Story Sensei

I'll be back after the holidays! As always, if there are topics you want me to cover, just comment and let me know!

The Gallup Poll website is fascinating. Okay, I admit, I’m a geek. However, it’s also useful in gathering information about the book business, which is important for a writer. Sometimes the statistics are a bit depressing—about 60% (depending on the house, genre, etc.) of all fiction books don’t make back their advance, for example—but other times, the stats can help writers. This is the poll that talks about readers. It’s from 2005, but I think it’s mostly up to date—especially because the numbers are not much different from the 1999 stats, which are also presented. Which of the following is the main way you generally select the books you read -- [ROTATED: based on a recommendation from someone you know, by choosing an author whose books you like, based on book reviews you've read, by browsing a bookstore or library, based on an advertisement you've seen, by browsing an Internet site] -- or do you select them another way? BASED ON 855 ADULTS WHO READ AT LEAST ONE BOOK IN THE...

Your main character’s story problem should be a big enough problem to carry them through the entire story and not be resolved until the climax. If the story problem resolves in the middle, it’s not a strong enough problem. For romance, you also want strong conflict between the hero and heroine so they can’t get together during the story without some serious consequences. There has to be some type of relational conflict keeping them apart. For non-romance, there should be strong conflict between the protagonist and an antagonist. Again, it should be strong enough to keep them from resolving their differences halfway through your story. They should be pitted against each other—with good reason to fight each other—all through the book, not resolving their differences until the climax. The story problem should be deep and personal. Beyond external events, the characters have deep motivations that drive them to fight each other. My friend Janet Dean quoted me this, which she got from bests...

I love romances—I write them and read them—and so I tend to be picky about how romance develops between characters. I got two tips from a workshop given by Jennifer Crusie: Trigger pleasant childhood sensory memories. Early in childhood, we develop sensory memories tied to pleasant events. The cottony smell of Mama’s sewing room, or the buzzing sound of Dad running the saw in his workshop. Happy times linked to smell, sound, touch, taste, or specific visual cues. When two people start to fall in love, one person will trigger one of those pleasant sensory memories in the other. For example, Jenny Crusie gave a scene from her book where the heroine fried eggs in butter for the hero for breakfast. The smell of the butter brought back happy memories of the hero’s mother cooking for him. Another example was when the heroine first glimpses the hero, and he reminds her of the one person she trusts in the world, an old mobster named Joey—the visual cue triggered pleasant memories for her becau...

There are certain elements that can slow your pacing too much, especially in Scenes. While none of these are absolute no-nos (there are few rules in writing that are completely unbreakable), most of the time, these things slow pacing too much in a story and gives the reader a chance to put the book down. Too much introspection. In a Scene, give your character a scene goal and make it happen. Don’t spend too much time in the character’s head, ruminating over things. Focus on action rather than thought. You can have the character emotionally react to things that happen in the scene, but keep it short. Save the introspection for the Sequel. Too much backstory. While you might think the reader needs this information about the character’s past in order to understand the scene, most of the time, the reader can figure things out pretty well. Keep backstory to a minimum. Pepper it into the scene in a single sentence here and there rather than having a paragraph or three all at once. See my ar...

First off, pacing is often a bit subjective . What one reader considers un-put-down-able could be too fast to another reader. What one reader considers lovely, poetic prose could be boring and slow to another reader. You are not going to please everyone. Get used to it. So how do we find the right pacing for our books? Aim for a pace that is right for your story —fast enough to keep the reader enthralled, with “sequels” so that they can catch their breath. Be your own critic in this case. Analyze your story’s pacing and figure out if it needs to be faster, or if it needs more breathing room. Also depend on your critique partners. Often, an unbiased third party can tell you if the pace is too fast, too slow, or just right. Utilize Scene and Sequel. Dwight Swain in Techniques of the Selling Writer says that pacing is dependent on Scene and Sequel . A strong, goal-oriented Scene will increase the story pace because the reader is following the character’s scene goal. The following Sequel ...

You’ve heard the saying from dozens of industry professionals and published authors: Finish your manuscript before you query an agent or editor. But I’ve heard the very valid point from writers that often it takes 4-6 months before you hear back from a query. Why not do 3 chapters, then query, and finish the manuscript while you’re waiting? Why not get the idea out there while you’re working on it? Here’s the reason—the agent/editor may not take 4-6 months to get back to you. They might take 4-6 DAYS. And in this industry, timing is everything. If an agent/editor reads your query and wants the story, they might be thinking, “I know an editor who would want to see an idea like this right now,” or “This type of story idea would be perfect for an empty slot in our line.” If you can’t send them the partial or full manuscript as soon as they ask for it—say it takes you 3 months to finish the manuscript, or let’s be optimistic, say it takes you one month. That one month might already be too ...

In real life, people interrupt each other all the time (especially in my family). Why not have your characters do it, too? It adds a bit of realism and depth to the dialogue, making it sound more natural. Interruptions can also create more variety in your dialogue rhythm. It adds a nice change of pace without being too much of a hitch in the reading flow. Now, don’t go overboard and have people interrupt each other all the time (even though we know that in real life, that can happen). Moderation is the key, as with any writing style. Finishing a sentence: This is a fun type of interruption, when the other character finishes the person’s sentence for them. “This is a private Christian school, kiddo. You sure you’re supposed to be saying that kinda word around here?” Joel asked. Bradley jerked his head around, his eyes rapidly scanning the perimeter as if they’d just come under enemy fire. “N-no. I ain’t supposed to. Good thing my teacher’s not—” “Right behind you, Bradley?” --From A Sol...

When do I use italics in first person POV? The beauty of first person is that it’s immediate. It’s like constantly being in the person’s head, constantly hearing their direct thoughts. In third person POV, direct thoughts are indicated by italics. For example: This is from Only Uni . My heroine, Trish, has just showed up for a New Year’s party. Here’s the original with lots of italics. She glanced down at her dress. Well, at least the cut makes me look curvier and slender at the same time. Ha! I love how well-tailored clothes ensure I don’t have to work as hard to look good. She kicked off her sandals— Oh look, my toes have turned blue from the cold —and they promptly disappeared in the sea of shoes filling the foyer. She swatted away a flimsy paper dragon drooping from the doorframe and smoothed down her skirt. She snatched her hand back and wrung her fingers behind her. Here’s the revised version: At least the expert cut of her dress made her rather average figure curvier and more sl...

by Ronie Kendig from Double Crit editing service Joan stared at the device. A bomb. She’d expect no less of those who’d come after her. Would motion set it off? Afraid to move, she prayed. From nowhere, Joshua appeared. He rushed toward the explosive. “I’ll handle this.” He defused the bomb before she could answer. Enjoyable? Fulfilling? I think not. Too often we write deus ex machina into our story—God from a machine (a concept derived from Greek tragedies)—where a hero/god swoops in and saves the day. Maybe that’s our way of trying to protect our character. Have you ever done that? Become so immersed in your story, that an idea pops into your head. And you think, “Oh, that would be very bad. I can’t let that happen.” How do you respond? Do you let the “very bad” thing happen? Or do you pad protective clutter around your character and story, stifling what could very well be a powerful, emotional experience? I say, LET GO! Let your character experience pain. Allow the villain or cir...

by Ronie Kendig from Double Crit editing service The scene was set. My heroine finally knew she’d fallen in love with the hero. As they stood on a beach, he told her they’d have to keep their distance because he couldn’t focus. So, what did my feisty, independent woman do? She kissed him back. I stopped writing. Staring at the screen, I wondered if that was right. Did it fit with her character? How do you know what is right and what isn’t? Have you done the research to understand personality styles and characterization? Without this vital research, you might have a maiden leading a crusade for women’s liberation. Okay, sure. Anything is possible—but only with the right framework. Only if you’ve established credence to why your character is responding in such a way. For me, the above scenario proved right. My heroine demanded control of a situation. When the hero draws the line, she steps over it. Without the knowledge that my heroine had this flare in her personality, I would’ve rewrit...

by Ronie Kendig from Double Crit editing service I work in the children’s department at a national department store, which means I see a lot of adorable little faces smiling up at me quite often. But every now and then, I see a situation that I know is doomed to end badly. My urge is to rush to the rescue. Protect that child (and yes, the store from a law suit! LOL). We all have instincts and urges to protect others. Unfortunately, those very urges can stifle or even kill our fiction. Recently I read a chapter for one of my critique partners. The story was enjoyable and the writing very good. However, I felt the author was protecting the heroine by not wanting to push her. How often have you done that? Go to write a scene and you stop, thinking, There is no way I can do that to my heroine/hero. Why not? Why can’t you put your characters through the grinder? It happens in real life every day. I challenge all writers to push your characters PAST their limits, see what they’re made of. Wh...

Visit the November Carnival of Christian Writers at Writer . . . Interrupted

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas... A few years ago, I came across an article on gifts for writers, and I expanded on it with an article of my own. If you have ideas, leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list! This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but it might help jump-start some other creative ideas. Some of these taken from All I Want for Christmas by Diana Rowe Martinez . I also have several Levenger.com products because I like them and think they’re wonderful gifts for readers/writers. • Gift certificate to any of the major bookstores--Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, Borders, Christianbook.com, or my favorite, Amazon.com (cheaper books, free shipping on orders over $25, and no sales tax) • Gift certificate to Office Depot or any office supply store • Dictionary and/or Thesaurus--one of the biggest and most comprehensive. My favorite thesaurus is the Visual Thesaurus , which you can purchase as a CD and/or subscribe to the online version, which is constantly upda...

I just got back from vacation so I'm gearing up for more posts. In the meantime, here's a post on cliche characters and contests at the Seekerville blog .

After the blog tour: Take a breath and rejoice—it’s done! Take time to thank everyone who participated. If anyone did a book giveaway, remind them to draw the name and give you the mailing address (if you’ll be mailing the books to the winners). Now look at see what could have been done better. Did it take way too much of your time? Consider hiring someone to do the emailing and blog posting for you next time. You’ll still need to do the interview questions and write guest blog posts, however, so schedule time in for that. Or maybe you don’t care about original content and would be happy with just the book blurb and your bio on a bunch of blogs during a few days. Decide what you want and how much time you’re willing to spend on it. Did you get people their interview questions or guest blog posts in time? If not, then try to schedule more time for yourself next time before the blog tour starts. Also, what I do is do the interview the day I receive it (or the next day if it’s late in the...

During the blog tour: Permalinks: During the blog tour, post on your blog each day and link to the blog hosting you for that day. When the blogger has put up your post, change the link on your daily blog post and your Blog Tour Schedule to the permalink for that particular post. For example, before the tour started, I had: Alison Strobel Morrow interviews my chick-litty self, and I give the original blurb for Sushi for One that I used for my proposal. The link to Alison’s blog was just her main blog page, http://alisonstrobel.blogspot.com/. However, after she posted the interview with me, I changed the link to http://alisonstrobel.blogspot.com/2007/09/sushi-for-one_14.html, which is the permalink on her blog for that particular post. Alison Strobel Morrow interviews my chick-litty self, and I give the original blurb for Sushi for One that I used for my proposal. That way, when people click on the link to Alison’s blog, it will take them directly to the post with the interview. I cha...

Logistics, continued: The Blog Tour Schedule, continued: If you have a blog, prepare a post for each day that will highlight that day’s blog stops. You can pre-date the posts so that they’re ready to just post when the day arrives. Here’s an example of day thirteen on my blog tour . I pre-wrote each day’s post (day thirteen, day fourteen, etc.) so that as each day came, I just posted and didn’t have to worry about writing anything. Essentially, I just copied the short sentence from my blog tour schedule . Email reminders: Ahead of time, write an email for each person on the blog tour to remind them that they’re posting “tomorrow, [Month, date].” Save these emails as drafts so that you can just click and send the day before the blogger is scheduled to post for your tour. In these emails, resend your Interview questions or Guest Blog post, and also resend .jpgs of you and your book cover. Giving away books: This is an option you can offer to your bloggers. They can give away books how...

Logistics: Make sure you’ve scheduled everything on either a spreadsheet or a calendar. For each day of the tour, make sure you have written down which blogger, their blog address, and whether they’re doing a review, interview, or guest blog post, or a combination of all three. Also write down if you’ve received the interview questions yet. If you haven’t, email them to remind them to send them to you so you have time to get the answers back to them in good time. Also write down if you’ve written their guest blog post yet. Try to get that done before the blog tour even starts. Pictures: Make sure you’ve emailed everyone .jpg files of yourself and your book cover so they can post them with the review, interview, or guest blog post. The Blog Tour Schedule: If you have a blog, prepare a draft of a post that will include all the stops on your blog tour. Link each stop to the blogger’s blog address so your blog readers can click on it to get to the blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can ...

Content, continued: Guest blog posts: The blogger will ask you to write a short blog post, often on a topic of their choosing. Usually the topic is in line with the blog’s theme or the blogger’s interests. Sometimes they’ll say to just blog about whatever you feel like. Even when given carte blanche like this, try to aim the blog post toward the blogger’s theme. For example, when blogging for Sharon Hinck , I wrote about superheroes in my life since her theme is “The Superhero in all of us.” When blogging for Mary DeMuth , I wrote about authenticity since Mary’s blog is very authentic. I also managed to sneak in info on my writing and my books, since the blog tour is essentially to get the word out about you. Try to keep your guest blog posts SHORT. I try to aim for 250 – 500 words. Do NOT run on for more than 750 words maximum, and only do that if the blogger has asked you to address several things in your blog post. Scheduling: Some blog tours schedule one person per day. Others le...