

             The word most commonly associated with mathematicians is perseverance. Who dedicates her life to solving one problem? But even the perseverance I've had in my "other" career, sometimes withers when it comes to writing.

             If writing and publishing a book were easy, everyone would be a published author. Give up in the face of the many adversities on this path, and I'll never be published. Some days, just sitting at the computer is a major adversity. And if I can't bring myself to write for a day, or two, or more, that's life impeding my dream. Oh, I eventually open up that story again and bring the lessons I've learned from my complicate life (whose isn't?) back to the page. I have to. I'm a writer. Perseverance will allow me to power through-or around-the obstacles to my writing goals. I will stay the course. 

         7.  Courage: Stand by my dreams.

              Courage can be a tricky thing to hang on to alone. While supporting the dreams of others, I've learned to support my own. Standing by my dreams means I dust myself off when I fall, and I write. I cry when that rejection letters arrives, but I send off another query-or five. I take the time to learn, to create a body of work I am proud of. I write with my heart, not just my brain. And when my expectations are not met, I have the courage to reevaluate, revise my plan, and renew my enthusiasm. 

It's time to level-up your writing and your writing career. It may not be easy. These are the Seven Keys to Excellence that are the basis for Navy SEAL training. Yes. Navy SEALS are encouraged to use these keys in their professional and their personal lives. 

You can do this. 

Can you share a hint for implementing one of the Seven Keys to Excellence? Is there one that presents more difficulty for you?

ABOUT FAE:

Fae Rowen discovered the romance genre after years as a science fiction freak.   Writing futuristics and medieval paranormals, she jokes  that she can live anywhere but the present.  As a mathematician, she knows life’s a lot more fun when you get to define your world and its rules.

Punished, oh-no, that’s published as a co-author of a math textbook, she yearns to hear personal stories about finding love from those who read her books, rather than the horrors of calculus lessons gone wrong.  She is grateful for good friends who remind her to do the practical things in life like grocery shop, show up at the airport for a flight and pay bills.

A “hard” scientist who avoided writing classes like the plague, she now shares her brain with characters who demand that their stories be told.  Amazing, gifted critique partners keep her on the straight and narrow. Feedback from readers keeps her fingers on the keyboard.

When she’s not hanging out at Writers in the Storm, you can visit Fae at http://faerowen.com  or www.facebook.com/fae.rowen.