A Texan's literary perspective on 2017, part 2

A bestselling Aussie author dropped in on Dallas, while a local writer revived my interest in short stories. Dallas got a new independent bookstore, and an iconic blast from the past. And I learned the literary value of theology, among other lessons from 2017.

6/22/17 Kate Forsyth’s secrets for page-turning suspense

So, the book started off great. And then . . . you as a reader found yourself flipping pages, looking for something to catch your eye until you finally put the book down. Never to pick it up again. And probably never, ever to buy another book by that author.

Kate Forsyth

Now you’re the one writing a book. And from time to time, you glance at that long-neglected volume on your shelf, and a chill runs down your back as you wonder whether readers of your book will grab it happily also, only to put lay it down well before they finish. Never to look at it, or any of your books, again.

What we need here are Australian author Kate Forsyth’s secrets for keeping those pages turning. 

Her tips, offered at a Dallas workshop, included likable (although not perfect!) characters, surprises, multiple forms of suspense and minimizing the gore. “If you’ve seen 17 characters skinned alive, what’s one more? Meh.”

7/11/17 Tall tales told briefly

I confess: after publishing nearly two dozen short stories, I’d given up. Writing workshops were starting to tell me my tales didn’t fit into the few-thousand-word format of a short story. Flash fiction, micro fiction? Forget about it!

Then at a recent meeting of the Dallas Mystery Writers, I heard short story writer Ann Fields speak on the few (but basic) principles, and thought, maybe I’ll find the courage to try the short form again. I’ll think of it as a summer wardrobe for my writing. Fewer pieces, no layering, just the basics. 

“I loved the long form, but I had a day job and found it hard to keep my focus. So, I took a detour through short form and fell in love with that form of writing,” she told her mystery-writing audience.

Her suggestion is, rather than fixating on word-counts, simply to write the story in your heart in the way that seems natural to you – and it. 

8/15/17 VooDoo and Oil: Will Clarke’s homecoming

The night at Interabang Books in Dallas looked like a home coming for author Will Clarke as he read and signed copies of his third novel, The Neon Palm of Madame Melançon to a standing room only crowd. There were a lot of hugs, a lot of well-wishing, more than a little wine flowing.

Will Clarke

Madame Melançon (and Clarke, her creator) had just received a glowing tribute from Dallas Morning News writer Robert Wilonsky. Clarke himself looked no older than he had when his first book, Lord Vishnu’s Love Handles, appeared more than a decade ago. He was all smiles at Interabang, the city’s newest (and chicest) independent book store. 

Clarke’s books are the written equivalent of a dizzying roller coaster. Which way is up, which way is down? How fast are we going? Will we survive? Who knows? All we can do is hang on. 

10/13/17 A whole lot of pages, but is it a book? 

There was standing room only this week at Interabang Books in Dallas, as writers and would be writers packed into hear a panel sponsored by the Writers League of Texas. Four North Texas authors, moderated by the League’s executive director, Becka Oliver, shared their methods for turning the mass of pages they sometimes end up into actual publishable – and published books.

“When you talk to four writers with four different kinds of backgrounds, you know we’re really going to dig in,” Oliver said, as she introduced writers Jeramey Kraatz, author of the Cloak Society and Space Runners novel series; Sanderia Faye (Mourner’s Bench); Mike Merschel (Revenge of the Star Survivors); and memoirist Sarah Hepola (Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget).

In case you don’t already know from reading these posts, where there are four writers in a room, there are will be four different methods of writing and revising that writing. I, and probably the rest of the audience, listened, hoping to find a little of this and a little of that we could put together to find our own recipe for success.

10/17/17 Flesh and blood characters for standout stories

You know how, when you’re thinking about something, everything around you seems to be that same something? For me recently, in writing, that “something” has been character. Everywhere I turn, strange, even bizarre characters have appeared. First, there’s the news, replete with characters to study. Then the writing course offered by NaNoWriMo through the online site Coursera includes a segment on character. Even when I turned to what seemed to be a delightful book about a woman and her pet bulldog, darned if the “character” aspect didn’t appear again. (For both woman and her canine friend!) Finally, half of this fall’s writing workshop sponsored by the Writers Guild of Texas hinged on the aspect of character. 

Creating fictional characters, we as human beings can relate to is such an essential element that the basic formula for story is: character + action = plot. But how to create those characters? 

During the Coursera lessons, novelist/instructor Amy Bloom noted, “Most of us have enough trouble being ourselves, without having to then take on the task of (inventing) other people. But when you’re a writer, that’s the job. You have to enter into their body, into their soul, and see the world as they see it.”

So no wonder that after bestselling romantic suspense author Cindy Dees, who taught the WGT workshop, confessed that character development isn’t her strongest point, she developed an entire course on the subject to help her compensate,

Kate Forsyth’s secrets for page-turning suspense

So, the book started off great. And then . . . you as a reader found yourself flipping pages, looking for something to catch your eye until you finally put the book down. Never to pick it up again. And probably never, ever to buy another book by that author.

Now you’re the one writing a book. And from time to time, you glance at that long-neglected volume on your shelf, and a chill runs down your back as you wonder whether readers of your book will grab it happily also, only to put lay it down well before they finish. Never to look at it, or any of your books, again.

image: wikimedia commons

What we need here are Australian author Kate Forsyth’s secrets for keeping those pages turning.

Forsyth has shared her tips on how to keep readers reading in writing workshops all over the world, and she recently gave Texans a glimpse of them as well. Like her discussion of the exposition plot (see Tuesday’s post), some of these tips may seem counter-intuitive, but Forsyth has the credibility gained from writing dozens of international bestsellers.

Secret # 1: Put characters that readers care about in jeopardy.

She really, really likes (and writes) likable characters. Likable, of course, doesn’t mean perfect. Far from it. It means a character readers can empathize with. Give the character ample time on the page to make his/her wants and needs known. She won’t rule out the use of “dark” characters (rules, in her mind, are made to be broken). But be aware that we as writers will have to try a lot, lot harder, to make readers empathize with unlikable characters. And then, of course, there’s the jeopardy part. . .

Secret #2: Action does not equal suspense.

           

You’re thinking, I’ll amp up the jeopardy by making my heroine run around like a meth-crazed Yorkie terrier. Wrong. “Too many high-action scenes can actually dissipate suspense,” Forsyth warns. “Suspense happens . . . in the moments between the promise of something dreadful and its arrival.”

           

Secret #3: Surprise the reader.

Let bad things happen early in your story. It shows you can do worse things later. How much worse? They’ll have to read the story to find out. . .

Secret #4: Maintain suspense even in low-tension moments.

Remember that old saying about story structure – a sequel of reflection follows a scene (or several scenes) of action? Don’t lose readers during those periods of reflection. Characters can reflect like crazy while they know, and readers know, that something really, really bad is waiting to jump out and say, boo!

Secret #5: Don’t overdo the violence.

This may seem as surprising as secret #2, but readers can become desensitized by too much gore. As Forsyth noted, if you’ve seen 17 characters skinned alive, what’s one more? Meh. The same caution applies to sex scenes. Postponing gratification lets the sexual tension mount and mount and . . .

Secret #6: Tension always rises.

Each event has to be more dramatic than the one before. Quicken the pace as the climax approaches (pun intended). Chapter lengths will also get shorter as the pace quickens.

image: wikimedia commons

Finally. . . Should I even reveal Secret #7? Who will she choose? Will they be in time? Will it finally happen?

OK, here’s the big reveal of --

Secret #7: Vary the type of suspense.

Forsyth recognizes three types of suspense, affecting three parts of our bodies  – intellectual curiosity (head), worry and apprehension (heart), and creeping dread (gut). Use all of these, in different ways and at different times.

Of course, Forsyth provided much, much more information. Maybe I’ll write more about her workshop later. Or you can keep an eye on her for more tips. And keep an eye on this blog, and on sites such as the Writers Guild of Texas, which helped sponsor

Forsyth's Texas visit, for more writerly help.

A writing rule to break: when arc isn’t a best choice

During a book club discussion of a writer from outside the United States, a writing friend from an Eastern European country pointed out triumphantly, There’s no structure! Did she secretly hope to prove that structure in book-length manuscripts is an American plot that should not apply to her own writing? Sorry, no. The book in question actually did possess structure. It just wasn’t the narrative arc that’s come to seem standard in modern fiction. It was, in fact, an ancient and honorable structure, which I was pleased to hear Australian writer Kate Forsyth describe at a recent writing workshop.

Kate Forsyth

The dramatic arc (also described as 3-act or 4-act structure) isn’t the only model available. There is, in fact, an alternative more amenable to some narrative forms – the episodic plot.

Episodic plot has been in use at least since the 15^th century writing of Le Morte d’Arthur. Don Quixote doted on it in the 17^th century, The Pickwick Papers in the 19^th. Many memoirists and writers of narrative nonfiction still employ it, not to mention writers of children’s chapter books. Why has the episodic plot fallen into disrepute? And how (and when) is an episodic plot an appropriate story vehicle?

To review: the dramatic arc (also called a narrative arc) features a story in which, over the entire length of the story, the action rises ever more tensely to a climax, and then falls to a resolution. The pedigree of the narrative arc dates back to the origins of drama – Act I, Act II, Act III, and so forth.

By comparison, in an episodic plot, the narrative consists of a series of interconnected episodes – stories or chapters – which each tell their own story, with its own dramatic arc in miniature, but are also complete and satisfying in their own right.

It demands a strong beginning – think of that as an engine – to grab its readers’ attention and pull them all the way through its long train of story cars, connected by a common character or setting -- until it ends in a final resolution, like a train’s caboose.

Forsyth suggests using the episodic plot for stories that span a long period of time, such as the book my friend complained about at the beginning of this post. Think multi-generational sagas. Think biographies. Think stories covering a long period of time. (James Mitchener, anyone?)

image: wikimedia commons

However, when Forsyth used the beloved children’s book Anne of Green Gables as an example, it occurred to me that the format is also suited to writing for young readers. In fact, the classic “chapter books” parents read to their children (or kids read for themselves) once they’re beyond the picture book stage. Ideally suited to the 15- or 20-minute daily reading requirement my grandsons’ elementary school asks for.

Forsyth credits Jane Austen and her romantic interest in fairy tales for adapting the narrative arc of these short fictions into the gold standard for modern long-form fiction. (And Forsyth knows her fairy tales, having earned a graduate degree in fairy tale studies, as well as adapting them to modern fiction in books such as Bitter Greens, her retelling of the Rapunzel story.)

But if an episodic plot seems to suit your story, give it a try. I’ll add some caveats. An episodic plot isn’t a mishmash. It requires a strong connection between all its story cars. I’ve also heard at least one book editor knock episodic plots as “bus ride” stories. If you know the publisher, editor, agent, you’re aiming for has similar feelings, don’t seek to outrage their feelings. As Forsyth also says, when you break the rules, break them wisely. And well.

Forsyth’s appearance last week in Dallas was sponsored by WORD (Writing Organizations ‘Round Dallas). If you’re looking for a compatible writing group, check out the site. And stay tuned, I hope, for more visits like that of Forsyth.

***

Is anybody ready for another contest? Perhaps as an extra way to get our prose in front of agents, editors, publishers? While researching agents to query for my latest, I came across an intriguing idea called prose challenges. The Inklings Literary Agency  site includes a button labeled "prose challenge" that links to a site called Prose. Trident Media Group simply lists its current “challenge” at the Prose site. Demonstrate your writing talent, they say. If they like it. . .

(Later: continuing the conversation with Kate Forsyth)

From Australia to Texas: live your favorite fairy tales

Kate Forsyth

Australian author Kate Forsyth lives her own fairy tale. She dreamed of becoming a writer from childhood and is now the author of dozens of bestselling books. Many of them are based on retellings of fairy tales -- only fitting, given that she holds an academic degree in fairy-tale studies. Among these fairy tale-themed books: The Beast’s Garden -- a beauty and the beast set in the underground resistance to Hitler. And Beauty in Thorns -- out this summer, the tale of a love affair amid a 19^th century circle of artists and poets. And of course, like a perfect fairy tale heroine, Forsyth fell in love at first sight. And married him.

Next week, June 15-17, Forsyth brings her magic to Dallas, in a whirlwind tour. As with any good fairy tale, readers (and writers) will have three chances to get their wishes granted.

There’s the Friday, June 16 talk, with signed copies of Bitter Greens (winner of the American Library Association’s award for Best Historical Fiction) at 6:30 p.m. in the Half Price Books flagship store, 5803 E. Northwest Highway in Dallas.

her Rapunzel-inspired novel

Saturday, June 17, Forsyth will teach a morning writers’ workshop from 9 a.m.- noon on “Keeping the Reader Turning the Pages: The Importance of Pace, Suspense, & Surprise”; and an afternoon workshop, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. on “Building the Fictional World,” both at the Richardson Woman’s Club, 2005 N. Cliffe, in Richardson. Workshop attendees will have a choice of two Forsyth novels, Bitter Greens or The Wild Girl, inspired by the true story behind the Brothers Grimm’s collection of fairy tales.

(Forsyth urges workshop attendees to come prepared with plenty of questions to ask, and be answered.)

Finally, those who buy all three of these wishes (book talk/signing, and both workshops) will receive the special prize awarded to superfans, an invitation to a small meet and greet session with Forsyth Thursday, June 15.

Of course, there is a cost. After all, this spinner of tales has a long way to go to reach the fabled city of Dallas, Texas. Fortunately, the cost to us is far less onerous than being exiled to a tower to watch your hair grow. Or taking a really, really long nap. Or even spinning straw into gold.

The June 16 talk/book signing will set you back $10. Other local authors will be present with books of their own to sell, and raffle tickets for more goodies. Space is limited.

Cost for each of the workshops is $60 (or $110 for both, with lunch included). Again, space is limited.

Or buy all three events for $125 and get that Thursday, June 15, meet and greet as a bonus. See the WORD writers site for details and ticket purchases.

But, you say, you don’t believe in fairy tales. Maybe you prefer kids’ chapter books. Or young adult fantasy. Or even poetry. Forsyth has done those too, plus she’s a former journalist and an accredited performance storyteller with The Australian Guild of Storytellers.

Whichever type of reading (or listening, or writing) you prefer, make your dreams come true with this chance to meet Kate Forsyth.

Dive deep into summer reading, writing events

School’s nearly out, but two of the three “R’s” still apply all summer long. That’s reading and ‘riting, of course, and summer 2017 is particularly rich in rrr’s, with classes by internationally bestselling authors, as well as a plethora of free ways for readers and writers to keep their skills sharp. But don’t delay. Some of these events are going, going, nearly gone, including:

image: wikimedia commons

May 23-July 25: Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts & Letters Live programs continue. Ticket costs are typically $40 for the public, with discounts for DMA members and students/educators. Most events are at the museum, 1717 N. Harwood, Dallas. See the site for details and ticket information.

June 1: This is the deadline for author applications for the Local Authors Book Fair at the Audelia Road Branch of the Dallas Public Library. Authors from the surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth area may apply here, or contact librarian Elizabeth Kwan at Elizabeth.kwan@dallascityhall for information. The book fair, where authors may sell their works directly to the public, occurs July 29, 2 – 4 p.m. at the library, 10045 Audelia Road, Dallas, Texas.

June 2-4: Literary agent Donald Maass returns to Texas for a three-day workshop on the Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story beneath the Surface, at the Hyatt Place Houston Airport, 300 Ronan Park Place, Houston, Texas. At the time of this writing (Monday night), only 11 seats were still available. Cost: $529. See the site for details and registration.

June 3-August 12: Mayor’s Summer Reading Challenge at the Dallas Public Library. Kids up to age 18 can keep their reading skills honed and earn free books, and coupons or passes to recreational events and attractions by reading (or being read to, for the youngest tots) at least 20 minutes a day for 10 days. Every 10 days, pick up a new prize, up to five times over the summer. Adults may also earn an entry in grand prize drawings for each book they read. Register at any library branch.

June 7 – July 26: Here’s a freebie just for readers! The annual Rejebian Summer Review Series at Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, every Wednesday in June and July. Entertaining book reviews free at 7 p.m., beginning with Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill, reviewed by Lurline Morrow, a member of the Dallas Professional Book Reviewers Association. Add an optional dinner at 5:30 p.m. for $12, but please RSVP by Tuesday noon before the program, at 214-523-2249 or stanfordr@hpumc.org so they’ll know how much food to cook!

June 9-10: Robert E. Howard Days, Cross Plains, Texas. Celebrate the life of the Texas creator of Conan and other classic fantasy heroes. Except for the celebration banquet (cost $15) all events are free and open to the public, including tours of Howard’s home (and now museum) at the junction of J Street and Texas Highway 36 in Cross Plains. See the site for details.

June 16-17: Internationally bestselling Australian author Kate Forsyth visits Texas for two events, the Cactus & Kangaroos Readerathon (6/16) at Half Price Books in Dallas, (address), 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Cost: $49, which includes a copy of either of two bestone of two Forsyth books, Bitter Greens or The Wild Girl. Only 100 tickets available!

On June 17, Forsyth teaches two writers’ intensives from 9 a.m. – noon, and 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. at the Richardson Woman’s Club, 200 N. Cliffe, Richardson. Cost is $99 for each of the sessions, or $169 for both writing intensives (includes lunch). Or get the Super-fan Package for Friday’s Readerathon, both books, and all day Saturday for $199. Sponsored by the Writers Guild of Texas and W.O.R.D (Writers Organizations ‘Round Dallas). See the WORD site for course descriptions and tickets.

June 30-July 2: 2017 Agents & Editors Conference, Writers League of Texas, at the Hyatt Regency Austin, 208 Barton Springs Road, Austin. Workshops, panels, networking events, plus one on one conferences with agents and editors (available for additional charge). Cost: $439 for Writers League members, $499 for nonmembers. See the site for details and list of agents attending.

July 21-23: Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference center, 1800 State Highway 26, Grapevine, Texas, is a forum for writers of narrative nonfiction. Speakers, workshops and panels, as well as a variety of writing contests. Cost: $425. See the site for details and registration.

August 4-6: ArmadilloCon is Austin’s science fiction and fantasy convention – plus a writing workshop. (Note: manuscript deadline for the workshop is June 11.) At the Omni Southpark hotel, 4140 Governors Row, Austin. Cost: $50 for the con (until early registration closes in July), $90 for the workshop, which includes convention membership. See the site for tickets and additional details.

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And here’s a sneak preview of two out of this world events this fall: Robert McKee, who wrote the book on Story (literally), brings his 3-day writing seminar to Austin October 6-8, at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol, 701 East 11^th St., Austin. Seminar tuition: $865, tuition plus Final Draft Software package, $995. See the site for details and registration.

November 2-5: World Fantasy 2017 Convention, Wyndham Riverwalk, 111 East Pecan St., San Antonio. Attending membership $225, increasing to $275 June 1. See the site for details, registration, and list of special guests.