Teens Write (or Teens Are Right?)

Tip of the Day: I entered The Writer's Voice, a cool contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista van Dolzer of Mother. Write. Repeat. I'm #81 on this list if you want to read a blurb and opening 250 words for my YA novel. Whether or not I make the final 40 cut, it's been a great contest to enter and check out the other writers' works!

Two weeks ago, I hosted my library's Teen Lit Contest Award Ceremony and Reception. There were so many great poems and prose (fiction and non) entered.

This year's trends in teen submissions? Amongst the winners we had:

--Mermaids/Water creatures
--Fantasy/Sci-fi epic tales
--School settings
--Sports
--Survival/Adventures
--Angst/Reflection
--Satire

This year there were no vampires or zombies. Does that mean teens are tiring of them? That with all the school, sports, surivial, and angst pieces perhaps it is the time for contemporary realistic to come back?

The best part of the ceremony is hearing the winners read from their works. They put so much of themselves into the words that it makes their pieces even stronger. I do love this part of my job!

Anyone out there with teens, what are they clamoring for? If they are writers, what are they writing?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Story Structure and Plot (links to helpful sites)

Tip of the Day: outlining can be your friend in the long run!

If you were to check out one of my notebooks or randomly scan my desk, you'd find out that I'm a huge fan of lists. So it's no wonder that when I'm writing or outlining a new book that I like to find a variety of lists to help in the process: from how to structure a novel to important character attributes to include.

Example of Three-Act Structure from www.elementsofcinema.com

Story structure and plot lists, however, are some of my favorite lists to find. Because using one can help you tremendously with outlining your novel. But wading through them can be difficult because there's many different types of suggestions out there: from the three-act structure to the four-act structure and everything in between. So I thought I would make a list (of course, how could I have a blog post about making lists without making a list!) of a few places on the internet to find various story structure or plot lists.

1. Three-Act Structure: a good summary of this can be found on the Elements of Cinema page here. Basically when used to structure a novel (or screenplay--as it's most well known for) you'd have three-acts: set-up, confrontation, and resolution. If you want the three-act structure outlined in relation to novels, here is a good link.
2. Blake Snyder's "Save the Cat" Beat sheet: here's an excellent summary of the beat sheet that basically breaks the three-act structure up into bite-sized sections, from having an opening image, stating the theme, the b story, and a ton more.
   
3. Four-Act Structure: Diana Peterfreund did a nice summary awhile ago on why she likes the four-act structure. She outlined the four acts as:
   

   Act One: Ordinary world and inciting incident
   Act Two: Complications leading to a crisis.
   Act Three: Consequences of that crisis leading to a climax.
   Act Four: Climax and resolution.  

4. Five-Act Structure: here's a good description on bubblecow.net of the five-act structure. Basically the five acts are exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and then the resolution.

   

   Example of Five-Act structure (or the Freytag Pyramid) from bubblecow.net

5. The Snowflake Method: here is an article about that on advancedfictionwriting.com. This is more of a process than how to structure a novel. But you go through 10 steps starting with creating a one-sentence summary of your novel and then ending with writing the first draft.

And if you just want a summary of different ways to plot a novel Darcy Pattison lists 9 ways to plot a novel on her website.

Any other lists or plot/structure outlines that you use? I'd love to hear about them!

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

How Do You Promote a Book on Twitter?

Tip of the Day: Lots of tips, actually, on blog tours from agent and writer Marie Lambda.

I follow a lot of writers on Twitter, which means that at any given time I log in, I may see up to 10  books being promoted at once. Right now someone wants me to check out a review, there are two cover reveals, two giveaway contests, an offer for a free copy ... and I haven't even scanned down yet. If I was on Twitter a lot, I'd probably read promo tweets for about 25 different books a day.

Obviously I can't look at all of these books. So what catches my eye from the sheer volume of promotions?

Things Not To Do

1. Don't tweet random lines from the book. I mostly see people doing this for their friends instead of authors doing it themselves. I know, that sentence in your friend's novel was really powerful when you read it, but out of context, it means nothing. Some people will tweet ten or twelve of these in a row, qualifying as spammers. Seriously, don't tweet about something ten times in a row unless you're at the Super Bowl or something more immediate in real time.

2. Don't rely on price point. I see this a lot. My book is free today! But like many readers, I have this place near me called the public library where many books are free. I'm not going to download your book only because it's a freebie.

3. Don't beg. "No one will review me, what am I doing wrong? Please help!" You're probably not doing anything "wrong," and there are a lot of great books that don't get the attention they should. But if your novel sounds compelling to me, I'm more likely to read it than if you beg me to do you a favor, Stranger I Don't Know on the Internet. Plus what if I hate your book? How do I review it?

Things That Draw Me In

1. Snippets of reviews or fan mail. "I couldn't put this down." "My new favorite character." You don't need a ton of reviews, but if you get a good one, let me know. I love recommendations.

2. Promote novels you like with a personal touch. "Stayed up to 3 am to finish this, need coffee." "This novel about a cruise makes me want to go on a cruise."

3. I think giveaways still work. But there's a difference between a giveaway and giving a copy away for free on Amazon. Giveaways are often connected to special content and often writers team up to give away a few things together.

One thing I'm becoming more aware of is that I should make it more of a habit to leave reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble for books I love. Now that I have an e-reader, I read these reviews a lot. I think a book needs quality reviews rather than quantity, but correct me if I'm wrong.

What book promotions work for you?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Blank Page

Tip of the Day: Think you might fail as an indie author? I think success is a good bet. Check out this incredible list of success stories!!!

...and so it begins...

Is there anything more frightening than a blank document? It's possible you've outlined your book and you're confident in the direction it's going to take. Or maybe you're like me, writing on faith with only an inkling of what's to come.

The first word and first sentence carry a lot of weight. Every writing class you take tells you that your first page needs to be the strongest part of your novel. No pressure, right? Ha! The first blank page of a new document can be really intimidating.

This is how I used to feel.

That's right - used to.

Before I started self-publishing, I thought that writing the book was the hardest work I would ever do.

After experiencing the roller coaster of self-publishing, I can tell you now that the greatest joy in this whole experience is in creation. Writing is why I got into this business. Writing is in my soul. Why would I be afraid of the one purely creative outlet in my life?

Don't think about publishing when you're writing.

Please, don't throw highlighters and red pens at me. I'm talking about the first page of the first draft, here, people, not the entire process. Write with abandon. Write without fear. Allow your inner creator to play in the finger paints with her toes. Give yourself over to the one time in your writing when you should be letting loose.

Tamp down those fears that your book won't be marketable. Don't worry about wasting time on something you might not sell. Here's the thing - YOU NEVER KNOW. Your way-out idea could be the next high concept trend.

When you're facing that first blank page, kick fear on the butt. Go with your flow, your spirit, your muse, doesn't matter what you call it, just run with it.

If you're not creating, then there will be no content to eventually publish.

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

Sometimes You Have to Make Yourself Do It

Tip of the Day: I sold film option rights to The Espressologist! Details on my blog.

I'm going camping this weekend. All weekend. I have to be out in the woods somewhere for two whole nights.

Sigh.

I really don't want to go camping. Like, I've thought of every possible excuse not to go. I don't camp. I burn. Bugs love me. I like sleeping on a bed. If I want to hike I can do it on my treadmill while watching Real Housewives. Outhouses gross me out. And don't even suggest that there is a chance there may not be an outhouse. Last time I remember camping was at least twenty years ago when I was a kid. But, my daughter is a girl scout and they're all going this weekend. And she's only 7 so I have no choice. I have to go.

UGH.

This is one of those times where even though I really really REALLY don't want to do something, I'm going to do it. I have to. She insists that she will be completely devastated if we don't go on this trip. And while I'm sure there are many many more times in her life where she will be completely devastated if she doesn't get something or get to go somewhere, this one I can do.

I do this with my writing sometimes. Writing isn't always easy. Sometimes it gets really hard. Like when I'm in the middle of a book and thinking, okay, there is no way out. I can't get past this point in the book. This book sucks and I don't even know why I'm bothering trying to write it. I should delete the whole thing. Or just start working on a new book and put this one away until it sucks less. But I don't. I make myself write through it, telling myself that if I just get through these few awful chapters then I can get to a part I want to write. And that usually gets me through it and I can finish the book. And by the time I've finished I've usually thought of what to do to fix those awful chapters and I can go back and work on them. The important thing is that I didn't give up just because it seemed too hard.

And that's what I'm going to do this weekend. It may kill me (bear attack?) but I'm going camping.

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

What Happens in Vegas... (or Forget It; It All Ends Up on FaceBook)

Tip of the Day: Heading to Las Vegas? Stay south of The Strip at the M Resort for the best buffet, gorgeous rooms, amazing spa, and fabulous pool!

While in Vegas this past weekend, I spent some time analyzing the scenery for one of my WIPs that takes place there:

What color exactly are the mountains? (Brown, red, pink?)

What does dry desert air feel like? What do the neighborhoods look like away from The Strip?

What does the skyline look like from them?

What are the music venues/clubs like in the resorts/hotels?

What do the casinos sound like?

Vegas isn't so much a "character" in my WIP as it is a setting that I want to get right. With so many people who visit and vacation there, I feel it has to be "right" so the rest of the book that is of a speculative nature is easier to buy. Because if I can't get the feel of the desert sun accurate, who will believe in my pseudo science fiction? I usually write about places like my home in Rochester, NY, because I know it so well, so writing about another city is a stretch for me.

How do you select your novel settings?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Too much description (or enough with the plants already)

Tip of the Day: want a good laugh? Check out some of these "de"motivational posters.

Most of my first drafts are written in movie format. And by that I mean it's bare bones scenes that just include dialogue and then people entering a room and exiting a room, but really no description of said room at all.

"Sitting in the principal’s office on Monday morning when I was supposed to be in Biology, I couldn’t help but notice it was my second visit here in the past two weeks." The extent of my descriptions include merely stating what room they are in. At least at first.

Then comes the tricky part: how descriptive should you be?

Chances are high that everyone has been inside of a principal's office before or at the very least a school office, so is it really necessary to describe if it had "light tan walls, large square tile floors, and a plant sitting on the corner of the desk." Snooze fest. Especially when the plant has absolutely no relevance.


It's definitely a fine balance. If you are too descriptive, the reader gets bored and puts the book down. If you don't have enough description, then the reader can't get into the story because they can't visualize the people or places.


One of the things I try to do when I add in descriptions is to make them relevant to the situation at hand. Otherwise I leave them out. For example, in this case maybe it would have been important to point out if there was "ironically a teamwork poster hung low on the wall that said 'when we all work together, we all win together.' When dealing with Heather McHeather this couldn't be further from the truth." This is a quick example, but you get the picture. It not only helps set the scene, but does double duty by giving the reader another feel of the situation.

So what are some of your tips for writing good description? Both with what to hold back on and what to include.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious