Story Sensei

(This post originally appeared on Suite101, but it's no longer there so I'll post it here. :) Make the Character Proactive Rather Than Reactive Eliminate episodic scenes by giving the character an External Goal, Obstacles against that goal, and Forward Movement in the story. A story is more than just good writing. A story plot must have forward motion and a sense of movement that pulls the reader along. Sometimes writers will get feedback that their story “lacks purpose” or is “episodic.” What exactly does that mean? Episodic Writing is Reactive Writing in Vignettes. A character needs more than just to fall into an alternate world and face Scary Monsters. He needs to have a purpose and doggedly pursue that purpose. If he simply goes from one Bad Thing to another, the story lacks direction. When a character simply reacts to the Bad Things that happen to him, he is being reactive rather than proactive, and that can be boring to a reader. It’s also boring to read a...

Because of several writing contracts, I've decided to step back from doing critiques and coaching for most of 2013 in order to save my injured wrists and my health for my books. If you'd like recommendations of other freelance editors who can critique your work sooner, I can suggest: Fiction Fix-It Shop ( http://www.fictionfixitshop.com/ ) Moonshell Books and Editorial, Shelley Bates ( http://www.shelleybates.com/ ) Cheryl Wyatt ( http://www.cherylwyatt.com/ ) Sharon Hinck ( http://www.sharonhinck.com/ ) Just email them through their websites and let them know that Camy suggested you contact them about critiquing. Update: I’ll be teaching an online synopsis class in early August this year, so stay tuned to my blog for when registration opens. I also still have my worksheets available for download: Self-Editing worksheet - $20 New! Deep Point of View worksheet - $10 Price drop! Characterization worksheet - $10 Price drop! Structure/Synopsis worksheet - $5

It seems like this happens for every single book I write. I’m in the first quarter of the book, struggling to get the words down. It feels like slogging through New England clam chowder. Then I suddenly remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just write crap. Edit later. Somehow I always forget this. It has happened at some point in every single manuscript I’ve completed. I have to remind myself to just get the words down, no matter how awful they are. The first couple thousand words really ARE crap, but then after that, my right brain creative side takes over and suddenly I’m writing words that are actually rather good. Or at least, words I wouldn’t shudder to read aloud to my mother, the English teacher. :) So if you’re in the first quarter or third of your book--or no matter where you are in it--just remind yourself to get the words down, no matter how execrable they are. Just power through it, don’t cringe at the triteness of your phrases and the cliches popping up like we...

I recently had a question on Facebook about passive voice, and Heather let me answer the question on my blog. Thanks Heather! Mrs. Tang, can you recommend resources for overcoming passive voice. PV keeps sneaking it's way into my story! I didn't see a entry about PV on your Story Sensei blog. Any advice? Camy: When a writer mentions “passive voice,” there are actually two different things they could mean. (Or sometimes, they mean both!) 1) passive sentences, meaning sentences with passive verbs instead of active verbs Or 2) a passive writer’s voice, meaning the writing itself is rather stale rather than active and vibrant PASSIVE SENTENCES: Passive verbs like “was” and “were” are small and almost unnoticeable, but they tend to distance the reader from the story. By replacing passive verbs with strong action verbs, you can improve the prose dramatically. For passive sentences, I have a quick and dirty solution that I use all the time. First, I write the manusc...

I got the below message from Michael, who graciously agreed to let me answer his questions on the blog in case some of his questions are those some of you are curious about, too. Hi Camy, Do you have any tutorials, suggestions, tips on how to ‘hear’ a character’s voice? It is a problem that continually vexes me. I have some evil dudes and their voice, the sound of their voice, is not something I’ve been able to hear in my head. I’ve searched on you tube for evil voices, experimented with voice altering software and tried to imagine it. And sometimes, when I imagine the voice, I can hear how I want it to sound, but I can’t retain the memory of so lose it for the future. To hear the character’s voice, or at least a close approximation, would do so much for writing their dialog. What do you do? Do you have that problem? Any solutions out there for aspiring writers? Camy: That's a good question! I often have to resort to different measures to be able to write different ch...

Hey guys! I have a new worksheet available for download! I have had a lot of requests for my Deep Point of View online workshop, but I haven't been able to hold it because of time and because I've been trying to cut back on my Story Sensei stuff due to my sore wrists. So instead of holding my Deep Point of View workshop, I've made my notes and workshop into a .pdf worksheet that you can download for less than the cost of the online workshop. Those of you who have been hoping to take my Deep POV class can now download the worksheet and get all my tips and tricks. Deep Point of View Worksheet $15 Want to rivet your reader to the page? Want to make your writing richer emotionally? Want your characters to be more vivid? Learn ways to draw the reader into the mind, body, and soul of your characters through deep point of view techniques. By the end of the worksheet you’ll have: 1) Ways to strengthen the emotional writing and draw the reader deeper into the character’s ...

Thanks to suggestions from Meredith Efken and Randy Ingermanson , I now have a new blog design for the Story Sensei blog! How do you like?

I got the below message from Savannah, who graciously agreed to let me answer her questions on the blog in case some of her questions are those some of you are curious about, too Hey Camy! I just started reading your story sensei blog, which is great! I have a few questions about your last post! Shoot! I am starting my first novel! I want to write & even though the chances for success are small you gotta chase your dreams right?! Yes! I took a short writing course & only have basic knowledge & decided go jump in. After about 4, 0000 words I'm stumped. Like your last reader am wondering if the story is to big for me or idea is no goos BUT you say you need no special powers! When you talk about fleshing it out does that mean I may need to study the craft more before I attempt a book? You don't need any special powers. Yes, you might need to study the craft a bit more in order to feel confident enough to continue. Or you might need to just set aside your i...

I got the below message from Tonya, who graciously agreed to let me answer her questions on the blog in case some of her questions are those some of you are curious about, too. Hey Camy! I just found your story sensei blog & think it's fabulous :) I have a few writing questions for you though I obviously want to be a novelist. I took the CHristian Writers Guild Apprenticeship & decided to start working on my first novel. I've gotten to a point where I'm simply stuck. I feel like I have an idea of what the book is in my mind but what I'm writing isn't conveying it. It makes me wonder if my idea is above my skills levels when it comes to conflict & dialogue etc. Camy: No. A writer doesn't need some sort of advanced skill or superpower to write out the idea in her head. It could be just that you need to think it through more, mull it over, or learn some plot skills in order to fully flesh it out. So I'm seriously considering setting i...

Hi everybody, I got several requests for another worksheet like my Synopsis worksheet, so I have put together a .pdf worksheet that combines all the lessons from my Characterization class. If you've already taken my Characterization class, this worksheet is exactly the same as the lessons you got, just without any feedback from me on your homework, naturally. :) This 35-page worksheet will help you develop your story characters. By the end of this worksheet, you will have: 1) a solid grasp of who your character is—and I’m not talking just favorite ice cream flavor 2) your character’s flaws and heroic qualities to make him/her truly sympathetic to the reader 3) the character’s unique qualities to make him/her stand out from all the other characters on the Barnes and Noble shelves. 4) your character’s desire and external goal (you’d be amazed at how this can change from your original ideas about your character as you dig deeper and discover who your character is!) 5) ...

Sorry I've been AWOL, but I've been on deadline for several books, which takes up my blogging time! In honor of NaNoWriMo , I thought I'd post a few quick tips for writing while on NaNoWriMo that can help you achieve your goal of 50,000 words written on your novel this month. This is one of the best weapons in my arsenal: Tactile Stimulation This might not work for everyone, but of all the people who have tried it so far, it has worked for them all, so chances are, it'll work for you, too. Basically, when you stimulate your hands (or your body, really) with tactile, kinesthetic stimulation, it enables you to think creatively and focus on thinking creatively. When you're trying to write a novel in a month, you don't have time to sit and stare at the blinking cursor. Trust me, I've done that for HOURS. Hours of wasted time. I discovered that if I have something in my hands that doesn't require too much brain-power, I can suddenly focus on my...

This is a compilation of a series of blog posts I wrote on picking an agent. Picking an agent #1—FINISH THE MANUSCRIPT Yes, I’m shouting. Before I go into some tips on how to pick an agent (and possibly receive an offer of representation), I want to point out this very important part of the submission process. For some people, this is a no-brainer, but I’m always amazed at people who’ve never heard this piece of advice. Before you query that agent (or editor, for that matter), finish the manuscript. There are TONS of writers who never finish that first manuscript, and agents know this. Therefore, if they are interested in your story, they are going to want to see the full, completed manuscript. For one, they want to know you finished it. For two, they want to know if you can sustain your brilliance in the first chapter throughout the rest of the book. Many novels sag in the middle because the writer loses steam. If that’s the case with your manuscript, it’s not ready to s...

(This article originally appeared on another blog in 2010 but I’m reposting it here.) I’m talking about balancing your writing with your “other stuff” as opposed to balancing your checkbook or not tripping over your feet every time you walk (I do the latter quite a lot, actually ...). Let’s face it, sometimes life gets just SO crazy busy you feel like you need to sleep for a YEAR to recover, except, oops, you only have time for a 2 minute nap before you have to do something else. My creativity reeeeeaaallly does not like to be hemmed in by schedules. Or discipline. Or deadlines, for that matter. It will pout in a corner just when I absolutely need a burst of some artistic brilliance to explode out of my fingers onto the computer screen. So I have learned to achieve balance between life and writing by compartmentalizing. Now before you run away screaming, hear me out. I’m not talking about anything rigid or (heaven forbid) disciplined . I’m talking about some tips and tricks...

(This article originally appeared on another blog in 2010 but I’m reposting it here.) As I write this, it’s late evening in California, because I’ve discovered my best writing time is usually in the evening and early morning hours. For years this really frustrated me because who in their right mind writes best at 2 a.m.? Especially when I had to get up at 8 a.m. to go to my biology job. (Pain and suffering ...) Why can’t I be like Ruthy who can get up at (Godforsaken) 4 in the morning to efficiently zip off a chapter before breakfast? Alas, God has a sense of humor. It’s why He gave me and my husband a buttheaded dog for our first family pet and why I out of all my cousins has a behind the size of Alaska. I write best between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., Pacific Standard time. It’s always been this way for me. Even when studying in college, I was most efficient around midnight. So how about you guys? (I know I’m going to regret this because I’m going to be insanely jealous at all you ...

This is a fantastic article by Brandilyn Collins. Several of her points are similar to what I read in one of my favorite writing books, Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias . Ten Ways To Create Character Empathy

Camy here: I STRONGLY recommend this course! Many of the manuscripts that I critique could use more emotional writing, and this course is the best of its kind in teaching how to write with more emotion, more emotional intensity, more psychologically resonating emotion. TAKE THIS COURSE! This course is designed for writers of ALL GENRES, published or unpublished. You'll work at your own pace, on your own level. EMPOWERING CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS (details below) Presenter: Margie Lawson Cost: $20.00 PASIC members, $30.00 non-members - payable by PayPal Deadline to Register: February 27, 2010 TO REGISTER, GO HERE: http://pasic.net/class_lawson_032010.html CLASS INFORMATION: Would you like to learn how to: Capture emotion on the page? Hook the reader by eliciting a visceral response? Analyze your scenes? Fix scenes that don't work? Increase micro-tension? Add psychological power to a good scene and make it stellar? This power-packed on-line class...

Lynda Schab interviewed me on my journey to publication! This was fun because she asked questions on topics I didn't think about when I first gave my writing journey story . Now, Camy shares her journey to publication: Fiction, non-fiction, or both? Fiction Genre: Romantic suspense and humorous contemporary romance How many books have you written? 9 How many of those have been published? 4 Years you've been writing: Longer than dirt. Okay, seriously, I started writing in Junior High or High School, but didn't start writing seriously until I got laid off from my biology job, which was in 2002 Click here to read the entire interview!

 (I originally posted this article on a blog in 2010, but I’m reposting it here.) I wanted to talk about putting together a fiction proposal for your manuscript. Not all proposals are set up the same way, but I’m going to go through the structure of a typical one. Cover page (It can be single or double-spaced, your choice) Your name and contact info in the top left corner (mailing address, phone number, email address) The manuscript’s genre and word count in the top right corner In the center of the page, center justification: Title of Your Novel by Your Name (optional) your agent’s name and contact information in the bottom right corner After the cover page, all the other pages of the proposal should have a header just like a manuscript, with the title, your name, and the page number of the proposal. Story blurb (optional) Start this on a fresh page after your cover page, and single space it. The story blurb is just a paragraph—two to four sentences—abou...