Too Much Reflection? How to Make Sure Your Story Doesn't Stall Out

One of my blog readers sent me a wonderful question last week.  It's a question that many writers struggle to answer.  It had come to mind when she read my post a few weeks ago about creating enough pauses for meaning within the flurry of events in your story.

But what about the opposite? she wondered.  If you're not an event writer, and maybe you write in too many pauses, how do you work with that tendency? 

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Building the "Why" of Your Story--Inner and Outer Purpose for Characters Is the Key

Characters are it, in both fiction and memoir, if you want to publish.  Of course you have to have a good plot, something happening.  And your characters have to be externalized enough that we readers feel they're believable, interesting, intriguing.  But characters drive a story, and no more than in today's publishing market.

Several of my clients have had happy news these past weeks--agents or book contracts--and almost all of them have emailed me about their agent or editor loving the characters.  Those who get rejections know that this is also the most common complaint:  I just didn't fall in love with your characters.

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Finding the Best "Triggering Event" for Your Book--How to Launch Your Story

In two weeks, on Friday, March 30, I'll be teaching an all-day workshop at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.  We'll examine book structure:  what makes a book successful, in terms of its structure, and how can you choose the pivotal moments in your story wisely?  Many books are beautifully written but poorly structured, and many writers haven't a clue as to how to fix that. 

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Can First Chapters Ever Be TOO Dramatic?

Writing teachers and writing classes-- if you've worked with either, if you've shared your writing for feedback, you've probably heard the golden rule of first chapters.  They need to have something happen.  Preferably something outwardly dramatic.

It's called a triggering event, and it literally triggers your story.  Here are some classic examples:

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Creating Pause in Your Action--When and How to Let the Reader Linger without Losing Momentum

A blog reader sent in this fascinating question:

How can "event writers" develop stationary moments in their narrative and sections in their books where the main characters reflect on the meaning of what happens?  What's the purpose of this, and what's is benefit to the story?

This is a question about pacing, but it also hints at our natural preferences as writers, to write certain kinds of scenes. 

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Winding Up for the Pitch--How to Craft a Winning Query Letter

Several of my private clients are completing their manuscripts this month, getting ready to pitch to agents at one of the large writing conferences happening in April:  The Loft Literary Center's Pitch Conference, April 20-21, in Minneapolis, and Grub Street's The Muse and the Marketplace, April 6-8, in Boston.

Writers can meet with agents and "pitch" their book--or give a short description designed to spark an agent's interest.  Some pitch sessions permit a written query letter and sample of your writing, others just allow you to pitch verbally. 

 

Most writers agree that crafting a winning query letter is all important.  Even if your pitch is verbal, the query can help you figure out how best to describe your book in a unique, interesting way.  Agents often receive hundreds of these a week.  How do you make sure that yours stands out?

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How to Choose Good Writing Partners--Making the Process Less Trial-and-Error

They say it takes a lot of support to write a book--the process is long, hard, and personal for most writers.  We need encouraging words and people who believe in what we're doing, so we can keep doing it when the journey feels useless.  I know most writers who complete books gather a team of supporters by the end.  Supporters like writing groups, writing partners, or hired editors/coaches. I don't know many who get published without this kind of backup.

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Writing Amazing, Authentic Dialogue--Hard to Learn, Vital to Know

Writing dialogue should be easy, right?  Most of us talk.  We text, we email, we use words in conversation all the time.  We listen (sometimes) to other people talking.  Dialogue runs through our thoughts all day, every day.  So why isn't dialogue on the page just a matter of listening well and copying down what we hear?

 

Literature has different rules than real life--obviously.  So dialogue on the page also has different rules than spoken dialogue. 

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How Do I Know When I'm Done? Five Stages of Writing a Book

A past student from my Madeline Island retreats emailed me recently with a great question.  It's one most writers struggle with:  How do I know when my book is actually finished?   "An overarching question I find more difficult," she says, "is whether it could ever be ready. Some things may not be worth the effort or the money. Is it better to pay someone willing to say yea or nay first or does that have to go together with sending it out for paid editing?"

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Walking--Why It Helps Me Write My Books

Not everyone will agree with this post, so skip it if you already know it's not your thing.  Walking has saved my writing life this week.  Even though I live in snow country, northern New England, and we've been hit with a series of snowstorms these past weeks, I have to walk.  It keeps me sane when I'm working out a gnarly problem with a story.

Julia Cameron made a big deal of walking in her sequels to The Artist's Way, which many of you read, as I did, to recover our blocked inner artist.  I thought, yeah, OK, when I first saw "daily walk" up there with "morning pages" and "artist's date."  I liked to walk, but not every day and certainly not as part of my writing routine.   

These past months have changed my mind.

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