Writers in the Storm

We're always happy when Laura quits juggling chainsaws long enough to share a blog!

By Laura Drake

What is theme? You can read the whole definition here, but the gist is: it’s a common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work.

Why use theme? Here's a great article that explains, but the bottom line is that it helps the reader connect to your characters. These are common threads of the human experience; subjects that everyone has had to confront in their lives.

Following are some examples (you can read the full article here.)

• Love
• Loss
• Good vs Evil
• Coming of Age
• Friendship

I was reading an article in the RWR yesterday by Claudia Welch, concerning using theme in writing. when it occurred to me.

We all have a theme in our lives – a thread at our core we keep returning to, because the complexity fascinates us.

I’m not even sure that we choose it; it’s a result of our life experiences, the conclusions we draw from them. They shape the paths we choose to walk.

I think authors are lucky; we get to create characters to work out issues in our own lives, to our better satisfaction. When you do that, you can’t help but confront the themes of your life.

Until today, I thought the theme that I explored in my writing was one of running. It makes sense I’d think that, since:

• My first novel was about an itinerant building contractor, trying to outrun nightmares on her motorcycle.
• My second novel involved a woman just released from prison for a crime she didn’t commit, who leaves her Yuppie lifestyle behind to become a groom on a horse ranch.
• My third novel was about a woman who retreats into Valium addiction when her young son is killed in an accident.

Yes, the idea of running threads through them all, but I realized today that it’s not my theme.

The protagonists in all my books begin by running, but that isn’t the story. The story takes place when they stop running – and turn to face whatever it is they’re running from.

I’m endlessly fascinated by people's bravery in confronting and slaying their demons.

I realized my theme is integrity.

What about you? What is your life’s theme?

Writers In The Storm welcomes back Kara Lennox, a.k.a. Karen Leabo for some more plot-fixing magic. Look for Kara's writing tips the first Friday of every month. (Here are the links for  Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)  Kara is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than sixty novels of romance and romantic suspense for Harlequin and Random House. AND she’s a 2012 DOUBLE RITA Finalist!

by Kara Lennox

This is the fourth in an ongoing series of Plot Fixer blogs by Kara Lennox.

Plot Problem #5

Weak conflict

As I said in the previous blog, conflict is everything in fiction. (Well, okay, maybe great characters are important, too.) But conflict drives your story. Readers love it.

Here is what conflict is not:

Conflict is not constant bickering. When a hero and heroine bicker all the time, it just gets tedious. Have you ever known a real couple like this? They pick each other apart at every turn, and you wonder why in the world they ever got together, and if they think so little of each other, why don't they just walk away? If your fictional characters do the same thing, your reader will feel just as uncomfortable.

It's not that the hero and heroine can't argue or discuss. But their dialogue must have substance. Or it must be hilarious, one or the other. They must challenge each other. Decisions must be made. Secrets must be revealed. Arguing must move the plot forward. Avoid going over the same ground again and again. Often, the very best conflict scenes contains subtext; maybe the argument appears trivial, but it hides deeper issues.

Conflict is not a disagreement that could easily be resolved with a five-minute conversation. If the hero sees the heroine hugging a strange man on page 20 and concludes she is cheating on him, only to find out at the end of the book that the man was her brother, this is not conflict. (You could, however, make this a vehicle to show that the hero is jealous. But the misunderstanding can't be any sort of major plot point, dragged out for chapter after chapter.)

Conflict is not something that either party can simply walk away from. If it is, you either have no book, or you have to invent reasons to keep the hero and heroine on the page together. For example, if the hero and heroine both want the same job, that is a conflict. But if one gets the job, the other doesn't. Logically, the loser will go off and get a different job, and you have no story. Either they have to compete for the job throughout the whole book, or they both have to get the job and be forced to cooperate. (Enemies forced to cooperate for their mutual survival always works well.) Whatever the conflict is, it has to keep those two characters interacting when they would both rather escape.

 So what makes a good conflict?

Conflict stems not just from what characters do or want, but from who they are, what they believe in, their values, their strengths and weaknesses. That's why it's hard to separate plot from character, because they must be intertwined.

A good conflict has external and internal aspects. Some people think of internal and external conflicts as two separate things; I tend to see it as a spectrum. It's all the same conflict, but the conflict manifests on a superficial level at first, then at a deeper level as the hero and heroine become more involved, reveal more parts of themselves, more bits of their history, their secrets.

Here is an example, simple to understand. In my Harlequin American Romance, THE PREGNANCY SURPRISE, the hero and heroine both want to help an elderly lady, who breaks her hip, run her bed-and-breakfast while she recuperates. The hero is a hard-nosed accountant. Everything for him is facts and figures, black and white. He does everything carefully and with precision. He likes routine and doesn't take risks. The heroine is a free spirit. She is emotional and disorganized. They naturally have very different ideas about how to run the B&B, and at first that is how their conflict manifests. But they grow close as they each come to realize how much the other cares for the old lady. They see each other's goodness and begin to fall in love. But the heroine has messy emotions. She wants to jump into love with both feet. The hero is much more cautious and doesn't want to risk his heart. He has to think things through, weigh all of the consequences. So this is a more internal manifestation of their intrinsic differences.

This is a story about compromise. Each of them has to change a little and compromise a little to forge a relationship.

If your hero and heroine seem too happy, you haven't built up enough conflict. They can be happy together--for brief periods--because you do want the reader to believe these two can live the rest of their lives together in wedded bliss. (Did you ever see HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS? The heroine was a nightmare of a girlfriend--except for those brief scenes where they went to the basketball game together, and when she met his family and showed her true personality.) What makes a "happy scene" work is when the reader knows it can't last. They know the secret that will tear the couple apart. They know the villain is lurking in the background, ready to strike.

As in the above example, sometimes a conflict can be derived from a secret one or the other character is keeping--the old secret-baby plot, for example. The trick is to make the secret come out at the worst possible time--just when they're starting to overcome whatever conflict broke them up in the first place. The trick with that type of plot is, the characters have to have very good reasons for not telling the secret, or it begins to seem very manipulated. You don't want the reader screaming, "FOR GOD'S SAKE, JUST TELL HIM!"

Plot Problem #6

Too many conflicts

This is what I call the "kitchen sink" approach to plotting. Lacking a strong, emotional conflict, the writer chucks in every reason she can think of that these two people can't just get along.

Take a hero and heroine who are neighbors. Perhaps they start out in conflict over a fence. The heroine likes the way all of the back yards on their block open out to one large green space where all the children play. The hero takes his privacy very seriously and decides to build a fence around his yard, spoiling the green space.

Okay. That's a start. Then the hero and heroine argue because her dog gets into his garbage. Then they disagree because he is a lawyer and her ex-husband was a lawyer who took her for everything in the divorce. Then they disagree because he likes foreign cars and she buys American. I'm exaggerating here, but a whole bunch of small conflicts don't add up to a big conflict.

Let's go back to the fence. How can we take this external conflict, and deepen it, to make it strong and internalized and central to the characters' very beings? Privacy. He doesn't want anyone knowing his business or watching him. Maybe he grew up in a crowded foster home, where there was no privacy. And maybe she grew up in a wealthy but cold home, where everyone had their walls, real walls and emotional walls, and she longs to share and have everybody be one happy family all around her? Maybe she can't have children.

Well, you see where I'm going with this. Dig deep to find the roots of strong, emotional conflict. One conflict, many aspects, that will carry your book for 200-400 pages.

Do you have questions about the conflict in your WIP or about conflict in your writing in general? Go ahead, put that conflict out in the open with a comment.

Kara Lennox, author of Project Justice series for Harlequin SuperRomance

Five titles now available in e-book or print!

Taken to the Edge / Nothing But the Truth / A Score to Settle / Outside the Law 

For Just Cause now available!

Writers in the Storm welcomes Susan Spann, contributing guest for Part 4 of her Publishing Decisions series.

by Susan Spann

Thanks for joining me today as we continue our look at publishing paths and how smart authors choose between them.

Last month we talked about “getting busy” with writing goals and business plans– because authors should never forget that writing is a business as well as an avocation.

When deciding between traditional publication, independent publishing, and the increasingly-popular hybrid career, authors need to pay special attention to personal skills, particularly the ones that translate to platform, marketing and sales.

Audience and platform are critical to publishing success.

“Platform” refers to an author’s visibility, reach and authority within his or her chosen publishing sphere. Authors with wide reach and a reputation for expertise have a wide (or “visible”) platform, and authors with an established platform generally sell better than those without – regardless of the publishing path they pursue.

Nonfiction authors who choose traditional publication usually need a platform before an agent or publisher will show interest in their work. Fiction operates a little differently, in that many first-time novelists have no platform (or only a small one) beforehand – they develop a platform through or in connection with their novels.

Independent authors can either develop a platform in advance or build a following through their work, though as a general rule self-published authors may see more initial sales if they have a network and platform in place before a book launches. Without the support of an imprint or publisher book buyers recognize, the indie author depends heavily on blurbs, reviews, and the power of his or her name.

This doesn’t mean that authors with an audience should always self-publish, or that authors without a platform should despair. The rise of social media makes it easier than ever for authors to build a following – but the size and reach of existing platform is one factor writers should weigh when making decisions among the publishing paths.

Marketing and personal skills can help – or hurt – your writing career.

Authors must learn effective interpersonal and promotional skills, regardless of publishing path. The days of writing a novel and sending it off, unsupported, for the publisher to sell have passed away like the rotary phone and the once-beloved typewriter.

Successful 21^st Century authors engage their readers on the page and off it.

Without a publisher to assist with sales and marketing efforts, the independent author has primary responsibility for spreading the word about his or her published work. Fortunately, self-published authors don’t have to walk this road alone – writers, bloggers, reviewers, and other contacts will gladly partner with independent authors to promote their works. Don’t have extensive contacts? Make some, using Twitter, blog comments and social media – and don’t forget to make connections in the real world too!

Traditionally published authors can’t sit on their publishing laurels when it comes to marketing, either. Most publishers won’t spend large sums of money promoting an author’s work.

Successful authors of every kind must develop a marketing plan and carry it out. This means studying marketing tactics, learning what works for your type of writing, and most of all … being personable, not pushy.

Remember: nobody likes a spammer. Marketing requires more than tweeting your title and Amazon link a hundred times a day. The best sales aren’t “made” or “closed” – they’re chosen by a buyer who thinks a product deserves attention. Readers are far more likely to buy your work – regardless of the publishing method – if they like you. Meeting and interacting with people, in person or online, does more for your sales than a thousand hollers of “BUY MY BOOK.” Promotion, like everything else, requires balance. It’s a learned skill – and it’s never too early to start the learning process.

Technical skills are important – but they don’t have to be yours!

Independent authors can either choose to typeset and format their works themselves or hire someone to handle the process for them. This can be either a publishing service or a professional specializing in file conversion, and the process can include editing or not, as the author chooses.

While technical skills are important to the self-published author who wants to keep costs as low as possible, they’re no longer a requirement for authors who choose an independent path. That said, an author should not “go indie” without investigating the process and evaluating the costs and technical skills involved in choosing that path.

Traditional authors don’t typeset and format their works for publication. The publisher handles that side of the business, making the “technical research” somewhat easier. In short: there isn’t any. This is a benefit of surrendering control to the publishing house – the traditional author’s business partner handles the technical details.

What you don’t do can be as important as what you do.

Up to now, we’ve focused on different factors authors should consider when making decisions about a publishing career. We’ve talked about goals and skills and business plans. Next month, we’ll step off the well-paved path and examine the thorny side of publishing decisions – the traps and pitfalls that often draw authors away from the right decision and into the one they later regret.

Have or questions about this entry or other issues of publishing business and law? Please hop into the comments – I love to hear from you!

Susan Spann is a publishing attorney and author who practices in Sacramento, California. CLAWS OF THE CAT, the debut novel in her SHINOBI mystery series featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori, will be published by Thomas Dunne Books in Spring 2013. Susan blogs about writing, publishing law and seahorses at http://www.SusanSpann.com