Story Sensei

I'm over at Cheryl Wyatt's blog today talking about the Basic Building Blocks of Good Story Structure: Hey there! This is Camy Tang, and Cheryl is letting me guest blog today! She wanted me to talk about the basic building blocks of good story structure because I tend to naturally look at stories on a structural level. When I do telephone consultations for my Story Sensei critique service, most of my clients are looking for help to fix their novels’ story structures. Click here to read the rest of the article

A few weeks ago, Roxo left this question in the comments section of my Head Hopping article: Hi! Maybe it sounds a little stupid, but my question is: why deep point of view is better than omniscient point of view? In school we don't even learn about the former. It's not that I don't like it, I love it actually (deep point of view I mean) but I would like to know what is it that makes it better than omniscient. Thanks ! I answered in the comments section, but then thought that other writers might also be interested in the answer: Hi Roxo, It's not a stupid question! Deep point of view inserts the reader into the character's body, which often creates a more deeply emotional reading experience and consequently makes the book a bit richer emotionally. Epics told in omniscient point of view tend to be very sweeping in scope but sometimes a little shallow in terms of emotion. Most readers don't realize that the publishing industry has moved more toward deep point of ...

Forgive me if I gush but this is one of the best articles I've read in a long time, and I promise it's not because he quoted my book in it. His list of Rewards Per Page is absolutely stellar, because it's a very concise list of things I point out to my clients when I critique manuscripts. In future, I intend to point them to this article since it's so comprehensive and well written. How Rewarding is the ‘Reading Experience’ Provided by Your Writing? Measuring “Rewards-Per-Page” Can Give You an Indication of this Important Success Factor. Click here for the rest of the article

I was at Seekerville yesterday talking about talking to editors and agents at conferences: Camy here, talking about pitching (both formal and informal) since many of you are probably at the Romance Writers of America National Convention right now! I'm not a natural extrovert, but I force myself to be one at conferences in order to meet writers, editors and agents. I want to present a professional demeanor and make a good impression. That's kind of hard to do when my mouth has suddenly become the Mojave desert and my legs have rooted through my Nine Wests into the floor. Click here to read the rest of the article.

From contest entries and critiques that I’ve done, I’ve noticed that often people don’t quite understand what exactly is “showing” and what exactly is “telling.” So, I’m doing this series to give numerous examples so that you can see for yourself the various kinds of “telling” that can occur in your own manuscript, and suggestions for fixing it. This example is from my own proposal. It’s an Inspirational romantic suspense. (From Jorge's point of view) Jorge explained, “My brother still visits some of his old friends to try to get them to come to church with him.” “Oh.” Her eyes skittered away as she renewed her vigor in sweeping. She had never been comfortable talking about her faith. They’d rarely talked about God when they were dating, but she had said she was a strong Christian. The last paragraph is all telling. There’s a more dynamic and interesting way to show this information, plus you can use this as a way to deepen the point of view. I decided to anchor the information in...

Recently, a friend had witnessed a heated discussion between writers about the MLA Style book and the Chicago Manual of Style. She suggested I write an article on it. If you're not a fiction writer, this won't apply to you, but if you do write fiction, here's important information for you about style standards at major publishing houses. This article, which I wrote, originally appeared on Suite101. Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for Market Fiction Some Tips on Style Used By Publishing Houses Writers should be aware that the style books used at colleges may be different from the style book used by a publishing house for novels. Many colleges use the MLA (Modern Language Association) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, also known as the MLA Style book. However, the style book used by most major publishing houses is the The Chicago Manual of Style . (At the time of this writing, this link is for the 16th edition. You should go with the most recent edition.) Fic...

This article that I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Finding “Telling” and Fixing It How to Show Instead of Tell Here are some tips for identifying when a novelist “tells” instead of “shows” and how to fix it. Many times, writers hear the injunction, “Show, don’t tell.” But how to know when you’re “telling” instead of showing, and what do you do about it? Finding “Telling” “Telling” is always difficult for writers to discover in their own writing, so a writer shouldn’t be discouraged if he can’t see it during revisions. There are many online articles to explain “showing” versus “telling,” including this one which lists examples of “showing” and “telling.” Be aware that there are some instances where “telling” is needed rather than showing. However, in many cases, the “telling” is unnecessary and should be “shown” instead. Critique partners are good resources for pointing out “telling” in a manuscript. An objective outside reader will usually be able to find “t...

This is continuing my series on things to look for in your first page. Click here for part eight. Make every word count This goes back to how you only have one page to hook an editor. If that editor isn’t hooked by that first page, he or she will move the entire manuscript to the Reject pile without even bothering to go to page two. That being the case, you should expend considerable effort to not have any useless words on that first page. Make every description juicy and unique, without any “throw-away” words or phrases. Make every line of dialogue snappy and emotional, without unnecessary tags or adverbs. Make every sentence concise and precise—nothing meandering or vague or fluffy. Introduce your character with clear but unique descriptors, whether in dialogue or by action. Don’t waste time with backstory and “telling” the reader what’s happening—suck the reader in to “show” them what’s happening as it happens to the character. Dwight Swain has an entire chapter in his book Techniq...

I’m on the Steeple Hill blog in an interview with advice for writers, especially those targeting Steeple Hill. 1. What’s your sale story? How did you end up selling to Steeple Hill? I’ve been reading Steeple Hill books since the 1990s, so when I first started writing seriously, I targeted Steeple Hill as a publisher. Click here for the rest of the interview

This article I wrote originally appeared on Suite101. Head-Hopping What It Is and Why To Avoid It Many beginning writers utilize quick switches in point of view, which is not used as often these days in the publishing industry. Twenty years ago, omniscient point of view was commonly used in fiction. However, these days, a deep third person point of view is preferred most of the time (there are exceptions, naturally). In deep third person point of view, the writing is in third person but the language drops the reader into the character’s head and body. When the point of view shifts to a different character in the midst of a scene, this is called head-hopping because the reader feels as if he is hopped from one character’s head into another. Moving the reader from one character to the other so many times will often disorient the reader. This will also not allow the reader to feel connected with any one character in the scene. This reduces character sympathy and the reader m...

Camy here: Since so many people asked me to, I ran a series of blog posts with examples about when it was better to tell rather than show. This is a compilation of those blog posts. If I post additional examples, I'll just add them to this article. Also, remember, these are not hard and fast rules about when to show and when to tell. Please do not take these examples as such. Ultimately, it's up to you as the writer since it's YOUR manuscript. Utilize whatever is best for your writing voice, the rhythm and pacing you're aiming for, or the atmosphere you're trying to obtain. For examples of "telling," see this article. Telling isn’t always bad. In fact, sometimes it’s preferable. However, you ought to have a darn good reason to tell. One reason could be to telescope time . If you’re skipping from one place to another, or one time to another, that’s where telling is good. Say Joe has been arrested and then in the next scene, he’s talking to his jailmate. It...

This is continuing my series on things to look for in your first page. Click here for part seven. Reveal your voice When I have talked to editors and agents, they always tell me that the first thing they noticed about their clients/authors is the writer’s voice. Voice is what jumped out at them from the very first page. Voice is what captured them and compelled them to keep reading. If you’re not sure about your own writer’s voice, it’s really worth it to spend some time developing it. Voice is something that can be learned. I wrote a series of blog posts with some good exercises for developing your writer’s voice. I compiled them all into one blog article here: Developing Your Writer’s Voice Back to your first page. Utilize those opening paragraphs to showcase your unique voice. Your voice will grab the editor by the throat and make them keep reading past that first page. The great thing about voice is that you don’t have to alter the story to add voice. It’s there in how you show th...

Hey guys, It occurred to me that you guys might have specific writing craft or writing business questions that I could answer for you. So, comment and leave your question, and I'll address the questions in posts on this blog throughout the month of July! Camy

Many of you have seen the “Show, don’t tell” rule in writing articles and books. Basically, you want to “show” the reader the character’s emotions, not “tell” the reader the emotions the character is feeling. “Telling” tends to be distant point of view , which distances the reader from the character’s emotions. “Showing” involves your reader in what’s going on. It’s active and also concrete or tangible. The descriptions are usually more vivid and evoke emotion in the reader. Rather than telling information, show it through the character’s emotional reactions to something that happens in real time. Telling versus showing is a common mistake for writers because, at heart, we’re all storytellers, and that’s how storytellers “tell” a story. However, for writing fiction, you’d rather “show” the reader the action and make the reader an active participant in the events playing out. Put it this way: Like the audience of a play, the reader sees the characters acting and moving about on...

I talked about Freewriting and why that can help with character development over at the Seekerville blog: Camy here, talking today about how freewriting is saving my sanity. Yes, it’s true, I’m not being melodramatic (although Ruthy would probably differ—hush, woman!). Usually, when I’m brainstorming a new novel, I am armed with a pen, Post-It notes, and my closet doors: Click here to read the rest of the article

Cheryl Wyatt posted on character internal motivations over at Seekerville today: ToooT! TooooT! Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga.... Welcome to Seekerville! Today I wanted to talk about something that I think is crucial in story structure, yet something not a lot of authors fully understand. I'm still on this learning train too by the way. Just this week I was brainstorming a new proposal with my editors in New York the day before Book Expo America and it dawned on me that character motivation has many more layers than I had really consciously thought about before. Click here to read the rest of the post, which includes examples!

Even if you don't present backstory in the first chapter of a novel, you have to present at some time in the book. But there are a few tricks you can use to make that backstory as emotionally compelling as possible. I wrote this article, which originally appeared on Suite101. Tips for How to Present Backstory Make a Character’s Past History Compelling Here are some good tricks to use when writing backstory in a novel so that the reader is intrigued by the information. The key to presenting backstory in a way that is interesting to a reader boils down to one piece of advice: Make the reader want to know the information. As a reader gets to know the characters and become interested in them, she will naturally want to know more about them. But even beyond this natural interest, up the stakes. Make the past important to the reader because it ties together mysterious threads of the current action. Dole Out Backstory in Bits and Pieces When information is given out slowly,...

Ever wonder why you hear that it's "taboo" to include backstory in the first chapter of a novel? I always did, too, until I discovered some psychological reasons why it's best to keep it out of the first chapter for the modern reader. I wrote an article, which originally appeared on Suite101. Save the Backstory For Later Why Not to Present Backstory in the First Chapter There are three reasons why it’s usually best for a writer not to include backstory in a novel’s first chapter. Writers often hear the advice to not include backstory or the character’s past history within the first chapter of the story. Many balk at this. After all, a character’s backstory explains things, makes the character’s actions make more sense. Otherwise, the reader will be confused or, worse, dislike the protagonist for his actions because there’s no explanation for this aberrant behavior. Also, backstory sets the stage for future conflict. Past secrets often cause problems for t...

As a follow up to my article about establishing the viewpoint character at the beginning of a scene, I also wrote this article, which originally appeared on Suite101, on a few tips for how to continue with the scene from the viewpoint character. Opening a Scene In a Character’s Viewpoint Some Do’s and Don’ts For Establishing Point of View There are a few things to keep in mind when establishing the point of view character at the beginning of a scene. When a writer opens a scene, the viewpoint character should be immediately established in order to slip the reader into a character’s skin. But once you’ve established the viewpoint character, there are a few things to remember in order to keep the reader interested. Plant and Point Deliberately Don’t waste the reader’s time by pointing out things that are insignificant to the story or that don’t somehow establish characterization. For example, if the hero likes the color blue, but it’s not relevant to the story, don’t hav...

I wrote this article, which originally appeared on Suite101, on a few quick tips for opening a scene and establishing the point of view character. Establish the Character Viewpoint Start the Scene Quickly in Someone’s Point of View Utilize these tips in establishing the point of view character when opening a scene. In his book, Techniques of the Selling Writer , Dwight Swain writes this about character viewpoint: Viewpoint is the spot from which you see a story. It’s the position and perspective you occupy in order best to savor a fictional experience. Ordinarily, that vantage point is inside somebody’s skin. That is, your reader will live through your story as some specific character experiences it. He’ll see and hear and smell and taste and touch and think and feel precisely what that person sees and hears and smells and what have you. Keep this in mind as you establish character viewpoint—slip your reader into the character’s skin. Choose the Viewpoint Character ...