Gems from pandemic's virtual literary events

 I spent the past two-plus years stuffing myself with more virtual literary conferences and classes than I could have afforded to attend in person. And even as we cheer the pandemic's apparent wind-down, it's hard to deny that the virtual world has its benefits. I written several posts about details of these virtual events, but there are so many gems that couldn't find a place. Until now!

• Hacks to keep us writing: Tie a desired action with a habitual one. . . 'when I pour a cup of coffee, I will spend 10 minutes (doing desired action).' -- Kathy Ver Eeke, Pitch to Published virtual class

• On creating characters: A character sketch is an outline that asks and answers questions about your main characters. Don't skip this step! You'll know how your character will behave and react in any situation. . . Look at the famous people who have the personality types that most interest you. -- Shayla Raquel, WORDfest virtual conference, 2020

• On those 'crappy' first drafts: If you write with somebody looking over your shoulder, you're screwed to begin with. I write like everybody I know is dead. -- Joe R. Lansdale, Writers League of Texas virtual conference, 2021

• Still more 'crappy': I encourage young writers to write without editing. -- Varian Johnson, Writers League of Texas virtual conference, 2021

• Last of the crappies (for now!): Give yourself permission to write badly! -- Shayla Raquel, Writers Guild of Texas online video

• On reading when you're a writer: It can be hard to read a book without picking it apart -- or wishing I'd written it myself! -- Jeffrey Kraatz, Writers League of Texas virtual conference, 2021

• More reading as a writer: You never know where your next inspiration will come from. -- Kathleen Kent, Writers League of Texas virtual conference, 2021

• On knowing your audience: It's really hard to write books without meeting the people who read them. -- Jeff Kinney, North Texas Teen Book Festival, 2021

• On planning a book: The more books you write, the more you need to plan. Or it's all going to end up sounding like the same book. . . You can veer away from the recipe once you know what the recipe is. -- Michelle Stimpson, WORDfest virtual conference, 2020   

• On getting 'unstuck': If you're feeling stuck, go back to your outline. If you didn't outline, go back and do so! -- Shayla Raquel, Writers Guild of Texas online video

• 'Showing' vs. 'telling': Put the character in situation in which they interact in ways you want to show. 'In the head' is telling. It's the action that's 'showing.': Dan Crissman, Pitch to Published virtual writing group

• On not sweating the small stuff: Clothing descriptions don't need to happen unless it's important to the story. We can assume (the characters) are wearing clothes. -- Robert Dugoni, Thrillerfest virtual conference, 2021

• On literary agents: I became an agent because I was in law school but didn't want to be a lawyer! -- Kirby Kim, Writers League of Texas virtual conference, 2021

• How to research agents: Get two bowls with 50 marbles in one. Take a marble from the first bowl and put it in the second bowl for each agent researched. Caution -- do not substitute candies for marbles in this exercise.
  :  -- Kathy Ver Eeke, Pitch to Published virtual writing group

• I'll end with this spit in the eye of the pandemic: During COVID-19, I had to find a place to write where it was outdoors but safe -- I went to the cemetery. -- Jeff Kinney, North Texas Teen Book Festival, 2021

image by Kaitlyn Millet from Pixabay

There you have it. Useful tips or at least some that may make us smile. I'm happy to say that some of these events have or plan to go live in 2020. The North Texas Teen Book Festival went live earlier this month, and Writers League of Texas and Thrillerfest are full steam ahead with plans for in-person conferences. The Writers Guild of Texas is still operating virtually out of its Facebook page but sadly, WORDfest, an event of the Writers Organizations 'Round Dallas has disappeared from sight. Keep checking back here for updates. And keep writing!

        

How can we help readers ‘see’ our stories?

(Updated February 19 with link for Houston Writers Guild short story contest)

***

Anybody else still in a quandary about the show vs. tell issue of story writing? Right, me too. So, when I received an email from fellow writer Leah Hinton about a way of catching readers’ attention, I asked to reproduce it for this blog. Leah modestly gives another friend credit for this discovery but – I’ll let her tell it in her own words.

She writes: I was recently talking with my friend Thomas who teaches advanced placement psychology at a local Dallas-Fort Worth area high school. He does a neat experiment with the student. Each is given a sheet of paper with one of two sets of instructions (although all students believe they have the same instructions).

Image by Pexels for Pixabay

Half are told to “listen to each sentence spoken aloud. On a scale of one to five, with one being hardest and five being easiest, how easy is each sentence to say?”

The other half are told to “listen to each sentence spoken aloud. On a scale of one to five, how easy is it to visualize (italics mine) what is happening in each sentence?”

Students may mark the scale provided on their sheets of paper for each sentence but that is the only note they may make during the exercise.

The sentences are then read aloud. They include sentences such as:

·       The silent soldier sat stoically smoking a cigarette.

·       The mischievous miscreant pounded the pavement of Paris.

·       The devious daughter delighted in dangling dinner in front of the dog.

The list is about 20 sentences long. Each is spoken clearly, quickly, and never repeated. Each contains alliteration (same letter sound at the beginning of words adjacent of closely connected) and is heavy on adjectives (descriptive words).

Once the students have marked their scores, the teacher divides them – half on one side of the room who were instructed to listen for ease of speaking, the other half for those instructed to listen for ease of visualization. The students still do not know that each half had different instructions. Then the teacher asks:

·       “Who pounded the pavement of Paris?”

·       “Who smoked the cigarette?”

·       “Who dangled dinner in front of the dog?”

The groups of students raise their hands to answer, and the first with a correct answer scores a point for their side.

Every year Thomas has taught AP psychology and this class, the side of the room that visualizes the statements (as opposed to judging the difficult of saying the sentences) has scored more points. The side that visualizes can usually recall and get correct 80-90 percent of the follow-up questions after hearing the sentence only once, when said quickly and clearly.

The side of the room judging the difficulty in saying the sentences usually has very little recall of the actual sentence content.

I thought, Leah continues, this was a really cool experiment and it got me thinking. Do we write in such a way that compels our readers to visualize our story? For some readers, this is their natural way of processing a story. For others though, they need a little extra to deeply become immersed in the story. Are we providing an avenue for all readers, regardless of processing style to take in our work? This isn’t solely a concern for fiction writers. Visualization makes ideas and concepts “stick” so foundationally, it could be effective in nonfiction as well.

So, how do we do this? Two ways to make our writing more visual are by establishing images and concrete details.

Think about this. (I’d say close your eyes but then you wouldn’t be able to read any further!):

A man walks into a bar. He sits. He orders a drink from a server.

There’s very little detail. (Now you probably understand the point of Thomas’s use of alliteration and adjectives!) Without little to go on, each of us has probably pictured a different bar. A club, a pub, the bar from the TV show Cheers, or a neighborhood sports bar with a television on every square inch of wall space.

Even the man will have been different for each reader. Some will have pictured an older gentleman, some a young businessman. Some might have pictured a dock worker or a late night stop for a first responder after a hard shift.

Where does the man sit? In a booth, at the bar, on a wooden chair with a spindle back?

Is this a martini, shaken not stirred, kind of man? Or does he want a club soda or a beer or a bourbon served neat or an unsweetened iced tea or a tall glass of water?

Without images and concrete details, the reader can’t know what the author intended.

I challenge you to dig up an older piece of work, maybe something you weren’t pleased with, and consider adding establishing images and concrete details of the character, time, and setting to enhance your readers’ visualization process. But this isn’t 18^th-century Britain, so don’t worry, you won’t need to spend three pages describing wallpaper.

***

Leah Hinton is a well-published author of short stories, poetry and plays. She also teaches writing for students ages 10 and older, with adult and teen mentoring programs. Contact her through her site .

***

Hey, it’s me again! Now that we’ve had fun with that visualization exercise, how about trying it further, with a few more of the story contests from my inbox?

Now – April 1: the Houston Writers Guild is accepting submissions for its “Women’s Voices” contest. Stories can be either fiction or narrative nonfiction, written from a female or female-identifying point of view and be a source of inspiration and empowerment for women. All authors, regardless of gender, are welcome. Fee: $25 for members, $85 for nonmembers. Cash prizes for top three entries and all receive feedback from contest judges. See the site for details.

Now – April 30: Granbury Writers’ Bloc’s quarterly contest for 1,500-word stories. Fee: $20. Cash prizes for top three stories and every entry gets feedback from professional writers and editors. Fee: $20 first entry, $15 each subsequent entry in same quarter. Repeats July 31, October 31, and January 31.

Now – April 30: The Writers’ League of Texas 2021 Manuscript Contest. Winners receive complimentary registration to the WLT’s 2021 Agents & Editors Conference September 17-19. Contestants need not have a completed manuscript or be Texas residents. Fee: $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers, both with written critiques. For those who prefer not to receive critiques the cost is $25 for members, $35 for nonmembers. See the site for details.

Now – June 15: Best First Sentence Contest from Thrillerfest. Contestants must be registered for Virtual ThrillerFest XVI or be ITW members. See the site for examples of winning sentences.

2020 countdown – readers’ favorite posts, day 4

 Continuing the countdown of top posts for 2020, here’s: 

Never write alone – there’s a critique group for that! 

Has anybody else ever been in this situation? I found an adorable premise for a story – actually, stole it, but that’s a tale for later – only to have critique partners shoot it down. And thank dog they did! 

It seemed so lovely. My fingers flew over the keyboard until the workshop members at the Writers Guild of Texas said, in the politest possible way, really? Would anybody in the character’s situation think like that? Part of the problem, I realized, was that the style wasn’t a good fit for me. The rest of the problem was that my eyes willingly overlooked whatever I didn’t want to see. Hello, rewrite. And a much happier me with the resulting version. 

But what would have happened without those other sets of eyes on my story? And how can a writer find those other eyes and voices in a time when writing workshops probably aren’t included in our states’ list of “essential” activities? 

If there’s a bright side to a global pandemic, it’s the plethora of online activities it’s given rise to. Once, writers in places without in-person workshops were isolated from their peers. Now those peers are little more than a click away. 

I live in North Texas, home to WORD (Writing Organizations ’Round Dallas) whose site includes a map of member groups, including those with critique and discussion groups. You’ll need to contact groups that catch your attention, because not all websites have been updated to show which offer online activities. But for those that do, distance is no problem. 

I’ve even joined another critique group since first writing this post, at the DFW Writers Workshop. 

Image: Pixabay

Or maybe you’ve decided your writing skills could use a brush up during this time of sheltering at home, but cost, distance, or safety prohibit in-person classes. Hello, internet again. Besides WORD’s interactive map, check out the likes of Writing Workshops Dallas, a brainchild of multi-published short story author Blake Kimzey, for its online offerings. And don’t overlook the Writers’ League of Texas for ongoing, online classes. 

Yes, I am partial to Texas events, but again, with the internet, residence is not an issue. Writer’s Digest, for instance, offers its own school of online courses, as does The Write Life (which also helps with finding critique partners). There are also many other online courses listings that I haven’t had an opportunity to vet but would welcome reader feedback on.

Countdown to readers’ favorites posts of 2020!

 What – 2020 is almost over? It’s hard to believe, but there were some good things this year, so in these final days, I’m rerunning the top 10 readers’ favorite posts, starting with numbers 9 and 10:   

 Show, don’t tell – unless you must!

 

Do you believe in coincidences? Nah, me neither. Sure, oddball things can happen. But the same oddball thing? Over and over? Sure, when (according to legend) an apple fell on Ike Newton’s head, he might have thought, ouch, imagine that. Until he remembered that he’d seen (and probably felt) apples falling year after year, from tree after tree, and figured there had to be a reason for such repeated phenomena.

 

Writers being as fixated on such oddities as scientists or conspiracy theory hawkers, when I saw the issue of “show vs. tell” twice in the past month, from different writers in two separate writing critique groups, I didn’t laugh it off as coincidence. But unlike Newton, instead of pulling out what mathematics I remember from school to address the issue, I turned to notes from author Lori Freeland’s presentation about show vs. tell at a pre-pandemic meeting of the Writers Guild of Texas earlier this year.

 

At this point, I know some readers are wondering, what the heck does “show vs. tell” mean? It’s all words, after all, isn’t it? I hope one of Freeland’s favorite quotes from master storyteller (ooh – should be a better word), Anton Chekov will make things clearer: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

 

“Actions (that glinting light) speak louder than words,” Freeland told her audience. “So, if you want the reader’s attention, show!”

 

However, there is a caution, which is, sometimes you just need to get something out fast, without, frankly, catching a reader’s attention with it. But how do you know when to show and when to tell?

Image: Pixabay

 

In “telling,” we writers put on our journalist’s hats, reporting and summarizing information. We can also “tell” when we need/want to let readers know how they should feel.

 

In contrast, when we “show” we put on our artist’s berets to paint word pictures that convey sensory and emotional information. In other words, when we don’t want to tell readers how to feel something, instead allowing them to feel it along with our characters.

 

“If you’re saying an emotion word,” Freeland said, “you’re telling.”

 

In other words: She was angry vs. Her fists clenched; her eyes narrowed. See the picture? Feel the picture?

 

However, this doesn’t mean that “telling” is necessarily lazy writing. If used well, it can:

 

·       Summarize

·       Increase the pace of the story

·       Minimize the mundane

·       Keep down word count

 

Don’t, Freeland warned, make something mundane seem overly important by describing it. And if you find yourself needing to keep the word count of your tale under, say 300,000, look for those mundane parts and tell, tell, tell!

 

However, when something in a story is a really big deal, the writer must use her “show” hat. And when he wants to evoke an emotion? Show it! (Freeland is a romance writer, so showing emotion is a really, really, REALLY big deal for her.)

 

Somewhat contradictorily, Freeland also noted that showing doesn’t always take more space on the page than telling, nor does it always slow down the pace of the story.

 

The major issue in deciding whether to show vs. tell is whether what is happening in the story is important or not. Don’t make something mundane overly important by describing it. However, if what’s happening in the story is a big deal, it must be shown.

 

If writers are undecided, Freeland suggests writing a brief summary of what needs to happen in a scene, marking what’s important, and then making a point of showing at those marked places.

 

“If you want something to be a big deal to the reader, make sure it’s a big deal to your character.”

 

OK, now we’re excited about showing, but how to do it?

 

Freeland’s tip: avoid using emotion words. No angry, sad, glad, excited, sorry, blah, blah, blah. Instead, use:

·       Sensory words

·       Descriptions

·       Actions

·       Internal thought (but only for the point of view character)

·       Internal body reactions (sometimes called visceral reactions, these are always involuntary)

·       Similes and metaphors

·       Subtext

 

Subtext? It’s one of those things like “voice” that writers talk about but never seem to pin down. It’s the implicit, unstated meaning lying beneath the written text, as when a character states that she feels perfectly fine when we as readers know she’s miserable. Or when a Hemingway character notices the fat hardening on a strip of bacon while his mother is trying to discuss her concerns about him. Hmmm.

 

“Sometimes it’s more powerful to show what doesn’t happen,” Freeland said. “Subtext evokes emotion and emotion keeps your readers involved.”

 

I’m sorry I can’t share Freeland’s entire presentation with my own readers, including her illustrative exercises. But workshops are some of what she does for a living (she has a separate one on subtext) so why not ask your critique group to host her. Virtually speaking.

***

 

Thrillerfest bites: plotting, villains, research & more 

Here I am, about to wrap up my first-ever Thrillerfest, which I could only afford because like so many events this year it was online. My ticket entitled me to videos of 58 internationally known thriller writers who would normally have gathered for their annual conference in New York. I’ve watched fewer than a dozen because I can’t sit still more than an hour or two before my dogs demand to be let out (and back into the fortunately air-conditioned house because Texas is damned hot in July). Still, it seemed unfair to make readers wait until I’ve seen everything – which will be online until next year – before sharing, including that there’s more than one way, maybe more than a dozen, to become a famous author in my favorite genre. 

To plot or not 

“I start out with a couple of topics, items of interest to me,” said writer of the Joe Pickett Wyoming game warden series, C.J. Box, “then usually an idea or two from the wider world.” At this point, although some of his books are unplanned, Box typically begins an outline, which can run up to 40 pages, and which after 20 Joe Pickett books can be helpful in keeping track of characters and events. 

“Does anything ever blow up the outline,” interviewer Ryan Steck asked. “Totally!” Box said. “Sometimes something happen in the middle. Sometimes it’s just throwing a curve.” 

“I create a lot of outlines,” said Dan Brown, author of the Da Vinci Code among other thrillers featuring the professorial Robert Langdon. “I usually write the last scene first so that I know where I’m going – though it will probably change.” 

“I like to set the story evolve organically,” Sandra Brown said. “The first draft is the rough one. The next draft is the crafting one, making sure I’ve milked everything I can out of every scene.” 

Diana Gabaldon also famously writes outline-free, having started her first book, Outlander, with a single image – “a man in a kilt” – from an episode of Doctor Who set in 18^th century Scotland. After writing for about three days, she “came upon an Englishwoman (character) who wouldn’t shut up,” and incorporated the story’s time travel element (again, probably thanks to the good Doctor). 

On the other hand, for lawyer turned author John Grisham. “Everything starts with a plot. . . I don’t think I’ve started with a character. I know the last scene before I write the first page.” 

“I always have a grand plan,” thriller/historical writer Ken Follett said. His special take on plotting/outlining is – making lists. “I do that all the time. It’s great because it gives me a perspective I wouldn’t have if I just wrote sentence by sentence.” 

And then there’s the unique take of Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperance Brennan “Bones” series for adults as well as the Virals young adult series co-written with her son Brendan Reichs. “I don’t do a lot of outlines,” Reichs said, “(but) my son is a fanatic about it! I outline maybe six to seven chapters and then write the rest.” Her twist is to outline retroactively, to remember where to find something she wrote earlier. “So, I end up with an outline, even I didn’t start with one.” 

Oddball characters 

C. J. Box’s first agent (in New York) told him he couldn’t sell his book because “who wants to read about a game warden in some place nobody’s ever heard of?” Box deliberately set out to make Pickett “a state employee, a Dudley Do-right, who doesn’t make much money and dotes on his wife and family. Wouldn’t that be unusual? . . .I’m proud to say 51 percent of my readers are women. I think it’s the family relationships between Joe’s wife and daughters.” 

If a game warden seems like a strange protagonist for a thriller, how about a college professor like Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon? In Brown’s case, it was a case of writing what he knew, he said. Having grown up in an academic environment, why not have an art history professor as the hero – although he admits Langdon’s specialty of “symbology” is completely fictional. 

Villains 

“It’s all about point of view,” Box said. “Once we know what drives (villains), even it’s despicable reasons, readers can understand them.” 

The attraction of villains, for Dan Brown is, “the ambiguity, that is, a villain who does the wrong things for the right reasons. . . (and) finding an argument I can argue from both sides.”

What is it about bad characters that readers like, interviewer Jeff Ayers asked Grisham. “Most lawyers are good, hardworking people who make much money,” he replied. “Nobody wants to read about that!” 

Follett’s take on a great villain is, “You have to hate him but (not) in the way you do COVID-19. He has to be a person. He must be a bully but he must have people around him. I don’t think it has to depend on violence. We can hate him for just being nasty.” 

Series vs. standalone books 

“Standalones are the harder to write,” Box said, although after 20 Joe Pickett books, he finds himself walking “a fine line between introducing (backstory) to new readers without boring longtime readers. I try to sum it up in a sentence or two for new readers so they don’t fee lost.” 

Grisham, on the other hand, prefers standalones. “Once I’ve finished a book, I’m done. You can’t do that with a series.” Although, he’ll never say never, having written a middle-grade thriller series, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, and his Camino Island mystery is threatening to morph into a series with its follow-up, Camino Winds. 

Author branding vs. genre jumping 

“I had written 40 series romances before I wrote my first crossover (into suspense),” Sandra Brown said. “It was freeing but terrifying. My publisher said, ‘Do we sell you as a romance writer or a suspense writer? You’re sending mixed signals.’” 

“After ten legal thrillers, I asked myself about writing other types of books, Grisham said. “(My mystery) Camino Winds, for instance doesn’t have a single lawyer!” 

Follett’s take on switching from his original, trademark thrillers to historical novels with the crossover historical fiction of The Pillars of the Earth, is there was a common thread tying all of them together. “Two things that appeal to me enormously are writing about people in love and people in danger. So long as I have those very basic human (issues) there was a continuity between my books.” 

Research 

“I always go (to sites),” Box said, “if I’m going to someplace other than the mythical Saddlestring, Wyoming,” which is Joe Pickett’s home. “I put on my old reporter hat.” Visits to settings can turn up unexpected insights – such as how much wind turbines can sway -- and conduct interviews. “Even though there might be some hesitancy at first, everybody I’ve talked to has been incredibly forthcoming – sometimes more than I anticipate. Just like cops, people love to talk about their professions.” 

“I read a lot and go to locations,” said Dan Brown, for whom location is character. “I also interview a lot of people, but before I can talk to specialists, I have to know something.” 

Gabaldon had, again famously, ever been to Scotland before selling her first novel, which made enough money to finance a trip to the country for her and her husband (who, not incidentally, is tall and redhaired like her book’s hero). “I don’t do any (research) before I start,” Gabaldon said, “because the research is concurrent with the writing. I just trip over stuff as I go along.” She reads primarily for “atmosphere,” she said, while using the Internet for particulars.

Book proposals – beyond the hearts and flowers

As I took notes furiously during a recent meeting of the Writers Guild of Texas, speaker P.J. Gover used a term that that brought me up short. Proposal. No, it wasn’t the kind of proposal you might hope for from your beloved on Valentine’s Day. It was a book proposal. And although I’d learned to expect the term in connection with nonfiction narratives, what truly shocked me was its use in querying agents for fiction manuscripts.

Ms. Gover’s agent, she said, had told her he loved to hear that novelists could actually furnish a proposal for their books. My right hand stopped taking notes and shot up questioningly. In all my contacts with agents, no one had ever mentioned writing a proposal for a novel. But as I returned to listening, it became clearer that they had. Just not in so many words.

It felt kind of like the way a beloved might start discussing wedding venues without so much as uttering the words, “marry me.”

Maybe an explanation is in order. In some ways resembling a marriage proposal, a book proposal is a sales pitch. Only instead of explaining to the recipient why this guy/gal is THE ONE to invest your life to, a book proposal explains why this book is the one an agent/editor/publisher should invest time and money in. 

Although there’s no single way to write a book proposal, it typically includes the following sections:

·       Competitive title analysis

·       Target market or target audience

·       Marketing plan

·       Author bio

·       Overview (summary of the project)

·       Chapter outline (or table of contents)

·       Sample chapters

At this point, readers who’ve paid attention to posts about writing query letters will be saying, hey, this looks a lot like that. Because with the exception of the chapter outline (which sounds a lot like a synopsis) and the sample chapters, both elements an agent may ask to see, a query letter is indeed the very short version – think of it as the CliffsNotes version – of a proposal.

image: pixabay

Target market/audience? It’s the stuff of the first paragraph of a query – age of audience, genre and word count – adult, 90,000-word thriller, for instance. 

Overview and competitive (or comparative) title analysis? That’s a query’s middle two-three paragraphs: who did what to whom and why, and what other recent (and notable) books does this one resemble? However, in looking for other tips on writing proposals, I particularly loved the suggestion of marketing strategist Jane Friedman – “Rather than focusing on the content, focus on why the content will benefit the reader or why the reader will care.” Oh. Yeah. Because you’ve got to care before you say, “I do!”

Author bio/marketing plan: It’s that last paragraph of the query – who the writer is and what chops that person can bring to get this book into readers hands and hearts.

(At this point, I must also thank Writer’s Digest for its post, “How to Write the Perfect Query Letter.") 

Nonfiction writers typically will not have written their entire manuscript beyond outlining and sample chapters. Even so, their book proposals (without sample chapters) may extend to 40 pages or more. At that point, they’ll start shopping the proposal to agents or publishers before investing themselves more fully in the writing. 

Writers of fiction, and often memoirs, however, generally must have a completed manuscript before approaching agents. So which comes first – chicken or egg, novel or proposal? The answer may be – either one.  

If we first write a proposal (minus the sample chapters), we’ll have a plan to steer out book through the time it takes to write it. Equally, over those months, maybe years, it takes to write and revise (and re-revise, etc.) a novel that may stretch to nearly 300 pages (or more!) we writers may not know for sure what we’ve written until we hit “save” on that final version. We may have outlined it fairly well upfront, only to find our outline morphing somewhere along the writing journey. So our initial proposal may morph as well – maybe into something that would have been unrecognizable when we began the writing journey.

The actual title of P.J. Gover’s talk – the one that started this whole post – was “Acquiring an Agent, 101.” And yes, she had a lot more to say beyond advising her audience of the benefits of writing book proposals for fiction narratives. As usual, I’ve provided only a smidgen of the information gleaned from groups such as the Writer’s Guild of Texas. For the whole story, you’ll have to ask your own group to invite P.J. and hear her for yourselves!

The finale – readers favs of 2018: bring on 2019!

Talk about beginning 2019 with a bang – two of my (and readers!) favorite posts of 2018, are combined here in a double edition! Today’s post combines the fast and furious recaps of the inimitable Tex Thompson’s Juice Box Hero format, published here first on September 25 and October 1, 2018.

***

Boy, does Tex Thompson know how to put new twists on creative writing issues – witness such discussions as her analogy of book revision to Dante’s tour of the Inferno which I blogged about earlier this year. She didn’t disappoint with a world premiere of her newest program – Juice Box Hero: Squeezing Plot from Character – at this month’s meeting of the Writers Guild of Texas .

Because nothing can equal the actual experience of being in the same room with Tex, I’ll only provide a brief summary in this post. If you want to hear the full deal, you’ll have to urge your own writing group to book her next performance.

Which comes first in creative writing – character or plot -- she asked her audience. The fact is, both are essential, but putting too much emphasis on either results in a story as dry as a squeezed-out lemon. 

Enter Tex’s “10 Big Ideas” for extracting the maximum juice from both elements:

1.   Dial up the contrast

Whether it’s contrast between the main character and another, between characters and their environment, or a character’s “other self” – the person they want (or fear) to be, “this works for any manuscript problem,” Tex assured us. “If the contrast has been sitting at a 3, try dialing it up to 11.”

2.   Turn “and then” into “but” or “so” (or “therefore”)

If the plot has turned into what I once heard an editor call “a bus ride” (“A happens and then B happens”) try changing the format to “A happens, but then B happens.” Or “A happens, therefore B happens,” to create a domino effect of consequences.

3.  Take away the “reasonable” option or add a conflicting gain

mage: pixabay

Either forget that old “lesser of two evils” choice by taking the “right” choice completely off the table. Or, set up “mutually exclusive good” choices. And yes, you can do both! 

4.   Add a different kind of conflict

Given the three major kinds of conflict characters can experience -- internal, interpersonal, and external – give them more than one. The effect of internal and interpersonal conflicts is to elicit sympathy from readers. External conflict elicits admiration for the character. Now juice things up by adding a temptation or cost for each decision the character makes during the conflict. Think: “is there something a character would never do but that he/she must do to accomplish a goal?”

5.    “Force the wizard to throw a punch”

That thing your character is absolutely worst at? Make that the thing she must do. Tex noted that when a masculine character is forced to perform a job with feminine associations, the conventional result is comedy, i.e., Kindergarten Cop. On the other hand, when a feminine character must perform an act conventionally considered masculine, the usual result is a drama, i.e., Aliens or Kill Bill. Tex of course, being Tex, urged us to subvert these conventions. 

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Today it’s the conclusion of the inimitable Tex Thompson’s Juice Box Hero: Squeezing Plot from Character presentation. And since nothing beats hearing Texas in person, I’ll only give the barest skeleton of the writerly techniques which received their world before the recent meeting of the Writers Guild of Texas. Want more? You’ll have to persuade your own writing group to host Tex herself for the full meal deal!

Now – are you ready for the final five ideas? Ta-da!

6.     Use the four stages of competence 

Uh, what? Right, that’s how I felt. Like, you’re either competent or not, aren’t you? So Tex expanded this concept for us. She also graphed it, which I’m sorry I can’t show you. But as I said – consult Tex herself for the whole show. 

Here are those four stages of competence: unconscious incompetence (the we don’t know what we don’t know stage); conscious incompetence (we’re at least aware of our own inadequacy); conscious competence (we can do it, but we have to think about it); and unconscious competence (the never forgetting how to ride a bike stage). 

Tex also mapped these onto the three-act plot structure, remembering that Act 2 has two parts, with a major change in the middle: Act 1 – the character is unaware that a problem exists until, boing! his incompetence reaches his conscious level. Act 2 – the character starts to figure things out (moving from conscious incompetence to conscious competence), with numerous falls off the bike. Act 3 – ride the heck out of that bike! 

7.     “Jump before you’re pushed” 

Which in Tex-speak means, “that awful thing that happens to your character is something she brought on herself.” (Review the three forms of conflict and “choose whichever one most advances the story.”) 

Put up your dukes! Writing action scenes that punch

Although author Scott Bell's discussion at the recent meeting of the Writers Guild of Texas was titled "Writing Action Scenes." But although "action, technically, is anything except dialogue and description," what he had in mind was "action that involves some level of peril."

And yes, specifically fight scenes. But whether they involve micro or macro levels of peril--think a fist fight versus the Battle of Waterloo--fight scenes are some of the most difficult in a writer's repertoire.

So why write such scenes? Like all action, fight scenes are the stuff of character-building--the number one concern of every writer. They also are huge building blocks of suspense--the element that keeps readers turning pages long after bedtime. 

And since anything this important--whether it's a minor street fight or a full-blown battlefield--is worth doing well, Bell identified four elements for writing fight scenes that take readers' breath away:

1. Characters we care about
2. Consequences 
3. Choreography
4. Conclusions

"If you don't care about (the characters) the action falls flat," Bell told his audience.

I couldn't agree more. One of my biggest gripes about action narratives is the opening with violent action involving anonymous victims. A bad example I remember from a book whose title is best forgotten was, "The killing began at noon." Wait--killing of who? Or what? And why? Book closed, and without even the guilt I might feel about turning away from a news story of an atrocity because--it was fiction. These weren't even real people!

Besides occurring with characters we readers actually can care about because, though fictional, their authors have done the heavy lifting of characterization, "the action has to be expressive and organic. . .it comes naturally in the story," Bell said.

image: pixabay

It also must be within the character's range of capability. Unless we already know the character is Superwoman, it's no fair suddenly bestowing her with muscles of steel. Remember that issue of "characterization"? If not, check out my posts on writer Tex Thompson's tips for combining character with action.

And just as readers need to care about the people involved in the perilous action, they also need to have reasons to care about the consequences of those actions. What bad things will happen if/when the hero fails? How will the story's tension escalate? 

And just as it's not fair to endow a character with unexplainable powers, Bell also warned against interrupting the suspension of disbelief required from our readers. Remember the truism of Chekov's gun? That if a gun appears in the first act, it must be fired by the end of the story? Similarly, if a gun is fired late in the story, that story's author must have prepared the reader by introducing the gun earlier in the narrative. The gun (or whatever is necessary for the resolution) cannot appear out of the blue.

Are you asking by now, when will we get down to actually writing the action? Have I kept you in suspense long enough? Here are some of Bell's suggestions about choreographing that action you're panting for.

Write it in short, choppy sentences. Or the opposite--long and breathless sentences. Sometimes we can even use them together, Bell said. (Personally, I favor short sentences for the beginning, some long ones in the middle, with short sentences again at the end to put the brakes on.) 

How short? "I don't usually tell you to violate the rules of grammar," Bell said, but sentences consisting of only one word can be effective. And consider how the visual layout of the scene on the page, with frequent paragraph breaks and even one-word paragraphs. 

And while we're discussing breaks, remember scene breaks as well. These can also be places to change point of view characters, most especially when writing with multiple points of view.

Even though it’s a scene of peril, don’t forget to add in sensory information and even dialogue.

And forget "filtering"--that insertion of the author between herself and the audience. Maybe it works in some situations, Bell said, but not during action!

Unsure what "filtering" is? It's what occurs when the author adds tags such as "he felt," "she saw," "they heard," to the scene. In well-written action scenes (with peril!) there should be no doubt who's seeing, hearing and feeling the action. If a punch hits someone's gut, we'll know who's feeling it!

Speaking of punch, "exercise your verbs!" Bell urged his audience. Nothing against adverbs, "but in action scenes you probably want to avoid them," he said, recommending thesaurus.com to locate punchier versions of too-tired verbs.  

Finally, take a deep breath. Think about the conclusion of this wonderful action scene you've written. Who won? Or did they? What shape are they in? ("No magical healing," Bell warned, perhaps anticipating another of my pet peeves--the tough guy who underwent multiple head blows without consequences. What, no concussion? No swollen eyes, no broken nose, no missing teeth?) 

At the end, what shape is the character's world in? Or her street? Or his marriage? Leaving readers a conclusion they can sigh over, cry over, and, best hope of all, read the next chapter. Or even the next book.

Ready, set, go – a lineup of autumn writing contests

How long has it been since I’ve posted a blog about writing contests? Well, that’s too long! So here goes, with both a selection of current contests and of do-it-yourself resources for ongoing events.

Now – Oct. 15: Time's nearly up for this tribute to the season: Pulp Literature’s Raven Short Story Contest. Fiction up to 2500 words (not necessarily of an avian nature!) can snag a cash prize! Fee -- $20 or opt for editorial feedback for an additional $25. Sponsored by Duotrope.

Now – Oct. 30: The annual Kathryn McClatchy Flash Fiction contest of the Writers Guild of Texas  is also coming down to the wire. Entries must be original stories, 300-1,000 words. First entries are free for WGT members, $15 for additional entries (up to three maximum). Non-WGT members pay $35 for their first entries (which gives them complimentary membership), $15 for additional entries. Cash prizes and publication in the WGT newsletter for first – fourth place winners.

Now – Oct. 31: Flash 500’s annual Novel Opening Chapter and Synopsis Competition, judged by indie book publisher Crooked Cat Books. Fee: £10/€13, with cash prizes for first place and runner-up.  

Now – Nov. 15: Writer’s Digest’s current contest is its annual Short Short Story Competition for stories in 1,500 words or less. First place winner receives cash, publication in the magazine AND a paid trip to the Digest’s annual conference, including a slot in its Pitch Slam. Cash prizes and publication also for second through 10^th place winners, and more! (Cost & details)

image: pixabay

Now – Nov. 30: Speaking of short fiction, check out the WOW! Women on Writing quarterly flash fiction contest, now in session for fall. Word limits: 250-750. Fee $10, cash prizes.

Now – Dec. 31: No matter how you feel about L. Ron Hubbard’s personal views, the late author’s Writers of the Future Contest is a recognized opening for writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror. No fee, and potential for cash prizes and publication. Submission periods repeat quarterly – there’s always one ongoing. See the site for details.

Now – Jan. 31, 2019: Writer’s League of Texas 2019 manuscript contest is now open for unpublished book-length manuscripts of fiction, nonfiction and children’s categories. Winners in each category will receive free registration to the WLT’s 2019 Agents & Editors Conference next summer to meet with a top literary agent (and the final judge in their category). Manuscripts need not be completed – only the first (approximately) 10 pages plus a synopsis are required. Entrants – winners or not – may opt for feedback from an experienced editor on their submissions. Entry fees are $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers, which includes a written critique. Fees for authors opting out of the critiques are $25 for WLT members, $35 for nonmembers. Writers need not be Texas residents to enter. See the site for details.

Now – Feb. 28, 2019: Oh, you’ve already published a book? Then check out the Writer’s League of Texas book awards, open for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, picture books and middle grade/young adult categories published in 2018. Books may be traditionally published, indie- or self-published. For this one, authors must be Texas residents. Winners in each category receive cash prizes and public recognition at the 2019 Texas Book Festival. Fees: $60 for authors submitting directly ($40 for WLT members), $70 for agents/publishers submitting on behalf of authors. 

Now – Feb. 28, 2019: Another contest from Flash 500, this one sponsored by Duotrope – its annual short story competition. Up to four entries per author, with cash prizes for first, second, and third place winners. 

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UPDATE! Dallas-based literary magazine Carve's prose & poetry contest is open through November 15. Submissions accepted for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, with cash awards and publication for the winners. Entry fee: $17. See the site for details.

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You may have noticed several mentions of ongoing contests. Several sources provide free, searchable information about current contests. Among these are Ralan.com (source of the L. Ron Hubbard and WOW! contests as well as others), New Pages, and Reedsy.

I also mentioned Duotrope, a wonderful guide to contests as well as other writing information. It’ll set you back, but when I first started writing short stories, I found the $5/month (or $50 per year) fee well worth the cost. Check out a free trial period to see what you think. Plus, once you’ve joined, you’ll forever after receive its newsletter!