Top Twelve Lessons I Learned at the Willamette Writers Conference

Inspiring. Educational. Challenging. These are the words I keep using when I tell friends about last weekend’s Willamette Writers Conference held here in Portland.

As a child might look forward to a trip to Disneyland, so I spent weeks looking forward to the conference. I wasn’t disappointed. It was an E-ticket ride. Over the course of the three days I attended eleven workshops that were taught by talented authors from all genres. I’ll confess I was occasionally a little star struck. Though most attendees were also pitching to editors and agents I didn’t feel ready for that quite yet. This was my first WW conference, and I wanted to get the lie of land this time, and soak up as much as possible at the workshops.

I’ve put together a list of a dozen things I either learned or had reiterated at the conference. I say reiterated because sometimes we need to hear things several times, in several different ways before it truly sinks in and becomes a permanent part of our writer’s toolbox. At least it’s that way for me! [Of the eleven workshops I attended, five were on YA writing, so several of the lessons learned are specific to that age group. Bracketed names are the presenters.]

1.     Your reader must vicariously experience what your characters are experiencing. They have to be in the story—feeling everything the characters are feeling. (This is especially true for YA.) Use sensory detail to bring the reader into the scene—the brain won’t know it isn’t really living it.  And for your reader to be in the body of the character first you, the writer, must experience it. The writer must be in that moment in time, right along with the character. [Jennifer Lauck and Pamela Smith Hill]

2.     A great story isn’t just about something—a great story is about something HAPPENING. [Larry Brooks]

3.     Your Big Dramatic Question must be COMPELLING and the reader’s need for the answer IRRESISTIBLE. Think: will Katniss survive the Hunger Games? [Larry Brooks]

4.     YA should be stripped down to the essentials: emotion and action. Also, you should be aiming to write like Hemingway, not Faulkner. [Christine Fletcher]

5.     In YA make sure your characters are acting like teens, NOT miniature adults. They should feel passionately about how things affect them. Teens feel passionately. [Christine Fletcher]

6.     Torture your character. Conflict conflict conflict. Raise the stakes. Make sure there’s tension on every page. Throw obstacles at your character…constantly. Throw your characters to the wolves! [Everyone, every workshop]

7.     YA shouldn’t contain heavy-handed messages, no Afternoon Special messages. Sam Goldwyn said, “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.”  Remember you are telling a story, not indoctrinating. [Christine Fletcher]

8.     When writing dialogue, keep in mind that people rarely say what they are exactly thinking. We tend to talk around the topic—YA author Bill Konigsberg calls this Off Topic dialogue and using it in your writing can make it more realistic, reveal character, and keep the dialogue interesting for the reader. [Bill Konigsberg]

9.     Show Show Show Show. Don’t tell, or if you MUST do so sparingly. [Everyone-every workshop]

10.  Having trouble getting to know your YA character? (or any character, for that matter) Try this tip: Have the character send an email to a friend of yours telling your friend about themself. As the email is written, a lot of character can be revealed. [Bill Konigsberg]

11.  When writing YA first person, every word must come from the character, there is no room for the author! Stay true to the character’s voice. [Bill Konigsberg and Christine Fletcher]

12.  If you aspire to be an author, but don’t yet feel like you are an author try this manifestation trick from film maker Gordy Hoffman: When someone you are meeting for the first time asks you what you do, don’t hem and hah, just say “I am an author.” It will make it true. He did this, though he was telling people he was a screenwriter and director—before he was either of these things—and it became true. He believed it—it became true.

These are just 12 quick take-aways, from the pages and pages of notes I took. I hope you found one or two salient points that you can add to your writer’s toolbox.

Thank you to all the talented people who made the Willamette Writers Conference a wonderful experience!

Happy Writing!

J.K. Rowling: Father of Two and Unknown Author Who Receives Rejection Letters

The recent news of J.K. Rowling’s clever little deception with her latest book has readers and writers everywhere all abuzz. Her new book, THE CUCKOO’S CALLING, a mystery, was published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith to allow her to “publish without hype or expectation” as she told the Sunday Times of London. Rowling’s hope was to get truthful feedback on her novel, without her famous name swaying the reactions of reviewers and readers.

Even written by Robert Galbraith, unknown debut author, the book garnered excellent reviews and critics praised it. For a debut author ‘Mr. Galbraith’ should have been thrilled to be published by an imprint of one of the Big Six publishers, especially after being rejected by at least one other publisher. Yes, Ms. Rowling jumped through all the hoops. She WAS Robert Galbraith, former member of the Royal Military Police and married father of two sons, and unknown writer who gets rejection letters.

And yet all that changed for Mr. Galbraith on Saturday afternoon, July 13^th. As a debut author, unknown but the recipient of the kind of reviews all first-time authors dream about, as well as those coveted five-star ratings on Amazon, Mr. Galbraith’s book had only sold 1,500 copies since its publication on April 30, 2013. Now, I would be thrilled to sell 1,500 copies of my debut novel! But, I’m not Robert Galbraith, and I’m sure not J.K. Rowling. Despite all the pieces of the puzzle being in place for him, Robert Galbraith was still unknown, and his book wasn’t topping any charts. Once the truth came out ‘his’ book sped up the best sellers lists and was number one on Amazon by the end of the day, at least here on the west coast of the U.S. In fact, I ordered it a mere two hours after the story broke, and was told I wouldn’t be getting it delivered until August…backordered.

Discoverability. We hear that word all the time as we learn how to promote our debut novels, or even second or third books. Robert Galbraith’s little mystery was chugging along nicely, but he wasn’t exactly a household name. He certainly had not been discovered. In time, he might have been, but the odds were against it. The odds are against any of us getting discovered, of being the author of that next big breakout book. This was the truth that hit me as I read about Rowling’s well-intentioned ruse. I found myself feeling sad for the fictional former member of the Royal Military Police.

So why do we write? Why does the richest woman in Great Britain, the woman who has sold almost as many books as God, continue to write, even going so far as to do so under a pen name? Why do we write when the odds are against any of us becoming the next J.K. Rowling? Because we love to. Because we can’t NOT write. Because to not write would kill us. Yes, we hope people will read what we write. We dream of discovery. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. We will write the books regardless of the outcome. 

I just hope that one day I can be a Robert Galbraith, with wonderful reviews for my book, and sales of 1,500 copies.

On Research

It was a short column in a Saturday edition of the Wall Street Journal that made me stop saying “Someday” and changed that to “Now.” As in, now I will begin to write. What was this life-altering article? Answer: A Word Craft column by Frederick Forsyth on doing research. I can hear you now, Reader, saying, “Wow! What a sexy topic! No wonder she was swept away.”

Ah, but obviously I was.

Mr. Forsyth’s column had the effect of someone handing me the keys to the kingdom. For years I had so many ideas for novels whirling around in my mind, but one in particular always floated to the top. It was a novel set in the Civil War. But how to write it? I had no idea where to start, or where to take it. But Forsyth’s keys unlocked the door that blocked my way.

I’ll return to that column in a moment.

I write Young Adult paranormal and historical novels, and Adult paranormal and historical romances. I have always loved history so it was a no-brainer that at least some of my writing would be historical. Even my paranormals include a generous dollop of history. So naturally, research is essential to make the stories ring true. Since reading that column I have discovered that each writer has her or his own way of approaching necessary research:

1. What I call the Forsyth model. In this model the writer does all of the research up front, before a word of the novel is written. PROS: The story can grow organically from the research, going in directions the writer never imagined prior to the research. My little Civil War novel (sadly, sitting forlornly unfinished on this computer—but that’s another story) developed storylines from the research I did. The more I learned about the place and time the richer my storylines became. CONS: Doing research first is a great way to procrastinate and procrastinate, putting off the actual writing. “But I need to know more about the [fill in the blank] before I start writing!”

2. The Wing-It and Research Later model. Here the writer just starts writing the novel and goes back later to research the information needed to make it authentic. PROS: The book gets started, there is no procrastinating. The writer isn’t bogged down by worrying about how facts might interfere with the storytelling. The writing flows, and the book gets written. CONS: Facts discovered late in the game could come back to undo the story, requiring massive rewrites. Missing some of the minutia of a place or time could mean a less layered, rich novel, assuming it wasn’t something the writer was specifically looking for during the research stage.

3. The Hybrid model: Do enough front end research to guide the storytelling, but not enough to delay the writing. Then go back after the first draft is complete and fill in the parts that require further research. PROS: The best of models one and two. The writer has a feel for the time and place, adding an authentic voice throughout the writing. Early research can act as a map for the story. During the course of rewrites missing facts and information can be researched and added. If an unexpected storyline appeared during the first draft, the needed research can be done to fill in the blanks. CONS: I’m sorry, I can’t think of any. I’m sure there are some, but as this is the model I’ve come to follow and it works well for me I can’t be objective.

When I first read the Forsyth column I had never thought of research as guiding the story. Never having written a novel, I assumed a writer knew what he/she was going to write before a word was written, did the specific research that would allow that book to be written—no more, no less, and wrote the book. Immersing oneself in the research and feeling the time and place as a part of the writing process never occurred to me. So obvious now, but it wasn’t then.

Final Disclaimer: I’m currently working on a YA novel that takes place in four different historical time periods, all in a European country. I got stuck in Model 1, researching to procrastinate. I was so afraid to start writing the book, I found one thing after another that I “needed” to research before I could begin. I started thinking I had to know EVERYTHING before I could begin. But after hitting myself upside the head I remembered the Hybrid model, and I’ve been happily writing ever since.

How do you handle research?

Happy Writing!

Imagination Headed For The Endangered Species List

Today’s post is going to be slightly off topic. Just slightly. But it is also going to be the most important post I’ve ever written. This rant has been forming for a few years now, but it took a little nudge from a column I read this past weekend to get me to finally commit my thoughts to the blogosphere.

Sunday’s New York Times ran a humorous opinion column by Jon Methven on the disappearing art of daydreaming and how we would all be much healthier in body and spirit if we occasionally indulged. As writers, you daydream. I know you do. Writers must daydream or nothing would ever be written. It is where we mine our imaginations and discover new characters and stories.

But, sadly, over the past five years or so I have met many, many people who have no imagination and cannot understand the meaning of imagination, what it is, why it is good, or what a person should do with it. And they rarely daydream, in the way you and I might daydream. These people have all been seven or eight years old. They have been my second grade students. And they are missing that integral piece of humanity and most importantly of childhood: imagination.

In his column Methven points to our plugged-in society, always connected to technology, as one reason for the current dearth of daydreaming. Think about it. When we stand in line at the store we don’t let our minds wander to places unknown, no, we take out our phones and check our email, or text someone, or try to kill little piggies with flying birds. And as sad as that is, with our adult, fully formed brains, it is much more frightening when it is our young children with their still-forming brains.

I know from listening to my students that playing outside is a rare occurrence. Playing a make-believe game more rare. Sitting and staring into space and wondering what is on the other side of the end of the universe? Never. They are too busy playing the latest video games. They are always plugged in. And when they aren’t plugged in they are being shuttled to soccer, dance lessons, scouts, Chinese lessons, karate class, piano lessons, baseball, art class, the list goes on. THEY HAVE NO DOWN TIME!

This lack of imagination started showing up during writing lessons, about five or six years ago. I’ve always prided myself with giving my students exciting, fun writing prompts. For years my students would write and write about the prompt, weaving together wonderful stories they were proud to share. But not today. Now I’m met with a chorus of “I don’t know what to write!” Or worse yet, children who simply sit and stare at the paper, utterly confused by the concept of using their imaginations to create a story.

So, I would sit with individual students and ask questions that I hoped would spark some creativity. I’d ask lots of What If questions. Or Have You Ever questions. But, no. Nothing would work.

While imagination is necessary for the creative arts like writing, it is also necessary for all of the sciences that improve our lives. Scientists of every type help save lives, improve lives, and protect lives by asking What If questions. By using their fertile imaginations. By daydreaming.

For today’s children to grow up and become the people who find the cure for cancer, or end global warming, or discover ways to feed our world’s growing population, or write the Great American Novel they must possess rich imaginations. They must learn to sit and wonder. To think. To play make-believe. And for that to happen the adults in their lives must provide the time to allow thinking, wondering, questioning. The adults must unplug their children and stop overscheduling them.

A few years back I started ending every Back To School Night speech with my talk about avoiding overscheduling children. I had seen plenty of stressed out little children who had a hard time focusing in school, and I simply had to tell the parents what their well-meaning super-scheduling was doing to their children.

But now I see it as reaching crisis level. I fear imagination is becoming endangered by our children’s overuse of technology, eg. video games, and by overscheduling their precious little free time.

If you made it to the end of this rant, you know I feel very strongly about this issue. Please send this link to parents you think may benefit from the message. Bring up the topic at dinner tonight. Mention it at Tommy’s baseball game tomorrow. Please just spread the word.

Thank you.

From Inception to Rejection...to Contract!

Practice: to perform or work at repeatedly so as to become proficient

Fledgling writers sometimes have to be pushed from the nest whether or not they feel adequately prepared for the world of writing and publishing, and certainly before they feel the least bit proficient. Working my way through the steps I’d prescribed for myself and my ‘practice novel’ I had no idea of it actually seeing the light of day. But that all changed quickly a few weeks ago.

After my second very kind and encouraging rejection for the ‘practice novel’, I looked at the advice of the second rejecting editor and used some of it to improve my manuscript. I liked it better and I thought another editor might just like it too. So off it went for one last submission, and I had absolutely made up my mind that this was the last time. After all, this novel was for the learning experience, and with this last polishing and submission I felt it was time to move onto the next experience, the next manuscript. (And there are two or three others sitting on my computer in various states of completion.)

I was surprised and pleased when I received a request for a full. Sent it off, hoping for the best, but expecting nothing. While it sat in someone’s computer on the other side of the country I had a lot going on in my own personal and professional lives that kept me distracted and busy. Little time was spent wondering about the novel. Instead I was preparing myself to say good-bye to two dear friends who were both moving out of state within weeks of one another, and was wrapping up a long-time career as a full-time teacher—I will substitute in the future. Everything in my life was very emotion-laden and my little book was the furthest thing from my mind.

So, when I saw the email from Soul Mate Publishing in my inbox, I knew I was receiving the inevitable rejection. Now, in the spirit of full and complete disclosure, there may have been some squealing and screaming when I opened the email from Debby Gilbert, senior editor, and read that she wanted to offer me a contract for THE VAMPIRE’S PASSION!! I quickly reassured my husband that no one had died or had been involved in a horrible accident. God bless him—he told me he knew this was going to happen, that this was the time. He wasn’t the least bit surprised.

Now the Fledgling Writer is getting to learn about contracts, and bio-writing, and editing, etc. The timing couldn’t be better. And I’ll be posting about the many things I learn along the way. Because, after all, this is all about the learning experience.

Oh, and, my book is going to be published!!

Happy writing!

Lessons from Donald Maass

When, after a lifetime of saying ‘someday’, I finally started writing a little less than two years ago, I assumed I knew all there was to know about writing. After all, I was a voracious reader, was a few credits shy of an English minor in college, and wrote regularly as part of my profession, so surely I knew all I needed to know to start writing novels. I will pause here for a moment for you to catch your breath after all that loud, choking laughter. Okay, it didn’t take me long to find out how much I did NOT know.

The education goes on…and on…and on. I’m finally wise enough to know I will never know everything there is to know about this craft. But when I look at where I was 20 months ago, and where I am now, I feel a certain satisfaction. And a lot of terror. Satisfaction because I know some of the terminology, know some of the rules, and have a vague sense of what it is I am supposed to be striving for. Terror because the amount I don’t know, and more importantly what I can’t yet do to my satisfaction, is overwhelming.

So I attend workshops. I read books on the craft. I talk to people who know far more than I do. And recently I was extremely fortunate to get to attend a workshop that is already transforming the way I write, and the way I look at my writing. I got to attend a day-long workshop given by the impressive—okay, a little intimidating—Donald Maass. The topic: Writing 21^st Century Fiction. I took voluminous notes. I soaked up every word he said. I tried to do my best on the exercises, but felt my skills woefully lacking. He taught us about using secondary emotions, and conflicting emotions to write characters who are more layered and authentic. We learned about using our own shames, secrets, and regrets in order to write more dramatic and bigger stories—aka stories that would be considered ‘literary.’

When I got home I wasted no time ordering two of his books: “Writing 21stCentury Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling”, and “Writingthe Breakout Novel”. Since I had just attended the workshop based on the 21^st century book I decided to start there, but soon decided I should have started with the Breakout book. Setting aside the 21^st century I dove into Breakout, highlighter in hand.

I’m only half way through, mostly because I’m reading it so carefully. But I have to say most of the highlighting so far has been in the chapters on ‘Stakes’ and ‘Characters’. My writing has had a sad dearth of compelling stakes in the past. Public Service Announcement coming up. IF YOU ARE A NEW WRITER THIS IS THE BOOK ON CRAFT YOU SHOULD READ FIRST. [I also highly recommend Jerry Cleaver’s Immediate Fiction—which is an excellent starting point for the newbie writer.] Maass advises on how to write larger than life characters, how to sustain the tension that keeps the reader reading, and how to layer the plot—all of which make a more interesting, compelling novel and one that has a better chance of interesting agents and editors.

So if I’m reading how to WRITE a breakout novel, I thought it might be a good idea to also, hand in hand, READ a current breakout novel. The word of mouth novel I keep hearing about is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, so I started reading it a couple of days ago. And lo and behold, Flynn has done everything Maass writes about in Breakout Novel. Reading the two concurrently is proving to be a great craft lesson, and one I recommend.

The Fledgling Writer’s education continues. And the Fledgling Writer is making some changes in her life that I’ll share next time. In fact, there are several things I’d like to write about in the coming weeks so please watch this space. I’ll try to actually keep up on the blog posts!

Happy Writing!

Fifty Shades of Red Revisited

Several months ago when I mused that due to the Fifty Shades phenomenon erotica would be the next big genre, an interesting conversation ensued here and I finally had to confess that I would never be able to write it myself. Several readers left comments echoing those sentiments.

But I’m always up for something new, and having written some fairly steamy scenes in my first novel, I decided to try my hand at full on erotica. Just to see if I could do it. Just as an experiment. A challenge if you will.

As I was considering possible storylines I recalled a conversation I’d had with a friend some time back. Something this friend had said struck me as a wonderful title for a book, and I’d filed it away in my memory for ‘someday.’ I had never thought of it as an erotica title, since I was never going to write erotica, but now it sounded like the perfect title for an erotica novel. However, the very title itself required the story to include an element of infidelity, and I quickly discovered, by perusing some erotica publishers’ websites, that infidelity is verboten. Back to the drawing board. (My friend and I were disappointed—it could have been a good story.)

So I came up with a new idea and got to work. I soon discovered that writing erotica is rather fun—quite a bit of fun actually. And the only person I’ve allowed to read it, my Dear Husband, has been impressed. But there’s the crux of the matter. I can write it. I just can never let anyone read it. Ever. The thought of anyone I’m not married to reading my erotica writing is horrifying. You talk about Fifty Shades of Red—fifty wouldn’t even begin to cover the shades of red I’d be if someone else read it.

Or is what I actually fear the idea of allowing someone I KNOW to read it? Could I let perfect strangers read it? Something new to ponder. In the meantime I look on it as a good writing exercise. An exercise which most likely will stay hidden away on my flash drive.

Happy Writing!