Writers in the Storm

Kathryn Craft

Turning Whine into Gold

Why should anyone pay you for your writing?

Few aspiring authors give enough thought to answering this question. It is your key to effective marketing, yet many writers would rather skip the tough questions, whine about discoverability, and resort to gimmicks.

Yet I have never bought a novel because it came with a cupcake, a blinking pen, or a candle with a custom-designed scent inspired by one of its scenes. The novels in which I invest my time and money have inherent worth. They are stories that offer new perspective and deepen my understanding of what it means to be human. They are entertaining, engrossing, and enlightening—books I will recommend to my friends.

The marketing edge many authors seek can be found in the answer to one question: “How can I make my writing matter more?”

The following questions, answered quickly, might lead you in a useful direction.

1. Is your main character a man or woman? Why? 

Humans are intensely interested in this primal question: Is it a boy or a girl? And if it's not clear, or a bit of both—ooh, even more intriguing! Male and female roles are always evolving. How can you make gender matter more in your story?

2. What was happening the last time you cried? The last time you laughed so hard you couldn’t breathe? The last time you were so angry that you want to hurt someone?

This speaks to what moves you. And what moves you will move your readers.

3. People write for many reasons. Why do you write? What are you seeking? Circle all that apply:

* Fame

* Fortune

* Meaning

* Part-time income

* Beauty

* God

* Pain relief

* Legacy

* To inspire others/self

* To entertain

* To learn

* To work something through

* To educate

* Other: _____________________

This question speaks to how you define "what matters."

4. What kind of story are you interested in writing?

Different genres reveal your concerns by raising different questions. Will the hero and heroine get together? Who will win the war? How will inner conflict be resolved? Will evil be vanquished? Will your dark character ever find hope? Invest us in their concerns by showing us their deeply felt motivations and laying bare the dire consequences should they fail to meet their goals.

5. What “real characters” have you known in your life? Who have you truly admired, literary or real? Who have you reviled? What details set them apart?

Characters you feel deeply about can lead you toward your true story material.

6. What makes a house a home? What details do you love most in your favorite room at home? Is there a place outside that you particularly love (use details)? Is there a city, building, outdoor space, or room in your world or story that is “hot” (rife with conflict)? Why?

This speaks to the way the settings we choose reveal us, as authors and characters. An interesting contrast can be found between the central barroom in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J.R. Moehringer's memoir, The Tender Bar, and the tennis courts on which Andre Agassi plays out inner conflict in his autobiography, Open (ghost-written by Moehringer).

7. Complete this sentence: everything changed in my life the day that ______________. What life experiences can you draw from? How have they shaped you? How did these events reveal your character?

 This is an inciting incident: the moment beyond which all changes, that raises a question for your protagonist and your reader and tips him into the story. What happened that mattered so much it rocked your world, and inspired the story only you can tell?

8. Stories are best told through the eyes of an “outsider.” When were you an outsider? When were you an insider, and what outsiders impacted you?

This speaks to a powerful point of view—the perspective of your story. Readers will relate to this perspective because at some point or another we've all felt the pain of being an outsider.

9. What philosophies and religious notions shape the way you believe the way the world works? What life experiences impacted them? Compare before and after.

You don't have to work hard to build philosophical underpinnings into your story. They will simply be there, revealed in every decision you make. Identifying the beliefs revealed through your story, however—even after they reveal themselves to you in the first draft—will help you make the most of them.

10.  Think of a story you like to share about your own life. Think of a favorite movie. Now think of a favorite book. What do all three have in common?

What does this say about what matters to you?

 

BONUS: You wrote ten books before you died, and now your fans have gathered at your funeral. What would you like them to say about you?

I'll share my bonus answer: At the end of my life, should I be so lucky as to have a group of readers at my grave to see me off, I hope they'll say, "Those books were so her."

How about you? Would love to hear your bonus answers in the comments.

 

About Kathryn

Kathryn Craft is the author of two novels from Sourcebooks: The Art of Falling, and The Far End of Happy, out May 5.

Her work as a developmental editor at Writing-Partner.com, specializing in storytelling structure and writing craft, follows a nineteen-year career as a dance critic. Long a leader in the southeastern Pennsylvania writing scene, she hosts lakeside writing retreats for women in northern New York State, leads workshops, and speaks often about writing.

Kathryn lives with her husband in Bucks County, PA.

Website: http://www.kathryncraft.com/

 

Rachel Funk Heller

What's the whole deal about writing fast? Why is it such a trend? One, we know writers who write more and have more books to sell -- sell more books! You have fans that want to gobble up everything you write and you're under the gun to write faster. But, you don't want to just churn out crap.

I hear you. In "The Writer's Coloring Book®" (sorry, one bit of shameless self-promotion) I devote an entire chapter to this subject and offer techniques to help you churn out a first draft very quickly. And you must understand, these techniques ONLY apply to writing the first draft -- that ugly, uncertain, first glimmering thing -- that must come out of your brain and onto the page. Once you have it on paper, then you can dissect it, figure out what the story is really all about, and design your plan of attack for the next revision.

One of the benefits of writing this way allows you to see the movie in your head in real time. You watch your characters in action, you listen to what they say and you just scribble down as much information as you can. When your inner editor wants to butt in, just tell her "don't worry, don't worry, we'll fix this later."

I can already hear some of you freaking out right now. Writing at top speed is a scary thing. But, you have to set the bar high and push yourself to reach it. And look at it this way, you have created a set of characters and you are putting them through all sorts of hell (I'm sure you are, lots of conflicts, lots of opportunities for your character to grow). Why not put yourself in a similar situation? That's what I did when I decided to write 8,000 words a day. Yup, you heard me, 8,000. The goal was to do it for 10 days straight, thus producing 80,000 words. But I totally hit the wall on day 6. I'd churned out 55,000 words, none that I would ever show to another soul, but that draft served as the seed for my novel. A couple drafts later I had my 95,000 word final draft.

So, here are my 8 tips for writing fast:

TIP 1:  Be prepared. Before you begin each writing session, have all of your materials handy, your scene plan, an outline, some notes on what will happen in your scene. This is essential, even if all you have is a list and character names. You want to have some kind of prompt so you won’t be writing “blind.”

TIP 2: Think about the needs and conventions of your final project to determine your total word count goal. If you are writing a novel and your best guess is that your final total word count will be between 75,000 and 100,000 words, set your word count goal for 60,000. This will give you one big chunk of story, with enough room to add or subtract characters, other story arcs, or any number of other elements to play with in your later drafts.

TIP 3: Determine your word count goal for your writing sessions. I am assuming that you will be working on a computer. Find a website that lets you take a free typing test to determine how many words a minute you can type. For example, I can crank out 65 words a minute. Now multiply that by 60. So 65 x 60= 3,900. That means at full speed I can crank out 3,900 words in one hour. To be conservative, I set my goal to 3,500 words in one hour. I know, I can feel you all freaking out, because that just sounds impossible.

TIP 4: But I have a trick up my sleeve: Use a kitchen timer or your smart phone timer and set it for 15 minutes. That’s right, work for only 15 minutes at a time. First, this tricks the part of your brain that’s freaking out. If all you have to do is 15 minutes, then the pressure is off and it feels less intimidating. However, once you get started, if you are on a roll, let the timer go and just keep working.

TIP 5:  End in the middle of a scene. As you are finishing your daily session and the timer is about to go off, or as you see your words pile up, resist the urge to finish the current scene you are writing. This gives you a great starting point for your next session. You already know what’s about to unfold. You jump in and you’re on a roll when headed into the next scene.

TIP 6: Resist the urge to edit: When you finish your session for the day, you may have “seen” what’s about to happen in the story. Jot down some notes, but don’t stop to re-jigger your story. Do not start editing. You want to get the full story out of your subconscious first. I know it will be hard to resist, but if you start editing now, you won’t know what’s about to happen down the road and you will get frustrated. Trust me, I’ve made this mistake.

TIP 7: Trust yourself, trust your instincts. The one thing that blows me away every time I’m asked to help a writer with her story is this: everything you need to tell a great story is already there in your personal unconscious. Think of it as a big computer file, in each writing session you are downloading more information. Wait until you get the full file before messing with it.

TIP 8: Congratulations, you did it! Once you've chunked this draft out of you, celebrate. Seriously, this ain't easy; it's heart wrenching, gut twistingly hard work. Now you need some down time. Don't look at these words for a long time. At least a week, a month would be better. You are a different person now than the one who started writing this draft; you need to savor your sense of accomplishment. You also need some rest and you need to recharge your batteries. When have fully recovered and with fresh eyes, dive back in and plan your next revision.

There you go, use these tips wisely and crank out that draft. Your readers are waiting to read your stories.

So what do you think WITS readers? Ready to try it? Still freaking out?

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About Rachel

Rachel Funk Heller began her career as a journalist and worked as an independent television writer/producer for over two decades. She's worked for a variety of industry clients as well as the Hawaii State Department of Education. She is a former CNN producer who worked in both the Atlanta headquarters and the Washington D.C. bureau. An accomplished video editor and graphics designer, she was commissioned to produce and illustrate a YA story-telling television series titled, “Christabelle in the Museum of Time.” She recently completed her workbook for writers, "The Writer's Coloring Book®" launches on March 30 at writerscoloringbook.com

 

Find Rachel on Twitter: @RchelFunkHeller or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rachel.f.heller

 

 

Kimberly Brock

I know you of the Blue World.

You are a storyteller. You are made of memory. Your mind is an endless accordion of timeless impressions.

You are exhausted by the everyday. You press your face to mirrors and search for other worlds in your own eyes. You listen for the ancient voices in the bending boughs of trees.

You experience the seasons of the Earth within your body, struggling toward light, creeping toward slumber, agonizing over the lack of empathy and care for soil and blossom. You speak to animals. You wonder where they sleep.

You gaze at horizons and ache for wisdom, connection, purpose. You remember a faraway land you will never reach, and know it is the Canaan which lies within you.

You treasure deep silence and find comfort in the whisper of time slipping round the tender curl of your ear, a sweet warm breath. You tuck away with kaleidoscope dreams, puzzles to sort into patterns and possibility. You love the secret taste of all your favorite words, especially the restorative piquancy of love.

You are restive. You mourn the ages, the beauty you are blind to, the suffering you are bound to, the wonder of dying stars and the wars that rage within all bleeding hearts. You crave expression.

You are small beneath a heavy sky. You are lost upon a vast sea. You are not here in the present or present in the future. You feel yourself an alien.

Don’t be fooled. You are not languishing. You are not trapped. You are longing.

I often feel – don’t you? - my chest will fling itself open and a thousand birds will burst forth, madness released, to finally extinguish the longing to arrive at some finish, to come to some certainty, for the relief of completion. If only I could finish this draft, solve this plot, know this theme. I want to feel the work is solid. I want it to be worthy. I want it to be myself and also outside myself. I want it to be done. I want it to be human.

In the end, every word remains with me, for it is my story, after all. Incomplete in ways I can’t assuage or explain. The end is never the end. I write it again. I am writing it on my bones.

And yet, there is joy! A single sentence, a perfect turn of phrase can move me to such faith or challenge all of my convictions. It’s a rush. I want to shout these stories from the gables and glens, a resounding echo to encourage fellow wanderers, murmuring ancient tales to themselves, squinting at faded print, their only guide through the cerulean miasma of existence.

So, here is the most beautiful secret - we know this blue place. We are of it.

This is where we were always from and where we are always going. Just as light at the blue end of the spectrum does not travel the whole distance from the sun to Earth, but disperses, scatters, reflects, here is the truth about all of us. We are perpetual.

To look at the Blue World is to see our state of being and to know why.

Author Rebecca Solnit says in her beautiful book, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, “Some things we have only as long as they remain lost, some things are not lost only so long as they are distant.”

We write our stories, struggling with all our will against the blue. But what if we cherished the irreconcilable, instead? What if we could take our place as witness to the mystery rather than fearing it? Embrace the distance, rather than clambering to close it up? What might we tell from the blue? What courage might our words inspire?

Here is what I say - We are meant to create. We are meant to write from the blue. We are designed to observe, to wonder, to fear, to yearn, to connect, to build, to celebrate, to cry, to strive and to rest. But most importantly, we are meant to long. To long is our gift. Only in our longing are we perfect. Our longing is our home. Our longing is our story.

We are not meant to arrive. We are not meant to resolve.

We are horizons, dreams, and time.

And we are meant to reach, ever reach.

What do you think, WITS readers, writers,

does the above sound like you?

 

About Kimberly

Kimberly Brock is the award winning author of the #1 Amazon bestseller, THE RIVER WITCH (Bell Bridge Books, 2012). A former actor and special needs educator, Kimberly is the recipient of the Georgia Author of the Year 2013 Award. A literary work reminiscent of celebrated southern author Carson McCullers, THE RIVER WITCH has been chosen by two national book clubs. Kimberly’s writing has appeared in anthologies, blogs and magazines, including Writer Unboxed and Psychology Today. Kimberly served as the Blog Network Coordinator for She Reads, a national online book club from 2012 to 2014, actively spearheading several women’s literacy efforts. She lectures and leads workshops on the inherent power in telling our stories and is founder of Tinderbox Writer’s Workshop. She is also owner of Kimberly Brock Pilates. She lives in the foothills of north Atlanta with her husband and three children, where she is at work on her next novel. Visit her website at kimberlybrockbooks.com for more information and to find her blog.