Why Book Writers Need to Hang Out Together

I teach weekly writing classes for book writers at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center in Westchester County near New York City. The beginning class, meeting each Monday afternoon for six weeks, draws a range of skill and experience levels. Some writers come in with a good idea, encouragement from friends and family ("You should write a book!"), expertise in a topic, or a group of characters who won't leave them alone. I take the group through a series of writing exercises to determine where their real story lies.

It's the tools in the class that start the process of discovery. But it's the gathering of other writers, those specifically working on books, which lends clarity and inspiration. The class discussions, the helping of each other, bring very interesting results which reveal to the writer (and me, the teacher) where the real stall-out is.

One woman in my class, a brilliant ex-journalist (and I've changed details here to protect her privacy), was writing about an entertainment world legend. She had put together ten chapters then stopped for some reason. Nothing moved the book forward, so she came to my class to figure out why. Over the six weeks, she discovered that she was deeply afraid of ridicule from fellow reporters and of making some monumental mistake in reporting accuracy. Her award-winning newspaper and magazine were pieces of cake compared to a book. How could she ever create copy that was interesting enough to hold a reader for 300 pages? More importantly, how would she keep all those piles of research accurate?

Navigating this writer's block came about through discussion with thirteen other struggling book writers and ended her procrastination on her manuscript.

I've taught this weekly class for many years. I'm fascinated, at the beginning of each session, how varied the group of writers is. We are usually between twelve and fifteen people. We meet for three hours once a week for six weeks. By the end of the session, we are often changed inside. The books we write reveal ourselves, our deepest fears and longings, whether they are fiction, nonfiction, or memoir. Good books put the writer on the page. They can't help it--they have to.

I'm starting a new session in May. Already writers are signing up, coming from around the East Coast. Some drive in for an overnight to attend the class, and when I am amazed at this, the writer tells me, "There aren't very many classes like these. My friend took it last year and raved about it. And her book is actually finished now." I hear many stories like this, because we, as a group, are unique. We specifically address the strange and wonderful needs of the book writer.

I know these classes keep me writing! I have two books coming out this summer, and I am thanking my classes for the inspiration and momentum to keep going on them over the past few years.

If you want to join us for the next session of "How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book," here are the specifics: 6 Mondays, 1:30-4:30 p.m., May 4-June 22 (skips May 18 & 25), $355, at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY (near Tarrytown). Visit http://www.writerscenter.org/, email info@writerscenter.org, or call 914-332-5953 to register. Class size is limited, and this one usually sells out. So call soon. Maybe you'll find the missing key to finishing your book, as you are supported and encouraged by this wonderful group of fellow writers.

If you're too distant to join us, try an exercise from the class. Consider the writerly support in your life. Write for ten minutes about how you are encouraged, motivated, and appropriately mirrored in your efforts to write your book. Where does your support come from--and where might it be missing?

Writers, especially book writers, need each other. It's essential to hang out together so we realize (1) we're not going crazy in this book-writing process, (2) it actually demands more of us than we might first believe and there are specific tools to get stronger, and (3) we can keep going when the going gets tough.

If You Dream It, They Will Publish It? An Exercise in Dreaming Your Book Cover

A couple of years ago, I dreamed up a book cover for my novel. I spent an hour with some colored pencils and nice paper, drew and wrote and typed and pasted. I drew a lake shore, since the story is about a lake in late summer when the birches are just turning yellow. It was great fun. I even made up "blurbs," those bright one- or two-liners full of nice comments from famous writers about the story.

I put the book cover above my desk. I think I was struggling with my fifth draft then and seeing the cover made me hopeful it would someday be published.

Fast forward, book travels the rounds of agents and publishers for over a year, despair sets in, but book finally gets accepted. Editor is great, loves it, edits it, sends her suggestions. I am impressed: my novel's better than ever.
We exchange a happy flurry of emails, like people do when a baby's coming. Excitement, anticipation, overwhelm.

The book goes into production, gets typeset. Release date is planned. We ask famous writers for blurbs. We talk cover art, jacket copy. I imagine what it'll be like to hold this book in my hand in August.

Each time, this process of birthing a book is both terrifying and lovely. Each publisher is different; some communicate a lot with the writer, some don't. My editor is sending emails, telling me in the same week, "I just love this book. What a superb writer you are," and "Do you have any ideas around cover art?"

Relief. She's been microscopically involved for months and she still loves it. Gulp. Cover art?

Then I remember my book cover exercise. I dig it out of some file. It gives me ideas. I open files of photos and images, go on line for free stock images, dream my cover again. Send her some ideas, which she likes. The cover is born.

But it make me wonder: Which comes first, the dream or the published book? Does dreaming your book (and its cover) create an open door for it to be published? Some people believe that what you imagine, you bring into manifestation, good or bad. Maybe you don't buy this, but in my experience, positive imaging certainly doesn't hurt.

So, try it this week. Design your book cover. See what happens.

Exercise: Set aside an hour, grab a piece of paper or open up your desktop graphics program, and play. Make up blurbs (those two-liners from famous people) for your cover, write your jacket copy, imagine your book published.

What's the "Me" in Memoir?--Avoiding Overwriting When You're Writing about Your Life

Memoirs--sometimes they feel to us writers like we're talking to ourselves, not seeing the forest for the trees. But isn't that what memoir is? Or is it?

What exactly is a memoir? And how does a writer become "the writer" and not "The Writer" (see last week's post, below, on the dangers of The Writer's presence in books)?

A reader from Louisiana wrote this about last week's post and writing exercise: "I don't really know what a memoir is supposed to be. Am I not suppose to write about my experiences, what I saw, felt, and thought? Have I been writing all this too much as an ego trip? Should I tell the story as if it is someone else, using the word she rather than I? Should I just forget thinking of it as a book, write it simply for a possible interested family member after I'm gone?"

Excellent question. It was triggered by this writer's concern that she was supposed to absent herself from her own story, and how was that possible? I wrote last week's post (see below) about writers who are way too present in their stories, who take on two roles: (1) they sit the center-stage to tell their story AND (2) they stand on the sidelines to interpret the story for us readers.

In memoir, you are the main character (makes sense, doesn't it?). You fill the center-stage role. But if you are nervous about whether readers will "get" the message of your story, you might be tempted to be the stage manager as well. This is the mistake.

Alison Smith, author of the wonderful Name All the Animals, wrote about becoming aware of her role in this memoir. Her original drafts were more about her brother's sudden death than about her own life, but she soon realized she was leaving herself out of her own story. The death was the memoir's "triggering event" (in book-writing language, what started the story). How the death affected Alison and her family was the story itself. She had to assume the center-stage role. Memoir is about me.

But it's not about me plus ME (center stage plus stage manager). The writer is important, but not The Writer.

Alison never tries to put herself between the reader and her story. She isn't constantly interpreting what's happening, making sure the reader gets it. Some writing instructors call this "overwriting"--you are writing, then you are making sure we get it by repeating what you just wrote, saying it in another way--overwriting your words. "Betty ran her finger down the wall and checked for dust." What does that tell you? She's neat, fastidious even, obsessive maybe. The writer doesn't need to add "Betty was obsessed with cleanliness."

Yes, in a memoir you feel, think, say, do. But instead of adding more about why you are feeling, thinking, saying, and doing the thing, you just let the story show it. You don't need to interpret if the actions are strong. We get it.

Another way to look at this: Actions, events, and dialogue shows us. No need to tell us, as well.

Keep yourself in your memoir, by all means. But take out The Writer who is on the sidelines, stage managing, telling us what it all means. Confusing and unnecessary at best; obnoxious at worst.

Read some examples if you want. A few great memoirs that feature a strong main character (the writer) but no interpretation (The Writer) for the story are:

Alison Smith's Name All the Animals

Vivian Gornick's Fierce Attachments

Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes

Dani Shapiro's Slow Motion

Nuala O'Faolain's Almost There

Closely read a chapter. Notice if you feel the author's presence interpreting the actions and being too present in the story--taking away from your engagement with the book.

Freelance Writer Trying to Thrive? Read This!

I finished a big freelance editing project today so I treated myself to a bowl of popcorn, a movie, and a good read: the altogether quirky My So-Called Freelance Life by anti 9-5er and freelance writer, Michelle Goodman. Lots of great advice, and Michelle's entertaining style takes a potentially boring subject to new heights.

I loved her frank assessment of freelancing--you can't live in la-la land, hoping for the creative gold all the time, so grab some bread-and-butter work while you're working toward your dream.

Are you struggling to thrive as a freelancer in this economy? Visit her online at http://www.anti9to5guide.com/ and let me know what you think.

Building a Solid Story--Moving to a Reader-Centric Viewpoint in Your Writing

Today in my class at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center in Westchester Co., NY,we talked about moving from a writer-centric viewpoint to a reader-centric one. It's a natural part of a writer's evolution. A maturing, where we begin to see why someone else would read our book (besides our mother, best friend, and partner/spouse). In other words, we begin to write for a reader.

This isn't about compromising your ideals. It isn't about not telling your truth. It's about becoming less self-focused.

An odd idea, for us writers. Aren't writers supposed to be self-focused? After all, that's where we get the juice--from our lives and our imaginations.

When I got my novel manuscript back from my editor (see my overwhelmed post below), I realized the book was a stranger to me. I was no longer on center stage, as The Writer. The story had now become my reader's. I almost didn't remember writing certain parts. These, of course, were the parts my editor liked best.

What happened? In the editing and revising stages, I'd moved out of the "room" and all that remained was my story--and an open door, welcoming my reader.

I hate books--and wonder how they ever got published--where the writer is The Writer, on his or her soapbox, telling us what to think about every moment in the story. Don't you? But how do you, the writer, get out of the room where your story lives? How do you convince yourself that it doesn't need you there, acting as interpretor for your own story?

Know what I'm talking about? It's insidious...our need to interpret our stuff for our readers.

This week, pick a piece of your writing that's at least a month old. Read a page out loud. See if you can be surprised by something in there, maybe not remember writing it. Like it, even. Are you The Writer or the writer?

My New Novel Is Coming Out--And I'm Trying to Breathe Deeply!

I just got the big packet every writer waits for--edited pages of my soon-to-be released novel, Qualities of Light. My super-duper editor, Katherine Forrest, sent them to me for a look over and corrections. Katherine is so good at what she does and I value editors highly, but still there's a bit of a catch in the breath when I open the package and see what needs changing. She tells me over and over in the cover note, "This is a really fine novel," and then makes her suggestions.

I'm used to this. I've been a professional editor since 1986. It's part of the job. An editor only hopes for a cooperative writer, who can hold her original vision for the book--and release it for a better one.

So I took a big breath, undid the tape, shook out the contents.

She loved it! Wow...

And she had great (great!) suggestions. Tiny places to tweak, small moments to clarify, little adjustments here and there. It is making the novel really sing.

After I read through everything, accepting 99.9 % of Katherine's suggestions, I looked back in my writing notebook at my présumé exercise. I wrote it three weeks ago, on one of those snowbound days of deep writerly despair, when I didn't really believe my novel would be published, ever, ever. The présumé said this:

"April 15, 2009: Everything is moving along beautifully with my novel and publication. Katherine's edits are amazing, I'm grateful for all her insights and suggestions, and we're in good communication."

April 15, huh? Guess I was behind the timetable of the universe. Not a surprise. Présumés often happen early, in more delightful ways than we can imagine. They work because they let us let go. Once we let go the stranglehold on our creative project, lots of amazing "coincidences" occur.

You don't have to believe me. For this week's exercise, just try the présumé you didn't do last month (see post below) and make it short, sweet, and focused on something you really want to happen in your writing. Just a couple of sentences, written in present tense, as if you are looking back from a future date and feeling great about what's happened. You can post your présumé here, so we can cheer you on!

Common Sense Tips for Writers from Editor Adele Annesi

Adele Annesi, author of Writing Lynx, a wonderful resource for writing sites, wrote me:

"Of the many writing-related blogs, [yours] is one of the few that deals with the grist of novel-writing in a way writers can relate to and see results.

"When we're in the midst of writing, it's hard to see the forest for the trees, and we easily miss what would otherwise be common sense. It's great that someone else is there with tips to aid the process — at least agents are now looking past my query letters."

Adele has published and won awards for her writing; from her years of experience as a professional editor, she wanted to share these common sense tips for writers:

For narrative: Write with your experience, not about it (especially for people with a journalism or nonfiction background, writing needs to be writing, not reportage).

In a similar vein, tell a story; don't report the facts.

For varied points of view: Make sure to "inhabit" all your characters, and use a different voice for each to distinguish one from another.

About dialogue: In a Hemingway kind of approach, most dialogue is about what we don't communicate, not about what we do communicate.

Thanks, Adele! Be sure to visit Writing Lynx and take advantage of this resource-rich site (http://writinglynx.blogspot.com/).

Key West Collage Exercise--Nonlinear Book Structuring Fun

Island life is great. I'm at the Coffee Plantation in Key West, Florida, relaxing in 80-degree island breezes, enjoying a day off after my three-day workshop at The Studios at Key West. Our workshop group was wonderful--energetic, intelligent, insightful about their very varied book projects. We had writers of all skill levels, professional to beginner, and a variety of books--novels, memoirs, art books, how-to books, and true crime.

Our writing exercises and discussion revolved around book structuring, trying to figure out the outer and inner stories, and surviving through the long committment of bringing a book into the world.

After we covered the basics of book-structuring, I asked them to try a pair of activities to engage both the right and left creative brain: toggle between creating a book storyboard and creating a book collage.

They dove in. Many began with the collage, a relaxing and free-form, right-brain activity. Some went for the more linear storyboard first. After an hour, we all switched to the other task.

I loved walking around the beautiful studio space, visiting the writers as they worked at their tables. By Saturday afternoon, storyboards were forming but the collages were really coming together. Each was as colorful and unique as its creator. I'd cut out hundreds of magazine photos before the workshop, spread them on a large counter, and encouraged the writers to browse the images, letting their intution guide them. I was watching to see how they arranged their images on the large posterboards--what order they would choose.

Before we ended the session that afternoon, we studied the group's collages. I taught them the squint test: hold the collage away from you, squint, see if any images create obvious pathways. Having taught this exercise for years in workshops, I knew that often a clear path emerges on a very randomly created collage. Pathways can start at the bottom right or left, lead to the opposite corner. Sometimes the path is circular. Often there's a strong angle or series of connecting colors. Sheila Asato (http://www.monkeybridgearts.com/) told me how she uses collage pathways for dreamwork. The collage often reveals good information about the unconscious part of our art. And when quizzed by the workshop group, many writers agreed that the pathways made sense. The beginning and ending images indeed reflected a beginning and ending moment of their books.

Do you know how to make a collage? This week's exercise is to try one. Collages are powerful tools to get at clues about where your book should start and end. Even if you know this "secret" about how your right-brain creates pathways in this exercise, play with a collage for your book-in-progress or your writing in general.

You'll need a posterboard, a few magazines, scissors, and a glue stick. Spend 30 minutes leafing through the magazines, cutting out any photos that grab you. Don't analyze why--no need. Just collect. Then spread them out and begin pasting on your posterboard. This takes 30-45 minutes, usually.

Let yourself be nonlinear. Swim like the island sea turtles through clear blue-green water and let random images approach you, like the bright yellow fish in the photo above. Let your intuition create the collage.

When your collage feels complete, take a break. Then come back to it, try the squint test, and see if you notice any pathways. What do the images at the start and end tell you about your book's opening, your book's conclusion?

Writing a Great Query Letter and Book Proposal

A good book proposal is like handing an agent a perfect rosebud. It smells wonderful, it hints of much more. It's meant to entice, stimulate, and promise. Your goal with your book proposal is the same. You only want one thing: Get the agent asking for the whole manuscript.

Book proposals have two elements: (1) a great query letter and (2) the proposal packet.

Great Query Letters

A query letter is sent first, by itself, before you send the proposal. Queries are one-page, single-spaced documents that sell the concept of your book in exciting language. Many agents now accept emailed query letters, but check their web site guidelines.

Query letters are not easy to write. Plan to take some time with yours. One agent I know receives two hundred query letters each week. Often there are only a few minutes to spare to read yours.

A query letter has three parts: (1) sales pitch for your book, (2) a short bio, and (3) why you are approaching this agent. For the sales pitch, I start by crafting a short sentence that describes my book--what is it about. Expand that sentence to two or three dynamite paragraphs. Then add what gives you the credentials to write this book, your writing experience or life experience. This makes up the body of your query letter.

It's essential to add one sentence from your research of the agent’s work: tell her why you want to work with her, specifically. Mention a book she represented that you liked.

Some writers wonder: Why not work into it gradually, maybe beginning with a sentence like “I love your agency and would love it if you represented my book”? If you’re the agent who gets two hundred query letters a day, imagine reading the “I love” sentence two hundred times a day. The letter would go straight into the round file. It’s essential to make that first sentence engaging, even electrifying—and about your book. You worked long and hard on that premise statement; now use it.

The goal is obvious. You want the agent (or agent’s assistant who screens query letters) to read on. In Making the Perfect Pitch (edited by Katherine Sands), you can read some dynamite query letter openers, such as:

“I am a Vietnamese American man, a witness to the fall of Saigon, a prisoner of war, an escapee, a first-generation immigrant, and an eternal refugee.”
--from Catfish & Mandala by Andrew X. Pham (memoir)

“When all the kids around him were coming of age, Robin MacKenzie was coming undone.”
--from The World of Normal Boys by K.M. Soehnlein (novel)

The Proposal Packet
Out of twenty agents queried, you may get a few who want to see your proposal packet. This packet contains a synopsis that gives the substance of your book, a chapter outline, platform (marketing niche) information if your book is nonfiction, and sample chapters, or the “partial.”

Proposal packets must contain your very best work. One publisher I spoke with said their editors read the first two pages only—and if the editor isn't grabbed immediately, the proposal is rejected. So polish carefully.

Read these two bibles to proposal crafting: How to Write a Book Proposal, by Michael Larson, and Write the Perfect Book Proposal, by Jeff Hermann. Although geared toward nonfiction writers, there’s great information in these. Larson’s book is a classic, reprinted often. Hermann’s book is unique because it gives ten proposals that actually sold. You can read the packets and see what’s in them—and how fine-tuned the language must be to capture an agent’s attention.

Fiction and Memoir Proposal Packets contain:
cover letter (your query letter can be reshaped)
bio (one page)
chapter outline (one to two pages, with two brief sentences about each chapter)
synopsis (one-page overview of the plot and meaning of your story)
sample chapters (usually two, or between fifty and one hundred pages)

Nonfiction Proposal Packets contain: All the above plus:
platform plan and marketing analysis (how you’ll help sell your book)

competitive titles (six to eight books in your field, published recently, and why yours is unique)

Writing the Synopsis

There's much differing opinion on this part of the proposal. Some agents like to read three or four pages, with detailed information. Most, in my experience, prefer a well-crafted and focused one pager. Start with your expanded premise statement from your query letter. Use that to design your synopsis. Then go through the book's outline, chapter by chapter, and pick the major points--either plot points for fiction or memoir or theory and application for nonfiction. I choose five or six, write a paragraph on each, then edit it like crazy. You want really, really captivating language here.

Synopses should give an agent confidence that you can tell your story in a way that keeps a reader engaged through the last page. Don't give away the entire story--you want to be sure this proposal packet leads the agent to ask for more. You want to deliver the complete manuscript next.

More questions? Post them here and I'll try to answer next week.

Book-Writing Intensive with Mary Carroll Moore--Next Weekend in Key West, Florida

Join me in beautiful, sunny Key West, Florida, for a fun and productive weekend building your book, and take it the next step toward successful publication!

"How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book" will be offered at The Studios at Key West for the first time and a small group of book writers will come away with amazing insights on their books.

Here's what other writers have said about this workshop: "Best writing instruction I've ever had." "Gave me a whole new perspective on my book and how to finish it." "Because of this workshop, I finished my novel!" "I just published my nonfiction book--thank you for your workshop and all the great insights I gained."

There's still room for you and your book-in-progress in Key West, February 20-22. I welcome book writers at any level and books in any genre.

Cost is a real bargain--only $225 for the entire weekend, from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Here's a sample of the workshop agenda (a taste of the great community you'll be part of):

FRIDAY EVENING—7:00-9:30 p.m. -----Welcome, introductions -----Overview of the stages of book writing -----Writing: Dialogue exercise

SATURDAY MORNING--9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. -----First stage of book writing: What makes a book work? -----Planning vs organic growth in nonfiction and fiction books -----Exercise: Focus statements/tag lines/premise -----Exploring the book’s concept -----Exercise: Getting to know your reader

SATURDAY AFTERNOON--1:30-4:30 p.m. -----Finding a form for your book -----Exercise: Dialogue with your book -----Exercise: Book collages -----Crisis and plot points in nonfiction and fiction books -----Exercise: Starting your storyboard--a book’s quest and question

SATURDAY EVENING—7:00-9:00 p.m. -----Readings

SUNDAY 11:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Brunch, 10:30 am) -----Storyboards -----Second stage writing: How to keep going through first draft and revisions -----Exercise: Revisiting our focus statements -----Exercise: Linkage ------Support for the revision process (feedback) -----Agents and publishers—the book proposal package -----Exercise: Reverse goal setting
Price: TSKW Members $185, Non-Members $225

For more information, email Mary at mary@marycarrollmoore.com or visit the www.tskw.org. (Click on this link to read more about this workshop http://tskw.org/workshops_item.php?ws_id=66)

Hope you can join me!