Writers in the Storm

Shannon Donnelly

I don’t actually believe in writer's block. That probably makes me sound arrogant, but what I’ve found is that blocks are actually your writer instincts trying to get your attention—and what better way than to stop you cold?

Every writer needs good instincts. You have to have that gut feeling when you’re scene isn’t being true to your characters, you need to be able to read your own work and know by that instinct if it’s good or is boring you as much as it’s going to bore a reader, and you’ve got to know when you’re heading down the wrong path. A block is something to get your attention.

A block is not something you really can avoid—we all face it at some time. But how do you unblock without spending hours and hours and hours trying to figure out what’s up?

Here are some tricks to help you.

1-Change the viewpoint character. Most times when I'm stuck, I'm in the wrong character's head. This is how the writer part of my brain tells me it's going wrong. I change viewpoint to another character until the writing flows again.

2-Make certain you know your conflict. Every scene needs conflict. This means every character should want something and your characters should be ready to fight and argue to get what they want. As it’s been put, every character should want something even if it’s a glass of water. A lot of times I’ll look at a limp scene that I hate—or I’ll have a scene I don’t want to write—and if I nail down the conflict suddenly I can’t wait to get at it or I’ll know just how to fix it.

3-Interview your characters. Have a stubborn character who won’t talk? Have a character that keeps going off the Rez and taking the book with her? Have a wooden character? Sit down as if you are a People Magazine writer and start asking questions—where are they from, what do they want, what’s their biggest secret, worst fear, best memory? Every time I introduce a character in a story I stumble and so does the story. That’s because I don’t know enough about that character to get their voice onto the page. An interview is a great way to kick the story back into gear. Sometimes you’ll luck out and the character is just there, but if you’re struggling and blocked maybe it’s because you’re trying to make your character do something that’s utterly out of character.

4-Introduce a new plot twist. Does your story seem boring? Are your characters covering the same ground they just went over? Does the writing feel stale? This is where you throw rocks at your characters. It’s important to note you are not making the characters do something out of character, you are throwing the characters a tough situation to see how they deal with it. If you’re not really sure of the outcome of a scene, this will spark your interest in finding out what happens next.

5-Get a map. Somewhere about page 100 I always need to do a synopsis or outline. This isn’t pages and pages of details but it’s enough to get me back on track. I need to know the main character’s arc and the main turning points. Page 100 for me is the spot where I’m deep in the woods and if I don’t have some idea of where I was thinking about going, I’m going to wander aimlessly or just stand there and stare at those trees. I want to have great scenes lined up and waiting for me.

6-Think of a great scene and write that. You don’t have to be a linear writer. Yes, you can be, but it’s not mandatory. If you can’t wait to get to that love scene or the big break up or the confrontation with that awful bad guy, write that now. Don’t slog through some stuff to get there. Write the good stuff and then figure out how to tie it together. You may find out you don’t really need all those dull scenes between.

7-Go for dialogue. I can write description or dialogue. In general I find doing the talking first—getting those great snappy lines on the page is a lot more fun for me (and therefore more fun for the reader, too). Once the dialogue is in place I go back and do an edit to layer in descriptions and actions to accent or provide more subtext to the scene. And a lot of times I can just write the dialogue like I’m taking dictation—that’s the best.

8-Do just a touch of research to spark some details that get you excited. A lot of times I struggle with a scene because it’s not vivid enough in my own head. I need a detail and my instincts come out to block me, telling me I’m missing something. One time I needed the feel of what it was like to hit a piece of wood with a poker—the hero opening a locked box that way. Another time I needed a description of a shop in London. Recently I’ve been working on a book set in Paris, 1814 and I’ve needed some details of events and sights. If I can’t see it vivid in my imagination how can I put it into the reader’s head? The real trick here is not to get lost in the research. Set a time limit or look for just one specific thing that you know you need—don’t go browsing the Web for days.

9-Use Hemmingway's trick and always stop for the day in mid-sentence, knowing what you want to write next. I love this one--it always leaves me eager to get back to work. A lot of time my writer’s block isn’t so much a block as it’s sheer laziness.

10-Have writing ritual habits to connect left and right brain. A cup of hot tea or coffee and start with editing a page or two back helps me ease into the groove. This is really important if I’ve been away from the book for a day or two or more. Having a set of habits gets my mind into the writing space. If something stops working—the coffee starts giving jitters—the ritual needs a change. So I have to stay aware of what works for me and what doesn't. For example I used to be a night-owl writer but these days I function better as a morning writer when it’s quiet and just me and my keyboard and the characters. A lot of time this can help you get a sudden insight into what your writer’s instinct is trying to tell you—as in a scene that wasn’t working for me recently wasn’t working because I’d stuffed in a dumb reason for why the characters were where they were. My characters shut up about the next scene because they didn’t want to seem that dumb—once I fixed their motivation, they started setting up the next scene for me.

Which means that above all else listen to and develop your instincts. Trust your gut, your muse, your characters, or whatever you want to call it. But when the writing slows down or stops, it’s time to look at why. Don’t fight that block. Use it. Look at the scene, the characters, talk to another writer, and see what your writer’s instincts are trying to tell you.

 

Want to share tips that have worked to get your writing back on track? Need a little more help getting unstuck now? 

 

 Shannon Donnelly’s writing has won numerous awards, including a RITA nomination for Best Regency, the Grand Prize in the "Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer" contest, judged by Nora Roberts, RWA's Golden Heart, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: "simply superb"..."wonderfully uplifting"....and "beautifully written." She is also the author of the Mackenzie Solomon, Demon/Warders Urban Fantasy series, Burn Baby Burn and Riding in on a Burning Tire. Shannon is currently working on Lady Chance, the next Regency romance after Lady Scandal in the “Ladies in Distress” series.

 

 Chuck Sambuchino

The time has come. Your novel or memoir or book proposal is now complete. Not only is it complete, you’ve revised it several times and incorporated the critical ideas of peers and editors to make it better. You’ve developed a list of agents to target and researched each one.

You’re ready. It’s time to start the submission process and send out your work. But before you formally e-mail your book out to agents and editors, go down this checklist of dos and don’ts to make sure you’ve giving yourself and your submission the best chance possible.

 (This article excerpted from Chuck's forthcoming book, GET AN AGENT (December 2014).

Submission Tip Checklist

1. Be formal. Although you’ll be sending most queries electronically and there is a tendency to be less formal over e-mail, address the agent as you would in a paper letter. Remember that elements like sarcasm and self-deprecating humor do not necessarily come across well in unsolicited correspondence.
2. Personalize your query to each agent or market. (No mass submissions to multiple people at the same time.) Make sure that you have the agent’s name spelled correctly. If their name is “Sam Johnson” and you are not positive of their gender, use neither “Mr. Johnson” nor “Mrs. Johnson,” but rather just address them using “Dear Sam Johnson.”
3. Double-check the agency or publisher guidelines to make sure you’re submitting the correct materials to the correct contact. This, obviously, is a huge point—so take your time with it.
4. Make the e-mail’s subject line specific if the market requests it. If not, simply writing “Query: (TITLE)” is a safe bet. If you’re sending your e-mail to a specific agent at an agency, but the agency only provides a generic e-mail address (e.g., query@xyzagency.com), then use the subject line “Query for (Agent Name): (TITLE).”
5. Keep your emotions in check: Submission e-mails should be professional and businesslike, so resist the temptation to say something off-putting like “Although you inexplicably did not respond to my last query, I am trying you again with a new project and hope you will at least get back to me on this one.”
6. Do not say “I welcome your feedback or comments on my work/pitch.” It’s not an agent’s job to critique the work for you, and they will see such a comment as a red flag.
7. Don’t type in all caps or all lowercase. Use proper punctuation and pay attention to grammar and spelling always. (You can write your book’s title in all caps in the query letter, but not anything else.)
8. Double check the mailing address or e-mail inbox you’re sending to. One wrong letter in an e-mail address is enough for your query to be lost in cyberspace forever.
9. Respect the importance of the query. A good query will open doors, so make sure others have seen and critiqued your letter before you send it out to dozens of markets. The same goes for your synopsis or nonfiction book proposal. Don’t go into battle with questionable weapons.
10. If querying by e-mail, make sure all your font and type size is the same. Since you will be cutting and pasting into e-mail, different sentences can appear different sizes. Send yourself or a friend a test e-mail to check for such an issue.
11. Make no demands. Anything that seems like a demand (“Respond to my letter within three weeks to respect my time”) is a major turn-off.
12. Act with humility when talking about yourself. No matter your current accomplishments, and no matter how much you think your novel is the best thing since “Breaking Bad,” you need to simply discuss the story. Even if your writing history is impressive, be sure to state your accomplishments quickly and humbly.
13. Unless you have a serious health concern that prevents you from using a computer, submit your own book yourself. In other words, don’t have a friend or relative submit your book for you. This kind of communication gets confusing and the agent may not know whom to address in correspondence. Plus, it can give an agent pause to wonder why the writer is not confident enough to submit his or her own work.
14. If you do use snail mail, don’t try to set yourself apart by using fancy stationery. Standard letterhead and envelopes are preferable. Don’t include any extraneous materials that were not requested.
15. Do a final check to make sure the agent (or market) in question is still open to submissions. For example, if an agent suddenly closed herself off to unsolicited queries this morning, she will usually say so on Twitter first, and also make a note of it on her official agency website. Those two online locations are good places to visit right before you hit “Send” to double-check that communication lines are still open.
16. And after you do send off the work, ensure that you noted the e-mail on your submissions spreadsheet, so you can effectively keep track of each agent you’ve submitted to and when.

 

(Hi, everyone. Chuck here chiming in for a second. I wanted to say I am now taking clients as a freelance editor. So if your query or manuscript needs some love, please check out my editing services. Thanks!)

If you missed Chuck's last post, Classifying Your Book: How to Research & Target Literary Agents, you can click here to read it.

Do you have a fun story to share about querying? Something a bit less than fun? A question about queries? a Seventeenth Tip?

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About Chuck

   Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest Books edits theGUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS and theCHILDREN’S     WRITER’S & ILLUSTRATOR’S MARKET. His Guide to Literary Agents Blog is one of the largest blogs in   publishing.

His 2010 humor book, HOW TO SURVIVE A GARDEN GNOME ATTACK, was optioned by Sony Pictures.   Chuck has also written the writing guidesFORMATTING & SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT and CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM.

Besides that, he is a freelance book & query editor, husband, sleep-deprived new father, and owner of a flabby-yet-lovable dog named Graham.

Find Chuck on Twitter and on Facebook.

 

 

Piper Bayard

We don't often discuss thrillers and spies here at Writers In The Storm because none of us has any experience writing them. We jumped at the chance to have Piper Bayard visit us. If you've ever been to the Bayard & Holmes blog, you'll know that she's well qualified to write on the topic.

James Bond vs. "The Spook"
by Piper Bayard

You could say I work with Bond. James Bond. The real one. But that wouldn’t be quite right. I work with a spook.

Please don’t ask me how a small town author/belly dancer/recovering attorney grew up to be the writing partner of a seasoned covert operative, because that is a story I can never tell. But I can tell you this . . . It’s nothing like fiction.

His name is Holmes. Jay Holmes. And unlike James Bond, that’s not his real name. That’s because when covert operatives reveal their identities – even decades after they are out of deep cover – people can die. Assets and loved ones alike can become targets.

So when a celebrity author shows up in an “I’m a Spook” T-shirt flaunting a “covert” career, it’s a dead giveaway that though she may have done some great and necessary work with an intelligence agency, she has never been a covert operative in the field. Covert operatives must forever keep a Chinese wall around their true identities.

So what’s this real covert spook writing partner of mine like? First off, Holmes and his ilk are “spooks,” not spies. As Holmes says, “Spying is seamy. It’s what the Russians do.”

Spooks refer to each other lightheartedly as “spooks.” That’s also what military personnel call them when military and intelligence operations overlap. For example, if an intelligence team is working in a secured area of a ship, the crew refers to them as “the spooks.”

There is no official Dictionary of Spook Terminology, but the proper terms for spooks are “intelligence operatives” and “intelligence agents.” By habit, “operative” is used by CIA personnel when they are talking among themselves or reviewing an operation, and “agent” refers to someone – usually a foreigner – who is collecting information in a foreign country. Intelligence personnel are the “operatives” who are managing the foreign “agents."

Comparing "James Bond" with a Real-Life Spook:

All of those wild car chases that happen in books and movies? Sure, they happen now and then in real life. Holmes has personally driven down the Spanish Steps and gone the wrong way up a narrow one-way street to get his man. But what you almost never see in fiction is that spooks wear seatbelts. Religiously. “Because you can’t finish the mission if you’re dead.”

There are also many things fictional spooks do that real spooks never do—or at least few live to tell if they do. How many times in fiction does a spook duck into a doorway and peek out of it to spy on someone he’s following? That’s a good way to get dead in real life.

One of the first things spooks must learn about following people is to not be followed themselves. It’s common for bad guys to have their own people tailing them to pick up any newcomers, so spooks can’t only focus on who’s in front of them. They have to be acutely aware of who is behind them, too.

That means that if a spook wants to watch someone from a doorway, she has to take her eyes off the target, go all the way inside a building, and only turn around once she’s out of sight of the street. Then she can come back out and stop in the doorway under some other pretense than watching someone. It also gives her the chance to handle the bad guy’s trailing entourage.

Another thing fiction almost invariably gets wrong is the spook’s relationship to room service. How many times has Bond ordered room service? And how has that worked out for him? You’d think he would have learned after Rosa Klebb’s stunt in From Russia with Love that this is a seriously bad idea. Even the spooks in the otherwise realistic movie Act of Valor ordered take out and paid the price.

This isn’t only because of the opportunity for an enemy to poison them, it’s also because it’s generally bad juju for spooks to invite strangers into their space when they are on a mission. In fact, Holmes won’t even have a pizza delivered to his home. The only food he actually enjoys is his own, his wife’s, or mine if it includes chocolate, and only then if he is eating at home or at the home of a trusted friend.

So back to my original question – what’s this real life spook like?

Unlike fiction, Holmes is incredibly mundane. While he has an incredibly charming boyish smile, he doesn’t look a thing like James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Jack Reacher. In fact, real spooks come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and abilities.

When they aren’t on a job, they might be working as Wal-Mart managers, secretaries, teachers, insurance salesmen, or corporate CEOs. And their days at home can look like anyone else’s, filled with gardening, grocery shopping, cleaning, and following behind their children turning off lights.

Holmes would say that spooks are ordinary people with a bit more than average commitment and dedication to their work.

Notice I said that Holmes would say that. He strongly objects to the notion that he and other covert operatives are special in any way.

However, speaking as a small town author/belly dancer/recovering attorney with a home in “normalville” and a window into the shadow world, I would suggest that from most people’s perspective, there is one thing fiction definitely gets right.

These folks are anything but ordinary.

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Do you ever write about spies? Who is your favorite spy in film or in fiction? Are there any questions you'd like to ask Bayard or Holmes about "spycraft?"

 

About Piper

Piper Bayard is an author and a recovering attorney with a college degree or two. She’s also a belly dancer from way back and a former hospice volunteer. She is currently the managing editor of Social In Worldwide, Inc., and she pens post-apocalyptic science fiction and spy thrillers. Her dystopian thriller, FIRELANDS, is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

Her spy thriller writing partner, Jay Holmes, is a veteran of field intelligence with experience spanning from the Cold War to the present Global War on Terror. He is still an anonymous senior member of the intelligence community and unwilling to admit to much more than that. Piper is the public face of their partnership.

To follow Bayard & Holmes, sign up for the Bayard & Holmes Newsletter, or find them at their site, Bayard & Holmes. You may contact with them in blog comments at their site, on Twitter at @piperbayard, on Facebook at Bayard & Holmes, or by email at BH@bayardandholmes.com.