Story Sensei

This is a great blog post by literary agent Lori Perkins that published or not, you'll want to read. Very interesting. I hope it drives you to be that marketable, excellent-writing-craft writer. Published Writers Who Can't Get Agents

The faboo writers at the FAITH blog ask me some great writing questions.

I’m on Tina Ann Forkner’s blog , talking about chick lit in the CBA, and where I think it's going. Anyone who writes humorous women's fiction might want to check it out. Update: Someone hijacked Tina's blog and she switched to Wordpress, but lost the guest blog post. So, I'm posting it here. Enjoy! The evolution of chick lit We’ve all heard it—chick lit is dead. And let’s face it, after a while, it’s a bit tiring to read about yet another designer-clad, latte-chugging single girl in the city. Some people don’t realize that chick lit has always been a subgenre of women’s fiction. Yup, that angsty stuff. Think about it—it’s about a woman/girl’s personal journey. It’s not necessarily a romance. She travels from one state of mind, heart, job, and living situation into another. She might pick up a guy along the way, but not necessarily, because her existence doesn’t require male accompaniment. But what sets chick lit apart—at least for me—is that it’s funny and it’s real. I...

I talk about how I do “big picture” manuscript critiques on Missy Tippens’ blog

Come by and visit Gina Conroy’s blog for the top ten mistakes I see in fiction manuscripts. Update : Sorry guys, originally I posted this on the 12th, but Gina's post is actually up TODAY, March 14th.

“The most important sentence in an article is the first one. If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence your article is dead. And if the second sentence doesn’t induce him to continue to the third sentence, it’s equally dead. Of such a progression of sentences, each tugging the reader forward until he is hooked, a writer constructs that fateful unit, the ‘lead.’” --William Zinsser, On Writing Well The quote is referring to nonfiction articles, but it applies equally well to your fiction manuscript’s opening hook. There’s something about a terrific opening line that pulls me immediately into the story. It builds anticipation in the reader that this will be a GREAT story, not just an okay one, because the very first line is so intriguing. Here are some examples of good opening lines: Scene transitions – opening hooks The opening of your manuscript is not the place to be lazy or sloppy with your writing. Make every sentence count, because that reader picking your bo...

Today, I give some hard advice for writers on the Shades of Romance blog . Update: I corrected the wrong link.

I’m a HUGE Star Trek Voyager fan, and I’ve been watching the reruns on SpikeTV. I really like the character Seven of Nine. For you non Star Trek fans, Seven is a human woman who was a Borg (mindless cyborg) for most of her life, but Captain Janeway rescued her from the Borg collective and is teaching her how to be an individual. Much of her storyline is Seven learning to be a unique individual after being just like all the other mindless, unethical Borgs. Sometimes the situations she gets herself into are humorous, other times they are heartbreaking or bittersweet. Seven is a good example of a character who already IS unique. She has two aspects her character that make her so unique: (1) Her backstory as a Borg is already unusual and (2) her striving to become someone different gives the audience something to root for. Her goal of overcoming a complete LACK of individuality is a very different sort of character arc. Seven’s example also teaches me, as a writer, to work harder to break ...

By Julie Lessman When I finished my first novel A Passion Most Pure over six years ago, revision was a dirty word. I mean, my keyboard was still warm from giving birth to this epic dream of mine, and the brunt of the labor was basically done, right? Uh, no. As author Michael Lee so aptly states, “The first draft reveals the art, revision reveals the artist.” So once I got off the birthing table and learned THAT lesson, the process of revision became what author Bernard Malamud calls “one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.” And for me, it truly is! So what are my favorite revision rules of thumb? I’m glad you asked. Five Top Writing Tips I Could NOT Do Without: 1.) The writer classic: Show rather than tell! EXAMPLE: Mitch leaned forward, furious with her. BETTER: Mitch jerked forward, the muscles in his jaw tensing. 2.) Ditch the “ly” adverbs and go for powerful verbs to convey your emotions. My writer’s Bible is The Synonym Finder by J.A. Rodale—wonderful tool! EXAMPLE: She glance...

by Mary Connealy Click here for part two Once you have the internal conflict the characters begin to take shape. Because the internal conflict is often rooted in their past, their internal conflict is part of developing three dimensional characters. As you do that, you start to know how the h/h will react, what drives them, how will they speak and move. What sets them off, and what gets past their defenses? You know you’ve written a really good book when you dig a chasm between them so deep that it’s almost (did I say almost? I meant absolutely) impossible to breach it. I wrote a novel once where I thought I’d have to bag the story. I just couldn't solve their problem—they were both right—neither of them had any reason to give, each of them would actually be wrong to give in, and it didn't even make sense for them to give. You know you're on to something when the conflict is this juicy, this much of a stumbling block, the only thing that will get th...

by Mary Connealy Click here for part one It's easy to muddle internal and external conflict. The external conflict bleeds into the internal conflict and before you know it, it's hard to say which is which. Here are some examples of external conflict from my own books. External Conflict Sophie’s no-account husband taught her the hard way to do everything herself before he was hanged as a horse thief. Clay grew up in the Rocky Mountains with his fur trapping father and no women anywhere. Idyllic. Now he’s injured and at the mercy of a woman and her four daughters and not a one of them will mind him. In Petticoat Ranch I've created one of my favorite external conflicts. She’s been surviving with her own strength for years, starting long before her husband died. He’s barely spoken to a woman. All he knows is: The men are supposed to be in charge. She’s heard that too, but what if the orders he gives are stupid? For the perfect external conflict ju...

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner asked a few fiction authors what they did/do to build their marketing platforms. I was one of them! Go check it out: Fiction Platform There's a lot of good information from all the authors she interviewed.

by Mary Connealy What would Gone with the Wind be like if Scarlett and Rhett had gotten along beautifully from the very beginning? What if Romeo and Juliet had been fixed up by their parents who were close friends? What if Ariel hadn't been a mermaid wearing a girl suit? Would we even remember them, would we have kept turning the pages? Conflict is what hooks a reader and makes the story interesting. If everyone gets along fine, there's no book. A romance novel needs each character to have two conflicts, an external conflict and an internal conflict. Yes, you can have an "it's us against the world" theme. Yes, you can write a book where the h/h are compatible and work for a common goal, but that's not a romance novel—that’s the Peace Corp. If you want to write within the romance formula, get yourself an external and internal conflict. External conflict is the easy one for me. External really is only one because it's the story—the plot—the mess you make tha...

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner posted this awesome update on the current trends in CBA . Just to let you know: This update is referring to what publishers are BUYING NOW, not necessarily what they'll be buying in a few months, so don't start that new historical unless you can finish it in three months or so.

The charm he exuded almost overwhelmed her. Anger surged through him, burning behind his eyes. Nervousness settled in her knees, making them wobble. I read these sentences, but I don't feel what the characters felt. The sentences distance me from the characters. One thing the first page has to do is grab your reader and rivet them to the story. One way is to pull the reader into the character's skin. The reader becomes the character, feeling and thinking as if they are that person. They feel what the character feels. This calls for more subtlety and vivid word choices. Describe physical sensations so that your reader will feel it too. There are certain words, turns of phrase, cadences that trigger a similar physical reaction in your reader so they actually almost physically feel what the character feels. I popped the lemon slice in my mouth, biting down hard on the soft fruit flesh, feeling the liquid squirt throughout my mouth, zapping my tongue. Now confess, didn't your ...

A Place for Writers Seeking Publication Who : For anyone on the journey toward publication who needs some direction, practical tips, and wisdom from professionals who have been there. What : An online place full of practical, hands-on tips for writers seeking publication. Where : http://www.wannabepublished .blogspot.com . The blog is called " So You Want To Be Published " When : Anytime your fancy strikes you . Why: To bypass years of trying to figure out the bookselling industry, the writing world, or the tangled web of getting published . Get wise advice in one easy place. How: Nonfiction and fiction author Mary DeMuth (author of five books with four on the way) remembers what it's like to be wide-eyed and naïve about publishing. She's passionate about helping new writers, but since her writing and speaking schedule is filling up, she's decided to funnel her ...

DiAnn Mills recently asked me this question in an interview: What are the most challenging problems for writers? For most writers, the writing is easy—most writers can’t NOT write. But a lot of writers worry about if they’ll get published or if God wants them to be published and when. I had the same fears before being contracted, and I still have the same fears now that my last contract has ended. The difference for me was that I’d already laid down my writing because God told me to, and He’d clearly given me permission to take it up again, so I knew for a fact that writing was what God wanted me to do. I think writers need to CONSTANTLY examine themselves in prayer and with an open Bible. If God asked you to, would you be willing to give up your writing? Would you be like Abraham, willing to trust God enough to sacrifice Isaac? Your answer says a lot about your attitude about your writing—do you consider your writing yours or God’s? If our writing is God’s, then we trust Him even if w...

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...