NaNoWriMo 2011

November 19, 2011 by 4 Comments

We’re halfway through the month of Novemeber. For a lot of people, this means that we’re that much closer to Thanksgiving and turkey induced comas. However, for writers all around the world it means a mad dash of writing frenzy geared towards writing 50,000 words of a novel in a mere 30 days.

National Novel Writing Month has been sending writers into an over-caffeinated state of creative fever since 1999. Winners have the satisfaction of meeting the goal, getting posted on the winners’ page on the NaNoWriMo website, a certificate, and a snazzy web badge.

I’ve been meaning to participate in NaNo for several years and have only just managed to actually write something this year.

I’m currently sitting at 10,824 words. It’s considerably less than the halfway mark that I should have hit by now. On the other hand, it’s 10,824 words better than I’ve done in previous years.

One of the pieces of advice they give you on the NaNo website is not to worry about quality. Just write. Don’t worry about editing or getting everything just so, get the words on the paper (or screen). It sounds really easy in theory, but it’s been anything but!

I can admit that I am totally a ‘Type ‘A’ personality. I edit things as I write, agonizing over every sentence to make sure it reads just the way I want it to and conveys exactly the right thought. Needless to say it tends to take me a while to get things finished. But oh boy, are they pretty when they’re done!

This has been a huge hurdle that I’ve had to overcome this year. In order to get to 50,000 words, I’m having to forget about that and write a bunch of stuff that I would never want anyone to read as a finished product. It’s just flat out embarrassing sometimes. Or it was up until the point where I was sitting at around 5,000 words this weekend thinking that I was never going to finish.

That was just unacceptable. Definitely worse than writing some trash!

So I stopped trying to write the story in order, stopped trying to plan and plot it all out in advance, stopped trying to follow the notes I’d already jotted down in preparation, and just wrote. I made far more progress in just a few days than I had in the eleven days leading up to that point.

I also discovered that I was definitely what writers refer to as a ‘pantser’. If I try to plan out more than a loose outline and some general motivations for my characters, the story just doesn’t want to write itself. It’s made a big difference in my outlook on the contest and my novel. Not to mention the boost in confidence!

So, how do you write? Are you a planner or a pantser? If you’re participating in NaNo, how are you doing and what’s your writing groove? If you’re not participating in NaNo and have always wanted to write a novel, it isn’t too late. Even if you only get partly finished, it’s a huge step towards writing that book you’ve always wanted to write. And that is just one more step closer to being published!

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MMORPG: to raid or not to raid

November 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

[Adam "Ferrel" Trzonkowski is a guild leader, professional raider, freelance writer, and a long-time blogger. For over fifteen years he has immersed himself in the world of MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) raiding and leadership. After writing extensively on EpicSlant.com about guild management and raiding he published his first book, The Guild Leader's Companion, to share experiences with other organizational leaders and aid them in achieving their goals.]

As a long time raider and guild leader I’ve always been fascinated with the psychology and science behind MMORPGs. It astounds me how saying the same thing in two different ways can mean the difference between winning an encounter and losing horribly. I’m enthralled with how one tweak to a loot system can motivate everyone to work harder. Over the years I’ve collected all sorts of experiences such as these (almost all based on real events that happened in the course of running Iniquity) and I’ve started to reflect heavily on what works and what doesn’t. It is in The Raider’s Companion that I collected this information so that it could be shared with others and hopefully aid them in achieving their goals.

I really wanted to share those experiences with as many people as possible. When it comes to my free time I can’t see anything more fun than raiding. Getting together with a bunch of friends to take on a seemingly insurmountable challenge is great. That is why it made sense to do what I can to help others have some of the same successes that I have had. By giving players a leg up in their raiding you can start to build a better community around the play style. As the community grows and changes the new players will need to be properly trained and if that is done then everyone benefits. That is very important to me! The larger the raiding play style is the more content we’ll see.

My first book, The Guild Leader’s Companion, was aimed at a very small segment of MMORPG players. When I set out to do a new manuscript I knew I wanted to go after a broader audience. I also knew I had to remain in a discipline that I’m extremely familiar with. I’ve been raiding for over ten years at a very high level and I know how to take what seems to be a mysterious encounter and turn it into an easy “loot farm.” Writing a book about raiding made the most sense and it really shows in the manuscript. It took a lot less time to do a whole lot more this time around. I’m extremely proud of the product and can’t wait to see it in book form.

The majority of my time as a raider has been spent in pretty hardcore environments and I wanted to be sure I didn’t let that dominate the whole book. These days not everyone wants to take on a second job in their raiding. The vast majority of players that raid may only do so one or two nights a week. That is who I wanted to write for primarily. I start from the very beginning and cover the basics like what a main assist is and how to prepare each week for your raids. From there I start to work deeply into the hardcore environment. I discuss what you should watch for and how to take a raid apart so that you can understand what is necessary to defeat it. That will be very helpful to players that are attempting new content where there isn’t a guide out yet. Regardless of whether you’re new or have been raiding since EverQuest you’ll find something you can use to achieving your raiding goals, whether they be casual, hardcore, or competitive.

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The Importance of Blogging

October 17, 2011 by 3 Comments

(Gloria Oliver is a Spec Fic author living in Texas and bowing to the never ending wishes of her feline and canine masters. She’s the author of “In the Service of Samurai”, “Vassal of El”, “Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles”, “Willing Sacrifice”, and her latest “The Price of Mercy.” For sample chapters, free reads and more, visit www.gloriaoliver.com)

Blogging has become a very important part of an author’s career. It’s a way to put a little of ourselves out there so we can connect with readers, other authors and industry peeps.

I don’t think of myself as all that interesting, so coming up with blog posts and figuring out a way to do so consistently made me nuts for a while. After much thought, and reading a lot of blogs, especially the wisdom of Kristen Lamb and others, I’ve finally reached a happy, workable solution that works for ME over at my main blog. I do a Mashups on Mondays (Mind Sieve), photos on Wednesday (Picture Kaleidoscope), movie reviews on Fridays, and throw in the occasional extra post.

One thing I’ve noticed by the doing the mashups (since it means I need to go out there and read a lot of entries) is a pitfall of the social media push for us to blog – mainly posts that rattle out a topic but don’t actually tell you anything. No, I’m not going to point any virtual fingers. I’m sure you’ve probably run across some of these yourself, out there. (I’m also not trying to make everyone paranoid, just aware!)

The worst thing about these posts, in my opinion, is that rather than help the authors build their brand and gain followers, they become off putting and actually get an opposite reaction than intended. If the blog posts don’t have substance, why would any readers then believe that the stories or novels by this same author would have it?

If we’re going to put ourselves out there, let’s do it right. So rather than post every day or just blast the bloggosphere with a half thought, make sure if you bring up a problem, try to throw in a solution or suggestion or two. If you bring up a question, try to give an answer. Like any story, a blog post should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. (Dredge up those memories of having to write short papers for school.) Don’t leave the readers hanging. They need some meat to chew on. They won’t come back if they leave dissatisfied. And what better way to intrigue them than to get their synapses firing.

Let’s put some care into our blogs and stimulate those brains!

What are your thoughts on this? Have you experienced what I’m talking about? Do you think I’m full of it? How about sharing any hints and tips you use when creating your own posts?
 
Let’s get blogging!

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Epublishing vs. Traditional Publishing

October 8, 2011 by 4 Comments

(Faith Van Horne is a speculative fiction writer living in the American Midwest. Her horror novella, All Hope Lost, comes out October 10th with Escape Collective Publishing. You can see what she’s up to at her blog. You can also follow her on Twitter, where she goes by @fvanhorne.)

When I wrote my horror novella, All Hope Lost, I targeted epublishers for publication. The form doesn’t tend to do well in print, while epubs are revitalizing the longish fiction (too long for a short story, too short for a novel) category. I found success with Escape Collective Publishing.

Before AHL, I’ve only published short stories, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with a publisher who contracted for longer, single-title works. However, some of the folks in my writer’s groups have books with traditional print houses. From what they’ve shared with me, there are some practical differences between working with print versus electronic publishers.

One aspect that surprised me most was speed of publication. Whereas the writers in my group waited over a year(!) to see their accepted works put to print, Escape Collective brought my project together within a couple of months. Of course, the big houses are working on getting out hundreds of titles. Escape Collective is brand new and quite small. They’re debuting their line with my work and an anthology collection. A more narrow focus meant plenty of attention for me in terms of feedback from my editor, progress reports, etc., which was quite nice.

Since the book hasn’t been released yet (it comes out this Monday, October 10th, hint hint), I can’t speak to the sales end. But I hope to share more about my publishing experiences on my blog, faithvanhorne.blogspot.com. Feel free to stop by and say hi.

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Self editing your work

August 15, 2011 by 3 Comments

[Today's guest blogger is Michelle McLeod. Her novella, Love Potions, will be coming out soon. She blogs at michellemccleod.blogspot.com. Thanks for joining us!]

Did you ever notice that edit is a four letter word? Or how writers talk about ‘editing hell’? There’s not a lot of love for editing. It’s not the fun, sexy part of writing. It’s the married-so-long-you-wear-granny-panties-with-no-shame part of writing.

That loving feeling just isn’t strong enough to hold up to the search-and-destroy mission of editing, but it’s the only way to get better. Here are my to-dos when I self-edit my work.

-Brush up on the tenets of editing before diving in. I read classics like Noah Lukeman’s The First Five Pages or Maas’ The Breakout Novel. This helps me transition from the rough draft ‘anything goes’ creative process to the more deliberate editing phase.

-Analyze sentence structure. In the heat of the first draft, it’s easy to use the same sentence structure. For instance, does every sentence in the paragraph hinge on ‘and’?  That’s not good and needs to change. Otherwise, the story reads like a one note earworm. Rhythm and flow come from variation in, not just language, but sentence structure as well.

-Minimize I in first-person point-of-view (POV). Unless the protagonist really is a narcissist, it’s a good idea to avoid starting every sentence with I. Cut it whenever possible. Readers hate me-me protagonists. For an example of a well done first-person POV, read some of JA Konrath’s Jack Daniels series.

-Avoid third-person POV confusion. Be sure readers can tell who each ‘she’ and ‘he’ refers to–it’s easy to lose track.

-Tighten the writing. Any section where things slow down needs attention. When a gun has been fired, there should not be three pages of narrative before the bullet hits its destination. This bogs the reader down to the point of abandoning the story.

Extra words need to go as well, along with multiple sentences saying the same thing in different ways. Beware long descriptions too. Readers can only hold so many details in their heads at a time–reading is not a game of Memory.

Picking the right word becomes easier with time, but the learning curve can be accelerated by writing flash fiction or honing messages on Twitter.

-Story arc in every chapter. We all know that a book must have a beginning, middle and end, but this also applies to chapters. Is there rising action, conflict and a conclusion within each chapter?

-Use the Find and Replace feature. Look up every that, was, just, almost and other overused words. If an argument can’t be made justifying their presence, they need to be cut.

-Walk away from the hard parts. It can be tough to let go of certain scenes or sentences. If you are stuck, move on and edit a different section. When I can’t bear to delete something, I cut and paste it in its own file so it’s still there if I need it. (I never need it.)

-Ask for help. Readers are the author’s mirror. Cultivate a circle of trusted readers who can show you what the story really says.

Editing is a chore, but it doesn’t just build a better story, it creates a better writer. Granny panties optional.

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Making a living writing while pursuing your fiction dreams

August 8, 2011 by 2 Comments

[Today's guest blogger is Sandra Gurvis, the author of fifteen paperback and hardback books and one novel. Her second novel, COUNTRY CLUB WIVES, is available as an ebook on Amazon and, for Nook and other ereaders, Smashwords.com. She wrote COUNTRY CLUB WIVES, a contemporary satire/romance about women, money, and homeless animals set in “New Wellington,” Ohio while freelancing for a major medical center, book packagers/publishers, and several Web sites. More information on Sandra and her work can be found at www.sgurvis.com. Thanks, Sandra!]

I was originally asked to do this blog on how to get into freelance article writing while working on fiction. Unfortunately only a very few – and even that number is dwindling – are making a living as full-time print magazine writers. Even fewer “mid-list” authors like me are seeing book publishing contracts come to fruition, even with two full-time agents (one for fiction and the other for nonfiction).

Before you bring out the torches and pitchforks, let me explain. It is entirely possible to make a living as a full-time freelance writer doing what you love while still writing fiction. It’s just that the game has totally changed.

Ask your friends how many magazines they read/buy a month. If the answer is “one or two” that’s a lot. After all, there’s Facebook, Twitter, reality TV, Yahoo news, smartphones…. Information comes from everywhere and every angle. Why pay $5 a pop to read something that’s likely several months old when you can get everything you could possibly want to know and then some for basically nothing?

Books, while serving a completely different purpose, are also going the way of the dodo bird, at least in their traditional form. Look at it from a publisher’s point of view. If they print 5,000 copies of your beautifully crafted and wonderful tome, where the heck are they going to put them? Borders has just closed, and Barnes & Noble is devoting more and space to its Nook and kitchen utensils. Seriously, that place is becoming the “Stop & Shop” for trendies. On the other hand, for a while Wal Mart was the only outlet that carried the newest edition of my most recent release, OHIO CURIOSITIES, until the publisher corrected the situation. But, really, where are you going to sell 5,000 actual, physical books? Small bookstores have all but disappeared, and your car can only hold so many (if you decide to sell your books as your sole source of income, it may become really cramped because you might end up having to share space with the leftover copies).

So what’s a writer to do? In two words: A lot…with little imagination and some effort. For example, Websites such as Monster.com, Journalismjobs.com, Mediabistro.com, and yes, even craigslist provide a multitude of opportunities for no fee whatsoever. Sign up with Indeed.com (also free) and they automatically deliver jobs to your email box. Of course much of what’s out there pays nada or through “click throughs” and “hits” (read: less 5 cents an hour), but careful and consistent culling of these sources can provide lucrative and dependable freelance work for Web sites, specialty publishers, companies looking for writers, and even teaching, if you’re so inclined.

Patience, persistence, and a great resume and bio can take you far, as long as you carefully study the requirements and tailor your response to the needs of the potential publisher/client. Spend an hour or so a day doing that, the rest of your time with assignments or whatever “day job” you have, and you’ll have the weekend or maybe even half a day during the week to write fiction. I know because that’s how I got COUNTRY CLUB WIVES done. It may have taken me eight years but time was beside the point. The end result was worth it and satisfied myself, my agent, and hopefully the few dozen readers who purchased it on Kindle and Smashwords (Their royalties are between 70-80 percent, so put away the noose, please).

Also tap into the power of networking, for both your “real world” writing and fiction dreams. While I’ve been on Facebook for a while, and actually made some great contacts in terms of promoting my novel as well as other nonfiction work, I recently dipped my toe into Twitter, which can be a challenge to figure out. Nevertheless the recent premiere of the Style-TV reality series “Big Rich Texas” (Think COUNTRY CLUB WIVES meets “Toddlers & Tiaras” meets the Texas cheerleader murdering mom) prompted me to tweet to dozens of viewers who had commented on the show. The result: I got several new followers on Twitter, increased traffic to my Web site, and a few more copies of the novel sold. It’s very ad hoc, this digital era, but if you think fast and act even more quickly, you can get results.

Last but not least, consider joining LinkedIn. I found the site clunky to navigate and downright unattractive, especially when I first signed up a few years ago. But it’s an incredible resource and also provides an amazing array of solid freelance jobs. I’ve bookmarked the “search for jobs” page and they now even offer a beta listing of “Jobs You May Be Interested In.”

The days of mailing out article and book queries and waiting for publishers/agents to respond are almost as obsolete as the SASE (that’s self-addressed stamped envelope for those new to the freelance world). Build your platform — your body of work, knowledge, and ability to promote same — and network, and you will likely find the golden pathway or at least the yellow brick road to your writing goals.

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Saus on self promotion

July 18, 2011 by 5 Comments

[Today's guest blogger is Steven Saus. Steven injects people with radioactive material as his day job, but only to serve the forces of good. He's also an author and small publisher. Current projects include The Crimson Pact, So You Want to Make an eBook?, and the Spec The Halls contest and charity. Thanks for joining us, Steven!]

I bet you don’t want to hear about promoting yourself. For the longest time, I sure as hell didn’t.

When I was a child, I remember my Uncle Stanley trying to give me advice about positive attitudes and promoting myself. I didn’t listen. I felt that that self-promotion was about being some soulless manipulative advertising schmuck.

But I found that simply putting my work out there wasn’t enough. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the internet or through a publisher (of any size). People won’t find you unless they know to find you. People will not spend time with you or your work unless they believe you’re worth listening to.

What I’ve found is that when I promote myself honestly and humbly, not only do I get noticed more, but my work gets noticed more.

And that’s awesome.

I’m writing a short book on self-promotion geared specifically for other authors called “Sans Spam: Self Promotion for Authors”. In it I’m going to give you the secrets I’ve already learned; think of it as “the stuff you wish you could tell yourself ten (or twenty) years ago”.

While I don’t have room to put all of the book here, I’m currently serializing the rest of the content on my blog prior to releasing the eBook. Those who donate get a free copy when I’m done.

I want to address an underlying attitude difference that I keep seeing among authors. I call it:

“The Used Car Salesperson” Versus “The Family Dealership”

Even if you’ve never bought a car, you’ve run into these two selling styles. “Used Car Salesperson” is the “hard-sell”. They are the people who constantly try to “upsell” you to a bigger model, get the “protection plan”, and generally try to convince you that you need that thing that you didn’t really want to buy. If you’ve ever bought windows or a vacuum cleaner from a door-to-door salesman, they almost certainly did a hard-sell.

Infomercials and multi-level marketers are all about the hard sell. I wrote up a detailed account of a multi-level marketer’s hard-sell scheme to get new recruits on my blog – it’s worth reading just to get an idea of how slick this stuff can be.

At best, the Used Car Salesperson convinces you for a few minutes. (Gamers in the house: Fast Talk versus Persuade.) You might drop the unit cost for that product they’re selling. They’re a “conversion”, sure, because you made a sale.

But you will never, ever make a sale to them again.

They will not buy your next book. They will not attend your next event. If they review your book at all, it’s far more likely to be negative (and remember, people are far more likely to talk about negative experiences). And if they can, they’re far more likely to return the original product they bought.

You will not only tarnish your own reputation, but the reputation of those who associate with you as well. If you get scammed by one door-to-door salesperson, you won’t trust any ever again – no matter how legit they are.

The Family Dealership operates on another principle. They are about building ongoing relationships with people – who happen to be customers – over time.

There’s still advertising – a good advertising “hook”, an elevator pitch, telling you what’s awesome about their book or other product – but it’s not about only making a sale right then.

The customer who wants the book? They’ll buy it. No problem. The person who doesn’t want your book will also remember you. But they’ll remember you as the person who asked how their day was, who wasn’t a pushy asshat like that jerk two booths down. When they run across you – or your work – again, there’s already a positive feeling associated with your name.

This customer – even if they have no interest your book itself – will still recommend the Family Dealership’s book to their friend who does like that stuff.

And the people who did buy your book?

They’ll not only buy the next one – but recommend it to their friends as well.

Mike Stackpole summed the difference between the two approaches nicely:

“The Used Car Salesperson doesn’t really believe in themselves or their product. They’re worried that if someone looks closely, they won’t buy it. The Family Dealer knows they’ve got something of value, and is secure in that knowledge.

“And it shows.”

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Query advice from a former agent’s intern

July 11, 2011 by 6 Comments

[Today's guest blogger is Jazz Sexton. Jazz holds a BA in Fiction Writing and a Certificate in Children’s Literature from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Certificate in Publishing from NYU. She blogs about books and writing at www.jazzsexton.com, and offers editing services and query letter critiques at www.wordsmadefresh.com. Thanks for joining us!]

Slush readers are looking for any reason to reject you so they can get through the pile faster. I spent the first half of this year as a slush reader for a literary agent, and saw the same query letter mistakes day after day. Here are five of the most common faux pas you should avoid at all costs. Your writing career depends on it!

1. Love Thy Genre

Don’t act like you or your genre is better than other writers and their genres, and don’t assume your book is better than the others within your own genre. Agents tend to rep many genres running the gamut from literary fiction to commercial romance. They don’t want to work with someone with blatant disdain for the genres they rep or someone who is full of herself.

2. Stay  in One Genre (Nominally)

You know how one of the first things you learn about the craft of writing is to use active verbs rather than a string of adjectives? It applies in your query letter, too. Though your novel may be a romantic mystery magical realism piece with religious undertones, you’d do yourself a favor to decide which one stands out the most. Listing so many genres gives off the impression that you don’t know what your book is about. If you can’t decide which one to use, just call it a novel. Don’t point out that you think it is genre defying. If you want to sell the book in stores, it will need a genre label.

3. Keep it Short

Unless an agent has specific instructions in his or her submission guidelines that request a story synopsis, keep your pitch to a paragraph or two at most. Someone who can’t pitch a story concisely doesn’t come across as someone with strong writing skills. The best use of your two paragraphs is to introduce the main character and a relevant defining characteristic (her job, she only has one arm, etc.), her conflict, and a hint of provocation to whet the reader’s interest (in other words, don’t give away the ending).

Make sure your bio is also concise. No one wants to know that you’re a 40-year-old dad with a loving wife, 3 teenagers, and a stable of horses. We want to know your writing credentials. Your bio should be pertinent to what you submit. If you are submitting a YA dystopian, let them know you are a member of SCBWI, and leave out being a member of RWA.

4. One Agent at a Time

This one is about courtesy. I immediately delete any queries sent to more than one agent because I know a writer sending the same query to ten agents at once has not done his research into which agency is best for him.

First of all, you shouldn’t send your work out to ten agents at once. Sending the same body of work out to ten agents simultaneously could lower your chances of getting an agent. Think of it this way: If you realize after six months of querying that you need to revise, you’re going to have fewer new agents to send your work to once you’ve improved. You can query the same agents again, but they or their slush readers might remember your work, and might be biased against the older version.

Second of all, if you just can’t stop yourself from all of those simultaneous queries, you need to open 10 separate emails. Sending bulk emails could send your query to the spam folder, and it is plain unprofessional. We have eyes; we can see all those names you queried.

5. Do Not Bribe The Agent

Not only did an aspiring author offer massages, he also asked if he could provide gift cards to my boss’s favorite restaurants, stores, etc. This isn’t cool in any way. Why would you want an agent to rep your work if they take you on bribes rather than on your talent and craft? I don’t see how anyone could respect an agent who would do that or how authors could respect themselves.

You might say, “But I just want to show how appreciative I am that agents look at my work!” All you have to do is thank them for their time and consideration at the end of the query.

Even if you don’t think any of the above sounds like you, take a hard look at your query or get a second opinion from someone with querying experience. Good luck!

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Essence of the Writer’s Journey

June 27, 2011 by 4 Comments

[Today's guest blogger is Kelly Boyer Sagert. Kelly has published more than 1,000 pieces of her writing, including 11 books and two full-length plays. She is a member of the prestigious American Society of Journalists and Authors and has recently started blogging about the Civil War at www.civil-war-news.org. Thanks for joining us, Kelly!]

Recently, my husband and I attended a funeral. After the service ended, we needed to travel to the cemetery. With the funeral procession flag firmly attached to the roof of our car, we turned on our bright lights, as requested, and methodically twisted and turned our way to the cemetery.

After a brief and solemn committal ceremony, the funeral director thanked us for being part of the dedicated group who had just walked the “final mile” with the family of the deceased.

The following day, we headed to a far more joyous event: the graduation ceremony of my nephew, who was the valedictorian of a class of more than 500 students. We eagerly watched the soon-to-be-graduates march onto the field, accompanied by the glorious stanzas of Pomp and Circumstance; we clapped when each of the graduates passed through the archway to receive his or her hard-earned diploma; and we rejoiced during the recessional – a “final mile” of an entirely different sort, one blossoming with hope and love and new beginnings.

Whenever we complete a piece of poetry or prose, whether short or long, fiction or nonfiction, we also experience a version of the final mile. Perhaps part of the journey will have felt like an enthusiastic sprint, while other parts will have resembled walking on your hands through shattered glass. The reality, though, is that, if we truly finish what we started, then we have walked that piece of writing’s last mile.

This analogy can be carried even further, as so many pieces of fiction writing contain some sort of final mile in their plots. These are the moments that, when written well, provide the culmination and release that the readers or audiences crave. To illustrate, I will provide some examples from my own writing; I will let the audiences and readers determine whether or not my attempts succeeded in entertaining, educating and/or informing.

First, there is a play that I wrote, titled Freedom’s Light: A Stop Along the Underground Railroad. In this play, the main character goes on a dangerous journey. As an escaped slave, Nellie needs to duck into the shadows, rely on the mercy of strangers and survive by sheer determination and courage as she travels from her master’s plantation in the South to Sheffield, Ohio – where she hopes that her journey will continue until she reaches safety, peace and freedom in Canada.

As Nellie approaches her final miles, the complications continue to escalate; other characters, who weren’t as lucky as she, see their final miles end before they even cross onto Ohio’s shores. In each of these instances, this is where the audience witnesses the most intense action and suspense.

In another play that will be performed in 2012, Sisters Forever: The Burrell Family Letters, the action opens after three sisters tread along one of the most sorrowful paths that exists, that of burying their mother. The majority of the play is then a flashback of the twenty years that leads up to this pivotal point of their lives.

The last mile concept also works well for nonfiction. In my upcoming book – actually a two-book series – that details the lives of iconic female athletes, each of the biographies opens with a description of the pinnacle of achievements reached by a particular athlete; her highest mile, if you were. Sometimes, the achievements can literally be measured in miles; other times, the concept is more symbolic.

Whatever you write, it’s important to go the last mile in how your proofread and fact check; how the beginning engages and the ending satisfies; how you ensure that a fictional character is truly acting in character; how you make sure that the dialogue or prose reads realistically, that the pacing is pleasurable and so on, and so on, and so forth. Skimping on that last mile can make a huge difference in how publishable, readable and/or enjoyable the piece of writing really is.

The writer’s journey can be an extremely rewarding one – and sometimes a lonely one, as well. To find the companionship and encouragement of like-minded people, consider joining the International Writers Association, which meets at the Lorain Public Library, main branch. Dues are only $10 per year, with a $2 fee for each of the four quarterly meetings attended. For more information, see www.internationalwritersassociation.com.

Also mark Saturday, October 8th on your calendar. That’s when the first annual True North Writer’s Conference will be held at the French Creek Reservation in Sheffield. Email me at kbsagert@aol.com for more details.

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Working your strong points

May 30, 2011 by 1 Comment

[Today's guest blogger is Chuck Ebert, who has been writing science fiction on and off since high school. He has a story coming out in the January 2012 edition of Strange Weird and Wonderful Magazine and one in the March 2011 issue of Aoife's Kiss. One of his stories was accepted by the magazine Eldritch Tales and he won an honorable mention in a short short story writing contest sponsored by Xignals. He published a short story in Aphelion and had a story win honorable mention in the Writers of the Future contest.  He is a librarian in Durham NC, and maintains a movie review blog called The Other Ebert.]

After years of trying, I recently sold my first story.  Those were a couple of great moments, both when I got the email telling me that they wanted to buy the story and when the magazine with the story in it came several months later.  Since I want to experience those moments again, I started to wonder why this particular story sold when so many others—some of which I consider actually better—obstinately refuse to stop coming back.

Ironically “The Ossuaries,” which is the story that eventually sold, has a pretty thin plot, which is the area in which I struggle the most.  It concerns an anthropologist who discovers a site where it appears that modern humans rounded up Neanderthals and executed them, implying genocide.  This site is located in a central Asian country that is in the middle of an ethnic civil war and the leader of the government is anxious for an excuse to impose a final solution on the insurgents.  The anthropologist fears that his discovery may provide the justification for this atrocity and yet he also doesn’t want to jeopardize his scientific integrity and his career by covering up or distorting facts.  When I describe the plot to people I generally end by waving my hands weakly in the air and saying, “I make it work.”  And apparently, I do, because the story sold.

The question is how did I make it work. First of all, I performed some sleight of hand. I set it up so that there were three potential possibilities as to where this site could be. The last and most promising site is close to where the insurgents are the most active, and once the first two sites don’t pan out, they must perform their search quickly while the army holds the area. Giving your characters a reason to hurry is a good way to inject momentum into the story.

But I think the most important reason it works is because I give the main character an untenable choice. He is the great grandson of Holocaust survivors and has been hearing the stories all his life. It has in fact, become something of an obsession with him, so his sympathies lie with the oppressed minority. But he is also a dedicated scientist who would normally never consider covering up an important find. I put him into a situation where these two passions are in conflict and he can’t make a decision without betraying one of them. There is no right choice.

I think everybody can relate to that kind of no-win dilemma and that’s what makes the story work. My guess is that the editor who bought this story was intrigued by the main character’s predicament and felt that it compensated for the point around which the plot turns—that a government would use an archeological find to justify genocide—which is admittedly a little far-fetched. Every story has strong points and weak points. The strong points need to be compelling enough to make readers not worry about the weak ones.

Filed under Guest Blog, LocoBlog

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