But You’ve Never Been There! by John B. Rosenman

August 21st, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

But You’ve Never Been There!

John B. Rosenman

I like to write about places I’ve never been to.  It’s liberating, and it’s an experience that I recommend to other writers.

But wait a minute, you ask.  Don’t you have to visit places you write about?  Don’t you have to step on another country’s soil, smell the air, mingle with the inhabitants and interact with their culture in a thousand different ways in order to write about it authentically?  Otherwise, isn’t the process no better than a well-crafted, well-research lie no matter how believable it seems to be?

Well, maybe.

And then again, maybe not.

The fact is, research, imagination and empathy can carry you a long way.  Also, while it’s nice to visit another place, it’s sometimes expensive, time-consuming, and may not always be practical.  One does have to make a living, after all.  Besides that, some countries may not let you in, for political or other reasons.

I teach at a historically black university.  I sometimes ask my students, “I’m an old white guy.  Could I write about life in the hood if I did a lot of research?”

Some of my students say no.  Others say yes.  I say, if I can make it believable to those who know firsthand about life in the hood and pull them completely into my fictional dream, why not?  As Samuel Taylor Coleridge said, what’s primarily necessary is to create “that willing suspension of disbelief . . . which constitutes poetic faith.”

Okay, here’s a couple of examples from my own writing experience.

One day years ago I started to read Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, which is about the often destructive influence of English colonialism on Nigeria.  That book, plus its sequel, No Longer at Ease, and other research inspired my longest novel, A Senseless Act of Beauty, which is available at Blade Publishing (http://www.bladepublishing.org/).  A Senseless Act of Beauty focuses on a beautiful African-type of planet that more civilized worlds seek to conquer and exploit in a brutal, oppressive fashion.  History repeats itself, in other words.

One of the stories in the novel, “Eyes of the Leopard,” stems from an idea that I found personally intriguing.  What if a radical, impressionist painter or artist were born into a Nigerian village circa 1900 and fell in love with the chief’s daughter?  Here is the way I began it:

One day, Ekwefi, the proud daughter of the tribal chief, decided she wanted to be especially beautiful for the Feast of the New Yam.  She thought and thought, and then she smiled.  Perhaps Amadi, the odd boy who drew such strange pictures, could help her.

So she told her doting father, and a servant went to summon the boy.  Now the name of Amadi’s father is not important, for he was an efulefu, a lazy, worthless man who neglected his crops and preferred to drink palm wine and fashion flutes from bamboo stems.  Of all the huts in the Nigerian village, his was the meanest and poorest kept.  Indeed, it was considered a disgrace by others even to visit it.  So when the servant, a tall man of aristocratic bearing and many airs, announced himself and entered the cramped hut, he looked about in distaste, his nose crinkling at the dust and odors.

I hope I’ve captured the flavor of such a place and time, and discouraged the reader from wondering how a Jewish boy from Ohio could write such a thing.  The tribal story-telling style (e.g., “Now the name of Amadi’s father is not important”), and the local dialect (efulefu) contribute, I trust, to the local color and verisimilitude of the story.

Here’s one more example: several years back, I became fascinated by Nauru, an island in the southwestern Pacific.  Again, research was key, as well as imagination.  I wrote and published three stories that take place in that area, and recently, one of those stories, “Bagonoun’s Wonderful Songbird,” was republished by Gypsy Shadow Publishing (http://www.gypsyshadow.com/).  The improbable love story involves a fifteen-year-old girl and a man who is nearly seventy.  Emet wakes Bagonoun up and asks him to tell her a story.  Annoyed, Bagonoun finally has an inspiration, one involving local lore and tribal astronomy.

Ah, he remembered!  “Once there was a young girl,” he said, “who lived in the sky.  She—”

“What was her name?  You must say it!”

Bagonoun made a face.  “Eyount.”

“Pretty!”  She made a pleased sound and moved closer so her arm grazed his.

“Anyway,” he went on, “Eyount’s parents decided to gather together some young boys so their daughter might choose a husband.  And when they came, there were many.  They all stood in a row so she could see them.  Being young, they were mischievous and liked to play games, especially the one in which they switched magic headbands made of stardust.  When they did this, they switched faces and bodies as well and tricked their friends into thinking each was the other.  Now two of these boys decided to play a prank on her.  One of them was named Demagomogom and the other . . . ”

So that’s how I write about places I’ve never been: I do research, use my imagination, and try to feel sympathy and even empathy for my characters, try to see the world through their eyes.  Granted, being born in a place or visiting it is better, but being creative and willing to take chances can accomplish miracles.  Fellow scribblers, I urge you to take chances and to be willing to fail.  Don’t reject that fictional idea just because it occurs in a place you’ve never been.  Go there in your imagination and make it real to your readers.

BIO – John B. Rosenman (jroseman@cox.net)

John is an English professor at Norfolk State University where he designed and teaches a course in how to write Science fiction and Fantasy.  He is a former Chairman of the Board of the Horror Writers Association and has published approximately 350 stories in places such as Weird Tales, Whitley Strieber’s Aliens, Fangoria, Galaxy, The Age of Wonders, and the Hot Blood anthology series. John has published several books, including SF action-adventure novels such as Beyond Those Distant Stars and Speaker of the Shakk (Mundania Press), A Senseless Act of Beauty (Blade Publishing), and Alien Dreams (Drollerie Press).  Shorter books include A Mingling of Souls and Music Man (XoXo Publishing), Here Be Dragons (Eternal Press), The Voice of Many Waters (Blue Leaf Publications), Green in Our Souls (Damnation Books), and Bagonoun’s Wonderful Songbird and Childhood’s Day (Gypsy Shadow Publishing).  In 2011, MuseItUp Publishing will release More Stately Mansions, Dark Wizard, The Blue of Her Hair, the Gold of Her Eyes, and Dax Rigby, War Correspondent.

Visit John on the web at his website, www.johnrosenman.com, at http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user,

https://twitter.com/Writerman1, http://www.facebook.com/home.php, and http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu31/jrosenman/. One of his interviews can

be found at http://www.milscifi.com/files/inter-JBR-BS.htm.

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Revision Blues by Lindsay Below

August 21st, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

Revision Blues

By Lindsay Below

Let’s face it. That perfect story that you think you’ve written isn’t so perfect after all. Someone, somewhere is likely to find some flaw in it. Most likely, that will be your editor. But that’s the end of my run of bad news—truth is, you want your editor to catch these things, because it will be one less thing for that harsh reviewer to tear apart afterward.

I can see you now, edging away from your computer screen. After all, why would you want someone to find a flaw in that manuscript you hold proudly in your hand? But if anyone’s going to do it, you want it to be an editor. Editors, unlike critics and readers, are able to look past the flaws in your story in order to judge whether or not the story would fit in well with their publishing program. The good news is, if it does, they’ll be banging on your door asking for your story. However, they will also ask you to revise it.

Ah, revisions. The polite way of telling you that everything you thought was spectacular and original and witty in your piece isn’t what you thought. Revisions are a necessity if you plan on publishing that brilliant story of yours. But they may not always be palatable.

There are a couple ways you can deal with having to cut things out. In fact, they coincide with the five stages of grief:

1) Denial and Isolation.

During this stage of grief, I tend to look at my story and wince at all the comments made. How could I possibly cut out these beauties? Sometimes, I closet the manuscript away for a day or two—or even as long as a month if there isn’t a pressing deadline to the rewrite. And in fact, I often closet myself away as well.

How do you combat this stage? The easiest way is to remind yourself that you’re making it better. Even if it feels heartbreaking to cut at every little word, once you’ve finished, you will have crafted a stronger piece. Or you can remember that it is a necessary evil in order to see your creation into publication. It does become easier, after that.

2) Anger.

All too easily when you view criticism of your prized piece, your thoughts can spiral downwards in anger, until you convince yourself that they can’t possibly know what they’re talking about — even if they are your editor.

If you’re looking to get published, you should probably eject those thoughts from your brain now. Assuming you did the legwork and sent your story to a reputable editor at a publishing company that deals in your genre, your editor knows what she (or he!) is talking about. Sure, you might get that one in a million who doesn’t—but I think you’re more likely to be struck by lightning seven times and win the jackpot for the 649. Editors work to publish stories that readers will read. Of course, there is always that chance that they are wrong—and that someone else will snap up that story before you can blink—but it comes back to how much you want to see that story in print or e-print. How much do you want to see those dollars roll into your wallet?

3) Bargaining.

Because this stage can be useful, I won’t ask you to stifle it. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. However much I want to see my work in print, I never let it interfere with what I think is right for the story. If it really feels wrong to change something, bring up the issue with your editor! Of course, I am not encouraging you to bring up every little thing, but if it feels monumental to the story, bring it up.

4) Depression.

Obviously, sometimes even when you bring up the issue, you may not get your way. If you are really feeling down about your writing, there are a few ways to keep your spirits up. Keep e-mails and other correspondence from those who have positive things to say about your writing, and re-read them. Surround yourself with friends who also write and go through the same thing. Or you could do what I do—write another story that (for now, at least) lets every ounce of your brilliance shine through.

5) Acceptance

This is the last stage, and the best one, considering that everything that was detrimental to seeing your story published has now dropped away. At this stage, you can take your pen (or your backspace button) to the page, and work to add the finishing touches to your brilliant work. Often, that pesky voice in your head crying over every changed word has faded. If it hasn’t, and you are compromising in order to publish your story, there are ways to deal with that as well.

I like to hold a mourning party. If you have a blog, or even a Twitter account, a simple “RIP Analogy” will do.

Whatever your method, as long as you keep your goal in mind (publication), revising those prized manuscripts becomes easier to deal with. Once complete, you can view your story with pride, knowing that you and your editor have worked together to make it the best it can be.

Lindsay Below blogs at lbelow.blogspot.com. She writes romance under the name L. K. Below and young adult fiction under her full name. Her young adult novel Lurkers will be released from MuseItUp Publishing in July 2011. Visit her at www.lbelow.com.

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How to Make Your Aliens Alien by Lindsay Below

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

How To Make Your Aliens Alien

By

Lindsay Below

Everyone takes a different approach when it comes to creation. That’s what makes each writer unique. However, if you’re at a loss, there are a couple points to think about when you’re creating your species or world.

Fantasy writer Tessa Hei uses a world-by-world basis. Her approach is simple: use magic. Many times, her work classifies as urban fantasy, which means it is set in a modern-day setting, but with the addition of magic. If this sounds a little like your world, then read closely. Tessa Hei has a simple scheme to help develop her worlds.

She calls it “Hidden/Unhidden”. Hidden is when only a few people know of this magic or supernatural entity. Many paranormal romances fall under this category. On the other hand, Unhidden is when everybody is aware of the magic. As Tessa puts it,

The difference between “Hidden” and “Unhidden” isn’t the amount of time the character is aware of the magic; it’s the amount of people in the world who knows about it. If it’s lightly spoke of among anyone (e.g. you can say it to your grandma, the bag lady down the street, or the graduating class of ’09), it’s generally Unhidden. If magic is known but outlawed (not spoken lightly of), then what? That would be an Unhidden world; it’s common knowledge. If magic has been forgotten and rediscovered in medieval ages: Hidden; not the whole world knows of it.
My approach is different. I focus more on the race itself, picking out points which could be used to differentiate humanity from an alien or supernatural species. The main points I concentrate on are: speech patterns, customs, and prejudices.

When I work speech patterns into my races, it involves more than just slang. First of all, I have to watch that my aliens don’t speak slang, not unless they’ve been immersed in human culture for a while. Then, I always keep in mind that whatever my race, if their first language is not English, they’re going to approach speaking English in a unique way. They might structure it differently. If any of you speak a second language (or if English is your second language) you likely know what I mean. Living in Canada, I speak some French. My first instinct is always to structure it as I would in English, but using French words. That is not always correct. When it doesn’t jar the reader, I try to work in the same speech patterns with my alien characters.

I’m going to move on to prejudices and leave customs for last. Think about what prejudices afflict humanity, either now, or in the past. The main ones are: race, religion, and gender. Sometimes I work those into my stories. More often, I like to come up with new ones. Age, for instance. Either the young are dismissed out of hand, with the old being honored almost to the point of being revered; or the old are dismissed out of hand and the young are honored to the point of being revered. If the latter case, I could take the prejudice one step further, to where the old are often prosecuted or killed. Or, I once wrote a story where the status in society revolved around the number of eyes you had. The fewer eyes a character had, the higher up the command ladder he or she was. The same might be said of arms, legs, spots, horns, or wings.

Now, on to customs. This is where I like to show the divide between humanity and the race I’ve created. Even if I was given a thousand pages, I probably wouldn’t be able to name all of the possibilities. If you’re writing a romance, major customs you might want to explore are: mating, marriage, the naming of children, courtship, and certain things like fashion, eye contact, touching, dancing, etc. which might inadvertently encourage a sexually aggressive response from your main character or love interest. Other ways customs might differ would be in burials, education, showing respect, or the use of body language.

In the end, it depends on how you’d like to make your point. If you’re trying to illustrate how different the two species are, then I suggest you work in as many points of difference as you can. If, on the other hand, you’re trying to show that the two, although different on the outside, are really quite similar, I would start with some differences in the beginning of the story, but weed them out as you go along. If a character was once human, likely there won’t be very many differences at all.

Lindsay Below blogs at lbelow.blogspot.com. She writes romance under the name L. K. Below and young adult fiction under her full name. Her young adult novel Lurkers will be released from MuseItUp Publishing in July 2011. Visit her at www.lbelow.com.

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Avoiding the Big R and Get the Contract by Ashley M. Christman

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

Avoid the Big R and Get the Contract

By Ashley M. Christman

Before I became an editor, I was a author—heck, still am an author. So believe me, I know what it’s like to have to write a synopsis, query letter, and send your baby off in hopes of acceptance by a publisher.

As writers, we like to think of editors as being the big bad wolf. They’re the enemy. They don’t understand your brilliance or see things the way you do. Their sole purpose for existence is to tear apart your work and they receive great pleasure in telling you no.

That’s not true. Not even half.

As editors, we diligently go through the slush pile hoping to find gems. Great care goes into the decision to accept or reject. We hope to find a piece that makes us feel something and that we as readers can connect with. Remember, the main reason we became editors is because we were readers first.

That being said, here are some tips to help you avoid a rejection and get a contract:

  1. Follow the submission guidelines.

Yes, we know it’s a pain having to reformat your manuscript for every publisher you send it to, but this is a test. Okay, not really, but you do need to be able to follow basic instructions. You are being judged on everything to the content of your manuscript to the presentation. So if the guidelines say, short query letter, 1-2 page synopsis, and the first fifty pages, it means send exactly that.

Which brings me to the next point…

  1. Always double check your grammar and spelling.

The biggest pet peeve most editors have is an author who doesn’t bother to use spell check or a dictionary. Glaring typos are a big no-no and poor grammar is a big no-no. But that doesn’t automatically equal a rejection if I find one or two. But if your manuscript is full of them, I’m going to be less likely to finish reading through it. If you expect me to take the time to read your manuscript, I expect you to take the time to edit it.

  1. Please don’t submit a first draft.

Yes, we will edit it upon acceptance and your manuscript will change a little (maybe even a lot) during the course of editing, but that doesn’t mean the version you turn in should be a draft. Take care to submit a final, polished version. Think of it in terms of this: If your manuscript were to go straight to print tomorrow (it wouldn’t happen that way), then submit the version you’d want printed.

  1. Research before you send.

Things will be a lot easier for both of us if you do a little research. Double check the length requirements, what genres the house publishes, and please, please, please, make sure they’re open for submissions. If you don’t you’ll be sorry.

And remember…

  1. Above all, remain professional.

If your manuscript does get rejected, take it with a grain of salt and keep trying. Don’t send nasty letters/email back to the publisher. By remaining professional you increase the odds of being accepted for a later manuscript. Besides, publishing really is a small world and you don’t want to develop a reputation for being hard to work with or a pain in the backside.

Now that you’ve read the list, what else is there to say? Go forth and submit. I hope to read your manuscript soon.

About the author:

Ashley M. Christman is an editor for Museitup Publishing and an author. Her novel, The Witching Hour, will be available November 22,2010 from Lyrical Press. To learn more about Ashley, visit her website www.ashleymchristman.com or follow her on twitter (@AMChristman).

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Hooking the Big One by Roseanne Dowell

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

Hooking the Big One

By Roseanne Dowell

Someone once said a hangover felt like a sharp spear of light slicing your eyeballs out of their sockets and leaving every nerve rubbed raw while a hundred drummers played in your head, complete with cymbals.  Amy couldn’t remember who said it, but she could attest to the truth of it.

Does that opening paragraph make you want to read on? Does it make you curious?  Want to learn more about Amy?

One of the most important elements of writing, is the opening line or paragraph.  Writers need to hook the reader from the first sentence.  How many times have you picked up a book and set it down, because of lack of interest? The opening line just didn’t grab you.   If you can’t hook the reader /editor within the first paragraph or two they will set your story on the reject pile.

So we need to throw out our line, but then we need to reel it in. Like a first impression, a good hook needs to leave us wanting more.

It works the much the same way as first impressions. How many times have you seen someone and thought, I’d like to know that person better? Something about their appearance appealed to you. A good opening line is no different.

So how do we grab the editor’s attention with that first line or paragraph? Three things need to happen.  There are many trios of writing – this is the first. Because without the good hook the rest are going to be unnoticed, if we can’t hook the reader/editor the other elements are lost to us.

  • First – a good hook needs to set the mood and tone of your story. Is it suspense? Romance? Sci-fi or Fantasy?
  • Second -The opening line must show us something that happened or is about to happen. We want to find out what.
  • Third -It needs to introduce us to the character or the conflict and leave us wanting more.

The following lines, from some of my favorite books and authors do just that. Look at each one and decide if you would continue reading.

‘The walls screamed at her. From – Light and Shadow, Jayne Ann Krentz*

‘Beck didn’t talk.’ From -Mary Freeman, Bleeding Heart *

‘Regina Metcalf’s older sister wagged her finger so close to Regina’s nose, she thought she might go cross-eyed – not a good look for someone who already had to contend with the nickname Four Eyes.  From – Stephanie Bond, I Think I Love You.*

Each of the previous paragraphs or sentences make us ask ourselves three things – why, what happened, and to whom. The first line immediately puts us into the story..  Make us curious. We want to know what happened.  So we read more. We are immediately immersed in the story and don’t want to put it down. We HAVE to continue reading. Those opening lines make us question what happened, what comes next. We need to find the answers.

In the examples I gave, something has happened to cause these events. We want to continue reading to find out what. In each of those books I was hooked immediately.  I had to find out what happened to the characters. I wanted to know what caused the events and where it would proceed.

Whether you’re writing mysteries, romance, science fiction, fantasy, or just general fiction the opening line is the all important factor to make the reader want to learn more about our characters and to find out what happened to them.  Right from the beginning you begin to care about them, wonder who they are, what makes them tick. The lines have to almost jump off the page and grab us.

Editor’s want something different, they expect it  – they want something they haven’t read before. The hook needs to introduce your character, a conflict or a suggestion that something has or is about to change. A good hook also sets the mood and tone of the story. In each of these previous openings, something has happened and we want to know what.

We cannot stop there, however. That first sentence may have hooked the editor/reader, now we want to reel him in with an outstanding paragraph. We have to follow it with a strong scene, sharp dialogue or exciting description. We need powerful action. Look at the next sentence of the earlier examples. The first line hooked us, the next lines reels us in.

‘The walls screamed at her. “Oh damn, Zoe Luce whispered. She halted in the doorway of the empty bedroom and stared at the white walls. Not now. Not  today. I really need this job’. From – Jayne Ann Krentz, Light in Shadow.

‘Regina Metcalf’s older sister wagged her finger so close to Regina’s nose, she thought she might go cross-eyed – not a good look for someone who already had to contend with the nickname Four Eyes.

“If either of you two brats tell Mom and Dad what I’m about to show you, I’ll put bats in your beds, got that?” From -  Stephanie Bond, I Think I Love You.

These next lines give us more information. They bring us more into the story, make us even more curious as to what events took place and wonder where our characters are going to take us. What conflicts are yet to come? They reels us in and we continue reading. We need to tantalize the reader/editor with that opening and then we need to keep them reading.

We need to show what happened or happens to our characters that started that first line. If you can do this then one day, you’ll dazzle the editor and succeed in hooking the big one!!

Opening lines printed with permission from the authors.

Jayne Anne Krentz’s site at www.Krentz-quick.com,

Stephanie Bond’s website at www.stephaniebond.com.

Or chat with Mary Freeman, web editor (Mary Rosenblum) at Long Ridge Writer’s Group website at  www.longridge.com.

Author Bio:

First and foremost, Roseanne is a wife, mother of six, grandmother of fourteen and great-grandmother of one.

As the second youngest of six children, Roseanne always had a vivid imagination and loved to make up stories.  An avid reader, she often dreamed of becoming a writer. Roseanne started writing when her children were young, but only began submitting her work about six years ago.  During a Book Club meeting, Roseanne admitted her dream to write. Members of her Book Club encouraged her to pursue her writing and to submit her work.

Although Satin Sheets was her first published novel, Roseanne has over forty articles and stories published in magazines – Good Old Days, Nostalgia, and Ohio Writer and several online publications. She also teaches writing courses for Long Story School of Writing www.lsswritingschool.com .

Look for Roseanne’s books beginning in March 2011 at MuseIt Up Publishing.

You can learn more about Roseanne from her website www.roseannedowell.com or her blog http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com.

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Five Tips for Writing Successful Erotica Fiction by Elizabeth Coldwell

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

Five Tips For Writing Successful Erotic Fiction

By Elizabeth Coldwell

Create believable characters

Readers’ letters may be full of people with freakishly proportioned sex organs and the ability to make love all night, but erotic romance stories need to be grounded in the real world. Yes, your characters may be attractive, sensual and more than usually willing to experiment sexually, but they also need to be human enough for your readers to identify with them. Don’t forget, a surprising number of people are turned on by ‘imperfections’ like bald heads, small breasts or plump bottoms.

Pay attention to plot

There’s so much more to erotic fiction than simply two (or more) people meeting and having sex. Plot is as important here as it is in any other kind of fiction, and in good erotic romance, the sex will help to drive the storyline on. That said, don’t sideline the erotic action in favour of the plot. Not every publisher demands one sex scene per chapter, but if you’ve written half the book and the characters haven’t even reached the bedroom yet, you’re not writing erotica.

Don’t mince your words

I once had to review a book with a sex scene containing the line “she fondled the bulbs of his manly plant”. There’s no place for such silly euphemisms or overly flowery descriptions in erotic fiction any more. If you’re not comfortable using frank descriptive terms for body parts, stick to mainstream romance so you can shut the bedroom door on your characters when you need to.

Choose your point of view

Third person point of view can sometimes be awkward, especially if you’re describing an encounter between two people of the same sex. First person is more immediate, allowing the reader to experience just what the narrator does. It also helps you avoid one of the pet peeves of many editors – “head-hopping”, or shifting from one character’s point of view to another halfway through a scene.

Research your market

Some publishers specialise purely in male/male romance, others only want stories with BDSM (bondage, domination/submission) themes. Don’t waste their time – and yours – by sending them a story that doesn’t fit their requirements. Similarly, if editors ask for stories or novels of a certain length, don’t send them something that’s far too long, or too short. Guidelines are there for a reason, and editors will never believe you when you tell them your work is so good they will simply have to break those guidelines to accommodate you.

Bio: Elizabeth Coldwell has been writing erotic fiction for over twenty years, and in her time on Forum and Erotic Stories magazines, she edited hundreds of short stories and helped launched the careers of a number of successful authors. Her stories and novels have been published by many of the top print and e-book imprints, including Black Lace, Cleis Press, Total-e-bound and Xcite Books and her Christmas-themed short story, Be Good To Your Elf, will be available from MuseItHOT! in December 2010. Find out more about her and her work at http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com

Contact e-mail: elizabeth_coldwell@yahoo.co.uk

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“Once Upon A Time…” by Lea Schizas

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

“Once Upon A Time…”

By Lea Schizas

Fairy tales continue to have a glamour and grip on readers, whether young or old. The ‘Once Upon A Time’ beginnings told you some moral and dilemma would unfold. Nowadays, a writer needs to cut right into the core of their book. Readers aren’t apt anymore to read page after page of descriptive prose to get to the meat of a book.  They need to connect with the theme and character from the start. Although such classics as ‘Lord of the Rings’ continue entertaining readers, the ‘now’ generation prefer to know immediately who the character is and what they will be facing.

The beginning of a story needs to capture either the essence of your character or the theme of the book. In many mysteries, a scene may open up with the onslaught of a murder in progress or the detectives on the scene after the fact. This gives the reader the premise of the book.

The best tip is to start at a point where the character’s ‘problem’ comes to surface. For example:

Jane hates heights but is an avid swimmer and has taken the challenge to join the diving team. Her first attempt at the low board causes a panic attack.

This tells the reader Jane will have to face these ‘height’ demons at some point in the book. It’s fleshing out a part of her personality readers will ‘dive’ right into to understand her obstacle. In the above scene you can begin with the teacher calling out her name and then describe her inner emotions as she is walking and staring at the diving board, as she climbs the ladder looking down at the increasing level of height. Eventually, by the time she hits the board she is so overcome by emotion she might hyperventilate, throw-up, or run back down humiliated. The secondary characters around her are now tossed into the game plan for some ridicule at some point in the book. You’ve now established her obstacle to overcome.

These types of beginnings bring the character’s dilemma and the reader to a connecting factor – a sympathetic involvement to see what is going to happen. Engaging the reader like this motivates them to continue reading to find out the outcome: who might help her, who stands in her way/ridicules her, how she overcomes. You are creating ‘conflict’, the problem area in her/his life the character needs to face and conquer. The worse thing a writer can do is to have someone else solve her dilemma. This cheats a reader and reads like a ‘quick fix’ to the conflict. Imagine yourself reading a few hundred pages only to discover the main character never changes because he/she never gets the opportunity to prove they can do it. I, for one, would never pick up a book written by that author again.

However, having a secondary character involved adds extra dimension to the conflict because now we are offered more possible questions to add spark and interest to the story:

Will this character continue to support the protagonist?

Will this character place the protagonist in a face-to-face moment with her dilemma?

Will this character heighten and add to the protagonist’s obstacle?

Another interesting area with the ‘Once upon a time’ fairy tale theme is using fairy tales to come up with interesting storylines. For example, let’s take The Three Little Pigs:

3 little pigs = 3 upcoming musicians

wolf = their agent who swindles them at some point of their earnings

straw hut = their small apartment

brick house = their mansion when they make it big

You’ve now used a fairy tale to come up with your own storyline by altering the characters, their setting, and added a motive for a conflict with the antagonist-the agent. Let’s dig deeper.

The three musicians are childhood friends or brothers a la ‘three pig’ theme. They’ve been playing as a band since high school. During college an agent signs them up and takes them on a tour. The boys are inexperienced in finances and trust their agent explicitly. During the story, however, seeds are dropped that this agent is a bit on the shady side prompting the readers to wait for the bomb to drop eventually on the boys. Although the readers have an inkling what’s going to happen, the questions keeping them posted to the book are:

  • How will the boys react?
  • What will they do?
  • What’s going to happen to the agent?
  • What’s going to happen to their musical careers?
  • Will the band ever make it?

Readers love drama, action, happenings that take protagonists to a lower level of no return, especially when they can identify with a crisis relevant to their own life. That’s not to say we need to be musicians to understand the characters plight, but as general people we’ve had someone who may have disappointed us in one way or the other. When you can connect a social issue or relevant emotional event to a reader, enough so they can place themselves in your character’s shoes, then they are drawn deeper into your story world.

Using the same fairy tale above, you can come up with literally tons of good storylines to expand and use.

*-3 spinsters on a road trip to get away from the stress of work

-1 man comes into their lives

-1 cheap hotel fling with one of them causes a rift between the ladies

-1 secret the man is guarding will have these women on the run

*3 lawyers defending 3 men for the same crime

-1 lawyer bribes a witness to lie for his client

-1 house holds the key to this crime

-1 twist near the end will have the witness charged with the crime

As you can see from the examples above, one simple fairy tale has now the potential for three different storylines, characters, and settings.

So…Once upon a time when I had nothing to write about, I sat down and remembered my childhood fairy tales…

And my page filled with story ideas…

And my Muse lived happily ever after.

Author’s Bio: Lea Schizas is the author of the YA paranormal suspense/thriller, Doorman’s Creek, and the middle grade chapter book, Bubba and Giganto.

She is the founder of The Muse Online Writers Conference, and publisher of The MuseItUp & MuseItHOT Publishing houses.

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Office Excuses by Lea Schizas

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

Office Excuses

By Lea Schizas

Can a writer use any part of the house to write? To use as their office? Let’s see:

Living Room:

You set up your desk in the corner. Nice and quiet because no one is allowed to enter the living room unless you have guests. At that point, the husband and the children get to see and remember what the sofa looks like. But that won’t work out for you because you don’t like paper work mixed with oil paintings, doilies, and lace curtains. The room looks cluttered with the desk, books, pens, printer, and all that paperwork. This isn’t going to work out.

Kitchen:

You decided to buy a laptop and forego the computer package. Great. You settle on one corner of the kitchen table, leaving ample space for your son and husband to sit down and eat. However, your husband wants to read his newspaper and pushes his bowl close to your computer. Your son brings his books to the table to help him with his homework. Your laptop is suddenly located on the counter and you’re afraid someone is going to spill coffee on it – only one who drinks coffee is your husband. This isn’t working out.

Garage:

You have lots of space and more than enough room for the two cars, boxes of stuff you have no idea what’s in them because you packed them about five years ago and now too scared to open them up in case something with four legs will jump at you. There’s a corner that will fit your computer desk just right. As you’re heading back inside the house a chill nibbles your nape. You check the thermostat and realize – big heavy sigh – there’s no heat in the garage. This isn’t going to work out.

Contemplating:

Looking around the house your other options are:

The bedroom – husband snores, watches T.V., likes to go to bed early

The bathroom – considering it because it has a lock and no one will enter. Then again, you think how low you’ve stooped.

Don’t fret. In all honesty, if you are seriously one of those writers who have come up with all of the excuses above then the writing passion, determination, and perseverance has not hit you yet.

Moral: Real writers find the time and place to write and don’t mind to litter their homes with tons of notebooks and pens in every single room.

Lea Schizas is the founder of The Muse Online Writers Conference, and publisher of The MuseItUp & MuseItHOT Publishing houses.

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Replace Adverbs with Strong Verbs and Sell Your Manuscript by Rebecca Ryals Russell

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

Replace Adverbs With Strong Verbs And Sell Your Manuscript

Rebecca Ryals Russell, Author of YA/MG Dark Fantasy

I was editing my MS recently and realized that many new writers may not know about an easy way to edit out some adverbs. While adverbs are not terrible, too many of them weakens a sentence. Plus, it’s smarter to use a strong verb in the place of adverbs. Many times an adverb ends in –ly, so these are easily spotted.

In order to easily see what and where you put many of your adverbs you can highlight them. If you use Microsoft Word, go to Editing, Replace. Type ly into the find space as well as replace space. Click Format then Highlight. Next click Replace All.

Stand back and wear your sunglasses as your manuscript suddenly lights up like a yellow traffic light. These ly word parts will remain highlighted as you work on your manuscript.

You can use the same technique for checking your passive verbs – just put was into ‘find’ and ‘replace’.

Now start analyzing each adverb. Find a stronger verb that means the same thing and delete that nasty adverb.

-ly words removed:

Finally, quickly

She smiled, finally glancing quickly at his eyes, then away again.

She smiled, glancing at his eyes, then away again.

softly

cooed softly.

cooed. (Cooing by nature is already soft.)

finally

she finally opened her eyes

she opened her eyes OR

at length she opened her eyes OR

minutes later she opened her eyes

to finally kick the bucket

to kick the bucket (If one is ‘kicking the bucket’, it’s pretty final.)

actually

Actually, I wanted to go as well.

I wanted to go, too.

only

We know there are only two of them traveling alone,…

We know there are two of them traveling alone… OR

We know there are two traveling alone…

Rusty killed only the useless fisherman.

Rusty killed only the useless fisherman. (This one doesn’t change because the intent is to show the sole kill was the fisherman.)

lately

Which one of you had a Pernicon watching her lately?

Which of you had a Pernicon watching her?

suddenly

Suddenly Berith’s eyes lit up.

Berith’s eyes lit up.

really

So I really won’t be missed at school or work much, will I?                                                                  So I won’t be missed at school or work much, will I?

I really have to go back now

I have to go back now.

mostly

She mostly studied the table,

She studied the table,

Then more quietly, almost to herself, “I…

Then softly to herself, “I….

slowly

…turned and slowly stumbled back

…turned and stumbled back (It’s hard to stumble quickly.)

completely

We are not completely sure.

We are not sure. (If you’re not sure, it’s complete.)

gravely

Minhtu gravely nodded,…

Minhtu nodded, her eyes serious and face drawn tight around her mouth…

(Show the reader what she looked like.)

Here’s a glimpse of a page of my MS before editing. Ouch! But I’ve seen worse in my own writing.

The replaceable adverbs are in bold and the passive verbs are in bold italics.

On the floor, overturned tables and chairs lay scattered across the once majestic hall. Amini, wings spread, fought in hand-to-hand combat, faces sweating and eyes screwed nearly shut in anger, clawed at each other and raked hair and robes trying to gain the advantage. Fortadivine slashed with swords and broadaxes while yelling orders to the Amini and Forzoram who were equally engaged in battle. The Forzoram took the advantage over the smaller and less trained Amini, easily defeating them and ripping wings or decapitating them with the twist of am armhold. Severed heads lay where they’d been thrown against the walls, glaring with sightless eyes. The room was a din of roars and screams, curses and clanking of weapons.

“Why are you doing this?” a Fortadivine yelled to a fellow Fortadivine who was slashing madly with his sword, trying to sever an arm or artery.

“Because we follow Pravus! He is our leader and when he says fight, we fight!” the second man screamed hysterically above the racket and din.

“But he is wrong! Alska is our leader. Alska is love; Pravus has only hatred in his heart! You will not win if you follow such a beast!” the first Fortadivine delivered, stepping in with a sword thrust that entered the other man’s chest and heart. He pulled his bloody sword free of this rebel and turned in time to parry another attack from a Benedivine who’d found a sword lying on a dead Fortadivine. The Benedivine, used to basic slave-type labor and not trained for military work, was quickly dispatched and left mortally injured. The Fortadivine stepped over the dying, once-holy man and shook his head at the waste and pity of this all.

Overhead, the black dragon beast, Pravus, soared over the dais again and again, shooting gouts of fire at Alska, hoping he would tire and leave a chink in his armor that Pravus would then finish him by. Red eyes glared in the smoky dust of the demolished room as he circled, checking the progress of the battle. He roared encouragement, “Fight brothers! Kill those bastards who cling to the old ways and

Rebecca Ryals Russell taught Middle Grades English for fifteen years before retiring to write her debut YA/MG Dark Fantasy series Seraphym Wars and Stardust Warriors. Book 1: Odessa of the Seraphym Wars Series will be available April 1, 2011 from MuseItUpPublishing.com as an eBook and later in print. She and several other Muse authors write a weekly grog for teenaged writers at Teen Word Factory.

She resides in North Florida with her college-age through school-aged children and Irish husband. They live in a one-hundred-year-old Victorian house on five acres in the country. She also runs a Vacation Rental business called Florida Black Bear Cabin LLC from the log house on the property.

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Actions Speak Louder Than Words by Roseanne Dowell

August 19th, 2010

Permission granted to use the following article in your publication providing you follow the guidelines here.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

By

Roseanne Dowell

Body language and facial expressions play a large part in daily conversations. They are natural reactions to what we speak and hear. Shouldn’t our characters react the same way? If we forget these important elements, our dialogue will appear flat, boring, and our characters dull. Even setting plays a part in every day conversation.

Did you ever avoid someone’s eyes – focus on a picture or a lamp- maybe even lowered your eyes or stared at the ceiling? We tend to focus on things other than the person speaking to us if we are uncomfortable with either the situation or the person.

We wave our hand, cross our arms, tap our foot, or raise our eyebrows to show impatience. Maybe we wrinkle our brow, scrunch up our nose, and let out a deep sigh when we are doubtful. We cross our leg, wiggle our foot, or tap our fingers when we are nervous.  All of these actions show something about our moods, our reactions to conversation and even about us. We react differently when we are nervous, upset, irritated, happy, sad, or doubtful. These actions show what dialogue, alone, cannot. Our characters need to do the same.

Teamed up with dialogue these expressive actions say more about our character, their setting, and their dialogue then the typical he said, she said and their counterparts -replied, asked, responded. These are unnecessary words.

Mary Rosenblum, Author and Instructor at Long Ridge Writers Group, explains it this way: “We have three legs, a tripod, of a strong dialogue scene: words, visuals, and thoughts.”*

Let’s put that statement to a test.

How often have we created dialogue like this?

“I can’t believe you said that,” he said.

“Why not, it’s true,” she replied.

“But, you didn’t have to say it,” he answered.

“No, I guess I didn’t,” she said.

We tag the dialogue with he said, she said so our readers do not get confused. We vary said with replied, answered, snapped or other like words. The dialogue is boring. We know nothing about the characters. We can change the he/she to Tom and Laura, but it won’t change the dialogue. All we have are words. Or we can add adverbs to the tag lines to tell us what they are their feelings as in the following example.

“I can’t believe you said that,” he said angrily.

Now we know he is angry, but you, the author, told us that, not the character and we still have he said. Our characters are not showing us anything.

Next step adding visuals. We can add visuals by setting a scene- Tom and Laura sat in a restaurant. Well, we can do that, but now the author’s voice is back in the story. We want our characters to show us the scene.

Think about a conversation with your spouse. While they were speaking, you were forming your answers in your mind. And you watched their face, noticed their body language at the same time. Maybe their body tensed, their jaw set, their brow furrowed or they frowned. Through their body language you knew they were upset or angry. Other thoughts flowed through your mind. Maybe you were angry too or thought they were wrong. The interchange included words, body language and your thoughts. Many things happened during that conversation.

Now, let’s add some visuals and body language to our earlier conversation and see how it plays out.

“I can’t believe you said that.”

Laura stared at the waiter, avoiding the hurt look on Tom’s face. “Why not, it’s true.” She watched him out of the corner of her eye.

His jaw tightened. He picked up his cup, took a sip. “But you didn’t have to say it.”

“No, I guess I didn’t.”

Notice how we eliminated the he said, she said completely. Yet, we still know who is speaking. We can see and hear the emotion. Examine what the above exchange shows us, based on Mary’s criteria. We had the conversation in the first dialogue session but it showed us nothing but the speakers. In the next example, we have added a visual and a scene, the restaurant. We know this because she stared at the waiter and he picked up the cup.  We have added tension with body language- His jaw tightened. We know she is our POV, because she sees the hurt. We see her visually ignoring him, yet watching his reaction. We vary the length and pace of the sentences to keep the readers attention. Sometimes, as in the case of his first comment, it is more powerful not to add a visual. If we add visuals to all dialogue, it become monotonous and boring and can even disrupt our story.

We now have two legs of our tripod, words and visuals. Let’s add the third, thoughts.

“I can’t believe you said that.”

She stared at the waiter, avoiding the hurt look on his face. “Why not, it’s true.” She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He’s angry.

His jaw tightened. He played with his cup. “But you didn’t have to say it.”

“No, I guess I didn’t.” She stood up. She had enough. Glaring at him, she pulled some change from her purse and threw it on the table. It’s always about him. She hurried out, before she said something she’d regret later.

We have completed the tripod. We hear the characters voices and can see their emotions. They have showed us the scene and their reaction to the words and we have her thoughts. Our characters have brought the scene to life, and you, the author did not tell us anything.

*Quotes from Mary Rosenblum used with her permission.

Author Bio:

First and foremost, Roseanne is a wife, mother of six, grandmother of fourteen and great-grandmother of one.

As the second youngest of six children, Roseanne always had a vivid imagination and loved to make up stories.  An avid reader, she often dreamed of becoming a writer. Roseanne started writing when her children were young, but only began submitting her work about six years ago.  During a Book Club meeting, Roseanne admitted her dream to write. Members of her Book Club encouraged her to pursue her writing and to submit her work.

Although Satin Sheets was her first published novel, Roseanne has over forty articles and stories published in magazines – Good Old Days, Nostalgia, and Ohio Writer and several online publications. She also teaches writing courses for Long Story School of Writing www.lsswritingschool.com .

Look for Roseanne’s books beginning in March 2011 at MuseItUp Publishing.

You can learn more about Roseanne from her website www.roseannedowell.com or her blog http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com.

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