Writing Synopses

I've slacked off several days, out in the garden instead of blogging. I have new raised bed veggies and a fantastic new pond, complete with waterfall, to tend. My son Chris is a natural at pondscape design and construction. It's beautiful. OK--now back to writing. In my classes, we've been tackling synopsis and query letters, one of the more challenging parts of the writing-for-publication process. People write these things for a living because so many writers hate doing them. In my Thursday night lecture, I managed to mangle the little system I'd read about. Here it is, in a way that makes sense. Thanks, students for putting up with my memory mishaps.

Writing Tip for Today: To get started on a synopsis, query or pitch, try this (credit to Debra Dixon). Use three 3x5 cards, one each for characters, conflict and summary. On card #1: write WHO, WANTS, WHY, Why NOT. Describe the protagonist in 3 words. What does she/he WANT more than anything? (Hint: be specific). Next, WHY does protagonist want this? and WHY NOT? What or who stands in the way (Obstacle) Card #2: Conflict. What is the character's main conflict on the outside (physical, another person, weather) and the inside? (psychological). Again, specific is best. Finally, card#3: TOPIC SENTENCE. Try to write a hook or interesting way to phrase your sentence. Try beginning with the words, "It's about." When you finish making your cards you'll have information to plug into your synopsis.

The Amish Fiction Explosion

Last summer at a writing conference, I was chatting with an editor friend about book trends. I asked him, "What are you looking for these days?" Without missing a beat, he replied, "Amish fiction!" I don't know much about Amish culture beyond that comedy movie with Kirstie Alley, but if you do, check it out. Recently, Cindy Woodsmall made the NYT bestseller list and was featured on national TV.

Amish Love

What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here (http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7676659&page=1) about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.

Writing Tip for Today: Jumping on a bandwagon to try to cash in on a trend probably won't be successful unless you already have been writing what the market demands. By the time you go camp out with the Amish and try to write about it, the trend will have gone on to something else. Write what you have to write, and if your passion becomes a hot fad, great. If not, write your own story anyway. Writers who flit from one fad to another to "cash in"often end up disappointed.

Writing Your Worldview

When I was a girl, my kid sister complained whenever we played together. She was a regular Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm compared with melodramatic me. "Why do we always have to pretend the people are poor?" She'd ask. Then, as now, I have a pessimistic optimism best cured by laughing at everything. I rated very high on the Meter o' Doom.
In Memoir class last night, we discussed how the writer's worldview--the general way that person sees life--can't help but seep into stories, true or imagined. If you're a glass-half-full person, your general hopefulness will color the way your protagonists work through problems as well as influence the ending. If you are slightly less optimistic, those beliefs and feelings will show up the same way. If you're like me, convinced that nothing will ever go right again --I not only see the half-empty glass, there's something floating in mine--then you'd better have a good sense of humor. I find that most readers want liberal amounts of hope in their stories. A story may start off a little gloomy, but by the end readers want some kind of hope for tomorrow. Not false, treacly optimism, but a character's willingness to grow and change and try to see something good in life.
Writing Tip for Today: Don't overreach and slap a happy face on your story. But you may want to evaluate how your writing fares on the Meter o' Doom. Even if all your characters are poor and miserable at the start, they need to be active in bettering their own situations. These are the kinds of characters readers remember.

The Media Is the Message

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to hand the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of my novel, The Fence My Father Built, to a professor at our local University of Oregon. Thanks to Facebook and a friend of a friend, I learned that this prof has an interesting tie to my novel's subject of Northwest American Indians, specifically the Nez Perce and Warm Springs tribes. Her great-grandfather was a close friend of the real Nez Perce Chief Joseph. As I handed her the book, she told me that Chief Jospeh, whose father Joseph the Elder was a devout Christian, renounced Christianity toward the end of his life. I was straightforward with the professor about my book's "inspirational" content, but I assured her the characters do not portray actual persons. I hope the tribe doesn't think I was trying to paint them as all being converts. One of the questions I hit on is whether Native Americans can practice Christianity as well as keep their Native heritage intact. In Joseph's case, his rejection of Christianity came about as a result of the white's insistence he not practice the "Dreamer" religion of his people's tradition. I can't say I blame poor Chief Joseph, because promises were broken time after time. I hope the professor reading my book doesn't make the mistake the white missionaries did in Chief Joseph's time: that of equating mortal (bad) behavior with the spiritual belief itself.

Writing Tip for Today: When you write, you want to reach as many readers as possible. If you lean too hard on the message, you'll end up preaching to the choir. Write the best book you can, and don't try to teach. Let your readers discover their own conclusions. If you write "inspirational" books, let God do the talking.

Writing Out Numerals

A reader asks, "Please discuss the proper way to write numbers in a manuscript." Only a few years ago, the rule was simple: Write out numbers one to one hundred, numbers at the beginning of a sentence. Do not spell out numerals in dates or other serial numbers, except when used in dialogue. These days, though things are beginning to change. Newspapers are beginning to use numerals rather than spell them out. EX: When he was 5 he lost a tooth. Although this seems to be the trend, I'd say the rule still applies in the case of numbers at the beginnings of sentences, and in dialogue, I'd still write out everything but a year. EX: "In the year 1970," he said, "I turned twenty-one." Numerals can be confusing but the decision to write out/not write out usually stems from whichever style book (Chicago Manual of Style or ALA Style Manual) is used by a publication.
Writing Tip for Today: Look up the Chicago Manual and ALA styles and then pick one to use regarding numerals and other style issues. The most important thing is to be consistent.

The Writers' Waiting Room

Waiting. We writers do it a lot. We walk on clouds while we wait to hear from editors and agents, anticipating that "yes," often slamming back to earth when we receive another "no." When we finally do get the green light, we wait for our stuff to be published. Or we wait to get paid. Then we start again, submitting, waiting, waiting some more. What can you do when you're stuck in the writer's waiting room? Here are a few tips:
Fugeddaboutit: If you obsess about your manuscript or query out there, you'll drive yourself nuts. Do not check that mailbox a hundred times a day. Do not log onto your email and endlessly stew about whether or not the intended party got your stuff. Do use some sort of submission log to help you track your submission, but try to remember that editors and agents receive piles of stuff each month. Be patient--response times are often at least 2-3 months. Longer for novel manuscripts.
Make a wish/list: One of my colleagues says he makes a list of at least ten markets that fit whatever he's mailing out. When a rejection slip arrives, he simply moves to the next place on his list and gets his stuff back out there.
Write the next thing: If you concentrate on the next article, essay, story or novel, chances are you won't feel so anxious while in the writer's waiting room. Meanwhile, work on your skills by taking a class, reading, critiquing and most importantly, by writing.

Writing Tip for Today: Nobody enjoys the anxiety of the waiting room. To beat the waiting blues, focus on writing the best stuff you can possibly write, at the utmost speed you can muster, and keep a file of writing ideas.

Revise with Gladness

Whenever my students are also attorneys, I can usually count on their eyes to bug out when I tell them they may need to revise many times. As one lawyer-student said, "I'm used to checking over my briefs for spelling and puncuation. Isn't that revision?
Revision takes many forms, and spelling and puncuation are good things to check over. But don't stop there. Look at your "big picture." How's the story and does it pull the reader along? Are there spots that need a transition? Places where you aren't sure where and when you are? Remember, the "vivid and continuous dream" John Gardner spoke of can be interrupted by as small a detail as a misplaced comma, or as confusing as not knowing which character's head we're in.
Writing Tip for Today: Before you begin worrying about how you'll land an agent or whether you'll be able to write a good query letter, be sure you've revised as many of the big picture items and details as you can. Get others to read your manuscript. Go back and revise some more. Let it gestate (sit around) and then go back over it again. Yes, it's a lot of work, but there are only two kinds of writing: Writing that works and writing that needs work. Revise with gladness.

The Writer's Apprenticeship

Picking a published author, editor or agent's brain at writing conferences is a delicate pursuit. You want to sincerely ask questions without being intrusive. If you lead off with, "Who's your agent?" or worse, "Will you recommend me to your agent?" you'll seem nosy and self-serving. I had the privilege of sitting across from eager writers at a one day conference over the weekend. I tried not to feel put off by the "agent" question, and steered the conversation (one of those shout conversations since it was a crowded lunch room) more toward writing craft. The first thing every eager-to-be-published writer must do is to write something good. While that sounds glib, it's true. Learn your craft. Be willing to take lots of rejection. Perservere. Your chances of finding that agent and/or getting published will increase exponentially. Practice!
Writing Tip for Today: Have you ever thought, "If only Author X would recommend me to their agent, I'd be a successful writer?" Or maybe, "Author X was an overnight success. Why should I have to work so hard?" It's natural to feel jealousy, but remember, Author X has very likely paid the same dues you must pay. Your writing apprenticeship will go by much faster if you keep working on your skills, be willing to throw yourself upon the editorial rejection pyre and never give up.

Experiment, But Ground Your Scenes

In the late sixties and early seventies, many novelists and other writers experimented with stream-of-consciousness writing that stretched the boundaries of what readers were willing to read. Richard Brautigan, an Oregon native inspired me to try some fiction that was pretty obscure to everybody except me. While I'm glad I felt free enough to experiment, I soon realized that if no one gets what you are saying, few are going to read very far. You may as well read the phone book backwards. While there is a lot to learn in writing good fiction, it gets a whole lot easier if you don't try to impress your reader with your dazzling vocabulary or keep readers wondering where in the world (or otherworld) they are. To keep them turning pages, always let your reader know where and when a scene unfolds.
Writing Tip for Today: Grounding the reader in time and space is as simple as always letting your reader know when and where your scene takes place. If you try too hard to impress with poetic sentences that don't tell a story you'll confuse your reader.

Conflict on Every Page

A writer recently read her work after I carped on the class about staying in scene. So it wasn't entirely her fault that she brought in several consecutive scenes without so much as a cross word for conflict. The writer said, "I thought I had it figured out but now I feel like I'm back at square one." In my enthusiasm for scene writing, I forgot to remind students that timing is everything. Narrative pacing, as it's known, looks like peaks and valleys on the story arc. Give your reader just enough "nice" stuff so they don't see the conflict coming. Write calmer scenes to give relief from a lot of action (called a sequel), but don't back off from the overall tension. In general scenes with little conflict have only two options: Increase the tension or ditch the scene. Narrative pacing means you give your readers the right amount of action, let them relax a bit (sequel) before plunging them back into the fray, with more conflict than ever. Keep your characters' feet to the flames. Remember: Conflict on Every Page.
Writing Tip for Today: Take a look at your most recent pages. Is there conflict on every page? Can you spot places where you are letting your character off the hook and/or solving the problems too easily? Revise these places. As Elmore Leonard said, "When you write just leave out the boring stuff." Scenes with little conflict are boring.

Writing Business

Those who have taken classes from me at Lane Community College know I've been trying to teach three courses two nights per week. That is, I offer novel writing every term, but I've alternated Memoir and Essay writing, and it's been complicated. First I tried asking the schedulers to alternate the courses. The offerings were routinely screwed up. Then I hit upon the idea of calling the course "Creative Nonfiction," and alternating the Memoir and Essay by term. Lots of confused students, who either didn't understand the Creative Nonfiction tag or else they wanted the course I wasn't teaching. So back to the drawing board. I think I'll try adding a third class, The Business of Writing (a course on how to submit, find markets, write queries and synopses and other aspects of publishing for Spring term and see how that goes. I'd like to hear from students past and present, on this issue.
Writing Tip for Today: Even class descriptions can confuse a reader. In your writing, strive to be concise. Learn to show and try not to explain. If that doesn't work, go back and rewrite again until it does work. The writing business requires lots of word count. Get your BIC and write.

Looking For Look

Today's writing tip is brief because after hauling dirt, planting veggies and flowers and pulling weeds, I can barely move. Weekend warrior, you say? How about active verb crusader? When you draft your scenes, writers, do you "see" the actors, the setting and the action? Of course you do. The tricky part is to get the reader to see the same stuff you do. If you rely on general verbs, you can't blame the reader for imagining a scene very differently than you intended. Use active, specific verbs. The crusader of active verbs needs to go lie down now.

Writing Tip for Today: Convert passive language (to be verbs) into active language. Do a global computer search for verbs such as look, see, put, move, talk, walk. "See" the scene. Does your actor stumble, stride, amble or tear through a scene? When he/she looks, is it a glare, a squint, a gaze? Using specific verbs helps your reader imagine the same scene you created in your head.

Dirt for Mother's Day

The rain went away for a bit and I'm raring to go to the garden. My Mother's Day present? Dirt of course. If I'm trying to pretend I care about writing on so fine a day, I guess I'd say dirt is the key to good writing. If you aren't willing to put in a decent foundation, you can't learn your craft. If you can't learn your craft, you won't grow as a writer.
Writing Tip for Today: Plant your BIC, get your hands dirty with the seedlings of your stories, tend your words with lots of revision, eliminate weedy wording and watch your writing bloom. Ack! No more gardening analogies for writers--see ya. I'm headed outside to play in my new dirt.

Tonight's the Night

Attention all writing students: Thursday, May 7 is our Field Trip to visit MidValley Willamette Writers at 6:30PM. Tsunami Books, 2585 Willamette St., $5 admission. The speaker is a Children's/YA panel of published authors, a Q&A format. Bring your enthusiasm and your questions.
For Oregon writers: In addition to Willamette Writers, Oregon Writers Colony, Oregon Christian Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers, Oregon Literary Arts offer different types of writing support. In general: there are organizations for every genre, from children's to Romance to Scifi/Fantasy and beyond. If you are trying to support yourself writing, Author's Guild and others offer health insurance benefits.

Writing Tip for Today: Do a search for writing support groups and organizations in your area. Google "writing organizations" by state or consult a writing market guide to access what might be available. When weighing which to join, a few questions might be,

• What do I receive for my membership fees?
• Does the organization run writing contests or hold conferences or workshops?
• Are there mentors or advanced writers who may be available to help my writing?
• Does the organization promote networking among its members? You don't need to join every organization, but having access to networks, advanced techniques or agents often make joining at least one a worthwhile endeavor.

Field Trip Week: Time to Network!

Thursday, May 7 is Novel Writing Class Field Trip Day. By visiting a MidValley Willamette Writers meeting, students are able to hear someone else besides me blab about writing, network with others and explore the nature of our local writing scene. I'm not sure which reason is the best, but I generally think students get something out of this field trip. As far as I know, the topic will be a Children's/YA panel, at which not only children's writers will benefit. I'm sure general writing questions will come up as well. Both the Thursday evening Novel Class as well as Tuesday's Creative Nonfiction are welcome to attend for a $5 student fee. I hope to see all of you there at Tsunami Bookstore on 2585 Willamette at 6:30PM.
Writing Tip for Today: Are you a member of any writing organizations that meet face-to-face? If not, investigate the ones which have chapters in your area. Most orgs have reasonable membership fees, and offer discounts on writing conferences, workshops, contests and other activities. Joining an organization may also help you find a critique group, an agent or even land you a book contract. It's all who you know--and who knows you.

A Little Writing Music

Yesterday in church the prelude was Bach's "The Sheep May Safely Graze ." As a sheep who loves her baroque music, I sat transfixed, hearing, absorbing, being with each note. The sounds entered my every cell and rearranged its DNA into a God-shape. No matter what else I write, I am always in love with GodSong. What does this have to do with writing? They say Mozart can raise your kid's IQ, so why can't inspirational music touch the solar plexus of creativity? Each of us has one, and a lot of writers spend time trying to reconnect with that mysterious "something" that has in the past produced our best, freshest and most inventive work. I'd guess that many writers might choose instrumental music so as not to work a song's lyrics into your wordcount, but musical GodSong is one way I stay connected to the Muse.
Writing Tip for Today: What kind of music do you think aids in your creative process? Next session, try some different styles and artists to see how the music affects your mood and your writing.

Who Gives You Permission to Write?

In the excellent book The Echo Within (Waterbrook/Random House 2009), author Robert Benson describes his creative process as one of writing to a specific panel of 12 people he is trying to reach. He keeps the "jury" in front of him as he writes, so as always to keep his audience in mind. Many of us, whether seasoned veterans or newbies, often have some kind of presence which gives us permission to create, to burst through the usual, to shine. This presence can be God, a teacher, a fellow writer or friend, or even one's own subconscious. If we imagine writing to this presence, our work likely becomes more honest and authentic, more than the sum of its parts, even more genius at times. Whether you believe in performing for others like this or you simply try to trick yourself into producing word count, imagine those you admire most and write for them and to them. As you pound those keys to generate wordcount, create your own jury of 12 and keep that list handy. Give yourself permission to be uniquely you. As Robert likes to say, "Namaste."
Writing Tip for Today: Think of one of your writing teachers, admirers or mentors. How has that person influenced your desire to create? One of my closest friends, Kristen Ingram, was also one of my best mentors and teachers. She's been very ill these past few days, and I've even worried we might lose her altogether. As I write I will put Kris' name at the top of my Jury List, and hope and pray for her recovery. Get well, Kristen.

Weeding Out the "Telly"

No, not Brit TV. So often, we do a fantastic job of showing our character's attitudes and emotions. Then, just in case our reader doesn't get it, we tack on a stale, tired description that is telly and uneeded. An example of this: He grimaced in pain. How many folks do you know who grimace in pleasure (except maybe my cat)? Or how about: She tore through the corridor, and glanced over her shoulder to see who may have been following her. Most of the time, it's not difficult to spot these telly additions. Look for prepositional phrases, that is words such as "to," "in," "after," "before." These phrases are often added by the writer who worries the reader won't understand what is being acted out.
Writing Tip for Today: Look for prepositional phrases tacked on after "showing" the reader what's happening. Cut off the phrase and reread it to see how much you're missing. If the action isn't clear, try using more specific or active verbs that pinpoint the action for the reader without all that "telly" explanation.