Writers in the Storm

By Orly Konig Lopez

Quick … what’s your favorite season? Why?

Mine is summer. I love the laid back feeling that comes with long, hot days, the smell of fresh cut grass, the sound of sprinklers.

Each of us connects with the seasons in a different way. A particular season may trigger certain memories or feelings, alter our moods or even our behavior. It’s not a new concept - acknowledgement of seasonal mood disorders dates back to the fourth century Greek philosopher Posidonius.

You’re all probably nodding - or shaking your heads - at this point and thinking, “what does this have to do with writing?”

I’ve been noodling details of my new book and while most of the pieces were coming together nicely, something wasn’t right. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what though. Then I read a blog post about making setting more than pretty scenery. Hello big bright, proverbial spotlight.

The story was taking place during the summer. Actually, all of my women’s fiction manuscripts take place in the summer. Imagine that?! It wasn’t a conscious decision. Summer just seems to be my go-to season. The new story was working fine in summer, too. But you know that annoying little voice that insists something just isn’t quite right? Yeah, that one.

The main character in this new book has returned “home” after sixteen years to deal with her father’s estate. She not only has to come to terms with the truth behind the tense relationship she’s had with her father her entire life, but also the secret that forced her away all those years ago and find the inner strength to stand up to the ghosts of her past. Nothing that can’t happen during summer, right?

The idea of how a character might react differently to the same scenario based on environmental factors intrigued me. I started a few “what if” games. Guess what I discovered?

Summer was all wrong!

First, think about each season - positive and negative feelings, smells, mood. Make a list of everything that comes to mind. Here are a few that I came up with to help you get started:

Spring - Regeneration. Fresh green leaves. Flower blossoms. The first lawn mowers disrupting the quiet morning. Birds singing. Burst of new energy. Lighter clothes. The freedom of open windows. The smell of mulch. Optimism. Restlessness. Sleeplessness. Headaches as allergies kick in. Overwhelmed.

Summer - Humidity. Heat. Fresh cut grass. Bare feet. Downtime. Hot breeze. Ice cream. Lemonade. Salty beach breeze. Sand. Chlorine. The music of the ice cream van. Lazy. Relaxed. Self conscious in summer clothes. Exposed. Lethargic. Cranky. Uncomfortable. Allergies.

Fall - Crisp air. Vibrant colors. Rustle of leaves. Wood burning fireplace. Cozy scarves and hats. Apple cider. New start with school. Cozy. Sentimental. Excitement building up to the holidays. Depression leading up to the holidays.

Winter - Crisp. Invigorating. Cozy. Comfort food. Warm blankets. Fuzzy socks and flannel pjs. Blinding white snow. The hush of the world after a snowfall. Snow plows scraping the streets. Blast of warm as you enter a building. Bare trees. Dead grass. Dark. Tired. Restlessness. Sleeplessness. Claustrophobic.

Now, think about how those feelings and moods and smells can work for and against your characters:

Spring - Your character has been working in the garden, planting trees and flowers and installing a new fountain - the garden his wife has been dreaming about - when he gets the news that she was in a fatal car accident. How would he react on a beautiful spring day? Would he see the new growth as a sign that he needs to move forward? Would he grab the weed whacker and demolish all the new flowers because they shouldn’t live if she can’t.

Summer - Your character has been struggling with her self-image and self-worth - everything in her closet has been shrinking, her son keeps talking about his buddy’s amazing mom who mountain bikes and plays football with them, and her husband has been a wee less attentive of late - when she finds out her job has been eliminated. Will the prospect of endless hot summer days send her into a panic of being seen in shorts, or worse a swimsuit, next to awesome mom and give in to the thought that in this heat there’s just no way she can measure up or keep up?  Will the memories of relaxed summer days and long family vacations be the reminder that she needs down time to reconnect with herself and her family?

Fall - It’s been one year since your character has lost her mother and the holidays are approaching when she discovers that after years of trying, she’s finally pregnant. Does the news pull her out of the fog of loss, into the mounting excitement of new holiday traditions? Or does the news set her off, she’s angry that after all these years of trying, now when her mom is no longer around to enjoy her grandchild, she finally gets pregnant?

Winter - Your character has been waiting and waiting and waiting for her boyfriend to finally propose. It’s been a cold, miserable winter and she’s feeling a bit cranky when over a glass of wine by the fireplace, he proposes. Will she melt at the cozy, romantic setting and say yes? Or will the long, dark, frigid days that have kept them mostly bundled up inside backfire and make her feel smothered so that instead of saying yes, she’s breaking up with him?

If a setting doesn’t feel quite right play the “what if” game with the seasons. Will a change of season alter how your story unfolds?

I discovered that my character needed the crisp air of fall instead of the haze of summer. She needed to think about the upcoming holidays and the difference between spending another holiday alone in her fancy apartment or a luxury hotel in Paris. She needed the bundled warmth inside the stable during that first nippy day.

Do you have a go-to season that most of your stories are set in? Do you make a conscious decision what season to use?

Now just for fun, I found a survey that tells you what month you belong in. Mine came out Fall/autumn. Go figure!

Photo credit: The Four Seasons by George Hodan via Publicdomainpictures.net http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=26731&picture=the-four-seasons

About Orly

After years of pushing the creativity boundary in corporate communications, Orly decided it was time for a new challenge. Three women’s fiction manuscripts later (plus a handful of picture books), it’s safe to say she’s found her creative outlet.  When she’s not talking to her imaginary friends, she’s reading or at least trying to ignore everyone around her long enough to finish “just one more paragraph.” Orly is the founding president of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

You can find her on Twitter at @OrlyKonigLopez or on her website, www.orlykoniglopez.com.

by Jami Gold

If you’ve heard of beat sheets before, you might have heard about complicated forms or spreadsheets. I don’t know about you, but I don’t do math. Heck, I write my stories by the seat of my pants, so something that forces me to draft in a regimented way doesn’t appeal to me either.

Er, okay… So why am I talking to you about beat sheets when they’re a tool of outlining and a Microsoft Excel thing with lots of numbers?

It’s because everyone can use beat sheets—plotters, pantsers, and anyone in between. Trust me. *smile*

So a Beat Sheet Is a Sheet with Beats? Huh? What the heck Is a Beat?

Story beats are plot events that force the story to turn in a new direction (i.e. “turning point”). They’re the choices, dilemmas, and questions that make readers turn the pages. After each main beat or turning point, the characters will usually have new goals or motivations, or the stakes will change (until the end, the stakes should usually increase).

But not all story beats are created equal. After all, some plot events are more important than others in terms of how much the story changes directions.

Some scenes will just show the characters carrying out their plans—nothing changes for the story until they’ve either succeeded or failed and need a new goal. Other scenes are obvious turning points, like a fight with the best friend, someone dies, showdown with the bad guy, etc.

Beat sheets will usually focus on story events where the story changes directions. Together those beats create the story’s structure and make a story feel complete. They give the story a sense of a beginning, middle, and ending.

Introducing the “Important” Story Beats

Most stories can be formed with just eight beats. Short stories might have even fewer beats. People assign all kinds of names to these beats, but what’s important is their purpose and where they land in the story (approximately).

Most stories have four Major Beats:

• Starting point for the main conflict (around the 1/4 mark): The event that makes the protagonist commit to the story goal.
• Midpoint (around the halfway mark): The event that flips the reader’s and/or the protagonist’s understanding of the story’s goals, choices, or stakes.
• Black moment (around the 3/4 mark): The event that makes the protagonist lose all hope
• Ending point for the main conflict (most of the last 1/4): The event that forces the protagonist into the final battle (literal or figurative) against the antagonistic forces.

Many stories also have four Minor Beats that fill in the blanks between those Major beats:

• An event that launches the protagonist on the path toward the conflict
• Two events (one before and one after the Midpoint) that add pressure by revealing more about the antagonistic forces or increasing the stakes
• A final scene peeking into the future by showing how the protagonist has changed

Again, don’t worry about the names of these events. Just include scenes to fulfill these functions (if our story needs them) to give our story its bones.

Many story structure systems (Save the Cat, etc.) include additional beats, but these eight Major and Minor beats are the only ones we need (and even so, the Minor beats can be optional). If we’re a plotter who plans every scene in advance, we might find the secondary beats of other systems useful, but they’re not necessary for understanding or planning our story.

If we’re a pantser, we might have vague ideas for some of the beats before we start drafting, but they might also change during the drafting process. We definitely don’t need the clutter of secondary beats.

So… What’s a Beat Sheet?

Beat sheets provide a visual way of “tracking” our story and its structure. They’re often in a spreadsheet program like MS Excel—not to make things more complicated, but because Excel makes the math automatic.

(I strongly believe in no math, so all the beat sheets on my website use “auto-math.”)

On my website, I share several beat sheets, from the Basic Beat Sheet (which includes only those eight Major and Minor beats) to the Romance Beat Sheet (which maps the romance arc over those same eight beats).

I recommend the Basic Beat Sheet, as it’s good for pantsers who want just the basics and for writers new to beat sheets. (And as a bonus, I have a Scrivener template to match the Basic Beat Sheet too.)

To make the auto-math work, we simply change the Word Count field at the top of the beat sheet to an estimated or exact word count for our manuscript. Once we “enter” or click on another field within Excel, all beats will automatically adjust to show the expected page/word count marks for each beat.

Notes: In most cases we do not want to touch the page count field. This number will automatically change when we update the word count.

How Do We Use a Beat Sheet?

Okay, we have a beat sheet with beat descriptions and a bunch of numbers in columns that automatically change to match our word count. What next?

Either during pre-drafting or revisions, we can:

• ensure we have all the beats necessary for good storytelling (the 4 major beats and maybe the 4 minor beats)—look for the scenes/events that fulfill those story needs
• verify the beats create increasing tension and stakes
• make sure our story shows a change from the beginning to the ending
• see where beats should fall page-count or word-count wise and compare that to our story’s actual pacing.

By comparing the expected page number from the beat sheet and the actual page number from our manuscript, we can see the big picture of our story’s pace. The comparison of those two numbers allows us to analyze our story:

• Is our story too slow in places?
• Do we have unnecessary scenes?
• Or have we underdeveloped an idea or reaction?

Beats don’t need to fall on exact page numbers but more than 2-5% off (maybe more in some stories, or for the Minor beats) might indicate a pacing problem. Too many pages between beats might indicate an unnecessary scene.

Once we’re comfortable with beat sheets, we can tell at a glance whether our story is on track or not. However, we should not sacrifice story flow to stick to strict word or page counts. Those numbers are guidelines.

Good story flow and storytelling comes first. Just as our characters shouldn’t be puppets to the plot, we shouldn’t be puppets to the beat sheet. *smile*

If you’re interested in taking your knowledge of beat sheets further, check out my website (for posts about story structure, like a Beat Sheets 101 article), my Worksheets for Writers page (for explanations and links to each of my beat sheets), and my Workshops page.

Note: On May 8, I’ll be running my “Beat Sheet Basics: Know Your Story’s Structure” workshop, a much-expanded version of this post. Use the Promo Code “Jamisave” to save $5!

Are you familiar with beats and beat sheets? Have you used them to plan or revise your stories? Have they helped you before, and if not, what aspect did you struggle with? Do you have any questions about how to use them?

About Jami

After triggering the vampire/werewolf feud with an errant typo, Jami Gold moved to Arizona and decided to become a writer, where she could put her talent for making up stuff to good use. Fortunately, her muse, an arrogant male who delights in making her sound as insane as possible, rewards her with unique and rich story ideas.

Fueled by chocolate, she writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy tales that range from dark to humorous, but one thing remains the same: Normal need not apply. Just ask her family—and zombie cat.

Find Jami at her blog, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Goodreads.

By Chuck Sambuchino

How does a literary agent define their “ideal client”? The question is extremely important because it’s one that factors into an agent’s mindset before and after they sign you.

If an agent has read your complete novel or book proposal and wants to sign you, the next step is almost always to arrange a telephone call where the two of you get to know one another. You ask the questions you want to ask about her and her style; she does the same regarding you and your style. During the phone conversation, the agent is trying to gauge whether you’re compatible enough with her to be signed as a new author in her stable. She’s already sizing up whether you can be a good, long-term client, or close to it.

Then after you sign with the agent, the two of you begin a long process of working with each other—and during this process, again, the agent wants to be working with a dream writer. So no matter if you’re an agented writer or one who might be seeking representation in the future, agents’ definition of “an ideal client” is something you should understand here and now.

Read on to learn what 10 different agents had to say.

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“A mutual respect for one another's time and efforts always goes a long way. I always hate asking an author to drop everything and get me something ASAP, and feel similarly when the roles are reversed.”

- Elisabeth Weed (Weed Literary)

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“A lasting relationship with an agent is not a guarantee. I have let go of clients and they have let go of me. For me, usually communication style is the issue or authors who push the boundaries of the relationship—i.e. try and tell me how to do my job, or when to do my job. I get a great deal of personal satisfaction from my relationships with my clients (more than they know). Life is too short to work with people you don’t like or can’t communicate with well. I value those authors of mine who are patient and understand that they are never far from my mind even if they don’t hear from me. And I adore those clients who make me laugh on a regular basis—you know who you are!”

- Elizabeth Kracht (Kimberley Cameron & Associates)

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“My dream client is someone who believes strongly enough in the work not to be deterred, but who can also be flexible enough to take good editorial advice.”

- Michael Bourret (Dystel & Goderich)

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

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“A dream client is someone who writes wonderfully; understands promotion and knows how to build a tribe; always makes a deadline; is gracious with critique and direction; and is kind, grateful, smart and makes me laugh.”

- Rachelle Gardner (Books & Such Literary)

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“Respect my time.  Don't expect me to constantly call if there's no news to report.  Trust that I know what I'm doing and don't take the advice of writers at conferences or in your writing groups over mine.  Have realistic expectations; don't expect me to drop everything and read your manuscript (a manuscript that took you a year or two to write) immediately.  Understand that publishing moves slowly at times, and I'm just as frustrated as you are if we have to wait for a check, a contract, or a response to a submitted manuscript.”

- Jennifer De Chiara (Jennifer De Chiara Literary)

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“A dream client is one whose talent continually surprises me, and my belief in it is what keeps me on my toes to make sure I'm doing right by his or her work.”

- Brian DeFiore of DeFiore and Company

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“The best writers I work with are flexible and adaptable."

- Carly Watters of P.S. Literary Agency

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“Here are my dream client attributes: a natural ability to write—and well; a good idea of how to build a platform; a good attitude; and perseverance.”

- Dawn Michelle Frederick (Red Sofa Literary)

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“1) Figure out what the best form of communication will be. If you are a person who needs to talk things out on the phone, let your agent know this so he or she can either: know to set time aside for you or let you know what to expect from them in terms of phone time. If you like to send e-mails: I suggest getting all of your questions queued up and sending one message instead of rapid-fire e-mails throughout the day. When you think about all of the back-and-forth that goes on between an agent and an author, it is so important you establish how/when you communicate so you can both be clear and efficient. This can take some practice so both sides need to exercise some patience.

2) Try not to take things personally. This is a tough one. Remember this is a business relationship and while there will certainly be room for creative and friendly conversations, at the end of the day, you are both in this for an end goal: to get published and make some money, yes? Keep an open mind when discussing everything such as ideas for future projects, edits, conversations with editors, and more.

3) Generate lots of ideas. And don't feel you need to execute each one before talking about it with your agent. Be inspired by the world around you and write about what excites you the most. But also be open and realistic about what ideas need to be fleshed out now as opposed to being shelved for later. Some agents like to be involved in this process—if you can get your agent's input, go for it.”

- J.L. Stermer (N.S. Bienstock)

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“Be patient, flexible and let your agent help you navigate what can be a long and winding road to publication, and to future books. Try to remember it’s a marathon and not a sprint.”

- Stacey Glick (Dystel & Goderich)

About Chuck

Chuck Sambuchino of Writer's Digest Books edits the GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS and the CHILDREN'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 guides FORMATTING & 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.

photo credit: Mustafa Sayed via photopin cc