Crafting a Credible Narrator--How the Emotional Narrative Arc Works in Memoir

A writer in one of my classes is working on a memoir about a serious event that happened a few years ago.  She's focused in on the months of discovery, treatment, and recovery--and it's a good read.  Very traumatic, written in a tense yet slightly humorous style.   

Anyone who has been through trauma knows that often, during the experience, survival  is the only thing we pay attention to.  Getting through it, as intact as possible.   

This writer did survive, thankfully.   And she wants to share her particular view on what happened.

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The Value of Winter Writing Retreats-- How to Stand Back and Get a Better Look at Your Book

Years ago, I lived near the excitement and chaos of New York City--close enough to train in for an opera or play.  The speed of life was fast there, even though our home was in the suburbs.  A family change brought us all to a remote village in northern New England.  I loved the idea of calming down, working on my next novel, and trying life in the "real" country. 

I thought I'd be bored.  To my surprise, I fell in love with it. 

Winter where I live now is the "holiday postcard" type--deep snow, fierce winds, blue chilly skies, and staying indoors except for snowshoeing and skiing.  Winter is a force to surrender to, not fight.  When the plow doesn't clear your road for hours after a storm, you adjust your plans. 

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Writing a Series Mystery--Tips from Just-Published Author Steve George

Steve showed up at one of my workshops a few years ago.  I was impressed with his writing; he was working on a mystery that featured an "average guy" main character with great handyman skills.  I got an email from Steve several months ago, letting me know he'd completed the manuscript and needed an editor to look it over. 

I had the pleasure of reading his manuscript on a plane trip to the West Coast, and it kept me enthralled the entire way.  I remember laughing out loud at some of the scenes, and my seatmates looking at me curiously.

"Good book?" one of them asked.

"Yes," I said.  "Very good.  I hope it will be published soon."

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Why Creativity Matters--Storytelling Is Good for Your Brain and Your Whole Self

Writing isn't rocket science.  But maybe it does as much for the brain.  New studies are finding this true.  We get healthier the more we write.

Not many writers realize this. 

In my online classes, I ask a basic question:  Why do you write?  What's your writing doing for you, for your life, for your service to the world?   

Book writers spend hours, days, years on their books.  Why?  It must be more than the fun of roaming around in our own heads.  Right?  Because it's hard work to write a book.

But do you consider that writing every day might give you good health--and stories, the basic ingredient of writing, are the reason?  It's like the old saying, An apple a day . . .

How about, A page a day . . . ?

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A Writer's Revision Checklist--How to Make Sure You've Covered All the Bases before You Send Out Your Manuscript

This month, my novel-in-progress reached a new level:  final revision. 

Woo-hoo, this is cause for celebration.  When a book hits final revision, it has moved beyond an ongoing one-way conversation in the writer's head.  By now, the book is talking back--big time.

Only a few steps remain before it's ready to send off to agent/editor/publisher.  And these final steps are key:  If they go well, the "whole" becomes much bigger than the sum of its islands, or parts.

Most writers feel a sense of urgency at final revision.  As the book comes into its own, you can see the good objectively.  You've been asking yourself, Is it publishable? for a while.  Now you can answer with a hopeful YES!

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What Dialogue Can Do for Your Stories--And What It Should Never Try to Do

Do you write dialogue?  Did you know that many acquistions editors at publishing companies use dialogue as the "test" for whether a manuscript gets read?

In their book, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Renni Browne and Dave King tell the story of interviewing different editors in the publishing industry.  What do you look at first, when reviewing a manuscript? they wondered.  More than one revealed this:  Editors scan through the pages for a section of dialogue and read it.  If it's good, they read more.  If it's not good, the manuscript is automatically rejected.

Big pressure for writers!  Why do you think dialogue is such an indicator of a writer's skill?

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Endings and Beginnings--Finding the Reader-Satisfying "Loops" in Your Story

Recently I finished a pretty good story.  It is making the rounds of my friends who love literary fiction, and I'd gotten at least three recommendations, which made me reserve it at our library.

It's a debut novel by M.L.Stedman, called The Light between Oceans.

Gorgeous title and very interesting premise--a lighthouse keeper and his wife who live on a remote island off the coast of Australia find a baby in a boat that washes up on shore. The wife, desperately childless after three miscarriages, argues to keep the baby.  The husband wants to contact the mainland and let them know, thinking that some mother there will be equally desperate.  But the wife wins, they keep the child, and their world cracks in unexpected ways.

Although I love reading just for reading's sake, I have a writer's high expectations.  I found the writing lovely, with generous use of images and tense character interaction.  The setting of the rocky island and its isolation, the keen details about the lighthouse, were amazingly crafted. 

The thing that really bothered me was Act 3--the way the writer wrapped up the ending of this marvelous story. 

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Making a Soundtrack for Your Book: How Music and Images Help Free the Nonverbal Creative Brain

Over Thanksgiving week I decided to take a creative retreat.  The plan was to make a soundtrack for my novel-in-revision, which could use more sound and image.

Most writers know about freewriting.  It can literally "free" the random word associations inside your linear brain.

In the same way, exploration of sound and images can free the right brain--an important player in creation of theme, voice, and pacing during revision.

My daily writing brought completion of Acts 1 and 2 revision in early November.  Woo-hoo!  Then I hit Act 3.  And it's acting tough.  Thousands of threads to tie up.  Themes to recognize and build. 

It's making me tense.

I tried my usual writing exercises, but even the best freewriting and word play wasn't cutting it.

I needed to make a soundtrack for my book.

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From Fake Memoirs to True-Life Novels--The New Trends in Publishing Genres

Camilla is a writer in New York who has attended many of my classes.  She's celebrating the completion of her manuscript, a memoir about her family in Italy during World War II--a rich and interesting tale, full of great descriptions and intriguing characters. 

I always enjoyed reading Camilla's story, and I loved watching it evolve.  Now that she is officially done, she's beginning the search for agents and possible publishers, and she's running into a dilemma. 

Quite a common dilemma these days, as the publishing world is changing by the minute and new forms of books are emerging.

Camilla wrote me about it:

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How to Write Every Day--The Benefits of Even Fifteen Minutes a Day on Your Writing and Why Nanowrimo Is So Popular

A writing colleague once said:  "If I'm away from my book more than three days, it's like starting over again." 

Have you experienced this?  I have.  It's no fun.

Nanowrimo, or National Novel Writers Month, is happening throughout November.  I've published one novel written during Nanowrimo and am currently working on its sequel.  

Writers who sign up for Nanowrimo enjoy the community but even more the discipline and accountability of hundreds of thousands of people writing every day. 

We get to experience the unique lift of this discipline, the creativity it brings. 

One of my biggest challenges as a writing teacher is to get writers to try this.  To write a little on their books every single day, even if it's fifteen minutes.  Every day writing creates momentum, turns on the inner faucet to more ideas.  You can use Nanowrimo or an accountability calendar like Jerry Seinfeld used to--he liked to put a big red X on every day he wrote.  After a while, the accumulation of big red X's makes it hard to skip a day,

What keeps you going on your writing?  We all know it's much more work not to write. 

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