tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158798528387311032024-02-26T02:03:05.861-05:00Ask The AuthorAward-winning novelist Steven James answers your questions about the craft of writing and the art of storytellingSteven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-46992366146194956862016-02-20T13:30:00.000-05:002016-02-20T13:30:47.402-05:00Novel Writing Intensive, October 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Registration is now open for my 7th Novel Writing Intensive Retreat, with New York Times bestselling author, Robert Dugoni. This is an in-depth, intensive time of teaching and study on the craft of novel writing. For more information, visit the <a href="http://novelwritingintensive.com/" target="_blank">NWI website.</a>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-34779539949570662652016-01-04T12:38:00.002-05:002016-01-04T12:39:16.709-05:00What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to the next generation of thriller authors?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">Quite honestly, I think that each
generation of writers has the same job—to tell great stories to their
audiences. As readers’ expectations continue to evolve, so should our stories.
That said, here are a couple thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">1 - Spend the extra time making your story
great. Create a character we want to spend time with, want to cheer for, and
want to worry about. Make it clear what the character wants, how far he is
willing to go to get it, and what is at stake if he fails. Whether you consider
your story character-driven or plot-driven, every story, at it’s core, is
struggle-driven. Draw us into that world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">2 - Be concise. I’m finding that people
today really do have shorter and shorter attention spans, and with the
emergence of ebooks (which seem to sell better when they’re shorter), I’m
afraid that we’re going to have to start telling simpler and less complex
stories. Or maybe we just need to write leaner, sharper, more gripping stories.
In either case, ruminating, meandering prose and long, insignificant descriptions
are out; and taut, intense stories are in.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-6767127761134000602015-12-26T14:34:00.001-05:002015-12-26T14:43:27.353-05:00<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-4oJjjLt6ie6plZZ0YGfI0ladY0LHMfYGI1jc3gf8VbEmMZTyF89y9cOCi3rj5iGlYeaTw39UWQaucs6OShHSzkM6akVBKnmXNdiNRvl-dGdyGcVggii6RMu0LvGEzpScYFp2STaCQ/s1600/updatedECP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-4oJjjLt6ie6plZZ0YGfI0ladY0LHMfYGI1jc3gf8VbEmMZTyF89y9cOCi3rj5iGlYeaTw39UWQaucs6OShHSzkM6akVBKnmXNdiNRvl-dGdyGcVggii6RMu0LvGEzpScYFp2STaCQ/s320/updatedECP.jpg" width="181" /></a><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Hey everyone,</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Every-Crooked-Path-Bowers-Files/dp/0451467353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451158202&sr=8-1&keywords=every+crooked+path"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: orange;">Every Crooked
Path</span></i></span></a> <span style="color: #f3f3f3;">is a work of fiction, and yet, in a very real sense, it also
tells the truth about our world today. While the characters and situations in
this story are made up, the nature of the crimes is not.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;">As a parent, I found this book particularly difficult to write,
since it involved research into cybercrimes against children. However, because
of the impact of this issue on modern culture, I felt it was an important story
for me to tell—perhaps my most important one so far.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Finding out what’s really out there lurking online was a
wake-up call to me. Rather than describe any exploitative images in this book,
I chose to show the reactions of the characters to seeing them. I’ll trust your
imagination to fill in the rest.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;">During my research, I came across an organization called the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. It’s dedicated to
rescuing children and catching those who target them. NCMEC is a nonprofit
organization that depends on private donations, so please consider supporting
their work. For more information, go to</span><span style="color: orange;"> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.missingkids.com%2F&h=aAQEPC_Me&s=1"><span style="text-decoration: none;">www.missingkids.com</span></a></span><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Together we can make a difference in protecting the next
generation from those who would steal their innocence from them.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;">I think you’ll enjoy <i>Every Crooked Path</i>. It’s a thrilling
ride, a redemptive story, and shows the power of good over evil. Let me know
what you think.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;">—Steven James</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-27767911373968436262015-05-28T10:54:00.001-04:002015-05-28T10:54:13.713-04:00What makes a character likable?
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Sometimes it’s a quirk, sometimes it’s a wound we all share.
Most often it’s an attitude. Too many authors spend tons of time working up a
detailed history of the character’s life, but usually that’s a waste. A
character with an attitude is always more interesting than a character with a
history.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think about the people you like to hang around with in real
life—those same traits are often present in fictional characters we like to
spend time with. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just as in real life, we prefer people who are fun to be
around (rather than whiny and self-pitying), adventurous, engaging, vibrant,
unpredictable and ready to admit their mistakes rather than pretend they’re
better than everyone else. In his book <i>Writing 21st Century Fiction</i>, Donald
Maass suggests that we imagine creating characters that we would want to take
to prom. That’s good advice. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also think it’s the inconsistencies rather than the
consistencies that make characters interesting. So, for example, if a character
is mature in every way, she’s boring, but if she’s intellectually mature but
also emotionally needy, she becomes a character who’s intriguing and
multi-layered. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>New York Times</i> Bestselling author Robert Dugoni suggests
that to create empathy in readers we give the character an undeserved
misfortune, put him in jeopardy, make them compassionate and nice, funny or
witty, make them powerful and altruistic. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes I’ve started watching a TV series and then just
abandoned it after an episode or two because, honestly, there just wasn’t
anyone I felt like I could cheer for, no one I wanted to spend time with. When
you’re creating characters, you need to create ones that people would rather
spend time with than do anything else. That’s the only way you’re going to be
able to grab their attention long enough for them to become engaged in your
book, and enthralled enough to stick with it. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even if a character doesn’t always play by the rules or has
undesirable traits, if he’s someone intriguing and fun to be around, he’s going
to be the likeable character who will attract readers.</div>
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Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-75679576093472131242014-12-09T12:17:00.002-05:002015-06-17T10:03:04.726-04:00Writer's Digest Webinar Event<br />
<div>
<span style="line-height: 20px;"><b normal=""><span style="line-height: 20px;">Authors, you're invited to attend my Writer's Digest webinar, <a href="http://www.writersdigestshop.com/abandon-your-outline-and-elevate-your-novel?lid=sjwdpromo121614" target="_blank">Abandon Your Outline and Elevate Your Novel</a>, </span><span style="line-height: 20px;">on Tuesday, December 16th, at 1pm. Those who register for the live event will receive an ebook version of my book <i>Story Trumps Structure</i>. I hope you can join us.</span></b></span>
<br />
<span style="line-height: 20px;"><b style="background-color: white; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></b></span>
<br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">ABOUT THIS WEBINAR:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"></span><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 16px;">In this eye-opening live webinar, both aspiring and accomplished authors will learn the advantages of ditching their outlines, why they should stop trying to plot out their stories, how to trust the writing process, and how to develop their fiction organically rather than mechanically.</span></span><br />
<div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is far different than “seat-of-the-pants” writing. It's all about delving into a deeper understanding of the essence of story, embracing the expectations of your readers, and asking the right questions to help shape the story.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Formulas and templates can only take you so far and, all too often, they end up straightjacketing stories. But how can you really write a powerful, cohesive, emotionally-gripping story without plotting it out first? Is it even possible? Yes it is. And this webinar will teach you how.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:</span></strong></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul 0px="" 1.5em="" 16px="" 1em="" initial="" list-style-image:="" list-style-position:="" margin:="" outside="" padding:="">
<li class="first" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3 questions that will solve every “plot problem” you'll ever have </span></li>
</ul>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How vital, underlying narrative forces work together to drive your story forward </span></li>
</ul>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why context determines content and how it shapes every scene you write</span></li>
</ul>
<ul 0px="" 1.5em="" 16px="" 1em="" initial="" list-style-image:="" list-style-position:="" margin:="" outside="" padding:="">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5 easy-to-implement steps to organizing scene ideas without using an outline </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Practical steps to adding a twist to your story </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Specific ways to listen to and respond to your story as it unfolds </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li class="last" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The core ingredients that will improve every story</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">WHO SHOULD ATTEND?</span></strong></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li class="first" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writers tired of following formulas and plot templates </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writers looking for a fresh approach to understanding what makes a story work </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aspiring novelists intimidated by the idea of outlining an entire novel</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Accomplished novelists who would like to expand their storytelling depth</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Novelists with great ideas but no direction </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Seat-of-the-pants” writers looking for practical tips </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writers who would rather spend time writing a story than plotting one out</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writers who've written themselves into a corner </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writers trying to reconnect with the joy of creativity </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<li class="last" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writers who want to add twists to their stories</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-63992474353035847412014-11-17T12:03:00.001-05:002015-06-16T16:25:36.911-04:00Troubleshooting Your Novel<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 32pt;">Troubleshooting Your Novel</span></b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TMatx18cic__EG9NcMGk-DWnCXkq1KchbfQtPadL7f_GUYN-URGtYN-ir8bMph_a7C9-yvkdukqQ94Kcc_YnExyxuLo7sqBGmlJUFz3gPhLAHPUjPeLzHLUny1VGNXZhpZZgbgZcIQ/s1600/tyn.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TMatx18cic__EG9NcMGk-DWnCXkq1KchbfQtPadL7f_GUYN-URGtYN-ir8bMph_a7C9-yvkdukqQ94Kcc_YnExyxuLo7sqBGmlJUFz3gPhLAHPUjPeLzHLUny1VGNXZhpZZgbgZcIQ/s1600/tyn.png" width="169" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">a full-day writing seminar<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">with the critically-acclaimed author of the <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">Patrick Bowers thriller series,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 28.0pt;">Steven James</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">Also featuring New York Times bestselling author, Eric Wilson;
award-winning author and freelance editor, Jodie Renner; and literary agent
with the Wheelhouse Literary Group, Jonathan Clements</span><span style="font-size: 15pt;"> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEEjokNwRRl7aqoFkdz6FiayuxO52FRT7IM808oX118Z38r91Mt3Q6kaOOkfDwXE3q5katJWX5KaArsqpNc5fqe_2TgToFn7V4nIXNKF47i9zMa6sxryiwz9E_0XnPdjh3coQIap0Tw/s1600/Jonathan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEEjokNwRRl7aqoFkdz6FiayuxO52FRT7IM808oX118Z38r91Mt3Q6kaOOkfDwXE3q5katJWX5KaArsqpNc5fqe_2TgToFn7V4nIXNKF47i9zMa6sxryiwz9E_0XnPdjh3coQIap0Tw/s1600/Jonathan.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz5mEu17xtD0qsNLcnO5KgiFlK9DYRAxlHrBwfq-NDvNw1Z00BnAJUTznnY7cULuGvceyfFPcITikEXWstsALdB7E_gkKDLIaN-yX1O3Dy81DseqArQ07DEPkNJ6s9F0TCBa8tmCUfg/s1600/Eric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz5mEu17xtD0qsNLcnO5KgiFlK9DYRAxlHrBwfq-NDvNw1Z00BnAJUTznnY7cULuGvceyfFPcITikEXWstsALdB7E_gkKDLIaN-yX1O3Dy81DseqArQ07DEPkNJ6s9F0TCBa8tmCUfg/s1600/Eric.jpg" width="162" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6Dw0hkr_VWFAQxYshy31Om9LQgo_ITMH2Ac-FaGpa8hA5S7uaIswEdj-sNbNL21_yUgI8LRwGZJ821aE9qz-rXou2IsjWHsV_oI9dSHx589CDuuM5P7ns9TI5x_NYW_unZi6A-6u0g/s1600/jodie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6Dw0hkr_VWFAQxYshy31Om9LQgo_ITMH2Ac-FaGpa8hA5S7uaIswEdj-sNbNL21_yUgI8LRwGZJ821aE9qz-rXou2IsjWHsV_oI9dSHx589CDuuM5P7ns9TI5x_NYW_unZi6A-6u0g/s1600/jodie.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 23.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 23pt;"> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;">Saturday, January 17, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;">8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;">Radisson Airport Hotel<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;">Nashville, TN<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This
one-day conference will be filled with practical insights,</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">dozens
of</span><span style="color: #390403; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Times;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">ways to fix plot flaws, time-tested writing
secrets,</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">and</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Times;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">easy-to-implement ideas
that will help you improve your novel right now, no matter how far along you
are in writing it. From the broad aspects of building the framework of your
novel to the fine brush-strokes of line-by-line editing, this day will
transform your writing forever.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div align="center" class="Default" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #390403; font-family: Times; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Visit <span class="Hyperlink0"><a href="http://troubleshootingyournovel.com/">troubleshootingyournovel.com</a></span>
to register.</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></b></div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-39579100013686502342014-10-03T13:14:00.002-04:002015-06-16T14:36:13.047-04:00In keeping with your contract of entertaining the reader: How best do I design scenes? What should every scene consist of in your opinion? Can you have a scene that simply shows more character development, or simply hints/builds towards things to come later in the story? Does every scene have to have conflict? Since this is my first draft, should I simply write the story out and go back and add/drop scenes as needed?<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">People often ask me what a scene is, what a scene includes, how long a scene should be, and if scenes are included simply to reveal character traits. Since all of these are related topics, I decided to tackle them together. Let’s see how much we can cover in this one blog post.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867">
</span>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867">
</span>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, a scene is the account of a character, rooted in time and space, working toward an objective that he wishes to accomplish. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867">
</span>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scene begins when a decision on his own, or an obligation thrust on him by another, places him in this situation where he must accomplish a certain task. It might be buying a bag of Cheetos or negotiating to get a good deal on a new car, or seducing a lover, or saving a child who fell into the lake. There is a task that is related to a goal. The scene shows what happens when the character attempts to accomplish this task or reach this goal. </span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867" style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scenes are made stronger when there is tension, conflict, unmet desire. Look for that; bring it out.</span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-87bdfa32-d6fd-0c36-e95a-d3f9be99e867"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">
</span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless of which draft you're in, you will want to work your scenes around objectives—on the part of the characters. I’m not a fan of bland scenes in which nothing is sought or altered, but the actions are just there “to show characterization.” This might be a scene of internal reflection or dialogue or exposition in which nothing is sought and the reader is left in the dark about what the characters really want.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The best way to show characterization is when a character is accepting to overcome something or rise to an occasion, so the scenes that best reveal characterization are those that do more than show action, they show action </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with intention</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Identify the goal. Let the characters seek it, fail to get it, process what just happened, and then make a decision that leads them on to the next scene.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seek. Fail. Process. Proceed. This is what well-crafted scenes will do for you. This is the pathway your character will move through, scene by escalating scene, toward the climax. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
</span>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-34491866202972410112014-09-08T11:20:00.000-04:002015-06-16T12:29:07.361-04:00How long does the first draft of a manuscript typically take you to get onto paper? With thinking, research, and writing how long does it usually take for you to finish your manuscript?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">This question comes up quite often in one form or another. I
can’t tell you how many times at a writers conference someone has asked me how
long it takes me to write a book, or finish a first draft, or how many words I
write each day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know that part of it is natural curiosity, but there’s
also that practical side of things—<i>If he can write 2,000 words a day, how
many should I be able to write?</i></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have friends who actually write precisely a thousand words
a day. They can tell you that their book will be done in 100 days and will be
100,000 words long, just like that. Boom. It’s crazy.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Honestly, I just don’t understand that. First of all, I’m
not sure how you would even know the length of the book until it’s finished.
Secondly, that’s not at all how I’m wired.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ideas don’t start on a certain date and they don’t have an
expiration date. Making a career as a novelist means that, in the real world,
you’ll be working on a new project while one of your previous works is being
edited, proofread, etc. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, in essence, there are always two or more pots on the
stove and your life is often made up of moving them around to keep the most
important one at the moment boiling.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m always coming up with ideas that don’t quite fit into
the current project I’m working on. I set them aside, let them percolate, and
then pull them out when I’m ready to move on to another book. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Obviously, novels vary greatly in length, complexity, number
of point-of-view characters, and so on, so the amount of time it takes to write
one will vary as well. Most of my Patrick Bowers novels are between 105,000 and
140,000 words. My young adult thrillers, <i>Blur</i> and <i>Fury</i>, are both
less than 80,000 words. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve managed to write some of my novels in less than six
months, others have taken nearly a year and a half—but remember, that’s writing
nearly every day of the year. It’s my day job. It’s what I do to pay the bills.
</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Recently, there have been several self-published books about
writing extraordinarily fast (for example: <i>2,000 to 10,000</i>, in which the
author purports to be able to write 10,000 words in a day. No. I’m not kidding.
Nor am I endorsing the book by mentioning it. Quite the opposite, frankly.)</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s simply not possible for the vast majority of authors to
write that fast <i>and write well,</i> and it does a serious disservice to
people to imply that they can learn to do it. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, there will always be prodigies who can pull off amazing
feats, but on my best, most productive days of writing, I average maybe 120
words an hour, and that’s after doing this for more than a decade, utilizing
every trick and time-saving secret I can think of.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can some people pull off amazing quality and breathtaking
quantity? Yes. But most of us have to choose between the two. Even though it
ends up taking me about a month of work for every hour it takes a reader to go
through my books, it’s just who I am. I’ll never be able to pump out books
every couple months. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And I guess, now that I think about it, I’m glad I don’t
even try.</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-27644313086931367132014-08-11T11:59:00.000-04:002015-06-16T14:41:54.234-04:00I have all of these great ideas, and I have been working really hard on all of them but I don't want to have to wait to completely finish one genre before I start another. Do authors bounce back and forth like that, or is it in the best interest for the readers to stick with one genre? <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">This question bridges into the field of marketing, which, these days is a part of any successful writing career. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the years I’ve written in lots of different genres—from prayer journals and spiritual titles to educational books, fantasy, psychological suspense, conspiracy thrillers, young adult mystery and more. As we’ve spoken with marketing experts they always ask, “What makes you unique or different?” And then, they want to use that to create your brand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So when I was speaking and performing children’s and family shows as well as writing about storytelling, my brand was “The voice of imagination” which encompassed all of my imaginative storytelling and writing. However, over the last decade, I’ve moved toward primarily writing intelligent thrillers with twist endings. So my brand has changed. (Although I don’t have a cool phrase to describe myself anymore. Suggestions are always welcome,)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, as far as writing in different genres, I’ve always believed in writing what you have the ideas for and moving on from there, but I can certainly see the wisdom in sticking to one genre and becoming known for that. Honestly, it is a little confusing when people see what I’ve written and they say, “So you’ve written books on how to tell Bible stories to preschool children and you write serial killer novels?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yup. That’s me. But it’s a little hard to brand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many fiction authors do span genres (Heather Graham, F. Paul Wilson, Stephen King, Ted Dekker, etc.), so there’s no easy answer to your question. I personally believe in pursuing ideas where they lead and trusting that readers will connect with brilliantly told stories, whatever genre labels might be ascribed to it. </span>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-40508543689659119582014-07-11T10:51:00.000-04:002015-06-16T14:43:18.104-04:00Since this is my first draft, should I simply write the story out and go back and add/drop scenes as needed?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">People often ask me questions regarding my writing style, process, etc. Whenever we talk about writing, there is process and there are principles. While the principles for storytelling are relatively universal, the process will vary from person to person and also, at least in my experience, from book to book. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some people outline and “plot out” their stories and others listen to the story as they write each day, feeling out the direction of the story organically. Since I’ve described the organic writing process in other posts, let’s not go there for now. You can go back and read those posts later. But no matter your process, I think it is important to write the ideas you have when they are fresh in your mind—even if they are not specifically chronological. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I’m working on a story, I might know that in a certain place in my book my detective will visit a crime scene and notice what no one else notices, but it might take me weeks or months to figure out exactly what that is. So in the meantime, while I wait for just the right inspiration, I write obligatory scenes that the story and the genre dictate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, in the book I’m currently writing, I’m about 80 or 90% done, but I have no clear idea about how the climax will play out. As I’ve written, I’ve worked on scenes that I knew I was going to include, and some transitions or interludes between the scenes themselves. In some cases I know that something must be altered—or tilt as I sometimes think of it—but I’m not sure exactly what that is. But it will come if I continue to look at context and press the right questions against the fabric of the story. So, as I now add those scenes and transitions, I can look at the story as a whole and that will lead me to just the right climax and ending.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To summarize, I believe it’s best to pursue your ideas where they take you. Write yourself into a corner as much as you can and then find a way out your readers would never expect. Keep moving through the story, sometimes that will mean moving ahead without figuring exactly what will happen in a scene and then dropping the scenes in later, sometimes it’ll mean you figure them out as you move along. Be flexible. Be open. And keep an ear out for what the story is trying to tell you. </span>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-52337109074554242502014-06-27T14:22:00.000-04:002015-06-16T16:23:57.005-04:00Q & A's about Organic Writing (Post 2)<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is the second Q & A excerpt from my recently released book STORY TRUMPS STRUCTURE. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q- “What do you do if you get writer’s block?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A - I reread the story in context, keep the promises I’ve made—or make more, and ask the narrative questions (which we examine in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Story Trumps Structure</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). Since you’re always analyzing the direction and content of your story when you write organically, you’ll find that you don’t run out of ideas very often. It makes it a lot easier for those of us who make a living doing this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q - “But without an outline how do you know when to end your story?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A - Stories are over when the change in the life of the character has occurred, the questions readers want answered are answered, and the promises you’ve made have been kept. At that point, readers expect no more from the story, and the next logical step would only be the introduction of a new internal, external or interpersonal struggle for the protagonist—in other words, the beginning of a new story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It might take one act or it might take a dozen, depending on the length of the story, the number of characters and the complexity of the conflict, but when the discovery is made, when the resolution is reached and you’ve fulfilled your promises, the story is over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q - “What if you’re writing a complex story? How do you keep everything straight if you don’t outline?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A - Read the context. Some stories are too complex to outline. My novels often involve dozens of characters, multiple plots and subplots, half a dozen point-of-view characters and single-, double- or triple-twist endings. Even now that the books are written, if someone asked me to outline one of them I can’t imagine how hard that would be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make it easier on yourself and write organically. Read the context, jot down notes on the characters if you need to, and keep in mind what readers have in mind. Remember, they’re not going to have character biographies, outlines, and so on in front of them to help keep everything straight as they read your story, so, if you’re trying to write one for them that doesn’t include those things, why would you begin writing the story in such a way that you need them?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q - “But how can you add a twist if you don’t outline?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A - When you understand the dynamics of good storytelling, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you can’t help but</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> add a twist when you write organically. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The twist will reveal itself to you if you look for it long enough and in the right place by opening your eyes and asking the right questions.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Readers today are narratively astute. Respect them. Assume they’re at least as smart as you are. If you’re not surprised by the direction the story takes as you work on it, many of them won’t be surprised either.</span></div>
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Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-17093623966480347612014-06-13T12:01:00.000-04:002015-06-16T14:48:44.041-04:00Q & A's about Organic Writing (Post 1)<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial;">With the release of my book STORY TRUMPS STRUCTURE, I thought I would devote the next two posts to excerpts from the Q & A section on organic writing. Here you go!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Q - “Why do you need to
write the whole story organically instead of plotting it out? Why can’t you
just use this process as you’re outlining it?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">A - It takes time to get to
know characters and allow them the freedom to respond to the situations you
present to them in the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">Also, you’ll only know the
narrative weight of scenes after you’ve written them and studied them in
context. There’s no practical way to do this when outlining.</span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">Finally, if you’re not
surprised by the twists in the story and the direction that it takes <i>as
you’re writing it</i>, it’s likely many of your readers won’t be either <i>as
they’re reading it</i>. It might take me six months of thinking about how to
resolve a certain plot question as I’m working on the novel before I come up
with a workable solution. I’m nowhere near smart enough to solve all of those
plot problems before I get started. And unless you’re a prodigy or a creative genius,
you probably aren’t either. </span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">Q - “But if you don’t
outline, how do you know how long your book will be?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">A - I don’t. I can’t know
how many words my book will have until I’ve uncovered the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">I might know some general
ideas based on the genre, number of point-of-view characters, the complexity of
the plot and so on, but novels are not sitcoms. The art form allows us freedom
that those who are constricted to a twenty-two minute time limit don’t have.
Don’t let a predetermined word-count handcuff you and interfere with telling
the story that needs to be told. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">Q - “But won’t I have to go
through more edits if I write organically? Won’t it take me fewer drafts if I
outline?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">A - There seems to be an
impression out there that writing a novel organically takes longer than writing
one using an outline. Some people outline their books and go through dozens of
drafts; some people write organically and hardly have to edit the manuscript at
all. Some of it is skill, artistry, intuition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">Writing great fiction takes
a lot of time no matter how you approach it. I’ve had a number of professional
novelists confess to me that the more they write the less they outline, simply
because they don’t have time to write detailed outlines and still meet their
deadlines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">Writing organically doesn’t
mean approaching a story with a blank slate in your brain—you know about story,
about genre conventions and reader expectations. If you’re writing a series,
you’ve made promises in previous books that readers will look forward to
finding payoff for in the book you’re working on. </span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">If you ask the right
questions and let the story continually unfold before you by letting the
narrative forces press in upon it, you’ll be able to write the story much
quicker than if you were to outline it and then have to make edits because
there are continuity or causality problems. </span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-24862198746118769082014-05-15T11:21:00.000-04:002015-06-16T16:21:49.089-04:00Do You Use Beta Readers (extra pairs of eyes on your manuscript)?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My question for you is regarding 'beta readers.' I have found that as your story evolves as you write organically, minor things may change, and there may be inconsistencies that can be overlooked. Example, John Smith is a vegan. Later in the story, after several rewrites, he takes his wife out for BBQ dinner because it is pivotal to the newly written scene. While minor within the crux of the story, to the reader it would seem like a billboard (with them asking, how did the author miss this?).</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0ed7645f-006f-ee41-8fa4-7f9cd6a57f9d"><br /></span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So do you use beta readers? If so, how many are in your pool? And do you take their advice? Seems that everyone has an opinion of how they would have written the story. But I feel if I completely entertain their ideas, it is no longer my story.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This question brings several issues to mind for me—internal consistency, self-editing, and working with the advice of beta readers and editors.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-cc1527a4-0076-0063-30f8-77206c979d1f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, you’re absolutely right that snags such as the one you listed regarding the vegan who ends up taking his wife out for BBQ would jar readers and knock them out of the story. As I edit scenes and shape new ones, I often find myself going back to make sure that I’ve tackled those kinds of glitches. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still, mistakes can creep in. I remember one character who appeared in several of my Patrick Bowers novels being in his mid-seventies in one book and then about a decade younger in the next book. Oops. Since it was a mistake that spanned two books it was easier to miss. But still, astute readers might have noticed it if they read the books within a close time frame. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second, self-editing. The first and most important eyes you will have on your manuscript are your own. Catching those minor glitches and mistakes is ultimately your job, no matter how many editors and readers you may have. To make sure I’ve caught those, I need to read through the whole book, usually in one day to make sure all of it is fresh in my mind. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With my latest suspense novel </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BLUR</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I noticed that one character was listed as a wide receiver, and then later as a tight end. No readers or editors caught this and it was only on my final pass through the book that I noticed it. Don’t rely on anyone else to fact check. Readers will always blame you, and rightly so, if they find mistakes. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, readers and editors. I do my best to take their comments and queries to heart, but I don’t make all the changes they suggest. Often they don’t realize that you’ve thought about the same idea months ago and discarded it because of the context or the movement of the story. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I usually give them a list of specific things I’d like them to look for in the book. For example, I give one copy to someone in law enforcement and have him look at the cop lingo, things like that. I usually choose someone to look at story flow, another at grammar, and so on. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">This is your baby and, just like having a baby of your own, you’ll get lots of advice about how to raise it. In the end, you have to take all of it with a grain of salt and raise your child your way. </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-52661013322164377452014-05-01T11:08:00.000-04:002015-06-16T14:55:13.566-04:00Story Trumps Structure Is Now Available<h2>
</h2>
<h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I am pleased to announce that my book </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">on the craft of novel writing</span></div>
<i><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Story Trumps Structure</i> </span></div>
</i><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">is now available. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For more information, please visit </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://storytrumpsstructure.com/"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://storytrumpsstructure.com/">storytrumpsstructure.com</a>.</span></div>
</h3>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.writersdigestshop.com/story-trumps-structure-group" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNEf-I8v4rlBZni7ycqBo4uRh-yBzQT-l5DoFYmykTfJPQ-dNlwGvDja5ETh16UUXuO6lu9guHOLgxXHjJ5e-6pqv_FjDAFv0vt108ehBm7p2iElcOlikYEA036xcnendb5ceF7gojQ/s1600/Story+Trumps+Structure.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Don't Limit Your Fiction—Liberate It</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">All too often, following the “rules”
of writing can constrict rather than inspire you. With <i>Story Trumps
Structure</i>, you can shed those rules—about three-act structure, rising
action, outlining, and more—to craft your most powerful, emotional, and
gripping stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Award-winning novelist Steven James
explains how to trust the narrative process to make your story believable,
compelling, and engaging, and debunks the common myths that hold writers back
from creating their best work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">• Ditch your outline and learn to
write organically.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">• Set up promises for readers—and
deliver on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">• Discover how to craft a satisfying
climax.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">• Master the subtleties of
characterization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">• Add mind-blowing twists to your
fiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When you focus on what lies at the
heart of story—tension, desire, crisis, escalation, struggle, discovery—rather
than plot templates and formulas, you’ll begin to break out of the box and
write fiction that resonates with your readers. <i>Story Trumps Structure</i>
will transform the way you think about stories and the way you write them,
forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">“Steven James is the best teacher
I’ve ever worked with. I’ve been keenly awaiting <i>Story Trumps Structure</i>
since I first heard it was coming out. Like Steven’s lectures, the book is an
invaluable resource for aspiring authors and published novelists alike.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">—Robert Dugoni, New York Times
best-selling author of <i>The Jury Master</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-56983402729568541342014-04-21T10:49:00.001-04:002015-06-16T14:56:29.287-04:00Do you prefer writing a series? Would stand-alone stories be easier to write?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 7pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, the secret to creativity is not so much brainstorming, but limiting yourself. In other words, if you asked me to join you for supper and said, “Where do you want to go?” and I replied, “I don’t care. Where do you want to go?” And then you said, “It doesn’t matter to me.” Well, suddenly we’re in a bind. While it seems that we’re free to to anything, we’re actually stuck. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 7pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, if you said, “Well, we have forty dollars in the budget,” or “We need to be back by eight so I can catch my show,” or “I’m thinking Italian,” then you have a place to start from. A limit that, in a very real sense, sets you free. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 7pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A series provides you with those limits. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 7pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve found it the most difficult to write the first book in a series since I’m trying to get to know the characters, how they will naturally act in different circumstances, and so on. Once I’ve gotten to know the characters, it’s much easier to render scenes because I know how they’ll react to their struggles and circumstances. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 7pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every story consists of promises and payoff. In a series, you have more promises that will help shape the direction of the book—carryover promises from the previous books in the series. These also help to limit you. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 7pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, in a series you need to be careful that you don’t end up repeating scenes, situations, dialogue and so on. And, when you have eight books in a series, that becomes more and more difficult. </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0ed7645f-84c0-7fa2-fa8e-637a06a7ec75"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 7pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still, I prefer working on a series because I can delve more deeply into each character and explore more complex issues that carry through from one book to the next. </span></div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-89065025508190309652014-03-25T10:59:00.000-04:002015-06-16T15:04:05.344-04:00I have heard from multiple publishers the same line: They enjoyed my submission, but it isn't marketable. I recently had a smaller publisher say that I wrote an entertaining story but it isn't worthy of critical acclaim and that more or less makes me a “B List Author” and they are unable to publish my work. My question is, when is it time to hang up the hat? Do I stop trying to submit my work (it's a sci-fi and there are not many sci-fi publishers)? Do I try to self publish? Is self publishing ever a good idea? Do I give up on writing altogether? (I am not a fan of being labeled a "B List Author," but I digress.) <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, I wouldn’t be a fan of being called a “B List Author” either. It seems like an outrageous thing for a publisher to tell anyone. But keep in mind, it’s just one obviously jaded editor on one day. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-f7e88f72-f9bd-2cac-2c74-14d4b70d8557" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember that publishers only make money when they purchase manuscripts that they think they can sell. Period. They aren’t going to take on a project they personally like but they don’t think can make money. So, their feedback is helpful for you. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That said, I would follow up with a letter to the editor thanking them for the time and input and asking what would have made the book more marketable? Tell them you are looking to rework the manuscript and would appreciate any feedback they can offer. Some won’t reply, but some likely will. Take their comments to heart and as a gift to you to help improve your story. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Years ago, I had a book proposal that was rejected by about 20 publishers. I reworked it, taking their comments and reasons for rejection into account to make the book better, and then finally sold it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As far as “hanging up your hat,” I really can’t say. However, remember that if the book isn’t marketable to a traditional publisher who has a marketing team that knows your market, it won’t likely be any more marketable if it’s self-published. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, it’ll only be more difficult to sell to consumers since (1) you don’t have the marketing experience that a publisher has, (2) you don’t have the contacts they have in bookstores, (3) you may not know the market as well as they do. </span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For all authors—traditionally published or self-published—the key is producing stories that entertain readers, and then connecting with those readers so that they discover you. If you’re convinced you have done the first and that you can do the second all on your own, then perhaps self-publishing will work. Otherwise, rework your story so that it’s marketable, or move on to another project or career. </span></div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-10486433685651916262014-03-06T12:01:00.001-05:002015-06-16T15:08:16.782-04:00What is the key to emotionally captivating characters?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emotion is evoked through empathy (feeling the emotions along with the character) and sympathy (feeling emotions for a character). We vicariously feel emotions when we identify with the deep questions that the character is asking of themselves or the world. You need to find a connection point between your character and readers’ lives. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My friend author Robert Dugoni says characters should be empathetic or sympathetic, but not pathetic. So, strive to give your character a deep struggle but not one that’s melodramatic or overplayed. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We might find it hard to identify with losing a limb, but all of us know what it’s like to feel helpless, to understand what it means to have to overcome hardship. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suggest giving your character an emotional wound we all share, a question we all ask, or a struggle we all find ourselves engaged in. For example, the loss of a loved one, or the question about whether their choices (and lives) ultimately matter, and the struggle to find meaning or forgiveness.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well-rounded characters also have:</span></div>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A variety of status relationships (high and low) with other characters.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A quirk, foible, special skill or emblem that makes them unique.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deep desires that give them intention in each scene—an intention that readers will care about.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We want readers to worry about the character, so ask what the stakes are. For example, what’s at stake for the guy to overcome the loss of his arm? Or what’s at stake for the mom to deal with the loss of a child.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trust your gut. If it’s telling you that your character is too cliché, then work at making him more distinctive and give him a universal quest—to love and be loved, to find freedom or happiness or acceptance or adventure. Readers can relate to those goals and make them more emotionally involved.</span></div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-47008944487712592362014-03-03T10:24:00.000-05:002014-03-03T10:24:01.903-05:00International Thriller Writers On-line Craft SchoolI am honored that I was asked to be one of the teachers for the International Thriller Writers On-line Craft School. This is a great opportunity for any writer, especially a thriller writer, to take advantage of...without having to go all the way to New York City for Thrillerfest.<br />
<br />
Check it out: <a href="http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/thriller-school-itws-new-on-line-craft-school/" target="_blank">International Thriller Writers On-line Craft School</a><br />
<br />
<br />Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-77965945457945272662014-02-14T09:44:00.000-05:002015-06-16T12:35:13.318-04:00As an organic writer, how do you approach research? I find I learn things off research that become major story elements, and yet, I have no idea what to research until I start writing the story.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I find that
research and writing feed off each other. Early on in my work on a book, I’ll
visit the location and keep my eyes open for things that grab my attention. I
do this with the premise of the story in mind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Never lose sight of the story’s preeminence in
the balance of research and narrative. It’s easy to wow people with facts.
Emotionally moving them with the story is the much more vital--and more
difficult--task.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For example,
while I was working on my current manuscript for </span><i style="font-family: Arial;">Checkmate</i><span style="font-family: Arial;">, I knew that
I wanted to plant the story in Charlotte, North Carolina. So, last year I
visited the city and took a history tour. While I was there, I learned that
there are abandoned gold mines that thread underneath Uptown Charlotte. No one
seemed to know where they were, but apparently they’d been built in the early
1800s and were never filled in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Fascinating.
That led me into researching to see if I could locate any historical documents
that told the location of the mines—and I found one. Then, as I worked on the
book, I kept in touch with experts on the history of Charlotte, asking
questions as I moved forward with the story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s a give and
take of uncovering the story as you discover more about its elements. You’ll be
tempted to over-research—and that has happened with me. I believe it’s best to
work from your premise, grab hold of intriguing facts that relate to it, then
move forward and keep researching as you write.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-15503041940934048122014-02-11T11:51:00.000-05:002015-06-16T12:35:51.743-04:00Ask the Author, 2014Hello Fellow Authors,<br />
<br />
Just a note to let you know I've submitted my current manuscript for <i>Checkmate</i> to my editor, so I'm ready to return to Ask the Author to answer your questions about the craft of writing.<br />
<br />
I do have questions on the back burner, but I will eventually get to any new ones I receive. You can click on the "email me" link in the right column to submit your questions.<br />
<br />
And please, especially if you're new to this site, read the previous questions and answers. You may already have your question answered before you even ask.<br />
<br />
I look forward to hearing from you.<br />
<br />
--Steven James<br />
<br />
<br />Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-79499229150287267672013-08-14T12:05:00.000-04:002015-06-16T15:12:22.570-04:00See You Next Year<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just a note to tell you that I need to put the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ask the Author</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> posts on hold for a few months. It’s crunch time for my next book, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Checkmate</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so I’m going to concentrate on it for now and get back to blogging early next year.</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To keep you enlightened until I return, here are several books on writing I recommend:</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">·</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Writing</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Stephen King</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">·</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scene & Structure</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Jack Bickham</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">·</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 9px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Writing the Breakout Novel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Donald Maass</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And my own writing book, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Story Trumps Structure</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, will be released next spring.</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a0c24da-7d90-ca2a-6501-8724c4a5ceaa"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wish you all the best in your writing endeavors.</span></b>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-27850397667637105012013-07-30T10:51:00.000-04:002013-07-30T10:51:37.610-04:00To Blog or Not to BlogA few of us were invited by The Big Thrill to comment on whether or not it's beneficial as an author to spend time blogging.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Check out what we have to say and, please, respond with your own thoughts.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.thebigthrill.org/2013/07/july-29-august-4-does-blogging-provide-discipline-and-organization-or-is-it-a-distraction/#comment-5998" target="_blank">"Does blogging provide discipline and organization--or is it a distraction?"</a></div>
Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-50496191862805202272013-07-11T12:38:00.000-04:002013-07-11T12:38:41.391-04:00The Seven (Bad) Habits of Highly Effective WritersSteven is out of town, so I (his office manager) am taking over the Ask the Author post for the day. I won't be answering any of your questions, but I do want to direct you to an article that every aspiring (and published) author should read.<br />
<br />
One of the best ways to become an effective writer is to learn through other authors' blunders and gaffes. So here's your chance. Click on the link to the Suspense Magazine article Steven was asked to contribute to called <a href="http://www.stevenjames.net/documents/Suspense%20Article.pdf" target="_blank">"The Seven (Bad) Habits of Highly Effective Writers."</a> I think you'll find it highly enlightening.<br />
<br />
(Permission was granted to link to the article by its author, Anthony J. Franze.)<br />
<br />
Steven will return to answer more of your questions after he's past the three book deadlines that have chomped at his heels the past two months.<br />
<br />
Until then, Happy Writing!Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-2273740821796912732013-05-06T14:27:00.000-04:002015-06-16T15:16:05.572-04:00Does every scene have to have conflict? Can you have a scene that simply shows more character development, or simply hints/builds towards things to come later in the story?<b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2"></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2"><b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2"></b></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2"><b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These two are interrelated questions and focus on an important question—what is a scene? There are a lot of different theories out there, and words of advice. Here is my take on it.</span></b></b></div>
<br />
<b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe that in a scene something must be altered. This can be the status of the character; the physical, emotional, or spiritual condition; or the understanding of what is happening.</span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-50dc6a4e-7b11-a538-1445-8c852590f4c2">
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some people teach that you can use a scene simply to reveal characterization, but I think those scenes fall flat. </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think of a scene as a mini-story. And what is a story? It’s the introduction of a character who faces a conflict that escalates into a climactic conclusion that provides the audience with a satisfying resolution. All while giving the reader a powerful, emotional experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The building blocks of a novel are scenes, and the cement that holds them together are interludes. A scene consists of action—such as you might see on a theater stage. If you can see the actions onstage in the novel, it’s a scene. If you cannot, it’s probably an interlude.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scenes in a novel are strung together by interludes during which the characters process what just happened and make a decision that leads to the next scene. The reader is invited to join the character as she thinks about what just happened, the emotions that it evoked, and then the new direction for the story. Just remember, in a scene, a person or a situation must be altered. If nothing is changed, it’s an unnecessary scene. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Assignment: The detective chases the villain through the streets but doesn’t catch him. Frustrated, she goes back to her hotel room and while she’s taking off her shoes, she rubs her feet and remembers the chase. While doing so, she realizes that the villain was limping as he ran. That motivates her to drive across town and accuse her friend, who recently sprained his ankle, of the crime. Her friend is angry and shows her that he’s limping on the left leg rather than the right one. He’s so offended that she would accuse him of the terrible crime that he says he never wants to see her again. He slams the door in her face and she returns home, dejected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Identify the two scenes in the paragraph above.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Identify the interlude.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, notice how, in each of the two scenes, the character struggles, fails to get what she ultimately wants (to catch the bad guy), but moves closer to solving the mystery by eliminating possibilities. </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, look at your scene and ask if there is conflict, or just talking heads. Ask if there is an ending that drives the story forward, or one that just falls flat. Ask if something meaningful is altered, and if not, change the scene or delete it (because it is probably not necessary).</span></b>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15879852838731103.post-71144677659766556092013-04-08T10:33:00.000-04:002015-06-16T15:21:29.710-04:00I am currently editing my first book...What is your editing process? What do you recommend other writers to do when editing?<b id="internal-source-marker_0.834163248538971"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.834163248538971"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.834163248538971"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two images come to mind when I think of editing: farming and watching my daughter comb her hair.</span></span></b></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.834163248538971"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, farming.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I’m working on a story I often imagine that the first time through a scene I’m breaking up the soil. Sometimes the ground is fertile and it’s easy to churn it up, but more often than not it’s unyielding and I have to really work at it to break up the ground. I’m not trying to get things right, just prepare the path for the story seeds to fall into place. So, I’m not trying to force things into place, just trying to get a sense of what the scene might be about.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some people write descriptions first, but most of the time for me it ends up being dialogue. I hear it play out in my head; I write what I hear, and then I have to work at it later to fill in the descriptions and the narration so I can see the scene as well as hear it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, hair brushing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My oldest daughter has long hair. As she’s brushing it, the first time she won’t be able to pull the brush all the way through. Rather, she’ll brush it until she comes to a snag or tangle and then, instead of yanking hard to get it out, she’ll start over at the top, gently brushing through all of the hair until that spot to begin to work out the knots.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whenever I’m stuck or having a hard time with a scene, I’ll go back and reread the previous part of the story, brushing through it until I come to the snag. Usually I’ll be able to untangle a little bit more of the story.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, I start brushing through it again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And little by little the snags come out.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure if it’s true, but I heard that Ernest Hemingway would reread his book through from the first word each morning before he would write another word. I can definitely see the practical wisdom in brushing through the whole story like that to get to the tangles.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether you’re breaking up the ground as you work on a scene early in your writing process, or you’re brushing out the tangles as you edit it, trust the process. The farmer trusts that his fields will grow when he cultivates them, my daughter trusts that she’ll be able to smooth out her hair, if she’s patient.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Break up the ground. Untangle the tale. Trust the process. And you’ll be on your way to finishing your story.</span></span></div>
</b>Steven Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160751853945684459noreply@blogger.com5