Story Sensei

My friend Danica blogged about some Common Contest Problems , and her post might be a helpful checklist for anyone trying to strengthen those first 50 pages of their manuscript: I'm doing my civic duty and judging some contest entries today. I had really high hopes for this one. In years past, I've read such good entries that I wanted to write the contest people, begging to read the rest of the manuscript. This year, not so much. As I read each entry, I realized that they all had the same problems in common. So I thought, for the writers who read my blog, I'd share the commonalities. Click here to read the rest of the post.

For those of you writing suspense, thriller, and mystery, Pat Bertram had Katherine Ramsland on her blog. Katherine is a respected writer who has published several books on criminals, criminal psychology, and CSI. (I have one of her books around here somewhere...) We have many myths attached to serial killers in our culture, most of them from outdated studies or from fiction and film. While those early studies had their merits, they’re not, and never were, representative of serial killers as a whole. Click here to read the rest of the article

Did you know that the right character name can make your manuscript more vibrant or powerful? I wrote this article, which originally appeared on Suite101. Make Great Character Names Add Depth and Emotion By Naming Your Characters Carefully Be judicious in how you name your characters, paying attention to details and not just name meanings, in order to add color, depth, and power to your characters. When naming characters, many writers only pay attention to how a name sounds or what a name means, but there are other things to keep in mind when you name your characters. Choosing a good name and paying attention to certain details can: Add power and depth to a character Make the manuscript less confusing Make the manuscript more polished and professional Create smoother reading pace Evoke an emotional reaction in your reader Choose a Name With Meaning These days, the Internet has many resources to find names and their meanings. Any baby name site will offer almost ...

This is continuing my series on things to look for in your first page. Click here for part two. Establish the protagonist Your first paragraph (ideally—or at least the first several lines of the book) should mention one of the main protagonists by name. The first page of the book is one place where you can break with deep point of view and mention the entire main character’s name, even though technically, in deep point of view, the main character would only think of him/herself by a first name. This was not the smartest way to die. USAF Pararescue Jumper Manny Péna grunted, tensed his muscles and tried again to flare the canopy on his parachute. No go. -- A Soldier’s Family by Cheryl Wyatt It’s usually best to start the story in the main protagonist’s point of view , opening the storyworld from the protagonist’s eyes, being in her thoughts and body. Allison Stewart’s future hung in the balance. Her job. Her research. Her attempt to make a difference. -- Countdown to Death by Debby G...

As many of you know, I belong to the American Christian Fiction Writers organization, and a topic came up on the email discussion loop that I wanted to tell you guys about. Sometimes, an ACFW member will email the loop asking for a quick critique, and usually people are more than willing to take a quick look at a piece of writing. One member did that last week. In response, another member raved about his ACFW critique group, and encouraged other members to take advantage of ACFW's free critique group service. What ACFW offers for every member is their free critique group program. A coordinator will assign a member to an online critique group. The groups are usually small, no more than 5 or 6 people, and most of them are smaller than that. The groups are matched according to genre, if you prefer. You can also request a group that can keep up with your writing speed--critiquing one chapter a week or one chapter a month, whichever you can keep up with. If a group doesn...

I got this great link from Mary Connealy: Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)

(This was originally published on another blog, but I reposted it here.) Camy here, talking about the one thing I struggle against the most when it comes to writing—myself. I don’t like it, but I am a very emotional writer. Meaning, my writing motivation is often fed by my feelings. I find I write less in wintertime because the season makes me a little depressed, more sluggish, less motivated. I know I’m not alone. Other times during the year, when something happens to emotionally impact me, my writing goes out the window. High stress situations will also sap my creativity. This is not a good thing when I’m under deadline. While my editor might be sympathetic, I’m still UNDER CONTRACT to turn in a manuscript. A publishing house is a business, and I have been hired as a freelance contractor to deliver goods (my manuscript) on time. In short, I’m still struggling to find a way to write despite depression, despite stress, despite distraction, because it’s my JOB to write, and ...

I wrote this article, which originally appeared on Suite101, about how you can self-edit yourself into more vibrant prose. Strengthen Prose With Judicious Words Be Selective in Word Choices for Vibrant Writing and Strong Writer’s Voice A writer can bump their writing up to the next level and make it sparkle by being careful and thoughtful about each word used. Many times, editors will say that the writer’s “voice” in a manuscript is what catches their attention. Voice is hard to define, even for industry professionals. It’s that intangible something that makes a string of prose unique to the author, and a strong voice is what will make an editor interested in a manuscript. But one thing common to all writers who have strong writers’ voices is that their word choices and phrasing are very unique and vibrant. Whether you have discovered and developed your writer’s voice or not, here are a few tips for polishing your writing to make it stand out more with strong words and br...

This is continuing my series on things to look for in your first page. Click here for part one. Figure out where to start your story You don’t need cars blowing up or gunfights or a grotesque witch dying a horrible death to open your story (although if you do have those things, that’s a good thing, too). All you need is something different. You need something unusual happening that will perk your reader’s attention. You need something disrupting the character’s normal life. You need just the intimation of some type of change or upheaval. This means you don’t start with backstory or telling or explanations about who the character is and why they’re there and what has happened to him before this scene. You start with the action spurred on by Change in the character’s life. I’ve seen too many manuscripts that started in the wrong place. The character’s “ordinary world” is introduced, but it’s not an active, engaging opening for the story. You need to start with the change to the characte...

I'm a mentor for the Mount Hermon HeadStart mentoring clinic this year! The HeadStart clinic is a couple days before Mount Hermon Writers Conference, April 1-3, 2009. HeadStart is mostly for beginning writers (intermediate writers can take the regular Mentoring Clinic given during Mount Hermon Writer's Conference). I hope that those of you who can will come and take my mentoring class! Mary DeMuth, who's also a mentor for HeadStart, made this really cute video that gives a little more info about who the HeadStart clinic is for and what you can get out of it.

I’m going to be doing a series on things to look for in your first page. Why just the first page? Realistically, that first page is all you have. That’s what will either grab an editor or make him/her put the manuscript in the reject pile. Editors have very little time, and they get thousands of manuscripts a year. If they’re not hooked by that first page, most will not bother to read on to the second page. Editors just don’t have time anymore to “grow” an author and help them improve his/her writing. In past decades in publishing, an editor might contract an author with incredible potential and help them to become a better writer with successive books. That doesn’t happen anymore. A debut author that’s contracted these days has to have very strong writing skills right off the bat—an editor will not contract a writer who’s “good but not quite there.” It’s the same with a reader. Think of yourself in a bookstore. There are thousands of books on the shelves. How do you decide which book...

Here is an example from my own query letter, written for one of my old Asian chick lit novels when I was still unpublished. This was originally published on Suite101. An Example From Real Life Here is a bio paragraph from a real query letter from an author who was unpublished at the time. The credential or bio section of a query letter is important because it lists why the writer is qualified to write the novel being proposed in the query. It also shows the agent or editor the writer’s experience in the publishing industry and in the writing craft. The best way to learn is by example, so here is an example bio paragraphs from a real query letter from the author, who was unpublished at the time she sent this query. There are also comments about each section of the bio paragraph at the end of the example. Example One Here is an example from a query letter this author submitted when still unpublished. The novel was an Asian American chick lit novel. This novel explores the ...

I just critiqued a query letter and answered a few questions about the credentials paragraph. So I wrote this article, which originally was published on Suite 101. Make Your Bio Powerful and Informative Here are a few tips to make the bio section of a query letter as good as it can be. An important part of query letters is the credential or bio paragraph. It should do two things: 1) Let the editor or agent know why you are qualified to write the novel and its topics 2) Let the editor or agent know that you have publishing credits and writing connections to show you’re not inexperienced in the publishing industry. Show You Are Qualified A writer should show that they are qualified to write a novel’s settings, issues, themes, or character professions. If the novel is about firefighters, a bio should mention the writer is the son of a firefighter or married to one, or is a firefighter himself. If the novel is set in the Michigan upper peninsula, the writer should mention...

We're all feeling the financial crunch, but what's an unpublished writer to do when there are so many things you need to buy to develop your craft? I wrote this article, which originally appeared on Suite101. A Writing Career on a Budget Money-Saving Tips for Novelists Here are tips for developing writing skills, improving craft, and taking advantage of resources inexpensively. An unpublished novelist is stuck in a catch-22. He can’t make money until he sells a novel, but he can’t sell a novel until he develops his craft, which usually requires money. Here are some tips for developing your writing craft while limited by a budget. Take Advantage of Free Stuff These days, there are tons of writing articles online that teach the basics of writing. Google is your best friend. There are many websites that have lists of links to free articles. One of my favorites is Resources for Romance Writers . While many of the articles do pertain to romance, much of the informati...

I am agented by Books and Such, and they've just started a blog! http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/ They'll be posting 5 days a week, and they'll also have a Newsflash feature where they'll be posting every new and juicy tidbit from the world of publishing.

Noah Lukeman now has his article, "How to write a great query letter" available as a free download! Way cool! How to write a great query letter

Feedback can sometimes be vague, can't it? I wrote an article that might help you improve your story when the feedback is not so helpful. This article originally appeared on Suite101. Increase Character Conflict Make Characters and the Story More Interesting By Increasing Conflict Here are some tips for making a bland or episodic story more interesting by introducing deep character conflicts. Sometimes, a writer will get feedback that the characters are unlikable or uninteresting, or the story is only “okay.” This is usually a good indication that the story needs more conflict. For popular fiction, the best type of conflict involves personal character conflict. Some writers refer to this as “throwing rocks” at your character. This type of internal conflict can also directly impact the external storyline, so you get maximum bang for your writing buck. Conflict will automatically create more interest for readers because they want to see how the protagonist responds unde...

This article originally appeared as a series of blog posts in November and December 2008 . Here are all the posts collected together. Building a blog These days, blogging is a great way to express yourself and/or to market a product you might have. Blogging is cheap, easy, and can be a lot of fun. But while anyone can blog, how do you create an effective blog? Here are a few tips, broken down into Blogging Logistics and Blog Content. (Before I begin, I also want to mention that blogging isn’t for everyone. Not everyone likes to blog, and that’s perfectly fine. I think that no one should feel forced to blog—if you don’t like blogging, then don’t blog. But if you do enjoy blogging, this is a series of articles to help you make a better blog.) Blogging Logistics: Blog consistently. Good blogs have bloggers who post consistently and often. Most of these bloggers post five days a week, taking Saturday and Sunday off since blogs usually have lower traffic on weekends. Ideally, a blogger who ...

The Story Sensei blog is taking a break from Christmas to New Year's. Have a great holiday season!

This article I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Knowing Your Characters Some Tips for Getting Into Your Character’s Story Here are some ways to know your character more deeply, which might solve plot or story problems as you write your novel.
 Many times, when a writer has hit a wall when writing their novel, it could be that the writer just doesn’t know the character well enough. It doesn’t take much to hinder the creative process. Even not knowing a character’s preference for vanilla or chocolate ice cream can cramp the flow of words. Not knowing more major things like the character’s deep core values behind their motivations can be equally deadly to a novel’s progress. So whether the writer is someone who plots the story before he/she writes or who just goes at it, exercises for getting to know the character can be done either before or during a novel’s creation. Utilize Character Charts There are several good character charts available on the internet these day...