Writers in the Storm

Margie Lawson

If you wish review the rule that started it all... Margie-Rule #1: Never Take Any Word for Granted. Or read the whole series!

Are you an NCIS fan? A Jethro Gibbs fan? A Mark Harmon fan?

If you said YES, you know Jethro Gibbs has rules. Smart rules. I wanted smart rules too.

Margie’s Rule #8: Beware of "Writerly!"

Writerly is my term for writing in a way that sounds more like the writer than the character.

Writers know they are supposed to limit backstory. Writers know they are supposed to  avoid clichés. Cautions about backstory and clichés are in every basic how-to book for writers.

I don’t see cautions about what I call writerly writing.

Elmore Leonard, NYT Bestselling mystery/suspense writer, has the best quote that defines my take on writerly writing.

If it sounds like a writer wrote it, rewrite.  – Elmore Leonard

Kudos to Elmore Leonard!

If his name doesn’t trigger an immediate reaction, these book, movie, and TV Series titles might:

• Get Shorty
• The Big Bounce 
• Mr. Majestyk
• Out of Sight 
• Justified

Tens of millions of his books are in print.

Um. Wow!

Back to Elmore Leonard’s quote.

If it sounds like a writer wrote it, rewrite.  

– Elmore Leonard

Writing that’s writerly doesn’t sound natural.

It may be dialogue or an internalization.

If something sounds like it was written by a writer, it doesn’t sound natural for that character to have said or thought those words.

Some writers may be great at writing dialogue that sounds right for that character. But the character’s thoughts sound like a writer wrote them. They don’t sound like words or phrases that character would think.

You may be wondering, what’s wrong with writerly writing?

So what? Who cares?

The problem is keeping the reader locked in the scene. If the writing is writerly, it’s not a strong fit for the character. The reader is less engaged. Less likely to keep reading.

How do you avoid writerly?

You go deep into deep POV, explore the character’s emotional set, and ask yourself what words they would use in dialogue and in their thoughts.

• Imagine being in that scene. Imagine if you were that character. Consider their life.
• How they were raised. What’s happened to them.
• Put yourself in that character’s skin and heart.
• What’s their relationship with the non-POV character?
• What’s the POV character’s emotional set?
• How would they react? What would they say? What would they think?
• What words would they choose?

The writer has to get out of their own way. Cliché alert. :-)

They have to become less cognitive, more reactive. When a stimulus presents, think colored-by-emotions first responses, not processed responses.

Writerly writing may be beautiful. It may be perfectly cadenced. It may have power words and backloading. It may have perfect words, but those words may not be ones that character would use at that time.

Beware of Diluting the Power!

Sometimes it’s the little things that are writerly.

Writers may slip good details in a scene, but they do it in a way that dilutes the power.

A character who is upset wouldn’t think about the color of the couch they sit on.

A character who puts on a hat wouldn’t think about the color of their hair.

A character talking to their spouse usually wouldn’t say the names

Here are a few examples of what I usually call writerly. Some are cliched and writerly.

I am not saying these sentences are always undesirable. Some may be perfect for a particular character.

1. He gave me a sardonic
2. My foot found purchase.
3. I gave him a dismissive
4. He ascended the stairs.
5. Her hope was submerged.
6. He released her from his embrace.
7. He propelled me toward the receiving line.
8. He questioned his cavalier attitude toward self-preservation.

Some of those examples may not seem writerly. They may sound right to you because you’re used to reading them. You may be used to writing them.

You may think what I consider writerly is what writers are supposed to write.

Ask yourself if the words you put on the page are your best choice for that character in that situation.

Beware of Nicey-Nice!

Some writers fall into what I call Nicey-Nice. They choose reactions and words that are nicer than their characters could use.

It’s hard for those writers to step out of their nicey-nice response set. If a character wishes they could do something really strong, maybe really wrong, it may be your best choice.

More examples of writerly.

1. “Stop scratching.” Shannon drew my hand away from my neck.
2. I didn’t bother to hide my disdain.
3. Rob diverted his gaze.
4. He expelled a laugh.
5. She tried to suppress her lips from showing her reaction.
6. She unfolded herself from the chair.
7. Rex put his hands on my shoulders and pivoted me to face him.
8. I grab her hand so fast she doesn’t have time to evade me.

Where’s your spotlight?

In examples 4 – 8, the spotlight is on the bolded letters. Not what the writer intended.

Be sure you have the spotlight on the words you want to emphasize. The ones that share the power.

Sometimes writers try too hard to avoid using a word they recently used. But a gun is a gun is a gun. It may work to use weapon or revolver or the type of gun as long as the word choice has to fit the character.

Writerly, Writerly, Writerly

Is writerly writing a contract breaker?  Probably not. We see writerly lines in print. We see I-can’t-believe-that-got-published in print too.

Writerly writing falls in the small stuff category. Definitely not horrible. But we know too many things in the small stuff category can make agents, editors, reviewers, and readers stop reading.

Beware of writerly writing. It only takes seconds to choose words that are a better fit.

BLOG GUESTS:  IT’S YOUR TURN!

Post a comment and you could win an online course from Lawson Writer’s Academy!

Check out the courses offered by Lawson Writer's Academy in March:

1. Scene and Sequel—Superpowered Writing Tool, Instructor: Kathleen Baldwin
2. Screenwriting Strategies for Fiction Writers, Susie McCauley
3. Taming Twitter and Facebook Too! Instructor: Julie Rowe
4. Digging Deep Into Deep POV, Instructor: Rhay Christou
5. Avoiding Author Meltdown, Instructor: Susannah Scott
6. Getting Serious About Writing a Series, Instructor: Lisa Wells

The drawing will be Sunday, Feb. 8th, 8:00 PM Mountain Time.

See you on the blog!

All smiles................Margie

About Margie

Margie Lawson—editor, international presenter—teaches writers how to use her psychologically-based editing systems and deep editing techniques to create page turners. Margie has presented over ninety full day master classes for writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. She’s excited to share that Romance Writers of Australia is bringing her back to present at their conference next summer.

To learn about Lawson Writer’s Academy, Margie’s 4-day Immersion Master Classes (in Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, San Antonio, Columbus, Jacksonville, Houston, and on Whidbey Island), her full day Master Class presentations, on-line courses, lecture packets, and newsletter, please visit www.MargieLawson.com.

Mine is the last of our writing process throwdowns (or in my case, throw up). In case you missed the others, here they are: Fae, Orly, Jenny.

I’ve been dreading this. Not because I’m embarrassed - I’m of the school that if it works, DO IT! I’m been more worried about how to explain my total pantser mess.

First, the good part: 

No haters, now . . .  I'm done in one pass.  I write anywhere from 500 - 1100 words a day. The next morning, I review and tweak what I wrote the day before. When a chapter is done, I turn it into my critters, and when I get it back, I edit based on their input.Then I'm done. I don't go back and do second and third edits. I never read the whole thing again until I get suggestions from my editor. 

Linda Howard spoke at our our local RWA  years ago, and that's how she does it (only she doesn't have a crit group). I'm really happy with this part of my process. The thought of skipping ahead, or writing out of order Freaks. Me. Out. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Jenny.)

The other parts: 

The Beginning

 I this part. I start with a character. A person I’d like to know more about. Timid? Stubborn? Angry? Guilty (a go-to theme of mine . . . let’s leave it at that, unless you know of a meeting I can attend?) I understand who this person is, and their misunderstanding of the world (fatal flaw) before I start. I know the first scene, and spend a lot of time getting it just right. Then I'm off and running, deepening the character with backstory, introducing secondary characters, setting up the world.

In a word: Playing.

I'm having a BLAST! This is going to be a work of untold brilliance. My protagonist is as sparkly as a glitter explosion. Seriously, Atticus's kid, Scout has nothing on my character.

The DUM-DA-DUM-DUM,  Middle

When did my amazing protagonist turn into a whiny, boring, mumu-wearing, cigar smoking, biotch?

Where did my plot go? I swear, it was just here!

From  33% through 62% of of the novel (not that I keep track or anything),  the novel is a wasteland. I know the ending. It's the glimmer over there on the horizon. But between my brilliant beginning and that glimmer? I've got nothing. And I mean nothing.

I know what has to happen. My protagonist needs to move along her arc, in logical, small steps. But those steps seem dry as Midland, Texas dust to me (and after a year of living here, I know Midland dust). I HATE this part. I call and whine, complain, beg for help from my critters. Thank God for them. They calm me down (okay, they laugh) and remind me that I do this every single book (which I forget, every time), tell me I'm not delusional and I will live through it. This book WILL get done, and it'll be good.

Then they help me plot my way through the wasteland, laying stones in the mud as we go. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without them holding my hand and laughing at, encouraging me.

 It's here! It's finally here! 

Somewhere after 62.5% (not that I'm counting), as quickly as my brilliant plot dissolved, it reappears. My protagonist is the sparkly character I first envisioned, only better, because now they've resolved their issues, and the plot threads are woven together by bluebirds who sing a happy song while they work. It rocks on until . . .

 

Let it be known: I do not suggest, recommend, or in any way endorse this method. It will add gray to your hair and lines to your face.
Your ass will spread, and your skin will sag.

Do not try this at home.

So, WITS readers, seriously, is your process this challenging?

*  *  *  *  *  *

About Laura

Laura Drake is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways, or a serious cowboy crush. She writes both Women's Fiction and Romance.

She sold her Sweet on a Cowboy series, romances set in the world of professional bull riding, to Grand Central. The Sweet Spot (May 2013), Nothing Sweeter (Jan 2014) and Sweet on You (August 2014). The Sweet Spot won the 2014 Romance Writers of America^®   RITA^® award in the Best First Book category.

Her 'biker-chick' novel, Her Road Home, sold to Harlequin's Superomance line (August, 2013) and has expanded to three more stories set in the same small town. The Reasons to Stay released August, 2014.

In 2014, Laura realized a lifelong dream of becoming a Texan and is currently working on her accent. She gave up the corporate CFO gig to write full time. She's a wife, grandmother, and motorcycle chick in the remaining waking hours.

Twitter  Facebook

 

 

 

Penny Sansevieri

So you got a book event...Great! Now you want to maximize it, right? You've heard your writing buddies (or perhaps read online) about the lack of attendance at signings so figuring out how to maximize the event, regardless of the numbers, might be tricky.

1. Marketing

First and foremost is the marketing of your event. But I'm not talking about the marketing you do through media (though that is great too). I'm speaking of in-store marketing, this is what most folks seem to overlook. This is where you supply things to the store to help them market your event. Because the first phase of a successful event is driving people to it.

Here are a few thoughts.

• Do bag stuffers. You can easily do this in your favorite computer program, do two up on a page, meaning that you use one 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper to do two fliers. You'll want to ask the store first if they mind that you provide this, most stores or event venues don't.
• Bookmarks: while most in the industry see these as passé, people still love them. You can do bookmarks and bag stuffers (or staple them to the flier) or you can do custom bookmarks with the date and time of your event. Nowadays it's pretty easy to get these done cheaply. Keep in mind that if you are having the event in a mall or other type shopping area, you might be able to drop the bookmarks (or bag stuffers) off at the nearby stores to see if they'll help promote the event.

2. Book signings are boring

Regardless of where you do the event, plan to do a talk instead of a signing. People are drawn into a discussion and are often turned off by an author just sitting at a table. Marketing is about message and movement so stand up and speak. If speaking in public is intimidating to you, go to Toastmasters or some other local networking/speaking group and see what you can learn.

3. Unique places

If you want to get more attention for your event, consider doing events in unique places. We've done them in video stores, electronics stores, gyms, even restaurants (on slow nights), doing outside-the-bookstore events is a great way to gain more interest for your talk. Why? Because you aren't competing with everyone else at the bookstore for your crowd. When you do an event at a locale that doesn't normally do events, you'll gather more people just because it's considered "unique."

4. Show up early and talk it up

OK so let's say you're in the store and there are a ton of people in there shopping (a book event dream, yes?). I suggest that you take your extra bag stuffers or custom bookmarks and just hand them to the people in the store. Let them know you are doing an event at such and such time and you'd love it if they can sit in. You'll be surprised how many new people you might pull in this way.

5. Customize

Regardless of what your talk is about, poll the audience first to see a) what brought them there, or b) what they hope to learn if your talk is educational. I suggest this because the more you can customize your discussion, the more likely you are to sell a book. If you can solve problems (and this is often done during the Q&A) all the better. You'll look like the answer machine you are and readers love that. If you have the answers they'll want to buy from you. I promise.

6. Make friends

Get to know the bookstore people, but not just on the day of the event. Go in prior and make friends, tell them who you are and maybe even hand them your flier or bookmark (or a stack if you can). Often stores have Information Centers, see if you can leave some fliers there instead of just at the register. Getting to know the people who are selling the book is a great way to help gather more people into your event.

If your event isn't in a bookstore but attached to a shopping area or mall, go around to the stores (and perhaps you did this when you passed out the fliers) and let them know you have an event and what can you do to help them promote it. If you can rally the troops to help you market your talk, you could triple the numbers of people at your event. No kidding.

7. Take names

I always, always recommend that you get names and (email) addresses from the folks who attended. Sign them up for your mailing list is a great way to stay in touch with them and stay on your reader's radar screen. If you have a giveaway or drawing, great! This will help you to collect names. If you don't, offer them a freebie or ebook after the event. Often if I'm doing a PowerPoint presentation I will put together a set of them (delivered in PDF) after the event. Attendees need to sign up to get them and then once they do, I include them in our newsletter list which helps me to stay on their radar screen.

What do you like or dislike about book signings? Have you been to any that really stood out? Do you have questions for Penny?

*  *  *  *  *  *

About Penny

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert and an Adjunct Professor with NYU. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. She is the author of fourteen books, including How to Sell Books by the Truckload. AME is the first marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full impact through online promotion and their signature program called: The Virtual Author Tour™

To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com. To subscribe to her free newsletter, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@amarketingexpert.com

Copyright @2015 Penny C. Sansevieri

 

Top photo by Rachel James (Flickr) - CC License