Tag Archives: novel

by | February 3, 2023 · 6:09 pm

Change of Scene (and genre)

It’s been a tough writing year for me. And by tough writing, I mean no writing.

 

Which isn’t actually true.

 

While my work on my middle grade fantasy novels stalled (basically completely) which makes me feel like I am not writing at all, I did start co-writing a series with one of my amazing critique partners, Samantha Cohoe. We’ve written two novels so far, including setting aside time, limiting distractions, and writing 30,000 words combined in only three days.

 

So my no writing, looks very much like being quite productive after all.

 

What are some of the not-so-secret secrets to our success?

  • Meeting genre-expectations: We’re writing mysteries with a light romance touch to it. That gives us a structure and a framework. We need a body. Someone to have actually done the deed. Other suspects who could have reasonably murdered our dearly departed character. A hot person of interest who our main character wants to get close to but something is keeping them apart. Knowing things we have to include to meet the expectations of reader in this genre give us a bunch of scene and character ideas. Which leads me to…
  • Bookends: We usually know roughly where the book will start but importantly, we know how it ends. We know the climax scene and the basics of how our main character will discover the true killer. But what to write?
  • A runway: Rather than calling it an outline, we start laying out the scenes of the book and developing a ‘runway’ – and once we have enough runway, just like at your local airport, we take off! Calling it a runway vs. an outline feels lighter, and also removes some of the pressure. And takes us out of a singularly linear approach. Because we runway…
  • Front to back and back to front: Our runway starts at the beginning-ish – and then usually somewhere around the middle, we hop around to our end scene (which as I said, we already know), and then we work back toward the middle again. Layering in, fleshing out, leading us to our destination, tightening and weaving as we go. But what’s the most important syllable in that sentence?
  • Collaboration: WE are writing a book. WE are brainstorming together. WE are counting on each other to get the thing done. Whichever one of us has the most energy helps motivate the other, and WE go back and forth on who is cheerleading who. And we have a built-in audience and readership – each other! Which also means we have more than one opinion to take into consideration, so it’s important that we decided…
  • We will not be too precious: We made an explicit agreement that we’re not going to be rigid in our thinking or in our demands. If something isn’t really crucially critically important to us, and the other person has a different opinion… we bend. We move on. We find a third option we can both dig. Something like that. There is basically no hill that we’re going to die on. And when the other person has a way to make a scene funnier, a line tighter – we take it. Take the edit. Make it better. Two heads are better than one.

 

This experiment/experience has been a real game changer for me. Having someone else count on my productivity keeps me to deadlines. Writing in a completely different genre has opened a brand new well of creativity.

 

Have you switched it up? What changes have you made that have inspired you and worked well for your writing?

 

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by | January 8, 2023 · 11:45 am

ODE TO REVISION

Revision.

You make me crazy!

“Explain,” you say.

You’re akin to blisters, pests, chores, and petty necessaries.

I have sweat and steamed over you,

rehashing plots, revamping chapters, recasting characters.

“Your point?” you ask.

Now, I am a fanatical, fervored writer

glued to my written mess.

Revision,

others warned

you would be a storm, thorns, and bricks on my brain!

“Why stay?” you say.

For those spectacular moments

when my story flows smooth as syrup

and sparks fill me,

singing “you can do this!”

And suddenly,

I’m a dancer, a bird, a shooting star, a perfect snowflake…

“Follow your characters,” you declare.

Exciting when I let them get into grand muck,

but then, I’m stuck in another written mess.

I breathe, cuss,

resume re-doing:

reorganizing scenes,

recalibrating action,

reconditioning description and dialogue.

Again.

Repeat.

Again.

Insane.

But my hope is refueled.

Alas, my main character has a new coat of conviction and chutzpah.

I can’t let her down.

Revision,

you’re a wild renovation that I can’t fully resolve.

“Congrats!” you say. “Resolving is for readers.”

Revision,

you wake me to characters in chaos,

off stowing secrets and lies.

Please give me a shortcut!

“Butt in chair,” you remind.

Revision,

my thick-skinned constant,

you make me crazy,

but I’ll keep my seat on your train,

wrecks and all.

Thank you.

Much obliged.

Appreciate you.

 

 

 

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by | October 15, 2021 · 2:20 pm

Why you should invest in coaching as a writer or illustrator

Bill Gates said in 2020 — “Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast, or a bridge player.” But let’s finish that sentence.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a writer. Or an illustrator. Or both.

Everyone needs a coach.

If you don’t immediately agree with me (or Bill) here are some benefits for you to consider. And if you do already agree with me, and are a member of the RMC-SCBWI, head right on over to read specifically about the Michelle Begley Mentor Program, a six month program that offers great value for investment, which I am thrilled to co-coordinate this year with Laura Perdew. The application is open until November 9, 2021 and this year we are offering a scholarship courtesy of the Writing Roosters and two grants!

 

Ongoing Critique and Feedback

I am part of two wonderful critique groups that meet regularly, yet working with a mentor is still a unique experience because *your work* and *your craft* are the entire focus of the conversation. Together you discuss your vision and over the course of multiple months, you bring that vision to light.

 

Improve your current work in progress

First and foremost, your mentor will work with you on a manuscript (or illustration portfolio) that you’ve been working on. As established professionals, they bring their expertise to your work and will help you develop it to be as strong as it can be. In my own mentorship with Anna-Maria Crum as my mentor, she helped me rework my plot and character motivation – my inciting incident was buried way down deep in my manuscript, and this reorganization immediately made my work stronger.

 

Improve your craft going forward

There will be countless elements of what your mentor points out in your work that you will be able to carry forward for years to come. Two personal examples — I learned about some of the weaknesses in my plot (build stronger motivation for action – no coincidences!) as well as in my dialogue (make sure my characters react to what is said as opposed to making unrealistic leaps in the conversation because the lines sound cool). It opened up my eyes not only to what I could improve in the novel we were discussing, but what I could carry over to every scene I’ve crafted since.

 

Coaches can help you set realistic goals

Our mentors have been there, done that, but the fact is that every artistic creator is different. A mentor can talk through your process and experience and help you set goals for your work – goals that are within your control and that you will meet during the course of the six months. Which leads us right to…

 

Having a coach is motivating

Coaches give you deadlines. They are there, waiting and expecting for you to work with them. They are looking forward to seeing your progress. And having that built in accountability can do wonders.

 

***

There are many other reasons to have a coach, and many personal experiences about successful mentor/mentee relationships. Read testimonials here about what others have gotten out of the Michelle Begley Mentor program, and share in the comments some of the benefits you have experienced in working with a mentor (or being a mentor!).

And consider securing a mentor of your own through the Michelle Begley Mentor Program. The application is open until November 9, 2021.

 

**Reading this after 11/9/21? Join us next time – the application period for the Michelle Begley Mentor Program is typically October through November 1.

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by | December 15, 2018 · 9:18 am

Whole Novel Critique

There are lots of opportunities to get a page, a set of pages, scenes, or even chapters critiqued – and then to sit down and polish those sections until they shine. Each of these are helpful and important steps to creating the best possible manuscript. I do encourage you, early in the process, however, to do what it takes to get a full novel critique.

Why?

The key thing in a novel is how your main character changes and transforms. Unless you’re writing something more episodic (and I would argue that even in those types of stories, your main characters do have an internal shift over time), a key factor to whether your story will resonate with readers is what happens to the main character – not their external plot. You can’t get that valuable feedback on how well that shift is working unless someone reads the whole piece.

Plot holes? Can’t find them unless you’re reading extended sections of your novel.

Each of your scenes (even each of your pages!) could be filled with tension and conflict. They could have beautiful description, and zippy dialogue. But maybe your pages don’t have much description at all – and your critique group doesn’t say anything because hey, you just submitted chapter 5, and they’re assuming that the description is there in Chapter 4 (spoiler alert – it wasn’t).

How?

PURCHASE IT: One way to get a whole novel critique is to pay for one – the one you want at the early stage of your novel is a developmental edit. There’s no point in a copy edit (where grammar and typos are fixed) if the story needs to change. If you take classes, some of the teachers also do developmental edits on the side. There are many folks online who do as well (including some folks who are or work with literary agents!) – most will offer a sample of their work, and most are pricey, so really talk through what you want to accomplish and what they plan to deliver to make sure you’re paying for something that will be valuable. Ask questions around depth of edit, whether it’s a letter or inline comments (or both!) and how fast they will deliver. Developmental edits take time (typically weeks).

Here are a couple of ways to get your novel critiqued using the barter system.

NOVEL SWAP: One option is to ask someone to read your novel and give feedback, knowing that you’ll do the same for them in return. Keep in mind that this is a big ask, and that you’ll have to put out the work on the flip side as well. Make sure you’re ready to be grateful, regardless of their feedback, and that you are ready to be gracious in turn. Also be forthright with your word count, for both your sake’s. Think about how to make it feel equitable. Not all books are the same: if one of you wrote a 35,000 word middle grade novel and the other just finished a 155,000 epic fantasy (and you still want to swap!), be prepared for how you can make that work and feel good for everyone involved.

If you’ve met someone who is at a similar level to you at a conference or workshop, you could approach and ask them if they’d be open to reading and giving feedback on your novel and you would do the same for them. Classes (like Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop here in Colorado), especially those that involve getting feedback on pages, can be a great place to meet people and see if there’s someone you want to approach.

If you’re not an active participant of an in-person community, or you’re an introvert who can’t imagine asking someone to do this in real life, you can turn to online writing message boards. I’ve actually read someone’s whole novel and provided feedback when I was active on Absolute Water Cooler. If you’re a member of SCBWI, you could look to get feedback by posting on the Blueboard. I HIGHLY recommend that you engage with the community first before you start asking for folks to read your whole novel.

ADJUST THE FOCUS OF YOUR CRITIQUE GROUP: Already in a critique group? You could totally ask a member of your group if, on the side, they’d be willing to read your full. But you can also shift the focus of the group. In our critique group, we decided that each member could submit a full-length piece one time per year to get feedback from the group. And if you didn’t finish a book that year, you could opt to submit whatever you had – your choice. It kept the flexibility for folks who didn’t finish a book to still have plenty of opportunities to submit shorter works each month, and for others who did finish to get that critical whole novel feedback.

 

Whatever your method, make sure that you’re looking at your novel both in parts and as a whole so that you create the best piece of work that you can.

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