Writer’s Offering Our Finest - 06/20/08

An interesting new blog about writing, Plot Dog Press has surfaced and they are featuring a contest each week for the best fiction, writing about writing, poetry, and memoir. While it’s early, the site has great potential — and my posting was included in this week’s winners!

Here’s their info:

PlotDog Press WOOF Contest:  Presenting the finest of the writer’s blogs by the bloggers who write them. Highlighting the top 5 posts as chosen by the June 20, 2008 WOOF Contest participants. Want in to join the next WOOF? The next contest ends July 4. Submit a link to your best writing post of the week using the form at the bottom of this page.

Top 5 Picks
About Writing
Darcy Pattison - Novel Revision for Lovers 
Miss Write - Don’t Be a Joke: Use the Right Prepositions

Memoir/Humour
Ken Armstrong - The Accordion Teacher

Poetry
Jennifer M Scott - Things Unsaid

Fiction
Miss Write - Single Yellow Female

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PLOTDOG PRESS FEATURING:
Dead Play: Chapter 14 - "What happens when it isn’t play…" 

Gone Sailing!
Back on the 7th or 8th of July.

Hoping to see Orcas.

Working titles are fine, but there comes a time to focus on a publishable title. For novels and picturebooks, it’s worth the time to revise titles endlessly until you find the perfect one. It’s a job I prefer to do myself instead of leaving up to the marketing department.

Revising titles

• Metaphor. Sol Stein suggests looking for a metaphor, such as “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
• Rhythm. Again, Sol Stein suggests iambic meter for titles. Whatever meter you use, pay attention to how the title trips off the tongue.
• Think spines. The title needs to fit on the book’s spine. Long titles are hard to fit, so try for a shorter title and use a subtitle.
• Subtitle. Subtitles are great for search engines, so pack them with keywords.
• Intriguing and Memorable. The catchier the title, the better it’s remembered, much like advertising jingles. In fact, the title is just an advertising gimmick, so that’s a great analogy.

I’m brainstorming titles right now for an environmental book. I want something as memorable as The Call of the Wild, or The Cry of the Kalahari. I’m making lists and asking people to read them and vote on their favorites. Then adding to the list and trying again. Still haven’t found the right one, but I’m reaching for it.

Book Trailer tips, awards and scissors

• Tips for book trailers.
• Men more likely to share than women – online, at least.
• Highlights of the history of science fiction literature for kids.
• Kindle most appropriate for women?
  “I think it’s fascinating the way that the author of that post connects (rightly I suspect) the
  marketing of Kindle to women (though the links are loose, I think chicklit/”pop fiction” is sort of the ideal material for this sort of device) rather than to the typical (male) geeky early adopter types.”
• Can links be defamatory?
• Excuses or Reasons?
• 30 Second Pitches
• Fuse #8’s Half-way Point Newbery & Caldecott Predictions
• Sara is playing with scissors.
• The Boston-Globe Horn Book Awards

Coming in August: 30 Days to a Stronger Picturebook

When do you start revising your novel? I start by revising the first draft of my novel’s plot outline, synopsis or treatment.

Revise Early and Late

As soon as I’ve written the first sketchy outlines of a novel, I’m revising. I’m looking for many things:

• Does the climax resolve the setup?
• Are the main characters together in a big scene at the climax?
• Is there a good inciting incident? What opening scene would catch reader’s attention?
• Are there places for the characters to grow and change?
• Could I think of better settings, places that will resonate better with the story?
• What conflicts run through the whole story?
• Can I give my MC more problems to overcome?
• Are there subplots that could support the main plot in interesting variations on a theme?
• Does the middle sag? How could I structure the story to heighten the tension all the way through?
• Does the ending have an interesting twist?
• What character has the most at stake emotionally? Can I use THAT character as the viewpoint and/or main character?
• Do I know the backstory , the events that took place before the opening scene? Can I plan to put that very late in the story?
• What character interactions are possible within this story?
• Can I write a timeline of each character and pinpoint scenes which help the character change?
• Any great places in the plot for action sequences?

In short, I’m looking at all the elements that usually need revision after I write the first draft and doing a Novel Diagnosis. But on my WIP, I’ve tried to work smarter and do the critque even earlier in the process — right after I wrote the three page synopsis of the plot.

When you’re almost finished with your novel revision, you must do the dreaded proofreading.

4 Proofreading Tips

• On-screen. Take advantage of the word-processor’s capability for spelling and grammar. Run any and all programs you have for Spell checks and Grammar checks. Of course, these are limited, especially at finding typos: The tall cheerleader was the hart of the team.
  But Spell checks and Grammar checks are steps you shouldn’t neglect.
• Printed copy. Some writers swear that skimming a ms backwards helps them spot the odd things. Or, give it to a friend or family member who hasn’t read it yet. Best, give it to a grammar witch, who will find everything because they can’t not.
• Read aloud. Read aloud to the intended audience. I’ll guarantee you find places to edit not just grammar, but also voice. And maybe much more.
• Listen to a read aloud. You can read the book into a tape recorder, video recorder, etc. Or, you can try a free text to speech program such as Natural Reader. It requires a .doc file, but then will read your text aloud. The free voices are a bit rough, but still very usable.

Whatever combination of approaches you take, do not send in your mss without proofreading! You will regret it.

What is your favorite proofreading tip?

Often a novel revision benefits from the addition of a love interest. It may be a first love between 12 year olds or a more passionate teen love. Or it could be parental love or love of a pet. Emotional attachment or spicy relationships make the perfect subplot.

The Classic Romantic Plot

In the classic romance plot, there are three steps: Boy Meets Girl; Boy Can’t Have Girl; Boy Gets Girl. Of course, there are many variations on this plot, depending on your characters, so make the necessary substitutions as needed. (Character A meets Character B, and so forth.)

Boy Meets Girl:
The love interests must meet in the first act, often in the first scene, and they should be immediately attracted to one another. They may not admit this attraction, or this may be a “forbidden love” for some reason. For example, Mom may say that the family can’t get a cat because Grandma is allergic to cats. Or, it could be a more serious clash of two rival clans that keeps the pair apart.

Things to include in Act 1: First meeting of Boy/Girl.
Any setup needed to split the two apart.

Boy Can’t Have Girl:
At the end of Act I, there is usually an inciting incident. For this subplot to work, the inciting incident needs to also separate the pair. Handsome Fella buys the factory, only to close and move it, which infuriates Gorgeous Dame, whose father started the factory and her allegiance is to the displaced workers. Everything in Act II and most of Act III puts the romantic pair at odds.

Things to include in Act II and most of Act III: conflict. Never let the two have a moment of intimacy — unless there’s a stolen kiss, of course. With immediate bittersweet regret.

Boy Gets Girl:
Ah, but not until the main plot is solved. The climax of the main plot takes up lots of space, but you should leave the resolution of the romantic subplot until after the climax. All the excitement of the climax scene is brought to bear on the resolution of the pair’s feud. And in the end, they kiss (the perfect kiss!) and ride off into the sunset together.

It’s one of the most often used subplots for good reason; it allows characters one last emotional tug at the audiences heart.

Don’t think that all has to end in successl.
Tragedies serve just as well: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Rethinking the characters in your novels? Spice them up by focusing on three elements of characterization!

3 easy ways to spice up a boring character:

• Job/Role: First, define the character’s job or role. Are they a sister, aunt, go-getter, sluggard? Does your character make equipment for astronauts or teach high school biology? Choose a different role and add a unique job and YOUR UNIQUE job of playing God is halfway there.
• Weird Thing: Second, add a weird characteristic. The character only wears blue, plays accordian, eats bacon at every meal, plays Bridge every Tuesday night at 9 pm, loves to play cello. Weird here doesn’t mean weird as in a weirdo, but just anything unique, different, interesting. Give your character something that makes them noticeable! Use the things you like or the things you hate. Just make it unique.
• Fears/Wants: Last, characters need to either want something or fear something. Of course, this will tie into the plot line because whatever s/he wants, s/he can’t have; whatever s/he fears, s/he must face. The addition of this element lifts the story from a physical adventure toward a character-oriented story.

Coming in August: 30 Days to a Stronger Picturebook.

Since the Nebraska retreat a couple months ago, the writers keep track of each other on an email list and S wrote recently to say revisions aren’t happening. That’s OK.

Good reasons NOT to revise

That’s it. If you can’t claim surgery, flooding, vacation, a celebration or a contract — get to work!

Coming in August: 30 Days to a Stronger Picturebook

I’ve been meaning to post links to these great articles for several days — here is news about how snack and writing are connected, revision stories, Twitter delivering stories, and more.

• 21 Key Traits of Bestselling Fiction.
• Daily installments of literature via Twitter on your cell phone.
• My favorite kind of story: a revision story from Anna Marie Pace; and the rest of the story. She’s also revising a picturebook. Busy woman.
• Janni’s talking to herself again.
• I know I’m late, but here’s a link to a BEA report. JL Powers writes about authors who talked about why they write for children — a timely subject at any time.
• Just because you like an editor you met at a conference does not mean you’ll like the same kind of fiction; she might not be the right editor for you.
• And what do your snacking habit have to do with your writing? Do you like salty, crunchy, sweet, chocolate, spicy? What does it tell you about your writing?