Welcome to my page about writing: a brief article each quarter about writing - from my own experience and point of view, plus a continually evolving list of links on the left side of the page. If you have further ideas, let me know!

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Making History “Real”
(September, 2011)

~~Readers love to point out inaccuracies in historical references. (I know: in a newspaper article, I once placed a theater on the wrong street corner and garnered a nice little stack of indignant letters to the editor.) How often have you read a book with the protagonist holding a phone that had yet to be invented or listening to music yet to be sung?

Here are a few of my favorite sources when I’m writing a historical piece:

~~Immerse yourself in contemporary writing: read old newspapers, magazines from the period (I especially love old news magazines, like Time, Newsweek). Pay close attention to the ads in newspapers. What are people selling, and is it a clue to everyday life? Study old travel guides.

~~Read fiction written during the time period. Remember, those looking back at a period can't have an unbiased view! Notice the slang, the diction, the references to clothes and automobiles and politics.

~~One of my favorite ways to gain “a feel” for an era is to pore over old Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogs: the illustrations and descriptions are priceless. Just be sure the catalogs are from the proper year!

~~Some aspects are timeless. If possible, go to the place you’re writing about. Walk around; observe the terrain, the flora and fauna, the weather and slant of the sun. It’s best to match your visit with the same season you’re depicting.

~~Nearly every museum or historical society maintains a collection of digital photos on their website. Study them.

~~Lastly – or perhaps firstly – ask your librarian for assistance!

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Independent Publishing.

(June, 2011)

~~It used to be a no-brainer: Writers wrote, and publishers published, and an eyebrow was raised when either industry bled into the other.

~~That was then. Don’t believe anyone who claims to know where publishing is heading. What if you’ve tried and tried and failed to gain the attention of an agent or publisher, and now you’re tempted to publish your book yourself?

~~You CAN do it yourself, and quite inexpensively. But publishing might actually be the easy part. You DO need to be a dedicated writer with a great story, you need competent editors and proofreaders. You need marketing.

~~Majorly, you need marketing. In fact, some people claim you need to be a marketer more than you need to be a writer. The ability to self-publish means more people are doing it and the easier it is for your book to be lost in the flood. Inspired marketing can make your book stand out.

~~Some good advice if you’re burning to shepherd your book into the world on your own is to begin with online research: read what other self-published authors have experienced, study the ebook market, study the gossip and read online communities like Amazon’s Kindle, CreateSpace, PubIt; there are many many people out there willing to share and to help. Be VERY careful before you pay anyone money: very, very careful. Keep your eyes wide open

~~Authors who have been published by traditional publishers or have already developed a readership do have an advantage, but new and savvy authors can also be raging successes (I know, everyone always brings up Amanda Hocking and John Locke). In the left column I’ve linked sites than might be helpful. Best of luck!

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The Midnight Editor

(March, 2011)

~~Whether we're writers or not, we've all been awakened in the middle of the night by absolutely stupendous ideas that vanish by the time we smell the coffee. Frustration! How many times have you said, “I had this great idea last night, but now I can’t remember it.”?

~~Now this may seem obvious, but ideas that materialize while you’re showering or startle you awake at two A.M. really ARE great. I’ve learned the hard way to capture them, or lose them – usually forever.

~~I’m a lover of notepads and pencils; they’re tucked everywhere I live or travel or pause: in pants pockets, jacket pockets, purses, cars, on the night stand, in the bathroom, on coffee tables and in kitchen drawers. Not designer notepads but cheap, workhorse pads.

~~Grab that thought while it’s hot. If you can’t wake yourself enough to write coherent sentences, jot down a few key words to remind you (hopefully). Yellow stickies work; my dashboard is dotted with them. I’ve even devolved to the old grade school trick of writing on my hand. Just get it down!

~~Ideas stir up my subconscious most often when I’m in the editing stage of a book. Over the years I’ve learned to rise in the night and pencil out my thoughts, even to get out of bed and work. Losing a little sleep won't kills us, and at least no one interrupts you at two in the morning.

~~I keep various “real” notebooks in my office. They’re divided into ideas, quips, character sketches, observations, etc. All my “little” notebooks feed into these. When I’m nearing the end of a first draft, I gather all my random notebooks and try to make some sense of my scribbles by transferring them to my “real” notebooks. They become a gold mine for my writing.

~~Try it. You’ll be amazed at how clever your brain can be when you’re not paying attention!

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Delicious Villains

(December, 2010)

~~After watching the movie, “That Evening Sun,” (based on a William Gay short story) I fell into a discussion about what comprises a villain. What makes a villain compelling or laughable - or pure evil?

~~For me, in writing, the villain I most love is the character who lives in moral ambiguity. You might know one yourself: perhaps a liar and cheater you don’t dare trust, but who can suddenly be so generous you’re left breathless.

~~It’s the character who has to be stopped, but the one you’re almost reluctant to see caught. There’s a flicker of good, a flicker of possible redemption in our felon.

~~How can you create such a villain? By creating him or her with kindness. That sounds strange, but for me, it works.

~~I like to first create the crime – let’s say, murder – and then build my villain. It’s tough to view a murderer with kindness, but there’s a balancing act that takes place.

~~When your fictional murderer “stands” before you, applying a softer touch is tempered by the enormity of murder - it keeps you from going all gooshy and falling into the “he’s a victim of circumstances” trap.

~~This method adds dimension to your villain; it allows your reader to invest in the villain’s future, too, not just your protagonist’s goal (which of course is catching your villain). You’ll keep your reader caring about one more character in your book. Not to mention keep your reader reading!

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Anticipation is Making You Wait

(September, 2010)

~~As I gave a classroom talk about GLOM GLOOM, my first children's fantasy, a sixth-grader asked why I left the action hanging at the end of every chapter. “So you’ll keep reading,” I said without thinking.

~~Later, I realized that was exactly the truth. As a child, I discovered in our attic two huge boxes of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan, the Mars, Moon, and Venus series.
~~Burroughs never pretended to be a great writer; he was an unapologetic self-promoter, a master at dropping a bombshell at the end of each chapter so you HAD to keep reading. I was a willing victim and spent many nights reading into the wee hours of the morning, unable to find an adequate stopping place.

~~Anticipation pulls the reader through your book. The temptation is to tell the reader too much too soon. The briefly mentioned scar on your protagonist’s chin doesn’t have to be explained the moment it’s introduced. Why she won’t speak to her mother, neither. Nor why that dog keeps barking.
~~Once these odd little facts are mentioned, the reader won’t forget them. The reader wonders. Was the scar an innocent accident or the result of a crime? Is the dog giving a warning, a greeting, or puffing up to bite? Is the mother unforgiven - or unforgiving? The reader anticipates the explanation and keeps reading – which as Burroughs knew, is the writer’s goal.

~~And when do you satisfy your reader’s anticipation? A bit at a time. Enough to satisfy some of her curiosity, yet not so much the reader loses interest. Dole out a little and keep pulling her toward the end of your book and your final, grandest revelation.

~~As for the end of a chapter, it’s NOT like the wrap-up to the end of the paragraph or paper your English teacher tried to drill into you. It’s an invitation to keep reading, so lure the reader into the next chapter: Let the protagonist gasp at something unseen, permit the crucial phone call to go unanswered, allow the car to crash. And make the reader wait until at least the next chapter to discover the consequences.

~~There’s truth to the well-worn definition of suspense: a hint, a wait, and a fulfillment. Keep ‘em waiting!

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Characters You Love -- And Love to Hate

(June, 2010)

~~For me, characters ARE story. Create strong characters and toss them into a tough situation – and if they’re true to the personalities you’ve given them, you’ve got yourself a book. Definitely, characters do intertwine with plot, location, and tight dialog. But characters are the kick-off - they bind your story and they make sense of your conclusion. If your characters are strong, you (and your readers) can trust them to lead you through a gripping tale.

~~But how do you create compelling characters? There are a lot of teachers and books out there to give you ideas. I can only share my method, reiterating again that there are a zillion ways to get from here to there, and you will no doubt find your own!
~~One of my favorite reminders, which hangs on my bulletin board and is my guide for every characterization, is “Every character has a life beyond the printed page.” I’m sorry but I don’t know if someone actually said that or if it’s been a slow realization from experience.
~~Some characters appear full-blown. For instance, Ms. May Apple Moon, the woo-woo director of the Bellehaven library, simply stepped onto the page, ready to irritate one and all. (I have honestly received letters asking, "Can't you DO something about her?")

~~ But usually, my method is to begin with a blank sheet of paper, on which I write a new character’s name in full, along with any nicknames. Creating names is worthy of an entire discussion – another time! I then describe this character physically and emotionally, their quirks and oddities, the fears and triumphs. I relate a childhood incident, and a secret that no one will ever know. Then, most importantly, I describe what this character WANTS, no matter how minor a role he or she plays. I spend a lot of time creating this profile, and when I begin to feel I'd recognize this player if I met him or her on the street, I set it aside. Parts of the profile will never appear in a book, they’re only to bring the character to life in my mind and on the page.

~~One caveat: be wary of basing a fictional character on an actual person. No matter how hard you try, you’re bound by that person’s personality. It can stifle your portrayal. Steal quirks and habits from real people, but save reality for a biography. Don’t be hampered by the truth!!

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Sticking To It

(March, 2010)
~~I won't begin with that cliché about applying the seat of one’s pants to the… Grinding it out when you’re not in the mood is every writer’s challenge, no matter what you write – well, maybe not everyone.
~~My favorite sight joke is of a man typing like a hurricane, then suddenly looking up at the ceiling for a brief second, and then going right back to his hurricane-typing. The punchline? “That’s Stephen King having writers’ block.”

~~When a writer sits down to write, it's common to be terrified that what you produce won’t live up to what you thought you could produce. The dialogue’s dead, the description’s dull, the plot went south twenty pages ago. The great temptation is to return to the beginning and fix it, then you discover the fixes aren't so hot, and so you fix it again, and pretty soon you’re in a frustrated knot and abandoning it to gather dust for the next forty years.
~~I learned long ago that when I began writing a new book, I had to start at the beginning and write to the end. Without looking any farther back than the page where I’d stopped the day before. Sound like a disaster? It can be. Characters’ names change, their children disappear, winter turns into summer, and the dead reappear. But for me, it works. A flow develops, and I learn to trust it. Not only that, a frustration develops because I’m sooooo eager to reach the end so I can go back and fix the mess I’ve made. For me, it’s getting that scary first draft out of the way so I can rewrite to my heart’s desire.

~~There are dozens of self-discipline tricks you’ve read about, I’m sure. Such as, always be at your desk or computer or pencil and paper at the same time every day, keep a notebook handy. Claim your time: tell the family to leave you alone. Turn off the phone. Leave home. Whatever works, do it.
~~Play at Pavlov’s dogs. I listened to Handel’s Water Music while I wrote Index to Murder, the 11th Miss Zukas mystery: every time, all the time. Continuously. If I heard it, I reached for my pencil. Don't you dare hum it in my presence!
~~Warm up: I have a small trick to get me started: I close my eyes and when I open them, I must write 500 words about whatever I’m looking at. Many short stories have evolved from those exercises.
~~Baby your superstitions: do you write better when spit on your heel and turn in a circle three times before you sit down? Do it. Need a photo of Aunt Jenny over your computer? Hang it up. (I have a photo of Dorothy Parker)
~~A few thoughts. More next time! jo

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