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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Apr 26

Plot as a driver for change: A cat story

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This week it’s raining cats at our house. Besides having a stray cat adopt us and become our “outdoor” boy, I also had to take one of our indoor boys, Simba, a 20-lb Maine Coon, to the vet.

Considering he hasn’t been out of the house in years (Simba, not the vet), it went pretty well. I did say “considering,” right?

I nonchalantly put the cat carrier on the bed next to Simba and then, like the Flash, snatched him up and shoved him in said crate before he could put up a fight. He hissed going in and then instantly learned how to meow. (Really, he doesn’t meow–he whines when he wants something). Read more

Apr 25

How one author acts out her writing

As a child, author Randall Platt wanted to be an actress. She wrote screenplays for her favorite western television shows, complete with roles for herself. As an adult, she pursued acting but eventually found that what she really wanted to do is write.

In a workshop at the Las Vegas Writer’s Conference, Platt, award-winning writer of Hellie Jondoeand other YA and adult fiction, shared how her experience as an actor carries over to writing.

Her lessons and tips:

Know your character’s motivation. Every character we create must have reasons for why they do what they do. To understand your characters’ motivation, you need to know their backstory. It shows how they’ll act and react. With each book she writes, Platt creates character sketches that include information about her characters’ religion, family, what they do for a living, their parents, and more. Some writers spend a “day in the life” of their character examining everything the character does. Other authors like to write letters to their characters to understand them. Read more

Apr 24

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Original idea & logline: using them to write a better story, part two

In my previous post, I wrote about the importance of writing down your one-sentence original idea. This is the very first idea you had—whether it’s about plot, character, or theme—that got you excited about writing your story. Reading your original idea each day before writing will keep you focused on your story. 

Another exercise is to develop your one-sentence logline. In his book, Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need, screenwriter Blake Snyder said that if we develop our logline before we begin writing, it will help us write a better manuscript.

According to Snyder, there are four main elements to a great logline:

  1. A good logline has to have irony. He gives an example from the blockbuster movie Pretty Woman: “A businessman falls in love with a hooker he hires to be his date for the weekend.” Pretty ironic, huh? Another way to define irony, Snyder said, is that something unexpected happens. He also calls this the “hook.” Read more

Apr 23

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How not to write a story

Margaret Bail, an agent for the Andrea Hurst & Associates, wants to help writers by telling them how NOT to write stories.

Bail, who is also a writer, presented a workshop at the Las Vegas Writer’s Conference Saturday. Several of her tips also came up during sessions in which agents, editors, and instructors critiqued pages that attendees had submitted.

Check out this list and see if you’ve committed any of these cardinal sins of writing.

In the beginning:

Don’t start with the protagonist waking up. Besides not wanting to see him or her in bed, Bail doesn’t want to see your character brushing her teeth, washing her face or anything else in her morning routine. Read more

Apr 22

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Original idea & logline: using them to write a better story, part one

A writer friend called me earlier this year slightly discouraged after pitching her novel at a writer’s conference in her home state of Hawaii. The feedback she received from one agent was that her book idea seemed scattered–as if she had too much going on. Another agent said that the writing was good but that the story didn’t seem finished yet.

My friend conceded that she probably did need to do more work on her book, but she also felt as if she didn’t get her idea across in a succinct way that the agents could understand.

Ah, the pitch. The pitch can get the best of us. And, when you have a complex, multi-layered novel, it can even be more difficult to create and maintain all the connections and communicate our ideas.

I suggested two remedies to her, and to you as well, to help in writing, revising and then communicating your work to agents and editors. Read more

Apr 19

Poetic inspiration from our early days

As we celebrate National Poetry Month, we thought you might enjoy three poetry posts from the early days of our blog.

In An experiment in form: Channeling a beat poet, Carol writes about how she was inspired to write a sestina.

Write lyrically by reading poetry was inspired by a tip from author Cristina Garcia.

Poet or not, in Two exercises to help you write poetically, Garcia offers tips that enhance your writing.

Apr 11

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How character names tell a story

What’s your strategy for naming characters? The right names can add depth to your characters and advance your story.

In See You at Harry’s, a book about a family who survives a tragedy, author Jo Knowles named her 12-year-old protagonist “Fern.”

In one scene, Fern and her mother discuss how Fern’s name was inspired by the book Charlotte’s Web.

“Do you know why I named you Fern?”

I nodded looking at the drawing of the girl on the cover of the book.

“Why?” She asked.

“Because Fern is one of your favorite characters?”

“And why is that?”

I shrugged.

“Because Fern cares,” she said. “From the moment you were born, I could tell you had a special soul.  I knew you’d be a good friend. A hero.”

I looked at my chest and tried to feel my soul buried in there, deep in my heart.

“It’s true,” my mom said. “Not everyone would share a sandwich with Random Smith.”

I smiled, feeling my soul stir a little.

Fern isn’t the only character who is named after a character in a book. Fern’s brother Holden is named after Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. When Fern and Holden found out their mom was pregnant, they were allowed to weigh in on names, and they chose the name “Charlie” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

Names can inspire personality traits in characters. The names can become part of the story, and the characters can sometimes live up — or not — to their names.

How do you choose your character names?

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